Welcome to the 11th Annual Canadian Book Challenge with Canadian Road Trip Novels!

            

Welcome to the kick-off of the 11th Annual Canadian Book Challenge! We're glad to have you along for the ride. Haven't signed up yet but are intrigued? Head on over to the FAQs and decide if you'd like to join in on this relaxed reading challenge. We hope you will. 

For this Challenge we ask that you read and review 13 Canadian books from July 1 - July 1. Easy peasy, right? You can find the review roundup post for each month easily by clicking on the "Review" logo link in the right sidebar at any time.

This year's theme is highways and byways, and as we all know, there's nothing better than a road trip! Lots of tunes, snacks and somewhere to go, and we're set. Of course, there will also have to be a book in there somewhere to make things perfect.

Here is a list of 13 Canadian road trip novels to inspire you during this Highway themed 11th Annual Canadian Book Challenge:

1. Volkswagen Blues / Jacques Poulin: the classic Canadian Road Trip novel; Quebecois drives cross-country through America searching for his brother Jack Waterman, last seen in San Francisco

2. Cadilllac Couches / Sophie B. Watson: two young women road-tripping from Edmonton to Montreal and back again, following musicians & festivals

3. Flee Fly Flown / Janet Hepburn: two Alzheimer's patients break out of their Ontario nursing home and head for Alberta

4. The Flying Troutmans / Miriam Toews: Hattie takes charge of her niece & nephew when her sister checks into an institution; to keep busy they head off on a road trip with no real destination, in search of their long-gone father

5. Station Eleven / Emily St John Mandel: a gloriously affirmative post-apocalypic story in which a troupe of Shakespearean actors travels a ravaged country

6. Running on Fumes / Christian Guay-Poliquin: post-apocalyptic confusion & a hallucinatory drive from Alberta to Quebec

7. The Line Painter / Claire Cameron: a car breaks down in Northern Ontario; the woman inside hitches a ride with someone driving a truck & painting lines on the road.

8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things / Iain Reid: a short road trip to the main character's parents country house & back -- but a shivery one

9. The Little Shadows / Marina Endicott: an old-fashioned road trip in which the three singing Avery sisters & their mother travel the vaudeville circuit pre-WWI when their father dies and leaves them destitute

10. Sweet Jesus / Christine Poutney: three adult siblings facing massive life changes head off  together to find the adopted youngest's birth parents in New Mexico

11. Road Signs That Say West / Sylvia Gunnery: three sisters, heading West from Nova Scotia while their parents are away for an epic road trip together - sibling rivalries and deeper themes illuminate this YA novel

12. Travels with My Family / Marie Louise Gay & David Homel: a young boy narrates the story of his travels with Mom, Dad & little brother as they search out some unusual tourist locales during their summer vacation

13. Carson Crosses Canada / Linda Bailey: a cheery and cute picture book to go from BC to Newfoundland along with Carson & his granny

14. Nonfiction bonus!

Riding With Rilke / Ted Bishop

Feast: stories and recipes from an edible roadtrip

Canada's Road / Mark Richardson


And finally, a very cool blog on Road Trip Reading by a travel writer who matches places to books - check it out!