CBC Books Announces The Five 2021 Canada Reads Books & Their Champions

Today CBC Books announced the final selections for the 2021 edition of Canada Reads, the debate show where five books are pitted against one another and one is voted off each day, Survivor-style, until a winner is crowned at the end of a week of intense discussions. 

Five celebrity panellists give their time and energy to defending a book of their choosing. This year's line up includes fiction and nonfiction from publishers big and small, including, notably, two books from B.C.'s progressive and independent Arsenal Pulp Press.

The 2021 CBC Canada Reads books:

• Olympian and broadcaster Rosey Edeh defends The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk (Erewhon Books)
• Singer-songwriter Scott Helman defends Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee (Hamish Hamilton Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada)
• Actor and filmmaker Devery Jacobs defends Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee defends Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots (William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins Canada)
• Chef, recording artist and TV host Roger Mooking defends Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (Arsenal Pulp Press)

The debates will take place March 8-11, 2021, with comedian Ali Hassan returning as host. They will be broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books. Stay tuned to Open Book for coverage of the debates in March, and tell us on Twitter who you'll be rooting for.