The shortlist for the Giller Award (the National Book Award of Canada if you will) has been announced:

• Rawi Hage De Niro’s Game
• Vincent Lam Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
• Pascale Quiviger The Perfect Circle
• Gaétan Soucy The Immaculate Collection
• Carol Windley Home Schooling

The winner will be announced on November 7th.

I have to admit that I am not familiar with any of these authors. Even Canadian George of Bookninja had no comment. It sounds like a repeat of the National Book Award shortlist from 2004 when five fairly unheard of women were nominated.

On a side note, I noticed a difference of word usage that I’ve never seen before in this sentence: “Moreover, a survey released Tuesday by BookNet Canada, a not-for-profit agency that tracks national book sales, among its other activities, suggests that a win can significantly goose sales.” I like the idea of “goosing” sales. Typically I think of pinching someone’s posterior as the main definition of goosing. I now have a mental image of one of those Monty Python hands pinching an animated book’s butt.