Over the course of a week, five prominent Canadians each defend a book they believe everyone should read. One title is eliminated every day until only one remains. The program airs on CBC radio annually. For more information, visit the official site.

An asterisk (*) indicates a review is available for that book.

2008

• King Leary – Paul Quarrington *

Also shortlisted:

• Not Wanted on the Voyage – Timothy Findley
• Icefields – Thomas Wharton *
• Brown Girl in the Ring – Nalo Hopkinson
• From the Fifteenth District – Mavis Gallant

2007

• Lullabies for Little Criminals – Heather O'Neill

The other contenders:

• Children of My Heart (Ces enfants de ma vie) – Gabrielle Roy
• Natasha and Other Stories – David Bezmozgis *
• The Song of Kahunsha – Anosh Irani
• Stanley Park – Timothy Taylor

2006

• A Complicated Kindness – Miriam Toews

The other contenders:

• Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets: Selected Poems, 1962-1996 – Al Purdy
• Three Day Road – Joseph Boyden *
• Deafening – Frances Itani *
• Cocksure – Mordecai Richler

2005

• Rockbound – Frank Parker Day

The other contenders:

• Beautiful Losers – Leonard Cohen
• Volkswagen Blues – Jacques Poulin
• No Crystal Stair – Mairuth Sarsfield
• Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood

2004

• The Last Crossing – Guy Vanderhaeghe

The other contenders:

• The Love of a Good Woman – Alice Munro
• Green Grass, Running Water – Thomas King
• Le coeur est un muscle involontaire (The Heart is an Involuntary Muscle) – Monique Proulx
• Barney's Version – Mordecai Richler

2003

• Next Episode (Prochain Épisode) – Hubert Aquin

The other contenders:

• Sarah Binks – Paul Hiebert
• Life of Pi – Yann Martel
• The Lost Garden – Helen Humphreys *
• The Colony of Unrequited Dreams – Wayne Johnston

2002

• In The Skin of A Lion – Michael Ondaatje

The other contenders:

• The Handmaid's Tale – Margaret Atwood
• The Stone Angel – Margaret Laurence
• A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
• Whylah Falls – George Elliott Clarke