100 novels that make you proud to be Canadian

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

CBC Books, 99 Books

From the Description of the list:

Canada has a wealth of writers telling today's tales, revisiting our past and imagining our future. Literary or mystery, comic or graphic, historical or out of this world, the 100 novels on our list are must-read books.

CBC Books considered everything from cultural impact and critical reception to reader response to choose these titles. The authors all call or once called Canada home, and the novels are all in print. Enjoy!

This list was originally published in 2017 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
17008 419 Will Ferguson 2012 Canadian English
11584 A Complicated Kindness Miriam Toews 2005 Canadian English
557 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
15786 A Season In The Life Of Emmanuel Marie-Claire Blais, Derek Coltman 1965 Canadian French
17008 A Sunday At The Pool In Kigali Gil Courtemanche, Patricia Claxton 2000 Canadian French
13890 A Tale For The Time Being Ruth Ozeki 2013 American English
4467 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood 1996 Canadian English
17008 Annabel Kathleen Winter 2010 Canadian English
14901 Away Jane Urquhart 1993 Canadian English
9814 Barney's Version Mordecai Richler 1997 Canadian English
3620 Bear Marian Engel 1976 Canadian English
11520 Beautiful Losers Leonard Cohen 1966 Canadian English
17008 Bone And Bread Saleema Nawaz 2013 Canadian English
5746 Brown Girl In The Ring Nalo Hopkinson 1998 Canadian English
2450 By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
17008 Cereus Blooms At Night Shani Mootoo 1996 Canadian English
17008 Certainty Madeleine Thien 2006 Canadian English
17008 Come, Thou Tortoise Jessica Grant 2009 Canadian English
17008 Creation Katherine Govier 2002 Canadian English
6510 Crow Lake Mary Lawson 2002 Canadian English
3833 De Niro's Game Rawi Hage 2006 Canadian English
17008 Elizabeth And After Matt Cohen 1999 Canadian English
17008 The Collected Essex County Jeff Lemire 2009 Canadian English
2468 Fall On Your Knees Ann-Marie MacDonald 1996 Canadian English
17008 February Lisa Moore 2009 Canadian English
1569 Fifth Business Robertson Davies 1970 Canadian English
17008 Forty Words For Sorrow Giles Blunt 2000 Canadian English
17008 Fruit Brian Francis 2004 Canadian English
2949 Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels 1996 Canadian English
7820 Funny Boy Shyam Selvadurai 1994 Sri Lankan English
17008 Galore Michael Crummey 2009 Canadian English
2676 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
7934 George & Rue George Elliott Clarke 2005 Canadian English
17008 Green Grass, Running Water Thomas King 1993 Canadian English
17008 Half Blood Blues Esi Edugyan 2011 Canadian English
17008 Holding Still For As Long As Possible Zoe Whittall 2009 Canadian English
17008 How To Make Love To A Negro Without Getting Tired Dany Laferriere 1989 Canadian French
4280 In The Skin Of A Lion Michael Ondaatje 1987 Canadian English
6565 Indian Horse Richard Wagamese 2012 Canadian English
16650 Kamouraska Anne Hébert 1970 Canadian French
17008 Kiss Of The Fur Queen Tomson Highway 1998 Canadian English
6519 Kit's Law Donna Morrissey 1999 Canadian English
17008 Late Nights On Air Elizabeth Hay 2007 Canadian English
1141 Life of Pi Yann Martel 2001 Canadian English
17008 Lives Of The Saints Nino Ricci 1990 Canadian English
17008 Lost Girls Andrew Pyper 2000 Canadian English
14901 Lullabies For Little Criminals Heather O'Neill 2006 Canadian English
5448 Mercy Among The Children David Adams Richards 2000 Canadian English
10159 Monkey Beach Eden Robinson 2000 Canadian English
892 Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 American, Canadian English
4561 No Great Mischief Alistair MacLeod 1999 Canadian English
17008 No Time For Goodbye Linwood Barclay 2007 Canadian English
1889 Obasan Joy Kogawa 1981 Canadian English
2493 Room Emma Donoghue 2010 Irish English
14901 Ru Kim Thuy 2009 Canadian French
13890 Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Bryan Lee O'Malley 2004 Canadian English
17008 Secret Daughter Shilpi Somaya Gowda 2010 Unknown English
17008 Six Metres Of Pavement Farzana Doctor 2011 Canadian English
17008 Skim Mariko Tamaki 2008 Canadian English
11382 Spin Robert Charles Wilson 2005 Canadian English
6593 Still Life Louise Penny 2005 Canadian English
15786 Sunshine Sketches Of A Little Town Stephen Leacock 1912 Canadian English
15786 Swamp Angel Ethel Wilson 1954 Canadian English
17008 Sweetness In The Belly Camilla Gibb 2005 Canadian English
17008 The Amazing Absorbing Boy Rabindranath Maharaj 2010 Canadian English
17008 The Antagonist Lynn Coady 2011 Canadian English
17008 The Best Laid Plans Terry Fallis 2007 Canadian English
7834 The Birth House Ami McKay 2006 Canadian English
17008 The Bishop's Man Linden MacIntyre 2009 Canadian English
8241 Someone Knows My Name Lawrence Hill 2007 Canadian English
17008 The Book Of Secrets M.G. Vassanji 1994 Canadian English
14901 The Cellist Of Sarajevo Steven Galloway 2008 Canadian English
6171 The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams Wayne Johnston 1998 Canadian English
17008 The Cure For Death By Lightning Gail Anderson-Dargatz 1996 Canadian English
15786 The Double Hook Sheila Watson 1959 Canadian English
14901 The Englishman's Boy Guy Vanderhaeghe 1996 Canadian English
14901 The Golden Mean Annabel Lyon 2009 Canadian English
132 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Canadian English
17008 The Hero's Walk Anita Rau Badami 2000 Canadian English
17008 The Jade Peony Wayson Choy 1995 Canadian English
17008 The Lesser Blessed Richard Van Camp 1996 Canadian English
17008 The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond Of Matches Gaétan Soucy 1998 Canadian French
3267 The Luminaries Eleanor Catton 2013 New Zealand English
17008 The Mistress Of Nothing Kate Pullinger 2009 Canadian English
17008 The Orenda Joseph Boyden 2013 Canadian English
14901 The Outlander Gil Adamson 2007 Canadian English
17008 The Polished Hoe Austin Clarke 2002 Barbadian English
17008 The Romantic Barbara Gowdy 2003 Canadian English
7038 The Sisters Brothers Patrick DeWitt 2011 Canadian English
2833 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
1695 The Stone Diaries Carol Shields 1993 Canadian English
17008 The Time In Between David Bergen 2005 Canadian English
2601 The Wars Timothy Findley 1977 Canadian English
17008 The Wives Of Bath Susan Swan 1993 Canadian English
6118 Three Day Road Joseph Boyden 2005 Canadian English
4985 Tigana Guy Gavriel Kay 1990 Canadian English
2981 Two Solitudes Hugh MacLennan 1945 Canadian English
17008 Whale Music Paul Quarrington 1989 Canadian English
17008 What The Body Remembers Shauna Singh Baldwin 1999 Canadian English