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The CBC released its final book choices and pannelists for Cananda Reads 2015 today. The longlist was cut down to five contenders that will be under debate by notable Canadian panellists. This year’s battle of the books will include:

1) And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins. And the Birds Rained Down will be championed by Canadian songstress, Martha Wainwright.

2) Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes by Kamal Al-Solaylee. Intolerable will be championed by British Columbia actress, Kristin Kreuk.

3) Ru by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman. Ru will be defended by Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) artistic director, Cameron Bailey. 

4) The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King. The Inconvenient Indian will be defended by Free the Children co-founder Craig Kielburger.

5) When Everything Feels like the Movies by Raziel Reid. When Everything Feels like the Movies will be championed by Canadian talk show personality and reporter, Elaine “Lainey” Lui.

The debates will be held March 16-19 in front of a live audience and will be hosted by Wab Kinew. You can get in on the live action by following my live coverage of Canada Reads in the babble Book Lounge. As the books intern for rabble, I will be live-blogging the event and generating an interactive conversation. Be sure to look to the babble Book Lounge March 16-19, where I will be taking over to find out what everyone thinks of this year’s Canada Reads competition. I hope to see you all there!