Welcome back, Canadian readers!

Well, we’ve arrived at round 4 of the fictional odyssey known as Canada Reads, and I’m hoping you all had a chance to tune into this morning’s very spirited debate. For those of you that haven’t heard the show yet, I suggest you check it out online or download the podcast before reading any further, because there are spoilers up ahead.

The panel says goodbye to another book

Jian wasted no time in getting down to the sordid business of dismissing one more book. Props to Dave Bidini (who really gave good quote today) for describing the difficulties of deciding which title to vote against, when he noted it’s a “terrible thing for a writer to do to another writer, ‘cause we’re all in this together.”

And Dave did have the toughest job this morning, since he was tasked with casting the deciding vote, after his four fellow panelists each marked an X (yet again) beside four different titles on their ballots. (For the record, now that From the Fifteenth District is gone, Zaib chose to vote against Brown Girl in the Ring, while Jemeni, Lisa and Steve held fast to their voting positions from the previous day.)

With something that sounded almost like regret, Dave revealed he was voting against Brown Girl in the Ring, arousing Jian’s suspicions that Zaib and Dave just might have some kind of voting strategy going on. (Remember Richard Hatch and Susan Hawk, fellas? Alliances always end in tears…)

When asked for her response to the news her book was the next to go, the always lovely Jemeni was poised and gracious, remarking that she was just happy the book and Nalo Hopkinson’s writing were up for discussion. What a class act!

Weird sex and snowshoes

The rest of the debate was jam-packed: The animated panelists discussed hot sex in snowy settings, whether region-specific books have an audience across Canada, the controversial unicorn scene in Not Wanted on the Voyage, and the fact that a funny book has never won Canada Reads. It was one of the most energetic (and feisty) debates we’ve heard all week, one filled with an equal mixture of passionate outbursts and dry one-liners.