Welcome back, Canadian readers!

Can you believe it’s already the third day of Canada Reads? So much ground was covered during today’s debate, I could barely keep up with my note-taking, but I’ll do my best to recap all the high and low points for you. And for those of you who missed the show, you should check out the podcast or listen online before reading my spoilers below.

The first vote is revealed (a.k.a. the horror, the horror!)

This reveal was a true nail-biter, since the first four panelists had marked Xs on their ballots beside four different titles. It finally came time for Zaib to cast the deciding vote, and to my utter disbelief, he opted to send Mavis Gallant’s From the Fifteenth District back to the shelf.

Gallant champion Lisa Moore let out an “Ack!” sound, followed by “pain, pain,” while I alternated between sulking over the departure of my favourite title, and wondering if Zaib Shaikh and Dave Bidini have secretly formed some kind of voting alliance that none of us have picked up on yet.

But you can’t keep a good panelist down, and Lisa rallied beautifully after learning her book was the first to go — posing a juicy, pointed question to her fellow panelists: “Don’t you think that this writing is the best writing? The most crafted?”

As the celebrity guests justified their votes against the book, Steve MacLean, always the voice of reason on this year’s panel, stepped in and read a stirring quote from one of From the Fifteenth District’s stories: “The sun became as white as a stone. Something stung in its heat, like fine, hard, invisible rain” I love this guy! So I will follow Steve’s example, and let my lady Mavis’ writing speak for itself. Sulking over. And now, onward!

It’s getting hot in here

Maybe it was because it was a little hot in the studio. Maybe it was because it was hump day (a naturally occurring phenomenon that takes place every Wednesday at CBC). Maybe it was all the talk about climate change. Or maybe it was because the stakes were raised for the four remaining books and people really had to step up their arguments.

Whatever the reason, things got a lot more heated in debate number three, as the talk moved from short stories to social relevancy to the environment to the actual craft of writing. Judging from the number of interruptions that occurred, the amount of times all of us had to consult our notes and the moments all five panelists dissolved into fits of laughter, I’d say we were all more than a little punchy by the end of the broadcast.