Canada Reads is a Survivor-style program where books are argued over before one is voted off the list by celebrities at the end of each show. This year’s Canada Reads is being played out on TV, radio and in schools. Why? “In 2002, the program’s first year, sales for Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, first published in 1988, reached 80,000, pushing it to the top of bestseller lists. Last year’s winner, Next Episode, also reappeared on bestseller lists, selling an additional 18,500 copies, while figures for the runner-up ran between 15,000 and 20,000.”