Trent Hills Reads brings CBC Canada Reads style competition to the Aron Theatre Co-op

If you're a book lover in Canada, you may be familiar with the CBC’s annual Canada Reads competition.

Did you know that the CBC event has been going on for 25 years? As the current host Ali Hassan noted in a press statement, "If you had told me 10 years ago that I'd be the host of Canada Reads for a decade, I wouldn't have believed you" - and that's just about the last ten years!

Last year, we started our own version at the Aron called Trent Hills Reads. In partnership with the Trent Hills Library, this year’s event will be held at the Aron on October 29, 2026 starting at 7pm.

And similar competitions are popping up all over. I was inspired after attending "County Reads," at the County Library Authors Festival in Prince Edward County. I’ve since learned that several cities across the country also host events, from watch parties for the CBC version to their own competitions.

So what can you expect at ours? The CBC competition has been spicy lately, so we like to think we’re a little more friendly, with a goal just to get people reading! We’ve invited four local champions who are really big readers to share some of their recent Canadian reads. Each champion has five minutes to introduce their books and tell the audience why it’s a good read. Then after everyone has presented their book, the audience votes on the winner.

You don’t need to have read the books beforehand (but we did order them to the library, and to our sponsor bookseller Stirling Hills Book Company) but if you do, here they are along with links to plots and reviews:

Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang (Simon & Schuster, 2025) Championed by Russ Christianson, general manager of the Aron Theatre Co-op

Peacocks of Instagram: Stories by Deepa Rajagopalan (House of Anansi, 2024) Championed by Shane Joseph, publisher of Blue Denim Press

The Resistance Painter by Kath Jonathan (Simon & Shuster, 2025) Championed by Gwynn Sheltema, co-host of the Word on the Hills podcast

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue (HarperCollins, 2024) Championed by Tracey Starrett, owner of the Stirling Book Company

Hope to see you there!