by JULIET WATERS

Here, in no particular order (except Montrealers first) are my top six books of 2006:

De Niro’s Game

by Rawi Hage

I wanted to believe all those predictions that this would win the Giller award. But I never could. It deserved to win, but the season and the instant-bestseller phenomenon tend to nudge juries (unconsciously, of course) towards picking the best Xmas present. And much as I enjoyed my vision of someone’s aunt Millie in Barrie unwrapping an existential noir thriller about two crafty young sociopaths in Beirut, my theory favoured Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, the engaging, life-affirming tale by a hard-working young Asian-Canadian doctor.

The Law of Dreams

by Peter Behrens

On the other hand, if I’d had any significant earthly possessions, I would have bet them all on this winning the G.G. As far as raw talent goes, Hage (who was nominated for this award as well) and Behrens are equally matched. But the decade of crafting and editing Behrens put into this adventure about a desperate teenager emigrating to Montreal in the time of the Irish Potato famine gave it a sharper edge. No surprise that a member of the National Book Award jury recently revealed in an L.A. Times article that it narrowly missed a nomination for the top American award.

Lullabies for Little Criminals

by Heather O’Neill

Expect to hear more in 2007 on this hypnotic, dark and hilarious tale about a neglected tween living in the Plateau of the early- to mid-’80s. Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson will be defending it on an all-star edition of Canada Reads. Being the expert jury strategist that I now think I am, I’m going to predict that it doesn’t stand a chance. Denise Bombardier and Donna Morrissey, cutthroat players both, will see it for the threat it is and ally early against it. Eventually Bombardier will do that Vulcan mind grip thing she does so well and Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy will vote against his own book to clear the slate for a win by Gabriele Roy’s Ces Enfants de ma Vie.

Scaredy Squirrel

by Melanie Watt

It’s nice that the three other Montrelears I’ve just mentioned received some acclaim and hopefully a little boost in sales, but let’s put this in context. There is no award that compares to the sales generated by a mention on Richard & Judy, the British equivalent of Oprah. Their daytime book club has been known to generate sales in the 10-millions, and last week Watt’s 30-page tale about an obsessive-compulsive squirrel terrified of Martians, killer bees, tarantulas, poison ivy, germs and sharks made their children’s book list. I picked this book for the Mirror’s summer reading list last June based on the passionate recommendation of my six-year-old son. He liked De Niro’s Game too, but not as much.

The Lay of the Land

by Richard Ford

In a perfect world, Richard Ford would have an afternoon TV program and everyone would stop working for an hour to sit at his feet, like little children around Jesus. Or at least that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life when he visited Montreal a few weeks ago. Word from several sources reveals that another Montreal journalist confessed to a massive man-crush on Ford, so I’m not alone. Ford’s book was great too.

Twilight of the Superheroes

by Deborah Eisenberg

Ford picked this collection of short stories as one of his favourite books of the year. It was one of mine too. Eisenberg (who’s been called the American Alice Munro) didn’t get the acclaim she deserved for it. But I noticed Ryan from The O.C. reading it in bed a couple of weeks ago, so there’s hope for a literate Christmakah after all.