Are you ready for Combat des livres?

Whether I’m out basking in the sun at the cottage, or curled up on my favourite armchair on a sub-zero Sunday in January, I just love diving into a new novel.

So I’m very pleased to see the Combat des livres competition return to Radio-Canada’s Première Chaîne de Radio-Canada from March 26 to 29. The series of special programs, to air at 8 p.m. as part of Plus on est de fous, plus on lit!, has always introduced me to some wonderful reading material over the years. And even if I’ve been disappointed at times when my top pick didn’t prevail, the literary debate is always chock full of interesting guests and moving works of fiction. It’s also one of Canada’s few French-language shows about literature.

Now in its ninth year, the French-language sister competition to CBC’s Canada Reads is committed to showcasing homegrown authors – past winners include L’avalée des avalés (Réjean Ducharme), L’énigme du retour (Dany Laferrière), Dolce Agonia (Nancy Houston) and Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali (Gil Courtemanche).

On the radio specials, four personalities engage in heated debate to defend the book they’ve chosen to champion. A jury then selects the big winner, crowning it the must-read of the competition.

Panellists from all walks of life will be facing off this year in host Marie-Louise Arsenault’s studio – they are actor/singer/host Gildor Roy, former Collège des médecins du Québec President and CEO Dr. Yves Lamontagne, comic Nabila Ben Youssef, and National Post columnist Tasha Kheiriddin.

This year’s finalists are Chroniques de Jérusalem by Guy Delisle, La petite et le vieux by Marie-Renée Lavoie, Le sourire de la petite juive by Abla Farhoud, and Voleuse d’hommes by Margaret Atwood.

Which book will manage to TKO the others and take the crown? Tune in to find out, starting this Monday.

- Sophie Bernard-Piché, Editor, CBC/Radio-Canada