Oxford Reads shortlist announced

Oxford Reads has opened public voting for its 2026 book pick after narrowing this year’s field to five finalists. (oxfordcounty.ca) Oxford County said the shortlist was chosen from 35 nominations submitted by staff and members of the public. Voting runs until May 1, 2026, at 12 p.m. noon, through the Oxford Reads website. (oxfordcounty.ca) The five shortlisted books are *Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue* by Christine Higdon; *Horsefly* by Mireille Gagné, translated by Pablo Strauss; *How to Survive a Bear Attack* by Claire Cameron; *In the Upper Country* by Kai Thomas; and *Vanished Beyond the Map* by Adam Shoalts. Readers can borrow copies through Oxford County Library or Woodstock Public Library before voting. (ocl.net) Oxford Reads is a joint community reading program run by Oxford County Library and Woodstock Public Library. The organizers say the selected title will anchor programs, discussions and events across Oxford County in the summer and fall. (oxfordreads.ca) The program focuses on Canadian authors and uses one shared title as the basis for countywide programming. Oxford County said the winning book will be announced in May, and the author will be invited to the Oxford Reads Gala in the fall. (oxfordcounty.ca) This year’s shortlist arrives just after CBC’s national Canada Reads debates, which ran from April 13 to April 16, 2026. Local library systems across Canada have used that spring reading season to stage their own community campaigns and discussions. (cbc.ca, cbc.ca) Oxford Reads has been running for years as a regional version of that shared-reading model. A 2024 local report on the program’s seventh annual gala described Oxford Reads as a collaboration that asks Oxford County residents to read one Canadian book together and meet the author later in the year. (granthaven.com) For readers in Oxford County, the next date that matters is May 1 at noon. After that, the community’s 2026 book choice moves from shortlist to full-season reading program. (oxfordcounty.ca)