Cast Your Vote: Roy MacGregor's Picks

UPDATE: These polls are now closed. Check out our other polls on our featured polls page!

There are a lot of great Canadian true stories out there. How is the regular reader going to sift through all of them? Recall the non-fiction classics? Unearth the much-loved but overlooked small press memoir? It's a difficult task. Which is why we aren't going to leave you to do it alone. We asked people from all across the publishing spectrum — booksellers, bloggers, publishers and more — to build their dream Canada Reads: True Stories list. We will roll these lists out through the Top 40 campaign. They can be a source of inspiration and a fantastic reading list, and they give these books an extra bump to make it to the next round in this year's debates. But you also get to have your say.

One of the non-fiction buffs we turned to was writer Roy MacGregor.

Roy may be familiar to most Canadians for his long-running column in the Globe and Mail, but he's also written more than 40 books, including 23 in his internationally popular Screech Owl series for young readers.

When we asked Roy for his dream Canada Reads: True Stories choices, these are the books he chose and his reasons why:

The Unknown Country by Bruce Hutchison

Sixty years after its publication, The Unknown Country remains a pivotal book on the Canadian identity. The first broad-stroke examination of what it is to be from the north of the United States of America.

From the Land of Shadows: The Making of Grey Owl by Donald B. Smith

This biography is the most extensive study of one of Canada's most fascinating and controversial characters. Was Archie Belaney just a fraud, or a seer?

The Company of Adventurers by Peter C. Newman

The history of the Hudson's Bay Company is the history of Canada. Beautifully told.

Wintergreen: Reflections from Look Lake by Monte Hummel

This book offers a pure sense of place and nature. The ultimate Canadian experience.

Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel MacKenzie King by Charlotte Gray

A magical look at one of the country's most powerful, intriguing and mystical characters.

Which one of Roy MacGregor's picks was your favourite? Vote for the book you'd most like to see on the Canada Reads: True Stories list in the poll. It closes on Wednesday, October 12, at midnight ET.

Each vote counts as one point, and the 40 books with the most support will be named the Canada Reads: True Stories Top 40.

Want to submit a recommendation of your own? You can do so here!