Two Canadian novels have landed on one of the most popular book club lists in Britain, selected by TV hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan for their 2009 reading list.

Steven Galloway's The Cellist of Sarajevo and Winnipegger Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle are two of 10 books to make the special list.

Books chosen by Madeley and Finnigan — who appear on digital TV channel Watch — often become bestsellers in Britain.Steven Galloway's book was inspired by a musician who played outdoors for 22 days during the siege of Sarajevo, commemorating 22 lives lost after a shelling. (Random House)

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, featured in 2006, went on to become Britain's fastest-selling paperback of all time.

In 2004, Celia Ahern's PS I Love You was picked and became a film starring Hilary Swank.

Real-life inspiration

Galloway's third book — which made the 2008 Giller Prize's long list — was sold to 18 countries before its publication.

Set during the siege of Sarajevo in the mid-1990s, the book relates the stories of three people: a father on a trip to get water for his family, a baker on his way to work and a female sniper.

The cog in the wheel is a cellist who plays every afternoon in the detritus left by a mortar shell, at the spot where 22 people were killed while waiting to buy bread.

The origin of the tale has gotten Vancouver-born Galloway into trouble.

His book is inspired by the true story of a cellist who played for 22 days straight during the siege to commemorate each life lost at the bread line shelling. The novel comes with a warning that it's "above all else, a work of fiction."

Musician Vedran Smailovic, who now lives in Ireland, has demanded compensation from the author.

Bidding war for debut novel

The Gargoyle was also eagerly anticipated. Davidson's manuscript sparked a bidding war in 2007, with Doubleday emerging as the victor and paying $1.25 million US for the rights.

The book chronicles a time-bending love story between a suicidal burn victim and a mysterious woman named Marianne Engel.

Other books on the 2009 list include:

• Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News?.
• Beatrice Colin, The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite.
• David Ebershoff, The 19th Wife.
• Jesse Kellerman, The Brutal Art.
• Joseph O'Neill, Netherland.
• Frances Osbourne, The Bolter.
• Kate Summerscale, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.
• Elizabeth H. Winthrop, December.