Canada Reads: True Stories gets underway Monday, with five celebrity panellists set to discuss the merit of five non-fiction titles during the annual CBC book debate.

It’s the first time Canada Reads, moderated by Q host Jian Ghomeshi, has focused on non-fiction writing and the fresh take is expected to turn the focus toward some of Canada’s finest writers, as well as generate interest among readers who love true stories.

The books and their respective celebrity champions are:

• The Game by Ken Dryden, defended by actor Alan Thicke.
• Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat, defended by Arlene Dickinson of CBC-TV’s Dragons’ Den.
• Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre, defended by rapper Shad.
• On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini, defended by supermodel and music producer Stacey McKenzie.
• The Tiger, by John Vaillant, defended by Quebec reality TV star Anne-France Goldwater.

“I’ve always found personal stories compelling. I’ve always found reality interesting,” says Shad, the Juno-winning rapper who is fascinated with international politics and philosophy.

Goldwater says she anticipates hot debate among her fellow panellists who are "passionate about their books."

The four-day series will pit Canada’s national game – as explored in Dryden’s 1983 memoir of life as a goalie with the legendary 1979 Montreal Canadiens – against a rock ‘n’ roll memoir: Bidini’s debut book about touring Canada with his band the Rheostatics.

Bidini, a former Canada Reads panellist who himself championed a hockey book (Paul Quarrington's King Leary), is helping McKenzie strategize the defence of his book.

Two of the titles take readers inside repressive regimes. Prisoner of Tehran is Nemat’s story about being imprisoned as a teenager in Iran, in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, while Something Fierce tells of Aguirre’s teenaged experiences in the Chilean resistance movement under Augusto Pinochet's regime.

The final story, also with an international flavour, is The Tiger. Vaillant’s fascinating account tells of a man-eating tiger that terrorized a remote Russian outpost and the team sent to solve the problem.

All of the books are already benefiting from the “Canada Reads effect,” which boosts sales of all the books highlighted in the annual series.

According to BookNet, a Canadian agency that monitors book sales, the Canada Reads shortlisted books saw sales growth of 583 per cent over the holiday period.

During the debate, sales of all the competing titles usually rise again, according to BookNet. The winner also gets a bonanza. For instance The Book of Negroes, which won in 2009, went on to sell more than 500,000 copies.

Last year’s winner Terry Fallis says winning Canada Reads for his comic novel The Best Laid Plans changed his life. His book stayed atop bestsellers lists for more than six months, was picked up by a university literature course and opened new doors for him as a writer.

Fallis is blogging about this year's Canada Reads process on CBC Books.

Each day, after the panellists have championed their books, one selection will be eliminated. The 2012 winner will be chosen on Thursday, Feb. 9.

To follow the debate this year:

• Watch live video-streaming of the debates, with an accompanying live chat, at 10 a.m. ET on CBC Books and CBC Arts online.
• Listen to the CBC Radio One broadcast at 11 a.m. (11:30 a.m. NT), repeating at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) and on Sirius 159 at 11 a.m. (repeating at 4 p.m.)
• Watch the one-hour Canada Reads television specials at 7:00 p.m. on CBC’s Documentary channel (repeating at midnight).