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Winner of the 2025 Giller Prize - Canada’s leading and most influential literary prize for fiction. The jury wrote: "In Pick a Colour, a former boxer-turned-manicurist spends an ostensibly ordinary summer day at her salon, quietly navigating the tension between her outward anonymity and her sharp, deeply intelligent, inner life. In this exquisite novel, intelligence isn’t inherited through education, status, or privilege–it’s earned. With an inimitable style that decentralizes the English language, crackling wit, and profound confidence, author Souvankham Thammavongsa challenges our biases and insists that we never look at a nail salon, or its workers, the same way again. A master of form and restraint, Thammavongsa once again affirms her place as one of the most vital literary voices of our time."

From our members:

  • Lucinda : "I just finished ‘Pick A Color’ and enjoyed it. It’s a mere 182 pages and the prose is tight. The author is also a poet. I appreciated the thoughtful way she describes the women who work in the salon who are all immigrants and supporting others. It will make me think about the subculture of a salon and those who pay for services and work there."
  • Debra : "I just finished 'Pick A Colour', winner of Canada's 2025 Giller Prize and loved it. It's a quiet, introspective and unsentimental look at a single day in a nail salon told through the voice of the owner -- less about plot, and more about the friction between the 'hardworking immigrant' stereotype her clients project on to her and the observant, often funny, internal monologue she's having, exploring the themes of privilege, labour and the immigrant experience. And it's short:)"
  • Joan: "It's simple and fast to read, but underneath what's said and what isn't said, there's plenty to discuss. 'Most people don't know what's good for them. And when they think they do, they're mostly wrong.' This book is staying with me."
  • Ed: "I'm on board choosing this one. It's short which is a plus."

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