Art

B.C. authors make up over 25 percent of Canadian Book Club Awards finalists

Writers from all over the province were recognized

By The Editors /

If you’ve got a reader on your holiday gift list, you might want to check out the Canadian Book Club Awards finalists for some great page turners by local authors.

Canada’s largest reader’s choice awards recently announced its 2023 finalists spanning 12 literary categories including fiction, sci-fi/mystery, fantasy, poetry and more. Over 25 percent of this year’s finalists are BC authors, including Victoria-based Barbara Black (Music From a Strange Planet), Whistler’s Heather Hendrie (Awfully Hilarious: Stories We Never Tell) and Heartland actor Graham Wardle who made the list with his book of poetry, Time Has Come.

See below for a list of the nominees, with B.C. authors and where they’re based marked in bold. Happy reading!

FICTION

The List of Last Chances – Christina Myers (Caitlin Press) – Surrey

Finding Callidora – Stella Leventoyannis Harvey (Signature Editions) – Nanaimo

Stork Lake: Tales from a Wall of Hats – L.C. Reid (Independently Published) – Whistler

NONFICTION/MEMOIR

Mom On Wheels – Marjorie Aunos (Ingenium Books Publishing)

Making the Rounds: Defying Norms in Love and Medicine – Patricia Grayhall (She Writes Press)

Fuse – Hollay Ghadery (Guernica Editions)

SPIRITUALITY/ HEALTH & WELLNESS

Does This Divorce Make Me Look Fat? – Marcella Dodge Webster (TSPA The Self Publishing Agency Inc)

Soul Excavation: An Exploration and Discovery of Self Through Fear, Failure, and Quantum Physics – Lesia Daria Kohut (Hybrid Global Publishing) – Brentwood Bay

The Promise of Psychedelics: Science-Based Hope for Better Mental Health – Dr. Peter Silverstone (Ingenium Books Publishing Inc)

BUSINESS/SELF HELP

At Home Anywhere: Feel At Home Wherever Life Takes You – Rachael Lynn (The Dreamwork Collective)

It’s Not You It’s Your Brain (How mental processing limits your success) – Keith Cornies (AIM Consulting) – New Westminster

Seventeen To Millionaire – Douglas Price (Independently Published)

ANTHOLOGY

Music from a Strange Planet – Barbara Black (Caitlin Press) – Victoria

Awfully Hilarious – Heather Hendrie (Independently Published) – Whistler

The MomBabes: A Motherhood Anthology Volume 3 – Christina Walsh and Carolyn Turkington (TSPA, The Self Publishing Agency Inc.) – Squamish

ROMANCE

How to Love Your Neighbor – Sophie Sullivan (St. Martin’s Griffin) – Chilliwack

What’s Not Lost: A Novel. – Valerie Taylor (Aspetuck Publishing)

The Outcast – Eve. M Riley (Snugrox Publishing)

MYSTERY/THRILLER

All The Broken People – Amy Rivers (Compathy Press)

Box of Secrets – Susan Jane Wright (Ozzy Imprint)

2359 Hours – Jack B.S. North (SA Jeejeebhoy)

FANTASY/SCI-FI

The New Empire – Alison McBain (Woodhall Press)

Mantle of the World Ruler – Kate Gateley (Friesen Press) – Cowichan Bay

Stage Fright – Diane L Kowalyshyn (Independently Published)

POETRY

Time Has Come – Graham Wardle (Guiding Light Publishing) – Qualicum Beach

Blooming: Poetry for Seasons of Change – Chiara Mason (TSPA, The Self Publishing Agency Inc.)

Perfectly Flawed: poetry for change – Malak Kalmoni Chehab (FriesenPress)

CHILDRENS

The Three Canadian Pigs: A Hockey Story.  – Jocelyn Watkinson (Sleeping Bear Press)

The Little Girl – Hieu Pham-Fraser (Friesen Press)

Igor Beaver – Don Smith (CritteraWeek)

EARLY READERS

The Dinosaur Encounter: The Alberta Episode – Lisa Oatway (Tellwell Talent)

River of Crows – N.P. Thompson (Inky Cove)

Monster Match: Frankinschool Book 1 – Caryn Rivadeneira (Red Chair Press)

YOUNG ADULT

No Ordinary Cats – Lisa Erixon (Friesen Press)

In One Life and Out Another – J Mercer (Bare Ink)

Falling Star  – Michele Kwasniewski (Rand-Smith)