They came from the mountains… the islands… all over British Columbia. Book clubs across the province pulled out their pens to take part in the Canada Reads Book Club contest. Every year, book clubs here look forward to hearing the debates and taking part in Canada Reads. That’s why North by Northwest, our weekend morning show, asked book clubs to tell us who they are and what they do. And did they deliver!
Usually a contest announcement on NXNW brings a flood of entries right away. Not this time. During the first week only two arrived. The next week brought only a handful. We were beginning to feel concerned. Then by week three entries were pouring in — and on reading them, we realized that people had called special book club meetings or sessions or had waited for planned get-togethers to discuss their book report submissions. It was amazing to think about listeners and readers all around the province engaged in these discussions about CBC and Canada Reads and NXNW. We also heard from listeners who hadn’t entered but who were engaged by hearing about the whole range of clubs active in every corner of B.C.
More than 60 book clubs took part in the contest. They reported in from Terrace to Nelson to Vancouver. There were book clubs of high school students, senior citizens, crime-fiction lovers and foodies. They told us about hosts who went the extra mile with book-themed food and décor. They told us about the zany characters and the heated debates. And they told us why they love meeting up every month with people who share the same passion for books.
These are excerpts from some of the fabulous entries we received:
From the Occasional Ridgewalkers Book Club in Nelson:
“In 2004, we started a tradition of hiking into Kokanee Glacier after reading In the Path of the Avalanche, by Vivien Bowers, since this true account took place in this park. Since then it has become an annual event and the overnight has increased to three nights, with time for drawing, compass lessons, ridge walking and the preparation of more than enough food (and wine) to host everyone at the lodge — all of which we carry up ourselves.”