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3 North Shore finalists at this year's Canadian Book Club Awards

Strong selections from Tara McGuire, Hannah Seraphim and Kathy McLaughlin have made the shortlist
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You can vote on up to two genres of choice from now through December. | Courtesy of the Canadian Book Club Awards

As the chill of autumn keeps more readers indoors, many will be looking to turn the page on a new book.

Homegrown on the North Shore, the Canadian Book Club Awards has announced its list of finalists with three local authors making the cut.

Those include Tara McGuire in the non-fiction/memoir category for Holden: After & Before; as well as Hannah Seraphim in the health and wellness/spiritual category for Citrine Horizon: A Soul Journey Through Health Trauma, and Kathy McLaughlin in the same genre for Back to Life: One Woman’s Inspiring Triumph Over a Series of Terminal Diagnoses.

In less than five years, the Canadian Book Club Awards has grown to become Canada’s largest readers’ choice contest in the literary scene, said Megan Williams, CEO of The Self Publishing Agency.

“We’re all pretty excited to see so many North Shore titles represented this year,” she said, describing how the awards were started by a group of readers from North and West Vancouver who wanted to shine a light on works that fly under the radar of large literary panels.

Williams said they received hundreds of book submissions this year, and hundreds more have signed up to vote on their favourites to win awards.

After submissions are received, a readers’ panel narrows each genre to three finalists, and then verified readers can judge up to two genres. This year’s submissions are now closed, and Williams encourages people who have time to complete books over the next three months to register. People who want to submit a work, can do so for next year’s awards.

There are a total of 13 genres, ranging from science fiction, to cooking and children’s.

Winners for this year’s awards will be announced Dec. 30.

To become a verified reader or submit a book, visit the CBCA website.

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