The List of Last Chances by author Christina Myers has won the top spot in the fiction category for the 2023 Canadian Book Club Awards.
Myers lives in Surrey but grew up in Tsawwassen and graduated from South Delta Secondary.
The novel, which tells the story of two unlikely companions on a road trip across Canada, was previously longlisted for the 2022 Leacock Medal for Literary Humour and shortlisted for the 2022 Fred Kerner Book Prize. It was published by Caitlin Press in 2021. Her next book, a collection of essays titled Halfway Home: Thoughts from Midlife, will be out in May 2024 from House of Anansi.
“Some of my favourite experiences as an author have been with book clubs who have invited me to join them by zoom or who have sent along notes of appreciation after they had read the book as a group,” said Myers.
Myers, a former journalist, found inspiration for the novel in part from her own cross-Canada experiences as a child, having crossed the country many times on family camping road trips or to move from one province to another. She moved six times before the seventh grade. “There are trips we do for fun, and trips we do because we have no choice, but both kinds change us. The characters in this book don’t want to be on this trip, but their lives are transformed by it.”
The Canadian Book Club Awards are Canada’s largest reader choice award. The shortlist finalists in 12 categories, including memoir, children’s, sci-fi/fantasy, and others, were named in September, with winners announced in early December. According to a BC Business story published in October, BC authors made up 25 per cent of the finalist list for this year’s national awards.
Readers can find the book at their local independent bookstore, or through major online retailers such as Amazon and Indigo. Find the author online at www.cmyers.ca.
