It’s a book club anyone can join – and you don’t even have to provide hors d’oeuvres.

One Book, One Kootenay (OBOK) is a region-wide book club that celebrates the work of the talented writers living in the Kootenay Boundary. This year, readers from across the Kootenay region will read and vote for the book they feel all Kootenay booklovers should read.

Three Kootenay authors share the spotlight for the third annual One Book, One Kootenay award.

The 2011 nominees are: Far From Botany Bay by Rossland’s Rosa Jordan, The Glass Seed by Nelson’s Eileen Delehanty Pearkes and Living in the Shadow of Fisher Peak by Cranbrook’s Keith Powell.

Far from Botany Bay and Living in the Shadow of Fisher Peak are both historical fiction, but the similarities ends there.  Jordan’s novel is set in the Australian penal colony of Botany Bay, the high seas, and 18th century England.  In Living in the Shadow of Fisher Peak Powell delves into the wild escapades of the Kootenay Gold Rush, with all of its characters and colour. The Glass Seed is a personal reflection of a woman coming to terms with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease.  Pearkes’s poetic, insightful approach results in a surprisingly uplifting book.

All of the One Book, One Kootenay shortlisted books are available in your local library. Readers are invited to discuss the books, either with friends or on-line. For more information go to the Kootenay Library Federation website at obok.ca, where you can read up on the authors and their books, look for literary events near you, and engage in online conversations or post comments.  Ballot boxes will be at Kootenay libraries from May 17 to July 30.  Winners will be announced September 8, on International Literacy Day. OBOK is a public library supported program initiated by the Kootenay Library Federation.

Kootenay Library Federation