Books were my best friend growing up. My bookshelves were filled to the brim with the likes of Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, Madeleine D’Engle, R.L. Stine and more than a few copies of the Baby-Sitter’s Club series. Clearly I was a bit of a nerdy kid who loved to have her nose in a book rather than play outside. Being immersed in stories grew my imagination and bonded me to the friends who shared my enthusiasm for the written word.  Now, as a still semi-geeky adult, I find that my love for books hasn’t dimmed at all and book clubs are just as fun now as when as I was a kid (especially with a few glasses of merlot on the side).

So what would it be like to be part of one the largest book clubs in the city? This November, the Calgary Public Library will be hosting its third annual One Book, One Calgary program to encourage Calgarians to connect and grow through a shared reading experience. This year’s book selection has us really excited: It’s The Book of Awesome by Canadian author Neil Pasricha.

Pasricha’s book is a collection of the awesome ideas that he posted everyday on his blog for over four years. Each day, he would post one new idea that would make you look at the brighter side of life and discover awesome in some way (hmmm, this sounds familiar. Perhaps we will need to get our own book too!).

This year’s book selection is a bit of a literary departure for the CPL, but one that we genuinely think makes sense for our fair city. Calgary is the “cultural capital of Canada” this year and as all you readers know, a pretty damn awesome place.

November is still a fair bit away, but with so many awesome events and programs on the slate for One Book, One Calgary, you’re not going to want to miss out. Our very own Food Editor Vincci will be hosting a few programs that you’ll want to see too. See the program guide for a full listing of topics and events going on at CPL branches around Calgary.

To also get you started, we have 5 copies of The Book of Awesome to give away to some of our best peeps. To get your hands on one, let us know what One Book, One Calgary event/program you are most looking forward to and why. Send your answers into contact@calgaryisawesome.com by October 15^th to be entered.

For bonus entries, you can also tweet: “I can’t wait to read the Book of Awesome for One Book, One Calgary with @ciawesome! http://ow.ly/dVHji” Good luck!

Calgary is Awesome is a proud supporter of One Book, One Calgary.