Pervaded with sadness, a novelist’s sobering debut story collection examines the disappointments of romantic relationships. —Candace Fertile reviews Death by a Thousand Cuts: Stories, by Shashi Bhat (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2024) $24.95 / 9780771095115
“Every page of this beautifully presented book of images takes me home to the Kootenays with colourful remembrances of growing up amidst the old barns and discarded tractors.” Ron Verzuh reviews Abandoned Kootenays: Abandoned Buildings, Old Barns, Phantom Signs, Rusty Relics by Keith G. Powell (Cranbrook: Wild Horse Creek Press, 2023) $34.95 / 978177828220
“Taking into account all the studies of humanity Davis has done throughout his career, his pointing out the adaptability of human beings across the ages is a potent tonic for our collective cynicism and despair.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Beneath the Surface of Things: New and Selected Essays by Wade Davis (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2024) $36.95 / 9781778400445
Debut poems and capitalist criticism in the form of “intricate napkin doodles,” they are “spectacular gestures but not always particularly easy or comfortable reads.” —Harold Rhenisch reviews Tomorrow is a Holiday, by Hamish Ballantyne (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2024) $16.00 / 9781554202089
“[A]ccessible, literal, and often essential writing in lyrical form about the value of living in remote areas, the vitality of other species, and a vision for a more aware and rooted future.” —Catherine Owen reviews How Can You Live Here?, by Tom Wayman (Okotoks: Frontenac House, 2024) $19.95 / 9781989466698
“Judy LeBlanc has written a courageous memoir through interconnected pieces of prose that honour her Scottish and Coast Salish matrilineal heritage.” Mary Ann Moore reviews Permission to Land: A Memoir of Loss, Discovery, and Identity by Judy LeBlanc (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781773861357
A “zippy marvel of truth bombs,” the novel captures the yearning of adolescence “with hyper-specificity, on-point sonic references, and zero condescension.” —Jessica Poon reviews Sugar Kids, by Taslim Burkowicz (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2024) $24.00 / 9781773636757
“It has helped me realize just how insignificant life is, but also how complex, beautiful, and special it is all at the same time.” Jeffrey Stychin reviews Cosmic Wonder: Our Place in the Epic Story of the Universe by Nathan Hellner-Mestelman (Montreal: Linda Leith Publishing, 2024) $24.95 / 9781773901596
In which “two astute chroniclers of pop culture … explore the fun and the monstrosity of our everyday entertainments.” —Carellin Brooks reviews You’re Gonna Love This, by Dina Del Bucchia (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772016123 and Jump Scare, by Daniel Zomparelli (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772016109
“In putting together pain, loss, and good feeling, the poems articulate a human capacity for gear shifting amidst dissonance—however imperfect.” —Marguerite Pigeon reviews Fine, by Matt Rader (Madeira Park: Nightwood Editions, 2024) $19.95 / 9780889714663
“Certainly, nature enthusiasts and those who enjoy the spiritual connection to all wildlife will relish this very informative and educational book.” Valerie Green reviews Wildlife Congregations: A Priest’s Year of Gaggles, Colonies and Murders by the Salish Sea by Laurel Dykstra (Surrey: Hancock House Publishers, 2024) $24.95 / 9780888397539
Grimness, marvellous one-liners, complex characterization, and expert pacing turn a crime thrillerl into “a good, downright scathing read.” —Jessica Poon reviews Ocean Drive, by Sam Wiebe (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $24.95 / 9781990776694
“We get the whole sensory shebang with beer and farts, ‘bad feet and stinky pits’; the real feel of being on the road in a hardcore era when everyone was young.” Catherine Owen reviews Around the World with Mr. Chi Pig: a memorial by Chris Walter (New Westminster: GFY Press, 2023) $31.00 / 9781927053393
Poet’s third volume delves into the poignant memories of an observant child whose father faced “impossible problems.” —Mary Ann Moore reviews Midway, by Kayla Czaga (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2024) $21.99 / 9781487012601
“He went from penniless ex-British Navy man to influential roles in the new colony increasing his annual salary with each step up.” Ron Verzuh reviews The Eventful Life of Philip Hankin: Worldwide Traveller and Witness to British Columbia’s Early History by Geoff Mynett (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2023) $26.00 / 9781773861197
Delightful debut YA novel “speaks … to all readers who care about becoming adult in a positive, life-embracing, world-loving way.” —Alison Acheson reviews Crash Landing, by Li Charmaine Anne (Toronto: Annick Press, 2024) $18.99 / 9781773218427
“Davis has a long-time familiarity with the Colorado, dating back to 1967 when he first visited it as a teenager. Even then the Colorado’s path was already interrupted by a series of dams created in order to make the deserts bloom, enabling both population growth and large-scale agriculture.” Steve Koerner reviews River Notes: Drought and the Twilight of the American West – A Natural and Human History of the Colorado (Revised Edition) by Wade Davis (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2023) $22.95 / 9781778401428
Graphic novel set in grey-hued Raincouver examines “the strange and troubling inner workings of human beings.” —Zoe McKenna reviews What’s Fear Got To Do With It?, by Ivana Filipovich (Wolfville: Conundrum Press, 2023) $18.00 CAD / 9781772620887
Epic poetry that’s a “respectful, evocative, beautiful even, and artful” reimagining of premodern Scandinavia magic. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Sigrene’s Bargain with Odin, by Zoë Landale (Toronto: Inanna Publications, 2023)
$19.95 / 9781771339681
Canadian scholar and essayist Thomas Girard takes us into the future of typography, asking “How does typography play a role in what’s coming? There’s no better way, in my mind, than to talk to the experts.” Thomas Girard writes the essay Where we jump forward to…