A debut novel “full of both hope and despair” portrays Ines, a conflicted small town skateboarder new to the big city. —Jessica Poon reviews Late September, by Amy Mattes (Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 2024) $22.95 / 9780889714564
At first, the poetic flurry of puzzling phrases is “like trying to drink from a firehose.” —Joe Enns reviews The Goldberg Variations, by Clint Burnham (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2024) $16.00 / 9781554202096
“Staggering, epic, a treasure trove – are words used to describe British Columbia Artists, an extensive digital finding aid to references for B.C. visual artists, started over 25 years ago…” Christina Johnson-Dean reviews Gary Sim’s British Columbia Artists (Vancouver: Sim Publishing, 2024)
Image-rich debut novel sets a naive young character in a new location, job, and romance. Complex problems result. —Joe Enns reviews Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit, by Nadine Sander-Green (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2024) $23.99 / 9781487011291
“The book traces Silverman’s two-year (Covid) adventure, when he took 15 months to learn all 48 pieces … in the process conveying the emotion and harmony of the ultimate composer.” Isabel Nanton reviews Bach’s Sonic Tapestry: The Well-Tempered Clavier of 1722, Book I by Robert Silverman (Victoria: FriesenPress, 2023) $24.49 / 9781039165229
“The topics covered in this book cover many issues: portraying girls as full individuals and the theory that anything is possible, sexual awakenings, political activism, and advocating for safe abortions.” Valerie Green reviews The Time of my Life: Dirty Dancing by Andrea Warner (Toronto: ECW Press, April 2024) $19.95 / 9781770417410
“The subject of models is something that is not often written about, yet large portions of museum collects are often models, never used as a part of traditional Indigenous cultures.” Grant Keddie reviews Skidegate House Models: From Haida Gwaii to the Chicago World’s Fair and Beyond
by Robin K. Wright (Vancouver: UBC Press, co-publication with University of Washington Press), 2024 $60.00 / 9780774870641
By turns funny and incisive, a debut essayist is a connoisseur of everyday absurdities. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Laser Quit Smoking Massage: Essays, by Cole Nowicki (Edmonton: Newest Press, 2024) $21.95 / 9781774390917
“Since the Oscars began in 1927, Canadians have been getting nominated and sometimes winning in most of the categories. Some have even been from British Columbia.” Ron Verzuh writes the essay Hello Oscar, Eh! The Canadian and BC Legacy at the Academy Awards.
“There is much to learn from this candid autobiography by a performer who rarely let the mask slip…” Linda Rogers reviews The Tao of Taro by Taro Zion Joy (Victoria: FriesenPress, 2022) $16.49 / 9781039148666
A poet’s debut meditates on family, ancestry, diaspora, and selfhood. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Shima, by Sho Yamagushiku (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2024) $22.50 / 9780771010927
“What you are holding is clearly much more than a conventional report of a ‘project.'” Theo Dombrowski reviews Wetland Project: Explorations in Sound, Ecology and Post-Geographical Art by Brady Marks and Mark Timmings (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2022) $45.00 ISBN 9781773271996
“So, why doesn’t Canada have an official bird yet?” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews The Canada Jay: The National Bird of Canada? by David Bird (ed.) with foreword by Robert Bateman (Surrey: Hancock House, 2022) $9.95 ISBN 9780888397171
Bowen Island inspires a poet and painter to celebrate how “here, right here, is a blessing.” —Mary Ann Moore reviews Water Forgets Its Own Name, by Jude Neale & Nicholas Jennings (Victoria: Ekstasis Editions, 2023) $27.95 / 9781771715300
“…plenty of other BC writers are available to adapt novels and short stories, the latter being a great source of filmable material.” Ron Verzuh writes When Hollywood Calls: An Essay on How Books Get Made Into Movies in BC.
Poems with cool-eyed but compassionate observations convey personal transformations and memorable cityscapes. —Adrienne Fitzpatrick reviews Nevertheless: Walking Poems, by Gillian Jerome (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2022) $19.95 / 9780889714120
“…there’s a spirited new voice at play here, with writing that flips from lyrical portraits of place to colloquial phrasing and pet names for everything from his kayak to his food.” Jeanette Taylor reviews A Complex Coast: A Kayak Journey from Vancouver Island to Alaska by David Norwell (Victoria: Heritage House, 2023) $29.95 ISBN 9781772034493
Compared to ickily comical masturbation scenes, “the sexiest parts of the book are the casually strewn about descriptions of delicious food.” —Jessica Poon reviews Batshit Seven, by Sheung-King (Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2024) $24.95 / 9780735245303
A joyous “compendium of delightfully quirky short pieces.” —Heidi Greco reviews Jigsaw: A Puzzle in Ninety-Three Pieces, by M.A.C. Farrant (Vancouver: Talon Books, 2023) $19.95 / 9781772015430
“From his first organized game at age twelve, joining players two years older and scoring all three of his team’s goals in a tie match, the gifted forward became unstoppable.” Daniel Gawthrop reviews The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey by Chad Soon and George Chiang, with illustrations by Amy Qi (Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2024) $24.95 ISBN 9781459835030