Reissued story collection features a “confident gay voice, full of quips and sharply off-kilter but richly descriptive comments that stay on the literary side of arch.” —Drew Rowsome reviews Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness, by Guy Babineau (Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2024) $24.95 / 9781770867499
“Far too many non-Indigenous books on the North are presented in the ‘front lines of history’ format, with the authors determined to emphasize their path-breaking work, travels, observations, or experiences. Yukon Wanderlust has none of that self-aggrandizement. Their northern activities are described in a matter-of-fact and unexaggerated fashion.” Ken Coates and William R. Morrison review Yukon Wanderlust by Don Barz (Celtic Frog Publishing, 2021) $29.95 / 9781989092415
“Sentence by sentence, Lacroix is helping to keep literature weird, just the way it should be. Weird is good; this book is weird; this book is good.” —Jessica Poon reviews How It Works Out, by Myriam Lacroix (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2024) $32.00 / 9780385698405
“This is a book about uncovering and recovering what it means to come from a still-living matriarchal system. We’re not talking about a flakey New Age reconstruction of an ancient feminist ideal. Think of the rugged Yukon up the road; imagine isolated communities, vast horizons of smallish spruce, pine, aspen, balsam. It’s a place, Knott confirms, where female vision and leadership has survived with dignity and respect for a long time.” Trevor Carolan reviews Becoming A Matriarch: a memoir by Helen Knott (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2023) $32 / 9780385697774
A “bubbly sensibility” blends well with a sobriety in stories that address “the serious matters of our loves and our times.” —Carellin Brooks reviews Disembark, by Jen Currin (Toronto: House of Anansi, 2024) $22.99 / 9781487011895
A prettily-drawn, well-told tale about the founding of the famous gardens, but maybe a touch light on child-friendly details. —Ron Verzuh reviews Jennie Butchart: Gardener of Dreams, by Haley Healey (illustrated by Kimiko Fraser) (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772034813
“’Pathway to the Stars’ is a must for anyone interested in the story of Canadian aviation and the proud military accomplishments of the RCAF.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews Pathway to the Stars: 100 Years of the Royal Canadian Air Force by Michael Hood and Tom Jenkins (Toronto: Aevo UTP, University of Toronto Press, 2023) $39.95 / 9781487547431
An appealing portrait of small town life, misery through love. But 26 stories in 30 pages raises questions. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews The Price of Cookies, by Finnian Burnett (Toronto: Off Topic Publishing, 2024) $15.00 / 9781738988525
“In Defence of Copyright touches on all the greatest hits of the contemporary copyfight.” John Degen reviews In Defence of Copyright: An essential guide to the history and importance of copyright by Hugh Stephens (Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2023) $19.95 / 9781770866799
“Instead of labeling foods, her philosophy is to focus in on the positive: what can you add to your plate/diet that is going to make you feel better, rather than focusing on what you ‘shouldn’t’ eat (which, let’s face it, just makes our brains want it more).” Rebecca Coleman reviews Plant Magic: A Celebration of Plant-Based Cooking for Everyone by Desiree Nielsen (Toronto: Penguin Random House, 2024) $34.00 / 9780735244900
A poet “at the height of his powers” meditates on his literary tradition, provincial history, and aging. —Harold Rhenisch reviews The Capital City of Autumn, by Tim Bowling (Hamilton: Wolsak and Wynn, 2024) $20.00 / 9781989496862
“Don Munday and his wife Phyllis Munday are best known as first generation west coast pioneers in mountaineering, but Don was also a fine writer. ” Ron Dart reflects on several aspects of mountaineering life in his “Three Missives from the Peaks”
Political nail-biter spans three continents, delves into brutal realpolitik, and features a plot that requires a reader’s “concentrated effort.” —Valerie Green reviews The Black State, by John Delacourt (Surrey: Now or Never Publishing, 2024) $19.95 / 9781989689608
An exuberant experimental novel with some “lustrous little thought diamonds” also features abundant and frustrating “anarchy in sentences.” —Peter Babiak reviews The Apple in the Orchard, by Brian Dedora (Gananoque: Guernica Editions, 2024) $22.95 / 9781771838603
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