Ginny Ratsoy reviews two books: Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro Toronto: Penguin Modern Classics, 2021 (first published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1971) $19.95 / 9780735234659 * Who Do You Think You Are? Alice Munro Toronto: Penguin Modern Classics, 2021 (first published by Macmillan of Canada, 1978) $13.99 / 9780143181170 * …
Read more 1307 Alice Munro & the short story
Geography of British Columbia: People and Landscapes in Transition (fourth edition) by Brett McGillivray Vancouver: UBC Press, 2020 $55.00 / 9780774864329 Reviewed by Ken Favrholdt * Brett McGillivray’s Geography of British Columbia: People and Landscapes in Transition has withstood the test of time since its first edition in 2000, which I reviewed for BC Studies…
Read more 1305 McGillivray’s essential geography
Rough Road to the North: A Vagabond on the Great Northern Highway by Jim Christy Port Townsend, WA: Feral House, 2019 (first published in Toronto by Doubleday, 1980) $17.95 (U.S.) / 9781627310826 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold Robert Service…
Read more 1241 Ramblers and tatterdemalions
Wagon Road North: The Saga of the Cariboo Gold Rush by Art Downs, edited by Ken Mather Victoria: Heritage House, 2021 (revised and expanded edition; first published 1960) $26.95 / 9781772033601 Reviewed by Robin Fisher * The cover of this book features an iconic gold rush photo. It is worth a thousand words, and yet…
Read more 1230 Freight wagons & Cornish wheels
Brotherhood to Nationhood: George Manuel and the Making of the Modern Indian Movement by Peter McFarlane with Doreen Manuel, with a foreword by Pamela Palmater Toronto: Between the Lines Books, 2020 (second edition; first published 1993) $32.95 / 9781771135108 Reviewed by Sarah Nickel * Indigenous women “were every part of organizing [because] the women are…
Read more 1212 Reconsidering George Manuel
The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence Toronto: Penguin Random House (Penguin Modern Classics, Emblem Editions), 2017 $19.95 / 9780735252837 First published by McClelland & Stewart, 1969 Reviewed by Harper Campbell * To read Margaret Laurence’s The Fire-Dwellers (1969) is to see a very different Vancouver from the one that exists today. Well, “see” isn’t really the right…
Read more 1194 Return of The Fire-Dwellers
Prologue to Love by Martha Ostenso, with an introduction by Hannah McGregor Picton, ON: Invisible Publishing, 2020 (first published in New York by Dodd, Mead & Co., 1932) $23.95 / 9781988784595 Reviewed by Miranda Marini * The thing about novels being situated in an actual, geographic place is how those depictions then resonate with readers…
Read more 1151 A Kamloops classic
Paradise Won: The Struggle to Create Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve by Elizabeth May Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2020 (second edition; first published by McClelland & Stewart, 1990) $25.00 / 9781771604581 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Anyone who has visited Haida Gwaii will instantly relate to Elizabeth May’s remembrance of one of the most significant…
Read more 1074 Elizabeth May & Gwaii Haanas
Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia by Crawford Kilian, with a foreword by Adam Rudder Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2020 (3rd edition, first published 1978) $26.95 / 9781550179484 * “Where Are You From?” Growing Up African-Canadian in Vancouver by Gillian Laura Creese Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019 $34.95 /…
Read more 1030 Blacks in BC then and now
Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti: Tenth Anniversary Edition by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2019 (first published 2009) $24.95 / 9781551527918 Reviewed by Margot Fedoruk * Whether you are a knitter, crocheter, or wanna be Banksy, the tenth anniversary edition of Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet…
Read more #904 Celebrating acts of yarnarchy
Down the Road: Journeys Through Small-town British Columbia by Rosemary Neering Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2019 (first published 1992, reprinted 2003) $22.95 / 9781770503243 Reviewed by Diana E. French * Rosemary Neering is an accomplished author who began her writing career as a travel magazine contributor. Her visits to many rural areas of British Columbia were…
Read more #897 On the road with Rosemary
Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood: A Memoir of a Past Lost and Found by Wayson Choy Toronto: Penguin Random House, 2018 (Penguin Modern Classics); first published by Viking Penguin, 1999 $21.00 / 9780735234666 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * When I was six years old, ostensibly as a non sequitur, I announced, “I’m English!” to every…
Read more #875 Chinese but not Chinese
Craigdarroch: The Story of Dunsmuir Castle by Terry Reksten Victoria: Orca Books, 2019 (first published by Orca Books, 1987; reprinted 1994, 1997, and 2000) $16.95 / 9781459823846 Reviewed by Matthew Downey * This new printing of the late Terry Reksten’s Craigdarroch: The Story of Dunsmuir Castle provides to a new generation of readers a short…
Read more #873 A castle for all Victorians
Ginger: The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin by Susan Mayse Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2020; first published by Harbour, 1990 $28.95 / 9781550170184 Reviewed by Dan Hinman-Smith * We’re all working men here, And we drink Lucky Beer, Do we hold a grudge? You bet. — Gordon Carter, “The Day They Shot Ginger Down”…
Read more #848 The ballad of Ginger Goodwin
Robert Service: The True Adventures of Yukon’s Favourite Bard by Elle Andra-Warner Victoria: Heritage House, 2020 (first published as Robert Service: A Great Canadian Poet’s Romance with the North, Altitude Publishing, 2004) $9.95 / 9781772033311 Reviewed by William R. Morrison * As an experiment in the lasting influence of poetry in this country, I thought…
Read more #831 Don’t mention the Yukon Poet
Kelly Black reviews two books: Henry & Self: An English Gentlewoman at the Edge of Empire by Kathryn Bridge Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum Press, 2019 (first published by Sono Nis Press, 1996) $22.95 / 9780772672612 * By Snowshoe, Buckboard and Steamer: Women of the British Columbia Frontier by Kathryn Bridge Victoria: Royal British Columbia…
Read more #776 Five women at the edge of empire
Gold Creeks and Ghost Towns in British Columbia by N.L. (Bill) Barlee Surrey: Hancock House, 2018. First published serially by Canada West Publications, 1970-72; first published in a single volume by Hancock, 1980, reprinted 1984, 1988, etc. $29.95 / 9780888399885 Reviewed by Harold Rhenisch * The mainland of British Columbia was created hurriedly as a…
Read more #752 Updating Bill Barlee
The Fourth World: An Indian Reality by George Manuel and Michael Posluns (foreword by Vine Deloria Jr., afterword by Doreen Manuel, introduction by Glen Coulthard) Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2019 (first published by Collier Macmillan Canada, 1974) $24.95 (U.S.) / 9781517906061 Reviewed by Chris Arnett * When I taught in the First Nations studies…
Read more #746 An early Indigenous advocate
A Year on the Wild Side: A West Coast Naturalist’s Almanac by Briony Penn Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2019 (second edition; first published by TouchWood, 1997) $26.00 / 9781771512671 Reviewed by Luanne Armstrong * I love to walk and often when I do, I stop often and look under my feet, through the forest, into the…
Read more #696 Handbook of west coast nature
Those Born at Koona: The Totem Poles of the Haida Village Skedans, Haida Gwaii by Carolyn and John Smyly Surrey: Hancock House, 2018 (first published 1973) $29.95 / 9780888391018 Reviewed by Dan Savard First published Sept. 27, 2018 * In 1957, John Smyly (1924-2002) was hired as carpenter by the Provincial Museum of British Columbia…
Read more #385 The carpenter of Koona