“In the late 1990s and 20-naughts, Stan and I lived six blocks apart in Victoria’s James Bay neighbourhood. Stan and Janet’s house on South Turner Street became a modern annex to Dorothy Burritt’s Suite Two. There was a guarantee of good company, good talk, and cups of tea—and films to watch in the big back bedroom, the Fox screening room. (I like to think of it as “The Stanley Theatre.”)” Dennis J. Duffy contributes an essay about trailblazing filmmaker, the late Stanley Fox.
“Her garments are not mere adornments; they are declarations of cultural pride, visual manifestations of a living tradition.” Amy Tucker reviews Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread, by Dorothy Grant (in collaboration with the Haida Gwaii Museum) (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $50 / 9781773272412
“In great detail, and having undertaken a mountain of research, Peter Smith has written a definitive work. At more than 350 pages with bibliography and notes it may be the biggest book in terms of length venerable Heritage House Publishing has ever brought out.” Steven Brown reviews Mining Camp Tales of the Silvery Slocan: A History of British Columbia’s Silver Rush, by Peter Smith (Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2025) $34.95 / 9781772035391
“[They] have compiled a remarkable collection of archived photographs, denoting and describing the settler culture of an earlier immigration boom, centering around a growing population of Vancouver Island: the Comox Valley.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Step Into Wilderness: A Pictorial History of Outdoor Exploration in and around the Comox Valley, by Deborah Griffiths, Christine Dickinson, Judy Hagen, Catherine Siba, and photography editor Ernst Vegt (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2020) $39.95 / 978550178937
“Fisher and Dickinson worked together for decades to preserve the history of Atlin. Tales, Trials and Triumphs makes a valuable contribution to this preservation. Though the book is largely a collection of photographs, its text is substantial and substantive, complementing and explaining the hundreds of black & white and colour photos and maps.” Howard MacDonald Stewart reviews Tales, Trials and Triumphs: Echoes of Atlin, by Kate Fisher and Christine Dickinson (Atlin: Atlin Historical Society, 2025) $50 / 9781069075604
“Mather, who has worked at Fort Edmonton and Barkerville and in 1984 became manager and curator of the Historic O’Keefe Ranch, is well placed to write on his subject. He is able to draw on the O’Keefe archives and his O’Keefe family contacts, including the Indigenous descendants, to assemble a highly detailed account.” Ian Pooley reviews The O’Keefes of O’kanagan: The Families of O’Keefe Ranch, by Ken Mather (Victoria: Heritage House, 2025) $34.95 / 9781772035377
“But make no mistake—the incorporation into federal and British Columbia laws of the principles of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the recent recognition of Haida title and the Heiltsuk establishment of a constitution are not merely rumblings. They and other recent events represent a tectonic shift that will have profound legal and social implications. The results need not be catastrophic, as some might fear, but they will certainly be disruptive.” Richard Butler reviews Indigenous Intellectual Property: An Interrupted Intergenerational Conversation by Val Napoleon, Rebecca Johnson, Richard Overstall and Debra McKenzie (eds.) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2024) $32.95 / 9781487558222 & Creating Indigenous Property: Power, Rights and Relationships by Angela Cameron, Sari Graben and Val Napoleon (eds.)(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020) $45.95 / 9781487523824
“At a time when Canadians are cancelling their vacations to the US at a rate never before seen in history, and looking for alternatives, Pacific Palate is the answer. It’s a foodie guidebook for one of the most beautiful places in Canada. It’s an invitation to slow down, sip, savour, appreciate, ask questions, and indulge your curiosity.” Rebecca Coleman reviews Pacific Palate: Food Artisans of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands (2nd edition), by Don Genova (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025) $28 / 9781771514262
“About thirty-five folks milled around two book tables that had been transformed to platforms for food trays. Attendees, both authors and members of the public alike, scanned the titles on the shelves, Canadian authors highlighted with signage. And of course many chatted around the table of honour that featured the finalists’ books themselves.” Trevor Marc Hughes reports from Book Warehouse on Broadway in Vancouver.
“Milk Into Cheese brings cheesemaking to life, with Asher’s passion for teaching and his engaging style. Whether or not one agrees with his approach, these pages offer plenty of fodder for contemplation, especially regarding the politics of cheese, ideas that will hopefully spark discussion.” Trish Bowering reviews Milk Into Cheese: The Foundations of Natural Cheesemaking Using Traditional Concepts, Tools, and Techniques, by David Asher (New York: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2024) $75 / 9781603588874
“The newspapers of our day seem to be in disarray, crumbling from lack of readers and funding. Struggling to continue while the government attempts to step in and help. There is always apprehension when a powerful organization steps in offering financial assistance since news organizations know there is usually a caveat.” Jeffrey Stychin reviews Tomorrow’s News: How to Fix Canada’s Media, by Marc Edge (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2024) $21 / 9781554202140
“Many might think of Rodger Touchie as the publisher at Heritage House based in Victoria, but he is also a published history writer. Some of his titles include Bear Child: The Life and Times of Jerry Potts, Edward S. Curtis: Above the Medicine Line, and Vancouver Island: Portrait of a Past…” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview segment with publisher, and writer of BC history titles, Rodger Touchie.
“Joseph’s book is more than a field guide to plants. It reflects her philosophy and love of nature.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews Held By The Land: A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness, by Leigh Joseph (New York: Wellfleet Press, 2023) $24.99 / 9781577152941 & Held by the Land Deck: 45 Ways to Use Indigenous Plants for Healing and Nourishment, by Leigh Joseph (New York: Wellfleet Press, 2024) $19.99 / 9781577154440
“Gumboots in the Straits is a book of poignant nostalgia, even romance, evoking the BC coast as experienced by men now in their 70s and 80s. It was a special time and place of beauty, serenity, opportunity, and adventure for those attracted to the sea, boats, and closeness to nature.” Tom Koppel reviews Gumboots in the Straits: Nautical Adventures from Sointula to the Salish Sea, edited by Lou Allison with Jane Wilde (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $26 / 9781773861548
“Stunningly and dismayingly, for a village that revels in the memory of Ginger Goodwin and its progressive values, Cumberland has never developed a co-housing project. It now struggles with social housing, and has instead enabled the sprawl of energy inefficient big-pipe developments of big ‘little boxes’ that are locally unaffectionately known as ‘Little Alberta.'” Loÿs Maingon reviews A Place Called Cumberland, by Rhonda Bailey (ed.) and The Cumberland Museum and Archives (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $25 / 9781773272511
“Mynett has dug deeply into HBC logs and personal journals to bring us this story of harsh competition and survival in a land of often unbearable cold and danger.” Ron Verzuh reviews A Gentlemen of Considerable Talent: William Brown and the Fur Trade, 1811-1827, by Geoff Mynett (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $26 / 9781773861524
“Long before this uncertain time of looming tariffs, which would include Canadian books, I felt deeply that it was important to support and promote British Columbia authors. As a nonfiction author, my dream was to create a book contest open to BC authors both traditionally and self-published.” Cathalynn Labonté-Smith writes about the 2025 Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society Awards being hosted in Gibsons this coming August.
“At 60 years old, the Comox Valley Writers Society (CVWS) might just be the oldest writing society in the province. To celebrate the milestone, Terrance James decided to document this niche history…before memory of the early days was lost forever.” Dave Flawse interviews author Terrance James, author of History of the Comox Valley Writers Society: 60th Anniversary 1964-2024
“This important book spans five decades and a global geography. In its ten chapters, historical geographer and professor emeritus at York University, James R. Gibson weaves together the complex economic and transportation history of the maritime fur trade along the northwest coast of North America in a remarkable study.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews the revised edition of Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: Voices of the Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841, by James R. Gibson (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) $47.95 / 9780228007319
“The absence of further information is both liberating and frustrating at the same time. On the liberating side of that coin, it is a pleasure to flip through the book wondering what the next page will bring. The purely visual experience allows me to focus on personal familiar favourites, unburdened by any knowledge or misconceptions (apart from my own).” Wayne Norton reviews Classic Photographs of Song and Dance and British Columbia, by Bradford Critchley (Vancouver: South Blossom Books, 2024) $18.49 / 9798326042392
