Destination Hikes In and Around Southwestern British Columbia: swimming holes, mountain peaks, waterfalls and more by Stephen Hui, with a foreword by Cecilia Point Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2021 $24.95 / 9781771645300 Reviewed by Ron Dart * I have before me a few first edition books (collectors’ items I assume) that were pioneering guide books in…
Read more 1264 Affirming the trekking tradition
The Day the World Stops Shopping: How ending consumerism saves the environment and ourselves by J.B. MacKinnon Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Vintage Canada), 2021 $32.95 / 9780735275539 Reviewed by Brian Harvey * On October 14, 2021, The Day the World Stops Shopping: How ending consumerism saves the environment and ourselves, by J.B. MacKinnon, reviewed here…
Read more 1247 The less, the merrier
David Brownstein reviews two books: Highballer: True Tales from a Treeplanting Life by Greg Nolan Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2019 $26.95 / 9781550178685 * Slashburner: Hot Times in the British Columbia Woods by Nicholas Raeside Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2020 $24.95 / 9781550178982 * After a brief eclipse by pipelines, British Columbia’s forests are again…
Read more 1239 Fire and seedlings
Graeme Wynn reviews four books: The Imperilled Ocean: Human Stories From a Changing Sea by Laura Trethewey Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2020 $22.95 / 9781773101156 * Passion and Persistence: Fifty Years of the Sierra Club in British Columbia by Diane Pinch Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2019 $12.99 / 9781550178814 * Hope Matters: Why Changing the…
Read more 1202 Hothouse Earth: The future is now
Deep and Sheltered Waters: The History of Tod Inlet by David R. Gray, with a foreword by Nancy J. Turner and Robert D. Turner Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum Press, 2020 $29.95 / 9780772672568 Reviewed by Matthew Downey * With Deep and Sheltered Waters: The History of Tod Inlet, David Gray provides an account, both…
Read more 1192 The histories of Tod Inlet
The Object’s the Thing: The Writings of Yorke Edwards, A Pioneer of Heritage Interpretation in Canada by Richard Kool and Robert A. Cannings (editors) Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum Press, 2021 $24.95 / 9780772678515 * Craigdarroch Castle in 21 Treasures by Moira Dann, with an afterword by Bruce Davies Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2021 $20.00 /…
Read more 1179 History galleries & robber barons
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard Toronto: Penguin Random House (Allen Lane), 2021 $34.95 / 9780735237759 Reviewed by Luanne Armstrong * What a truly brilliant book. What a gift to the world both the book and its writer are. I came out of this book so happy it…
Read more 1175 Communication not competition
Heart Work by Susan McCaslin Victoria: Ekstasis Editions, 2021 $24.95 / 9781771714020 Reviewed by Jessica Walters * While standing in an eco-forest located just outside of Fort Langley, I read one of McCaslin’s poems. Even on a hot day, the Blaauw Eco Forest was cool under a layered canopy of hemlock, western red cedars and…
Read more 1161 If poetry could save the planet
Heart of the Coast: Biodiversity and Resilience on the Pacific Edge by Tyee Bridge, with a foreword by Nancy Knowlton Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2020 $37.99 / 9781773271156 Reviewed by John Gellard * Tyee Bridge’s Heart of the Coast, Biodiversity and Resilience on the Pacific Edge is a magnificent book — robust hard cover, excellent…
Read more 1145 Great Bear diversity & antiquity
ESSAY: Stanley Park: The Mirror and the Mask by Jordan Johnston * Stanley Park is a mirror that reflects the desires of those who look in it. On a map, this bright green peninsula stands apart from the city centre, as if held at arm’s length. Vancouver, like any other city, has poverty, and crime,…
Read more 1128 Stanley Park reflections
The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond With Forests and Nature by Peter Wohlleben, translated by Jane Billinghurst Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2021 available June 15, 2021 $32.95 / 9781771646895 Reviewed by Luanne Armstrong * The Heartbeat Of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond With Forests and Nature is both a wonderful and an irritating book….
Read more 1117 The pulse of Białowieża & Kwiakah
This One Wild Life: A Mother-Daughter Wilderness Memoir by Angie Abdou Toronto: ECW Press, 2021 $21.95 / 9781770416000 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Having recently experienced a large number of contemporary memoirs, I have found myself researching and mulling over the characteristics of the genre. How does a memoir differ from an autobiography? The memoir…
Read more 1112 Mulling on memoir & motherhood
Earth 2020: An Insider’s Guide to a Rapidly Changing Planet by Philippe D. Tortell (editor) Cambridge, UK: Open Books Publishers, 2020 £23.95 (U.K.) / 9781783748457 Reviewed by Loys Maingon * I have felt for some time that the universities are getting dangerously like the early church — James Lovelock.[1] As the well-known photography of Edward…
Read more 1099 A measure of change
Birds of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest: A Complete Guide, Second Edition by Richard Cannings, Tom Aversa, and Hal Opperman Victoria: Heritage House, 2020 (first published 2018) $29.95 / 9781772033274 Reviewed by Trevor Carolan * April is upon us and spring birding season is in full readiness position. The next two months promise a…
Read more 1098 ABC to birds of BC
Magdalena, River of Dreams: A Story of Colombia by Wade Davis Toronto: Penguin Random House (Knopf Canada), 2020 $24.95 / 9780735278943 Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart * Another river. I was bowled over years ago by Wade Davis’s One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest (1997), a remarkable book about his youthful…
Read more 1087 The soul & graveyard of Colombia
Watermelon Snow: Science, Art, and a Lone Polar Bear by Lynne Quarmby Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2020 $24.95 / 9780228003595 Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski * Books about climate change are prolific—and for all the alarming reasons that most of us accept. Watermelon Snow, by Lynne Quarmby, is essentially a book about climate change,…
Read more 1076 Reflections on an Arctic voyage
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
ESSAY: Remnants of Sumas Mountain by Natalie Lang For those who came before and those not yet arrived. * And forever before me gleams, The shining city of song, In the beautiful land of dreams. But when I would enter the gate Of that golden atmosphere, It is gone, and I wonder and wait For…
Read more 1071 Remnants of Sumas Mountain
All Fracked Up! The costs of LNG to British Columbia by Alice de Wolff and Delores Broten (editors) Comox: Watershed Sentinel Books, 2020 $30.00 / 9780995328655 Reviewed by John Gellard * “What are you reading?” asked a highly educated neighbour. “A book about fracking,” “What’s fracking?” “How do you heat your house?” “With natural gas.”…
Read more 1038 Welcome to the sacrifice zone
The Fraser: River of Life and Legend by Carol Blacklaws and Rick Blacklaws White Rock: Image West Productions, 2020 $39.95 / 9780994817518 Reviewed by Peter Grant * Of those who raft (and swim) the Mighty Fraser In this album, appealingly balanced between text and pictures, Rick Blacklaws’ photos capture the Fraser River’s fabulous landscapes, especially…
Read more 1027 Tribute to the Fraser River