“Trained in visual art … FitzGerald arrived in Victoria in March 2020 having made her decision to sketch and write about the city before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada and beyond. The focus of the book is ‘on the life pulse of the city of Victoria that kept on going in spite of it.'” Mary Ann Moore reviews Hand Drawn Victoria: An Illustrated Tour in and around BC’s Capital City, by Emma FitzGerald (Toronto: Appetite [Penguin Random House], 2024) $19.95 / 9780525611042
“Going to Seed is prefaced with an introduction that effectively situates the reader around Neville’s central thesis— consider what ‘being constantly occupied’ does to both an individual’s quality of life and the collective health of a community, society, and natural environment.” Natalie Virginia Lang reviews Going to Seed: Essays on Idleness, Nature, & Sustainable Work, by Kate J. Neville (Regina: University of Regina Press, 2024) $30.95 / 9781779400000
A debut novella, in “some ways a mini-version of the classic Great Canadian Novel,” is “also a haunting subversion of that same overdone CanLit subgenre.”—Daniel Gawthrop reviews Yellow Barks Spider, by Harman Burns (Regina: Radiant Press, 2024) $22.00 / 9781998926190
“…British Columbia’s Songs of the Southern Interior, has Bartlett following in the footsteps of his mentor. The journey shows what time-consuming and labour-intensive efforts are required for such a venture. Bartlett describes his new book as “a companion” to the [Phil] Thomas memoir. He has followed the pattern established by Thomas by travelling widely and actively seeking material ‘made by ordinary people, in ordinary language, for pleasure and not for profit.'” Wayne Norton reviews British Columbia’s Songs of the Southern Interior & Phil Thomas and The Songs of British Columbia by Jon Bartlett (Vancouver: Vancouver Folk Song Society, 2024) $20.00 / 9780987725523
A note from Richard Mackie, publisher, The British Columbia Review. * Dear friends, supporters, and readers, On behalf of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of The British Columbia Review, I must mention our pressing need for continuing financial support from our reading community. We make this request for private donations annually to keep the… Read more BC Review Annual Fundraiser, 2024
Debut book, a memoir, chronicles a typical middle-class suburban upbringing that’s followed by years of filling an existential “black hole” with harmful choices. —Carellin Brooks reviews Sunrise Over Half-Built Houses: Love, Longing and Addiction in Suburbia, by Erin Steele (Qualicum Beach: Dagger Editions, 2024) $26.00 / 9781773861500
Memorable debut poetry collection offers “poetry of the ordinary” while also examining masculinity and personal ghosts. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Little Bit Die, by Jason Emde (Barrie: Bolero Bird, 2023) $20.00 / 9781775330073
Reissued edition of the acclaimed, award-winning volume also reflects on the pandemic and MAID.—Jodi Lundgren reviews In the Slender Margin: The Intimate Strangeness of Death and Dying, by Eve Joseph (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2023) $22.00 / 9781772142150
“Mahtani is truly aiming to accomplish a lot with May it Have a Happy Ending and the threads of family, illness, work, and other elements take their turns in the spotlight, then drift through the background, reminding us that we are always composed of a range of tales, that nothing is exclusive or simple or from which we are easily healed.” Catherine Owen reviews May it Have a Happy Ending: A Memoir of Finding My Voice as My Mother Lost Hers, by Minelle Mahtani (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2024) $34.95 / 9780385675208
“Into his own remarkable life story, he manages to also weave world events in history over the past century, including many human conflicts, criminal justice reform and his own personal reflections as he travels the world from Canada to the United Kingdom, Germany, Uganda, and the Middle East.” Valerie Green reviews Boxing The Compass: A Life of Seafaring, Music, and Pilgrimage by Michael L. Hadley (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $29.95 / 9781772034738
“In clearly laid out chapters from Prospect to Policy to Partnership, Schouls describes the steps taken in many negotiations to articulate the positions of numerous peoples, all with different land claims, cultures, languages, and histories.” Linda Rogers reviews The Spaces In Between: Indigenous Sovereignty within the Canadian State by Tim Schouls (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2024) $74.95 / 9781487587406
A boldly illustrated kids book in memoir form is “a simple, heartwarming story that offers life lessons to the young—and perhaps to older readers as well.” —Ron Verzuh reviews Adventures in Desolation Sound, by Grant Lawrence (illustrated by Ginger Ngo) (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $24.95 / 9781990776878
“What an odyssey her life has been! When you think of her beginnings in mid-century Romania and Israel, her narrow escape from perilous situations, and her good fortune, which she has fully utilized, it is one of those stories that can be told again and again.” Christina Johnson-Dean looks back on the life and art of Vancouver-based Pnina Granirer.
Terrific essay collection covers agri-business, beans on toast, a century-old family recipe for trifle, gender politics, potatoes, and a whole lot more.
—Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence, by Andrea Bennett (Toronto: ECW Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781770411
“Harrington devotes a separate chapter to each of the fifteen largest islands, namely Gabriola, Thetis, Salt Spring, North and South Pender, Saturna, Mayne, Galiano, Hornby, Denman, Quadra, Cortes, Savary, Bowen, Gambier, and Lasqueti, in that order.” Jack Little reviews Voices for the Islands: Thirty Years of Nature Conservation on the Salish Sea
by Sheila Harrington (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $34.95 / 9781772034929
“There’s an entire library of books about the marvels of a province that so many put at the bottom of their vacation bucket lists, certainly too many to cite here. But a few recent titles in the not-so-often-reviewed list caught my eye.” Stephen Hume reviews On the Trail: 50 Years of Engaging with Nature by Langley Field Naturalists (Surrey: Hancock House, 2023) $19.95 / 9780888397591, Gumboot Guys: Nautical Adventures on British Columbia’s North Coast by Lou Allison and Jane Wilde, (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2023) $26 / 9781773861180, Fried Eggs and Fish Scales: Tales from a Sointula Troller by Jon Taylor (Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 2024) $24.95 / 9781990776656 & Backpacking on Vancouver Island: The Essential Guide to the Best Multi-Day Trips and Day Hikes by Taryn Eyton (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2024) $26.95 / 9781778400100
“After reading McDonald’s memoir…I found him refreshingly spontaneous and unpredictable…I knew from an interview last year focused on his nonfiction book, The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today’s Technology, that he’s one of the most contagiously positive and enthusiastic people I’ve ever met…” Cathalynn Labonté-Smith interviews Bob McDonald, author of his memoir Just Say Yes (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2024) $34.95 / 9781771624206
“Crossing the River is the author’s personal journey of atonement – coming to terms with her birthright of white privilege. The book gives voice to a different narrative of Canada’s history and offers personal insight into the meaning of reconciliation.” Sage Birchwater reviews Crossing the River: An Unsettling Memoir by Sandra Hayes-Gardiner (Calgary: BixBooks, 2023) $20 / 9781777296759
“So, he transplants himself to a new life, a new take on things. How many of us would like to do the same if we only had the courage?” Harvey De Roo reviews The Road to Appledore: or How I Went Back to the Land Without Ever Having Lived There in the First Place, by Tom Wayman (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $26.95 / 9781990776632
“The emphasis on our human ‘neuroplasticity’ or the ability of the nervous system to alter its functions and responses following injury, ends up giving the most accurate approach to why the pain occurs, while offering hope for possible re-configurings of its pertinacity, if not resolutions.” Catherine Owen reviews The Pain Project: A Couple’s Story of Confronting Chronic Pain, by Kara Stanley with Simon Paradis (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2024) $26.95 / 9781771648400
