“Jesse Winter, based in Vancouver, has covered wildfires and other climate-related disasters since 2018 for a variety of media. His first experience was that year at Peachland in the Okanagan Valley. He was then a ‘wildfire neophyte’ who had no knowledge of what he was getting into. ‘The sheer volume of what I didn’t know has filled this book.'” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews Wild Fire: Dispatches from a Country Ablaze, by Jesse Winter (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2026) $36.99 / 9781443475822
Cheeky, fun, funny, and sweet, a puzzle-turned-mystery transforms an irritable, short-tempered feline (in a whimsical-drawn world) into an entertaining, albeit crabby, sleuth. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews One Mad Cat: And the Missing Book, by Vicky Fang (Toronto: Candlewick, 2026) $19.99 / 9781536239133
A sultry noir tale set in a Mexican port city circa 1943 involves schemes, repression, acting out, and fifty shades of morally grey characters. It’s “a fast-paced story that combines family scandal, salacious behaviour, and a murder just waiting to happen,” says our reviewer. —Sophia Wasylinko reviews The Intrigue, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Toronto: Del Rey, 2026) $39.99 / 9780593874356
Set in Alberta, a “thoughtful and timely” debut novel offers a “story for everyone, particularly those of us who make up this messy, wonderful, sometimes dysfunctional but very necessary place we call home.” —Trish Bowering reviews Inheritance, by Jane Park (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2026) $26.99 / 9781487013998
“Masuda’s memoir itself takes up most of the space in this slim volume, and reading it transported me to 1945, journeying with this young, displaced soldier whose goal is to either be reunited with his family, living to the north in Sŏngjin, or to cross southward at the 38th parallel to territory controlled by the Americans. What made this a unique reading experience was the personal nature of this piece, written for family and not for publication. It was heartfelt and refreshingly unpolished.” Trish Bowering reviews The Broken Map Home: Escaping Korea, 1945, by Konosuke Masuda (translated by Keiko Honda) (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $22 / 9781773861760
“Like Lester’s other American history graphic novels previously reviewed here, Revolution By Fire and Prophet Against Slavery, the action steams off the page through simply wrought black and white scenes that allow readers to literally feel the ‘electric effects’ of the rebellion and its aftermath.” Ron Verzuh reviews The Black Schooner: Rebellion on the Amistad, A Graphic Novel, by David Lester and Mark Rediker with Paul Buhle (Boston: Beacon Press, 2026) $18.95 / 9780807016909
Delightful PNW-set early chapter book takes a self-described bookworm and aficionado of ‘the great indoors’ to Sunnyside Summer Camp. Farting, vomiting, and serious peril ensue. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Surviving Summer Camp, by Paul Breau (Vancouver: TKI Productions, 2026) $13.99 / 9781777976637
Prolific fantasy and romance author treads into the high-stakes arena of computer hacking and heists… there, opposites attract and infatuation blossoms. The poignancy, sharpness, and fun of the writing and premise is diminished somewhat by repetition, pacing, and characterization. —Sergio Espinosa reviews Love Among Thieves, by Katrina Kwan (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2026) 24.95 / 9781039014107
“Other than Apicius, there were no other cookbooks authored in Europe until the 13th century when they began to appear in local languages. The popularity of cookbook writing began in the 10th century in Baghdad and then spread all over Europe. I’ve found no clues as to what Italians ate before Apicius’ Persian-influenced cookbook De Re Coquinaria.” Edward Henderson contributes his essay, Persian influence on Italian cuisine, written initially as a Graduate Liberal Studies term paper at Simon Fraser University.
Beauty, hope, life, death, despair: a roving, eclectic collection of poems ponders “how people come together via the process of thinking things through” as it reflects “on very hard things like mental health, homelessness, and the sometimes invisible distinctions between life, death, and love.” —Harold Rhensisch reviews Existence In All Its Uncoverable Beauty, by Calvin White (Surrey: Now or Never Publishing, 2026) $19.95 / 9781989689981
“Scholar George M. Johnson just took early retirement from Thompson Rivers University, and has he been productive. Not only is he a Children’s author, but he’s also a screenwriter and playwright. But recently, as he updates The British Columbia Review from the banks of the North Thompson River in Kamloops, it has been his social activism through his songwriting and performing that has defined him, tackling such timely topics as the debt faced by developing nations and the climate crisis facing us all.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview with Kamloops scholar, screenwriter, playwright, Children’s writer….and songwriter…George M. Johnson.
Vancouver Island-set early chapter book tells an “engrossing initiation story”: “Young readers can not only empathize with the protagonist’s sorrow, alienation, and confusion; they can also learn about the collaboration, flexibility, and patience requisite for the growth from innocence to maturity.” —Ginny Ratsoy reviews Eleven Out of Ten, by Stacey Matson (Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2026) $12.99 / 9781039708792
“Gerson does not neglect literary greats like Shakespeare, Dickens, and Longfellow, and also pays tribute to more modern writers like Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood. Although this book is a heavy academic read, themes of humour are also included to lighten the dense and weighty text.” Valerie Green reviews Literary Life After Death: Commemorations of Writers in English-Speaking Canada, by Carole Gerson (Montreal: Concordia University Press, 2026) $34.95 / 9781988111667
Debut book publication—short stories and a novella—features an elliptical style. Despite the promise of some paragraphs and the “fulsome blurbs,” the overall collection is impacted by issues related to pacing and “physicality.” —Alison Acheson reviews Mom Camp: Stories and Novella, by Veronique Darwin (Picton: Assembly Press, 2026) $23.95 / 9781998336319
“Victoria-based historian Michael Layland, for whom this book is a departure in several respects, does a fine job of not only piecing together Philip Hankin’s life using the man’s sometimes sketchy written memoir, but also in associating the major figures and events of the day that have assembled the province we now call home.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Turmoil: The Life & Times of Philip Hankin, by Michael Layland (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025) $35 / 9781771514712
For younger kids and the adults (or siblings/sitters) who read to them, two books charm, amuse, and entice as they tell of serious emotions and a change of scenery. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Camping is a Terrible Idea, by Kirsten Pendreigh (illustrated by Tiffany Everett) (Ann Arbor: Sleeping Bear Press, 2026) $27.99 / 9781534113442 and I Sure Do, by Charles Demers (illustrated by Dorothy Leung) (Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781990598449
A first novel by a prolific poet leaves one critic wanting less and more: “I do not understand The Oversoul Realm at all. I will offer up the possibility that I am too dumb for this book and James is a genius beyond my comprehension. I don’t think that’s it, though.”—Isabella Ranallo reviews The Oversoul Realm, by Candice James (New Westminster: Silver Bow Press, 2026) $18.99 / 9781774034330
“The introduction closes with three words that have stayed with me since I turned the final page: “Let’s get kicking.” With the World Cup having arrived in Vancouver and Toronto, with Canada playing on home soil for the first time in its history, that line reads less like a closing sentiment and more like an opening whistle for something we have spent our whole sporting lives waiting to hear.” Amy Tucker reviews Winning Pitch: The Canadian Men’s Soccer Team at the World Cup and Beyond, by Murray Mollard (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2026) $26.95 / 9781998526598
“Thanh, a prize-winning novelist and memoirist, admitted that media technology wasn’t her strength, but agreed to look at the narrative that had been assembled to that point by other sympathetic activists. She also connected online with Kanafani and swiftly established a bond.” Larry Hannant reviews Pizza Before We Die: An Eyewitness Account in Gaza, by Hassan Kanafani, with Yasuko Thanh (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2026) $19.95 / 9781834050324
Northern Alberta-set novel tells of a bequest of an abandoned, off-the-grid farmhouse (that must be lived in for a year before it can be sold). Who doesn’t like a challenge?!? It’s “a sweet, easy to digest summer novel about coming to understand your own ancestral history,” in our writer’s view. —Kenna Clifford reviews Wildwood, by Elinor Florence (Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2026) $25.99 / 9781668227619
