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The Old Norse world, rewoven

Epic poetry that’s a “respectful, evocative, beautiful even, and artful” reimagining of premodern Scandinavia magic. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Sigrene’s Bargain with Odin, by Zoë Landale (Toronto: Inanna Publications, 2023)
$19.95 / 9781771339681

Where we jump forward to…

Canadian scholar and essayist Thomas Girard takes us into the future of typography, asking “How does typography play a role in what’s coming? There’s no better way, in my mind, than to talk to the experts.” Thomas Girard writes the essay Where we jump forward to…

Ending the dubious curse – an essay

New Westminster writer and essayist Daniel Gawthrop presents a strong argument as to why “now that the Canucks are facing their first legitimate playoff round in nine years, there’s extra motivation to finally bring the Stanley Cup to Vancouver.”

Bright lessons for young minds

With these colourful tales, young readers (or listeners) can discover, learn, and enjoy. —Ginny Ratsoy reviews Salma Joins the Team, by Danny Ramadan (illustrated by Anna Bron) (Toronto: Annick Press, 2024) $24.99 / 9781773218281 and Not a Smiley Guy, by Polly Horvath (illustrated by Boris Kulikov) (Toronto: Margaret Ferguson Books, 2024) $25.99 / 9780823449873

Fighting for equal status

“Why would a woman become a soldier, specifically a male soldier?” Phyllis Reeve reviews Sisters in Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium by Julie Wheelwright (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2020) $32.50 / 9781472838001

Reverence, diligence, duty

A “biodiverse” poet offers advice, wake-up calls, and calls to action in an inspired and passionate volume. —Mary Ann Moore reviews Hazard, Home, by Christine Lowther (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $20.00 / 9781773861241

‘A place worth fighting for’

“‘It became a philosophical/legal statement about the land. I hope it reaches out to Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences and will inform people going forward with reconciliation.’” Sage Birchwater reviews Lha Yudit’ih We Always Find a Way: Bringing the Tsilhqot’in Title Case Home by Lorraine Weir, with Chief Roger William (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2023) $35 / 9781772013825

Radio signals and a ‘fatal flapper’

This fast-paced murder mystery with a “wonderfully wry” tone is “great fun.” It’s also an “animated and sharp” glimpse of Vancouver’s social landscape, circa 1929. —W.H. New reviews Mr. Good-Evening, by John MacLachlan Gray (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2024) $34.94 / 9781771623957

A father’s secrets

“Much of this memoir is about a daughter’s obsessive search for her father’s secrets in his political, professional, and personal life.” Peter Hay reviews Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality – A Family Memoir by Helga Hatvany (Virginia: Mascot Books, 2022) $23.63 / 9781645439820

A ‘portrait of the artist as a young woman’

Montreal in the late 1940s is the backdrop for appealing portraits of young women navigating convention and discovering themselves. —Bill Paul reviews A Real Somebody, by Deryn Collier (Seattle: Lake Union Publishing, 2023) $15.70 / 9781662512643

It’s all in your head?

“Still, this is a pleasant memoir that teaches about medicine…and it also reveals one man’s journey to neurosurgery, fuelled originally by his interest in the brain.” Sheldon Goldfarb reviews The Tenth Nerve: A Brain Surgeon’s Stories of the Patients Who Changed Him by Chris Honey, MD (Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2023) $23.00 ISBN 9781039001183

Earhart: poet, go-getter, everywoman

An “archaeologist-poet” celebrates, honours, and meditates on a feminist pioneer. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Lady Bird, by Kerry Gilbert (Holstein: Exile Editions, 2023) $19.95 / 9781990773105

Connecting passions with music

“Andrea Warner has written a provocative, lucid, and fierce book of deep connection.” Catherine Owen reviews Rise up and Sing! Power, Protest and Activism in Music by Andrea Warner with illustrations by Louise Reimer (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2023) $26.95 / 9781771648981

Enchanted by evolution

“Beyond acceptance it is the mentorship of Ian MacTaggart Cowan, whose connection to Peter Larkin that provides Grant with financial support for his first evolutionary research project on an uninhabited island of the Tres Marias off the Mexican coast.” Dr. Loys Maingon reviews Enchanted by Daphne: The Life of an Evolutionary Naturalist by Peter R. Grant (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023) $44.00 / 9780691246246

‘What is credible hope, in this place?’

Highly recommended novella presents “a humane vision from an imagined future, of the potential that arises from valuing connection and collaboration in and with place.” —Dana McFarland reviews Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell (Hamilton: Stelliform Press, 2022) $19.00 / 9781777682323

‘Reaffirming Tlingit customs and tradition’

“Tlingit participants and scholars, Kan tells us, worked together as equals and their writing is aimed at benefiting source communities through the repatriation of knowledge.” Bruce Granville Miller reviews Sharing our Knowledge: The Tlingit and their Coastal Neighbors by Sergei Kan, with Steve Henrikson (eds.) (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023)
$60.95 / 9781496236883

‘To go north and missionize’

“In this present book, Ross has himself embarked on a mission, in the Christian sense. It has been a mission of love in which he engages in re-missionizing his own denomination to a better understanding of its historical relations with the Indigenous people whom the Northland Mission set out to reach.” Richard Butler reviews The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather: the Struggle for Indigenous Pentecostalism in Canada by Aaron A.M. Ross (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023) $39.95 ISBN 9780228017660

‘A shuffling of expectations’

Romance novel stands out for its approachable characters and inclusion of real-world problems. —Myshara Herbert-McMyn reviews The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch, by Jacqueline Firkins (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2023) $18.00 / 9781250836526

A resource for outdoor adventure

“The book features over 150 campgrounds, listed alphabetically, with clear maps and detailed directions.” Amy Tucker reviews Camping British Columbia, the Rockies, and the Yukon: The Complete Guide to Government Park Campgrounds, 9th Edition by Jayne Seagrave (Victoria: Heritage House, 2023) $29.95 / 9781772033991

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