“Instead of labeling foods, her philosophy is to focus in on the positive: what can you add to your plate/diet that is going to make you feel better, rather than focusing on what you ‘shouldn’t’ eat (which, let’s face it, just makes our brains want it more).” Rebecca Coleman reviews Plant Magic: A Celebration of Plant-Based Cooking for Everyone by Desiree Nielsen (Toronto: Penguin Random House, 2024) $34.00 / 9780735244900
A poet “at the height of his powers” meditates on his literary tradition, provincial history, and aging. —Harold Rhenisch reviews The Capital City of Autumn, by Tim Bowling (Hamilton: Wolsak and Wynn, 2024) $20.00 / 9781989496862
“Don Munday and his wife Phyllis Munday are best known as first generation west coast pioneers in mountaineering, but Don was also a fine writer. ” Ron Dart reflects on several aspects of mountaineering life in his “Three Missives from the Peaks”
Political nail-biter spans three continents, delves into brutal realpolitik, and features a plot that requires a reader’s “concentrated effort.” —Valerie Green reviews The Black State, by John Delacourt (Surrey: Now or Never Publishing, 2024) $19.95 / 9781989689608
An exuberant experimental novel with some “lustrous little thought diamonds” also features abundant and frustrating “anarchy in sentences.” —Peter Babiak reviews The Apple in the Orchard, by Brian Dedora (Gananoque: Guernica Editions, 2024) $22.95 / 9781771838603
Pervaded with sadness, a novelist’s sobering debut story collection examines the disappointments of romantic relationships. —Candace Fertile reviews Death by a Thousand Cuts: Stories, by Shashi Bhat (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2024) $24.95 / 9780771095115
“Every page of this beautifully presented book of images takes me home to the Kootenays with colourful remembrances of growing up amidst the old barns and discarded tractors.” Ron Verzuh reviews Abandoned Kootenays: Abandoned Buildings, Old Barns, Phantom Signs, Rusty Relics by Keith G. Powell (Cranbrook: Wild Horse Creek Press, 2023) $34.95 / 978177828220
“Taking into account all the studies of humanity Davis has done throughout his career, his pointing out the adaptability of human beings across the ages is a potent tonic for our collective cynicism and despair.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Beneath the Surface of Things: New and Selected Essays by Wade Davis (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2024) $36.95 / 9781778400445
Debut poems and capitalist criticism in the form of “intricate napkin doodles,” they are “spectacular gestures but not always particularly easy or comfortable reads.” —Harold Rhenisch reviews Tomorrow is a Holiday, by Hamish Ballantyne (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2024) $16.00 / 9781554202089
“[A]ccessible, literal, and often essential writing in lyrical form about the value of living in remote areas, the vitality of other species, and a vision for a more aware and rooted future.” —Catherine Owen reviews How Can You Live Here?, by Tom Wayman (Okotoks: Frontenac House, 2024) $19.95 / 9781989466698
“Judy LeBlanc has written a courageous memoir through interconnected pieces of prose that honour her Scottish and Coast Salish matrilineal heritage.” Mary Ann Moore reviews Permission to Land: A Memoir of Loss, Discovery, and Identity by Judy LeBlanc (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781773861357
A “zippy marvel of truth bombs,” the novel captures the yearning of adolescence “with hyper-specificity, on-point sonic references, and zero condescension.” —Jessica Poon reviews Sugar Kids, by Taslim Burkowicz (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2024) $24.00 / 9781773636757
“It has helped me realize just how insignificant life is, but also how complex, beautiful, and special it is all at the same time.” Jeffrey Stychin reviews Cosmic Wonder: Our Place in the Epic Story of the Universe by Nathan Hellner-Mestelman (Montreal: Linda Leith Publishing, 2024) $24.95 / 9781773901596
In which “two astute chroniclers of pop culture … explore the fun and the monstrosity of our everyday entertainments.” —Carellin Brooks reviews You’re Gonna Love This, by Dina Del Bucchia (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772016123 and Jump Scare, by Daniel Zomparelli (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772016109
“In putting together pain, loss, and good feeling, the poems articulate a human capacity for gear shifting amidst dissonance—however imperfect.” —Marguerite Pigeon reviews Fine, by Matt Rader (Madeira Park: Nightwood Editions, 2024) $19.95 / 9780889714663
“Certainly, nature enthusiasts and those who enjoy the spiritual connection to all wildlife will relish this very informative and educational book.” Valerie Green reviews Wildlife Congregations: A Priest’s Year of Gaggles, Colonies and Murders by the Salish Sea by Laurel Dykstra (Surrey: Hancock House Publishers, 2024) $24.95 / 9780888397539
Grimness, marvellous one-liners, complex characterization, and expert pacing turn a crime thrillerl into “a good, downright scathing read.” —Jessica Poon reviews Ocean Drive, by Sam Wiebe (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $24.95 / 9781990776694
“We get the whole sensory shebang with beer and farts, ‘bad feet and stinky pits’; the real feel of being on the road in a hardcore era when everyone was young.” Catherine Owen reviews Around the World with Mr. Chi Pig: a memorial by Chris Walter (New Westminster: GFY Press, 2023) $31.00 / 9781927053393
Poet’s third volume delves into the poignant memories of an observant child whose father faced “impossible problems.” —Mary Ann Moore reviews Midway, by Kayla Czaga (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2024) $21.99 / 9781487012601
“He went from penniless ex-British Navy man to influential roles in the new colony increasing his annual salary with each step up.” Ron Verzuh reviews The Eventful Life of Philip Hankin: Worldwide Traveller and Witness to British Columbia’s Early History by Geoff Mynett (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2023) $26.00 / 9781773861197