“After cooking and baking Chef Bruno’s recipes from The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook, I can confidently say that my initial instincts were right: I so enjoyed spending time with this book and making the recipes.” Trish Bowering reviews The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook: Chef Bruno’s Favourite Ingredients, by Bruno Feldeisen (Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2024) $34.95 / 9781770503335
“The absence of further information is both liberating and frustrating at the same time. On the liberating side of that coin, it is a pleasure to flip through the book wondering what the next page will bring. The purely visual experience allows me to focus on personal familiar favourites, unburdened by any knowledge or misconceptions (apart from my own).” Wayne Norton reviews Classic Photographs of Song and Dance and British Columbia, by Bradford Critchley (Vancouver: South Blossom Books, 2024) $18.49 / 9798326042392
“Michael Prokopow, former curator of the Design Exchange, is a cultural historian with a distinguished academic career investigating the varied international streams influencing Western Canadian architects and designers…He is particularly sensitive to the fact that no self-declared Indigenous architects, or clients, are represented in these pages.” Martin Segger reviews Reside: Contemporary West Coast Houses by Michael Prokopow (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $55 / 9781773272634
“What Todd has written and photographed is a riveting, honest book which Bruce Kirkby aptly states in his introduction – examines ‘mortality, meaning and connection’ with a ‘ruthless honesty (which) reminds me at times of Anthony Bourdain on two wheels.'” Isabel Nanton reviews Inside the Belly of an Elephant: A Motorcycle Journey of Loss, Legacy and Ultimate Freedom by Todd Lawson (Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2023) $30 / 9781771605755
“There are about 115 hot springs mentioned in this book, some well-known and easy to access, others much visited but more of a trudge to get to (boat or plane needed), and some more recently discovered and worth the trek to visit. Most of the hot springs discussed in the book give the route to reach the place, fine photographs, and excellent primers and teasers in what will be seen when there.” Ron Dart reviews Hot Springs of Western Canada: A Complete Guide (4th edition) by Glenn Woodsworth & David Woodsworth (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023) $26.95 / 9781990776441
In book form, a current exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario commands attention, draws the eye, and titillates the mind. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Light Years: The Phil Lind Gift, by Adam Welch (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions and Art Gallery of Ontario, 2024) $40.00 / 9781773104393
“With Farrant’s impeccable talent for language, her story is beautifully detailed…This story will bring back memories to all who remember being a teenager in Greater Victoria in the 1960s.” Valerie Green reviews My Turquoise Years: A Memoir (Twentieth Anniversary Edition), by M.A.C. Farrant (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2024) $21.95 / 9781772016369
2024 donors to the British Columbia Review, a thank you from Richard Mackie.
“Whistler Hiking is divided into three main sections with, understandably so, the front stage given to a detailed, visual, and evocative approach to the shorter, medium, and longer treks in the Whistler area.” Ron Dart reviews Whistler Hiking by Marc Bourdon (Squamish: Quickdraw Publications, 2024) $34.95
“In her introduction, Denter herself explains ‘When we find our thing, the thing we’re good at, it’s like a life raft in the stormy sea of life.’ For some of the women she writes about it is writing. For others it is to start a business, to become a photographer, or to act. There are so many excellent examples of women who were driven to do what they simply must.” Valerie Green reviews Bloom Across Canada: 50 Inspiring Conversations by Beka Shane Denter (Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2024) $42.95 / 9781772035001
“I have, for many years, been taken by mountaineers who are also exquisite photographers.” Accomplished climber Ron Dart reviews Aloft: Canadian Rockies Aerial Photography by Paul Zizka (Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2021) $35 / 9781771606929 & Mountains of the Coast: Photographs of Remote Corners of the Coast Mountains by John Baldwin (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 1999) $36.95 / 9781550172133
“Genius loci, roughly translated as ‘spirit of the place,’ … This was the concept explored in the thought-provoking summer exhibition focusing on four modern Westcoast buildings and featured at Victoria’s Wentworth Villa Architectural Heritage Museum. The exhibit was the brainchild of museum curator Ben Clinton-Baker.” Martin Segger reviews the recent exhibition From the Ground, into the Light: Architecture and the Island, 1950-2000, at the Wentworth Villa Architectural Heritage Museum.
“On a recent summer hike along Vancouver Island’s Cowichan River, we enjoyed referring to Collin Varner’s flora pocket guide to keystone species, “keystone” being organisms that define and support an entire ecosystem thus filling a vital ecological niche.” Isabel Nanton reviews 50 Keystone Flora Species of Coastal British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest: A Pocket Guide & 50 Keystone Fauna Species of Coastal British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest: A Pocket Guide by Collin Varner (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772034776 / 9781772034943
“The cover image situates the viewer in a state of uncertainty, nay anxiety, holding our breath and straining to right ourselves vis-à-vis the disorienting photograph. This sets the tone for this aptly named book of photographs.” Ryan Gauvin reviews Delirium by John O’Brian (Vancouver: Delirium Editions, 2024) Limited Edition of 500 / 9781738144808
“These two authors have produced a charming, colourful book that is easy to read and understand for kids of all ages. Children will ‘soon advance from quick after-school snacks and summer picnics to breakfasts in bed and full-course family dinners.'” Valerie Green reviews Let’s Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook by DL Acken and Aurelia Louvet (Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2023) $40 / 97817711514132
“All of the recipes I tried were good. I was a bit hesitant about mixing rhubarb into banana bread, but hey! It was rhubarb season, so I thought I’d try it, and my taste-testers all liked it.” Rebecca Coleman reviews The Side Gardener: Recipes & Notes from My Garden, by Rosie Daykin (Toronto: Appetite by Random House, 2024) $45.00 / 9780525612179
“To See What He Saw is the work of many a decade and a packed tome of MacDonald’s paintings in O’Hara but the text, in this solid and sound book, reveals much about the history of O’Hara, MacDonald’s vision of depicting the weather seasons, mountains, lakes, cabins, and trees (occasionally people) but also the friendships developed when in O’Hara.” Ron Dart reviews To See What He Saw: J.E.H. MacDonald and the O’Hara Years: 1924-1932 by Stanley Munn and Patricia Cucman (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, in collaboration with the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, 2024) $65.00 / 9781773272504
“McCrory argues that the horses, known in Tsilhqot’in culture as qiyus, are ‘a resilient part of the area’s balanced prey-predator ecosystem that predates the arrival of Europeans to the region.’ ” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews The Wild Horses of the Chilcotin: Their History and Future by Wayne McCrory (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023) $39.95 / 9781990776366
“Far too many non-Indigenous books on the North are presented in the ‘front lines of history’ format, with the authors determined to emphasize their path-breaking work, travels, observations, or experiences. Yukon Wanderlust has none of that self-aggrandizement. Their northern activities are described in a matter-of-fact and unexaggerated fashion.” Ken Coates and William R. Morrison review Yukon Wanderlust by Don Barz (Celtic Frog Publishing, 2021) $29.95 / 9781989092415
“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