“‘A lot of us get very devoted to our detectives,’ Juby says. ‘So there’s a little bit of a parasocial relationship with your detective. You sort of glom onto them and think, aaahhh, I’m in the hands of this particular person and I can see the world through their eyes.’ In this case the detective in question is ‘buddhist butler and reluctant investigator Helen Thorpe.'” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview with Nanaimo-based crime fiction writer Susan Juby.
“Considering author and journalist Craig Taylor has had such cosmopolitan addresses as London and New York, and such impressive credentials, such as writing for The Guardian, finding him on the quiet shores of Protection Island just off of Nanaimo is surprising.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview segment with author Craig Taylor, filmed on Protection Island.
“Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa is a co-author, along with many Coast Salish people who added illustrations, writing, and oral history to do with the Coast Salish woolly dog Mutton. The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog is the result, and it has been a very successful book, selling well for weeks at BC bookstores.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview segment with author Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, filmed on Protection Island.
“George is one of those raconteurs. The first half of Barefoot Gringo jumps from one zinger to another, all of them the kind of crowd pleaser recognizable around the social leveller of a table crowded with glasses and almost invisible through smoke.” Harold Rhenisch reviews Barefoot Gringo, by George Bowering (Vancouver: On Point Press, an imprint of UBC Press, 2026) $26.95 / 9780774890786
“With a new book scheduled to be released in the fall, author and curator emeritus at the Royal British Columbia Museum Robert D. Turner is continuing his chronicling of British Columbia’s history of rail and steam. The Steamer SS Moyie: The Biography of the Sweetheart of Kootenay Lake, A Continuing Story Beginning in 1898 is being assembled by Harbour Publishing…” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview segment with historian Robert D. Turner.
“Robin Ward, a graduate of the celebrated Glasgow School of Art and respected architectural critic and author, does justice to that inheritance. He has added to the comprehensive yet accessible guidebooks he has written singly or collaboratively, including on Victoria and Vancouver, in this province. The photography is excellent and selection of buildings and civic statuary or artwork both astute and appropriate to exploring the built environment of Canada’s one-time leading metropolis.” Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe reviews Exploring Montréal: 151 Best Buildings, by Robin Ward (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026) $29.95 / 9781771624619
“As many visitors to Antarctica have remarked, time spent witnessing the stunning abundance of life beyond the polar zone of extreme cold waters and the sheer beauty of that continent is life-changing. Blight witnesses that unlike her experience of previous research sites, which include the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica forever changed her ‘understanding of the world.’ This is her account of that break from ‘The World, The Real World, The World,’ as she and most scientists working in Antarctica refer to the outside world beyond the polar seas. Antarctica is her discovery and recovery back to a saner place of nature, no matter how harsh. It is a place where life meets death and grows from it.” Loÿs Maingon reviews Where The Earth Meets The Sky: A Story of Penguins, People and Place in Antarctica, by Louise K. Blight (Toronto: Doubleday Canada / Bond Street Books, 2026) $38 / 9780385702102
“If they are a choir, Genni Gunn, an Italo-Canadian poet and musician, translator of this volume, lifts it out of sea narrative to angel choir. Her sensibilities, like Maraini’s, bring harmony to the deliverance of a poetically nuanced story to universality.” Linda Rogers reviews The Ship for Kobe, by Dacia Maraini, translated by Genni Gunn (Hamilton: Guernica Editions, 2025) $22.95 / 9781778490019
“Baxter had achieved years of international success for volleyball and women’s sports in general, and was celebrated around the world for her success, but at the young age of twenty-nine had been tossed aside simply because of her sexual orientation. Her internal rage at this unfairness inspired her to become an activist and expose the inequalities and flaws in elite Canadian sports. This book strongly brings out her message of hope for all men and women in sports to strive for success despite the cost.” Valerie Green reviews Outspoken: A Journey from Olympic Athlete to Activist by Betty Baxter (Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2026) $23.95 / 9780889715066
“I had just finished reading Waterfall Hikes in the Canadian Rockies – Volume 1 when I reached for Volume 2 as if drawn by the gravitational pull of cascading water.” Amy Tucker reviews Waterfall Hikes in the Canadian Rockies – Volume 2, by Steve Tersmette (Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2024) $25 / 9781771606882
“While the book may not feature the most extreme, off-the-grid waterfall routes, it is still an excellent reference for experienced hikers. Even for those who have spent decades on the trails, there is always something new to discover, and this book provides a fresh perspective on familiar landscapes.” Amy Tucker reviews Waterfall Hikes in the Canadian Rockies – Volume 1, by Steve Tersmette (Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2023) $25 / 9781771606165
“Food is never merely sustenance; it is narrative layered with memory and meaning. In October 2025, I travelled to Rome and Oxford as part of Simon Fraser University’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program, culminating in a project that combined two themes: Italy in the ancient and modern imagination (with a focus on food history) and life writing (an exploration of how lives are represented across time, genre, and media). I deepened my understanding of the links between food writing, memory, and culture by studying the works of three contemporary authors. Ada Boni (1881-1973), codified Italian home cooking and idealized domesticity during Mussolini’s era; Elizabeth David (1913-1992), a wry aristocrat who sought to liberate postwar Britain from culinary blandness by introducing Mediterranean sensuality; and Patience Gray (1917-2005), an eccentric British artist who followed a vein of marble through Italy with her sculptor partner, documenting rural foodways for posterity. Melanie Monk presents her essay Minestrone and Women’s Lives: A Culinary Palimpsest of Lives Written, Tasted, Remembered.
“On Sunday, the 22nd, we were relaxing and having breakfast outside after a successful day previous in presenting my Tai Chi talk and demo (there’s an irony!), when we heard some anxious buzz from folks in the building that something was going on. At almost same moment, we saw clouds of heavy dark smoke drifting in just past our building and the big shade tree behind us, as if a house or store was on fire nearby.” Author and poet Trevor Carolan reports from Puerto Vallarta on his recent experience.
“Hiking, in her eyes, is not just about covering distance—it is about immersion, presence, and connection. It is about stepping outside daily life and into a world that moves at a different rhythm shaped by glaciers, rivers, and the slow unfurling of alpine blooms.” Amy Tucker reviews Mountain Footsteps: Hikes in the East Kootenay of Southeastern British Columbia (4th ed.), by Janice Strong (Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2025) $35 / 9781771607414
“I had been helping Craig with his book. It also happened that my wife and I had plans to visit the Okanagan for a week in September which corresponded with the dates for the 2025 Okanagan Columbia run. I was very eager to be introduced to Chief Clarence and perhaps even hang out.” Richard Butler reflects on his time attending the 2025 Salmon Celebration.
“A Perfect Day for a Walk by the Water is an excellent example of the mix of observation, reflection, interpretation, and rich language that brings Bill’s books onto the bestseller list time after time.” Marianne Scott reviews A Perfect Day for a Walk by the Water: Exploring Vancouver’s Shores, by Bill Arnott (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781834050201
“BC Ferries indeed proved very popular from the beginning. In fact, the corporation underestimated its popularity. By 1965, seven larger ships were added, all basically the same design, plus three smaller ships for the inter-island routes. By 1970, five million passengers had been carried. By 1979, that number had doubled. Routes had been added, terminals built. Even larger ships were called for.” Steven Brown reviews Coastal Connections: A History of British Columbia Ferries and Passenger Ships, by Derek Hayes (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $50 / 9781998526383
“Trevor Marc Hughes’ The Final Spire, is a history of the ascent of Mount Waddington, whereas Susanna Oreskovic’s Expedition to Mystery Mountain is a personal account of a 2018 reenactment of one of Don and Phyl Munday’s early expeditions to the area. Reenactments of famous climbs have been done in many places. In B.C., such re-creations include Mount Garibaldi near Vancouver and Bugaboo Spire northwest of Invermere. The reenactment of the Munday’s 1926 attempt on Mount Waddington (called ‘Mystery Mountain’ by them) would be a much more serious undertaking.” Glenn Woodsworth reviews Expedition to Mystery Mountain: Adventures of a Bushwhacking Knickerbocker-Wearing Woman, by Susanna Oreskovic (Montreal: Walnut Tree Press, 2021) $24.95 / 9780993918711 & The Final Spire: ‘Mystery Mountain’ Mania in the 1930s, by Trevor Marc Hughes (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781553807223
“When with Jim Wickwire and listening in on the tales of his K2 climb, I was reminded of two Canadians, Jim Haberl and Don Culver who reached the summit of K2 in 1993, Culver dying in the descent. Jim Haberl died when skiing in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in 1999.” Ron Dart recalls his lunch with the accomplished mountaineer, the first American to summit K2, Jim Wickwire.
“If you have dreams of going offshore for an extended voyage, this is the book for you. It’s a well-written, at times poetic, true account of what it takes to traverse the mighty oceans.” Marianne Scott reviews Cape Horn Birthday: Record-Breaking Solo Non-Stop Circumnavigation, by Peter Freeman (Melbourne, FL: Seaworthy Publications, 2018) $26.95 / 9781948494045
