First published April 25, 2018. The Promise of Water by Judy LeBlanc (Oolichan: 2017) 978-0-88982-320-4 $19.95 tp Review by Caroline Woodward * Judy LeBlanc’s debut collection evokes a tangible sense of place—Vancouver Island—where the sweet fragrance of cedar mingles with the murky odours of damp mould and stale cigarette smoke can be washed away by…
Read more #293 Emotional time bombs
A Legacy of Canadian Art, from Kelowna Collections by Roger H. Boulet Kelowna: The Kelowna Art Gallery, 2017 $15.00 / 9781896749860 Reviewed by Maria Tippett First posted April 23, 2018 * Drawn from eight private collections in Kelowna as well as from the permanent collection of the Kelowna Art Gallery, A Legacy of Canadian Art, from…
Read more #292 Hidden gems in Kelowna
Breaching the Peace: The Site C Dam and a Valley’s Stand against Big Hydro by Sarah Cox, foreword by Alex Neve Vancouver: UBC Press (On Point Press), 2018 $24.95 / 9780774890267 Review by John Gellard First published April 21, 2018 * From UBC Press’s new On Point Press, which aims to “introduce a broad audience…
Read more #291 Disturbing: the Peace
Sitting Shiva on Minto Avenue, by Toots by Erín Moure Vancouver: New Star Books, 2017 $21.00 / 9781554201419 Reviewed by Claire Sicherman First published April 19, 2018 * It is three weeks after the death of her former lover, Paul Émile Savard, when author Erín Moure learns he is dead, and that he died alone…
Read more #290 Grieving with Google
First published April 18, 2018. Mod ‘n Lavender: Salt Spring Island in the ‘60s by John Grain Kelowna: Tadpole Publishing, 2017. $18.95 / 9780973863413 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * For some of us, remembering the 1960s is increasingly hindered by old age and failing memories. A few of us might prefer to forget parts of…
Read more #289 Coming of Age on Salt Spring
Flowing through Time: Stories of Kingfisher and Mabel Lake by Joan Cowan (editor) and Kingfisher History Committee (Jean Clark, Judy Fischer, Diane Hatt, and Sue Saloka) Kelowna: Kettle Valley Graphics, 2017 $25 / 9780995303607 Reviewed by Ken Mather First published April 17, 2018 * Probably the majority of British Columbians have never heard of Mabel…
Read more #288 Mabel Lake-Shuswap memories
A Peakbagger’s Guide to the Canadian Rockies: North by Ben Nearingburg and Eric Coulthard Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2017 $35.00 / 9781771601986 Reviewed by Rod Szasz First published April 15, 2018 * From Rocky Mountain Books comes A Peakbagger’s Guide to the Canadian Rockies: North by research scientist Ben Nearingburg and computer scientist Eric Coulthard,…
Read more #287 Enjoying the rat race
MEMOIR: Endpiece: Recalling New Orphic by Margrith Schraner First published April 13, 2018 * Here Margrith Schraner recalls her twenty years as Associate Editor of The New Orphic Review of Vancouver and Nelson. “I now conceive of ‘Endpiece’ as a caboose—a railway wagon attached to the end of a train. The lights at the back…
Read more #286 New Orphic Review bookend
Explorers of the Maritime Pacific Northwest: Mapping the World through Primary Documents by William L. Lang and James V. Walker Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2016 $108.00 (U.S.) / 9781610699259 Reviewed by David Brownstein First published April 12, 2018 * Unless you are an aspiring armchair sea captain, Explorers of the Maritime Pacific Northwest is a…
Read more #285 Mapping first contacts
First published April 7, 2018. A Field Guide to Insects of the Pacific Northwest by Robert Cannings Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2018. $7.95 / 9781550178340 Reviewed by Norma Kerby * One of the major gaps for the enthusiastic amateur naturalist has been an approachable guide to insects. Robert Cannings’ new field guide goes some distance…
Read more #284 Field Guide to Insects
Views of the Salish Sea: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Change around the Strait of Georgia by Howard Macdonald Stewart Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2017 $39.95 / 9781550178036 Reviewed by Peter Grant First published April 7, 2018 * Howard Macdonald Stewart’s Views of the Salish Sea: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Change around…
Read more #283 Stewart’s Salish Sea
Pacific Reef and Shore: A Photo Guide to Northwest Marine Life from Alaska to Northern California (Revised Second Edition) (First published by Harbour in 2003 as Pacific Reef and Shore: A Photo Guide to Northwest Marine Life) by Rick Harbo Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2017 $12.95 / 9781550177862 Reviewed by Cathy Carolsfeld First published April…
Read more #282 Creatures as teachers
A Temporary Stranger: Homages, Poems, Recollections by Jamie Reid Vancouver: Anvil Books, 2017 $18.00 / 9781772140989 Reviewed by Andrew Parkin First published April 4, 2018 * In a posthumously published collection by Vancouver poet Jamie Reid (1941-2015), there are poems of homage to a number of famous French poets from Baudelaire to Apollinaire, including Reverdy,…
Read more #281 Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Jamie
All the Fine Young Eagles: In the Cockpit with Canada’s Second World War Fighter Pilots (updated and expanded second edition; first published by Stoddart, 1997) by David L. Bashow Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2016 $28.95 / 9781771621359 Reviewed by Howard Hisdal First published April 3, 2018 * In All the Fine Young Eagles, David…
Read more #280 From Beurling to Bashow
The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism by Joel Solomon with Tyee Bridge Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2017 $29.99 / 9780865718395 Reviewed by Jawad Qureshy First published April 2, 2018 * Born in Tennessee in 1954, Joel Solomon was educated at Vassar College, worked as national youth co-ordinator on Jimmy Carter’s election campaign…
Read more #279 The wisdom of Solomon
The Locomotive of War: Money, Empire, Power, and Guilt by Peter Clarke London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017 $40.00 / 9781408851654 Reviewed by Stan Markotich First published March 31, 2018 * Prominent British political historian Peter Clarke (born 1942) divides his time between Cambridge and the Gulf Islands. Married to Canadian cultural historian Maria Tippett, Clarke was…
Read more #278 Trotsky’s locomotive of steam
From Oral to Written: A Celebration of Indigenous Literature in Canada, 1980-2010 by Tomson Highway Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2017 $29.95 / 9781772011166 Reviewed by Deanna Reder First published March 30, 2018 * Eminent Cree author Tomson Highway’s From Oral to Written, released by Talonbooks in 2017, is beautifully flawed, inspiring the reader with tremendous lists of…
Read more #277 The new turf of Indigenous Lit
Alan Fry (1931-2018) An obituary by Alan Twigg First published March 30, 2018 * Whistleblowers are seldom cited as heroes—especially those who can be dismissed as crackpot racists. The importance of Federal Indian Agent Alan Fry’s first novel and second book, How a People Die (Doubleday 1970; Harbour 1994), has therefore gradually been glossed over,…
Read more #276 Alan Fry (1931-2018)
First published March 29, 2018. No Dog Barked: Who Killed the MacLauchlans? (Archives New West $30) by Rob Drown and Ken McIntosh 978-1-7750952-1-7 reviewed by Beverly Cramp * Last year John Gray gained wide approval for his novel about Vancouver’s most infamous unsolved murder with The White Angel, a retelling of the perplexing 1924 murder…
Read more #275 Unsolved murders revisited
First published March 28, 2018. The Haunting of Vancouver Island: Supernatural Encounters with the Other Side by Shanon Sinn Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2017. $20 / 9781771512435 Reviewed by Carol Anne Shaw * No matter our age, or whether or not we believe in the supernatural, there is something compelling about a good ghost story. Shanon…
Read more #274 Spooks, not kooks