“Thanh, a prize-winning novelist and memoirist, admitted that media technology wasn’t her strength, but agreed to look at the narrative that had been assembled to that point by other sympathetic activists. She also connected online with Kanafani and swiftly established a bond.” Larry Hannant reviews Pizza Before We Die: An Eyewitness Account in Gaza, by Hassan Kanafani, with Yasuko Thanh (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2026) $19.95 / 9781834050324
“Early in Rob Simpson’s affectionate tribute to his co-author/subject, we learn that Bill McCreary (2014) is one of only two NHL on-ice officials inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this century, the other being linesman Ray Scapinello (2008). Is this an indication of both men’s exceptional contributions to the sport, or more a reflection of the sorry state of on-ice officiating since 1999? Or both? Whatever the case, it is fair to say that the gravitas referees once enjoyed in the world’s premier hockey league has diminished since McCreary first put on the NHL zebra stripes in 1984.” Daniel Gawthrop reviews Stories from Ice Level: A Great NHL Referee Tells All, by Rob Simpson with Bill McCreary (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026) $24.95 / 9781771624824
“…almost everything about this book is careful, measured, and studied. Handling a figure who, as the subtitle suggests, has been subject to speculation and hearsay—but also adulation and condemnation—this book is almost entirely based on careful screening of evidence and extensive documentation.” Theo Dombrowski reviews Oscar Wilde’s Paris: Legends and Legacies, by Collette Colligan and Gregory Mackie (eds.) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2025) $90 / 9781487541415
“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
“Many of the 19 stories, packed with Fraser’s fact-filled remembrances, deal with disasters and tragedies. He was the reporter the editors on the assignment desk in Edmonton or Toronto would call if they needed a reliable and ‘objective’ journalist to fly to the trouble zone on short notice.” Ron Verzuh reviews From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall: Stories of Canada, by Whit Fraser (Madeira Park: Douglas and McIntyre, 2026) $26.95 / 9781771624695
“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
Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson Toronto: Penguin Random House (McClelland & Stewart), 2017 $34.95 / 9780771096525 Reviewed by Walter O. Volovsek First published May 17, 2018 * Based in Coquitlam, B.C., the remarkable Paul Watson–not to confused with that Sea Shepherd captain also named Paul Watson who… Read more #305 Finding the Erebus and Terror
First published May 17, 2018. “In all my writing, I explore the slipperiness of morality and identity in the face of extreme loss and threat, though the settings and circumstances change with each novel.” — Nancy Richler. All of Nancy Richler’s novels were written in Vancouver. The first of these, Throwaway Angels, was shortlisted for… Read more #304 Nancy Richler (1957-2018)
Alan Caswell Collier, Relief Stiff: An Artist’s Letters from Depression-era British Columbia by Peter Neary (editor) Vancouver: UBC Press, 2018 $45.00 / 9780774834988 Reviewed by Daniel Francis First published May 8, 2018 * Most British Columbians live within an easy drive of one of the unemployment relief camps established by the federal government during the… Read more #302 Middle class artist on relief
First published May 4, 2018. An obituary on this site has already recorded the life and times — and books — of Al Neil. But there’s nothing like a personal reminiscence–or three–to reveal how extraordinary and perplexing and difficult and odd he could be. 1. In… Read more #298 Three tributes to Al Neil
Memoir: Margaret’s Ormsby’s milieu by Daniel Marshall * The influence of Quesnel-born B.C. historian Margaret Anchoretta Ormsby (1909-1996) on younger generations of scholars and readers continues more than two decades after her death. Not only has The Ormsby Review perpetuated her name — and we hope her commitment to the culture and literature of British… Read more #296 Margaret’s Ormsby’s milieu
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
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
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)
Northern Star: J.S. Plaskett by R. Peter Broughton, with a foreword by James E. Hesser Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018. $67.50 / 9781442630178 Reviewed by John Hutchings First published Mar. 17, 2018 * John Stanley Plaskett (1865-1941) was the founder and first director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria. This biography is well-timed, published… Read more #266 Pioneering stargazer J.S. Plaskett
Morrison: The Long-lost Memoir of Canada’s Artillery Commander in the Great War. Major-General Sir Edward Morrison by Susan Raby-Dunne (editor) Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2017 $22.95 / 9781772032147 Reviewed by Michael Sasges First published March 15, 2019 * Edward Morrison was one of no more than fifty general officers who directed Canadian Corps battlefield activities… Read more #264 From John McCrae to Morrison
Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi: Teachings from Long Ago Person Found by Richard J. Hebda, Sheila Greer, and Alexander Mackie (editors) Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum, 2017 $49.95 / 9780772666994 Reviewed by Tom Koppel First published March 7, 2018 * It was back in August of 1999, in the northwest corner of British Columbia, in the traditional territory of… Read more #261 Tatshenshini Man
ESSAY: I’m not your man: Norman Bethune & women by Larry Hannant First published Feb. 28, 2018 * Doctor, medical innovator, propagandist, artist, political activist — Norman Bethune is nothing if not multitalented. The same complexity marks his character. The accounts of friends and acquaintances portray a man whose personality was multifaceted and contradictory, at once… Read more #256 Bethune: I’m not your man
The Spitfire Luck of Skeets Ogilvie: From the Battle of Britain to the Great Escape by Keith Ogilvie Victoria: Heritage House, 2017 $22.95 / 9781772032116 Reviewed by Michael Sasges First published Feb. 28, 2018 * The Spitfire Luck of Skeets Ogilvie tells the story of two Canadians who made an ordinary life together after some extraordinary… Read more #255 Spitfire luck of Skeets Ogilvie
INTERVIEW: Rachel Rose with mutt maven Stanley Coren April 26, 2018 * Having produced possibly the bestselling non-fiction book about dogs ever written, The Intelligence of Dogs, as well as Why We Love The Dogs We Do, Dr. Stanley Coren has a career that most writers and researchers only dream of; his lectures at UBC routinely… Read more #243 Going to the dogs with Stanley Coren
