“This journal is like having a companion on the trail: someone who points out the pitfalls, loans you a shoulder to lean on in the hard parts, and gently steers you away from the worst of the hazards along the way.” —Carellin Brooks reviews Safekeeping: A Writer’s Guided Journal for Launching a Book with Love, by Chelene Knight (Toronto: House of Anansi, 2025) $34.99 / 9781487013073
Probing account of representational ethics “is elucidating without ever being didactic and genuinely enjoyable to read,” yet prompts “more hope than outrage.”—Jessica Poon reviews Under the White Gaze: Solving the Problem of Race and Representation in Canadian Journalism, by Christopher Cheung (Vancouver: UBC Press/Purich Books, 2024) $24.95 / 9780774881111
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
This memoir, a “whimsical look at the fall of the British Empire,” features anecdotes about the author’s assorted encounters with celebrities over the decades. —Valerie Green reviews Celebrities Who Have Met Me: A Child of the Lost Empire, by John D’Eathe (Vancouver: Adagio Media, 2024) $21.99 9781999433925
BCR asked some of our regular contributors about books they read in the past year that really stuck with them. “Eclectic” is our word of the year.
An “honourable and compassionate compendium of heartfelt statements from people who were willing to go to jail for their beliefs.” Sadly, it’s “over-long and at times tediously repetitive” too. —Ron Verzuh reviews Standing on High Ground: Civil Disobedience on Burnaby Mountain, edited by Rosemary Cornell, Adrienne Drobnies, and Tim Bray (Toronto: Between the Lines Books, 2024) $29.95 / 9781771136631
“Here, Haye’s drug of choice is speed, and not the illicit kind, for his clear-eyed aim is to track the fastest trains in history and to look to those that are coming in the future.” —Ron Verzuh reviews Quest for Speed: A History of Trains from Rocket to Bullet and Beyond, by Derek Hayes (Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2024) $44.95 / 978177162379
Touching on drinking rates, the booze industry, and the addicted brain, the guide is also a tool for those worried about their own consumption rate (or that of someone close to them). —Daniel Gawthrop reviews You Don’t Have to Quit: 20 Science-Backed Strategies to Help Your Loved One Drink Less, by Maureen Palmer (with Michael Pond) (Vancouver: Page Two, 2024) $21.95 / 9781774584668
“Once again, as with his previous graphic novels, he offers readers a lesson in ‘history from below’ about how ordinary people can rally against tyranny.”—Ron Verzuh reviews Revolution by Fire: New York’s Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, A Graphic Novel, by David Lester and Marcus Rediker with Paul Buhle (Boston: Beacon Press, 2024) $18.95 / 9780807012550
Debut book, a memoir, chronicles a typical middle-class suburban upbringing that’s followed by years of filling an existential “black hole” with harmful choices. —Carellin Brooks reviews Sunrise Over Half-Built Houses: Love, Longing and Addiction in Suburbia, by Erin Steele (Qualicum Beach: Dagger Editions, 2024) $26.00 / 9781773861500
An “accessible, elucidating book that makes a persuasive plea for us to connect data literacy and human rights.” Plus, “a genuine pleasure to read.” —Jessica Poon reviews We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age, by Wendy H. Wong (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2023) $35/95 / 9780262048576
Picture book for elementary school-age readers teaches “vivid ways to tell us where we live and how the world works.” —Ron Verzuh reviews The Bee Mother, by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) (Winnipeg: Highwater Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781774920800
A “lively musical and political education” for readers young and old. —Ron Verzuh reviews Rise Up and Sing!: Power, Protest and Activism in Music, by Andrea Warner (illustrated by Louise Reimer) (Vancouver: Greystone Kids, 2023) $26.95 / 9781771648981
Debut author blends memoir, mall history, and critique with a “self-effacing love letter to her hometown’s most famous institution.” —Logan Macnair reviews Big Mall: Shopping for Meaning, by Kate Black (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2024) $23.95 / 9781552454725
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Random House Canada), 2018 $34.95 / 9780345816023 Reviewed by Ron Dart First published Feb. 23, 2018 * Controversial University of Toronto psychologist and cultural critic Jordan Peterson, condemned by Maclean’s as “the stupid man’s smart person,” has spoken to…
Read more #251 The stupid man’s smart person?
First published Jan. 29, 2018. Whale in the Door: A Community Unites To Protect BC’s Howe Sound by Pauline Le Bel Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2017. $24.95 / 9781987915488 Reviewed by Cherie Thiessen Mink and his sister, Skunk, gave a big potlatch on Gambier Island in Howe Sound. All the animals from around the area…
Read more #241 Howe Sound advice
First published Jan. 19, 2018. A Queer Love Story: The Letters of Jane Rule and Rick Bébout by Marilyn R. Schuster (editor) Vancouver: UBC Press, 2017. $39.95 / 9780774835459 Reviewed by Patricia Demers * Reading a collection of letters can be something of a guilty pleasure. Marilyn Schuster’s edition of the letters of Jane Rule…
Read more #235 Dancing on paper
First published Nov. 29, 2017. Our Vanishing Glaciers: The Snows of Yesteryear and the Future Climate of the Mountain West by Robert William Sandford Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books 2017. $40 / 9781771602020 Reviewed by Clayton Whitt Melting glaciers and climate change may initially seem like odd topics for a coffee table book. But…
Read more #212 Our vanishing glaciers
First published November 17th, 2017. “Whatever I’m doing belongs right here in Vancouver.” — Al Neil, author/pianist (The Cellar 1959) “New York has William Burroughs, Los Angeles has Charles Bukowski and Vancouver has Al Neil,” — local author John Armstrong “Al Neil gets more pleasure out of walking down the road than other people get…
Read more #202 Al Neil (1924-2017)
A GATHERING TO REMEMBER AND HONOUR PETER TROWER WILL BE HELD FROM 3 – 6 PM AT THE FORMER LOCATION OF THE RAILWAY CLUB IN VANCOUVER ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25. THE VENUE IS NOW CALLED THE RAILWAY STAGE AND BEER CAFE. IT’S AT 579 DUNSMUIR. Peter Trower, one B.C.’s most beloved poets, has died at…
Read more #201 Peter Trower (1930-2017)