Now that the hurly-burly of Christmas is over, there should be time for the quiet enjoyment of good books. For those lucky enough to get gift certificates to local bookstores, here are some new titles to entertain and inform.
Books about our own province include:
* Echoes of British Columbia - Voices from the Frontier, by Robert Budd (Harbour Publishing): A must-have for any B.C. history buffs. It's wonderful to hear the actual voices of early pioneers telling their stories on the CDs included with the printed book of their stories, illustrated with archival photographs.
* Poachers, Polluters & Politics - a Fishery Officer's Career, by Randy Nelson (Harbour Publishing): With wit and wry humour, Nelson tells of his life as a fishery conservation officer in short, sometimes hilarious, entertaining and always informative chapters.
* The Boreal Feast - A Culinary Journey Through the North, by Michele Genest (Harbour Publishing): This beautifully illustrated book, of northern scenery and the prepared dishes, is full of recipes that utilize the bounty of the north but can also be prepared with local ingredients. Reminiscences of the North begin each chapter.
* The Elusive Mr. Pond - The Soldier, Fur Trader and Explorer Who Opened the Northwest, by Barry Gough (Douglas & McIntyre): A fascinating, enigmatic man who lived and travelled in the late 18th century, when the fate of Canada was being shaped. Peter Pond explored, traded, influenced political decisions, paved the way for famous explorers, then was almost forgotten, till Gough's excellent book.
* Fortune's a River: The Collisions of Empires in Northwest America, by Barry Gough (Harbour): This narrative of the ambitions and voyages of the British, Americans, Spaniards and Russians focusing on our own B.C. coast, as well as Alaska and the U.S., brings alive the fascinating early history of our region, all the things we never heard about in school. Illustrated with drawings and photographs.
* The Sea Among Us - The Amazing Strait of Georgia, by Richard Beamish & Gordon McFarlane (Harbour): A complete overview of all parts and inhabitants of the Strait of Georgia, the shorelines, the water, the weather, its pre-contact and post-contact history, all illustrated with gorgeous photos, graphs and art.
* That Went By Fast: My First Hundred Years, by Frank White (Harbour): Humorous and entertaining, White's book reads like listening to an old friend give a fascinating account of the past century, as seen through the eyes of a hard-working and thoughtful raconteur.
* The Cougar Lady - Legendary Trapper of Sechelt Inlet, by Rosella Leslie, Caitlin Press. Asta Bergliot ("Bergie") Solberg never went to school, and her lifelong passion was hunting and trapping in the wilds of the Sunshine Coast. This is the story of the unorthodox life-style of one of B.C.'s real characters.
* The Right Way On: Adventures in the Klondyke of 1898, Memoirs of W.H.T. Olive (Timberholme Books). The author wasn't a gold seeker but was sent to the Yukon to build boats to carry the would-be miners to the diggings. So his story is an entertaining, on-the spot reporting of what it was like in those hectic years.
* Vancouver Light: Photography by David Nunuk (Harbour): Vancouver has never looked so good as in these vibrant photographs, many spanning both pages of this large, eye-catching coffee table book.
* Closing Time - Prohibition, Rum-Runners, and Border Wars by Daniel Francis, (Douglas & McIntyre): From coast to coast, American prohibition was the making of some of our local fortunes and created an era of modern-day piracy. With fascinating stories.
The recent 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War and this year's 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War are commemorated by some excellent books.
* From the West Coast to the Western Front, by Mark Forsythe and Greg Dixon (Harbour): A well-researched compilation of first-hand accounts (first heard on CBC's B.C. Almanac) and on-site photographs of the men and women who participated in the First World War.
*Forgotten Victory: First Canadian Army and the Cruel Winter of 1944-45, by Mark Zuehlke (Douglas & McIntyre): The 11th in this series chronicling Canadian Forces' roles in the Second World War. It's little known that Canadian expertise and valour probably brought the war to a quicker end. Zuehlke's book is a step-by-step, hour-by-hour retelling of the battles, with maps and photographs.
Some other worthwhile titles:
* Canadian Spacewalkers, by Bob McDonald (Douglas & McIntyre): Fighting not human enemies, but the dangers and rigours of space, these are the stories of the long years of preparation and the characters of our Canadian astronauts, new explorers of the unknown, with exceptional photography.
* Cardboard Ocean - a memoir, by Mike McCardell (Harbour Publishing): Well-known broadcaster, writer and raconteur McCardell's recollections of five years of his childhood growing up in a rough area of New York City is portioned out in short, self-contained short stories, with the detail, humour and undercurrent of bittersweet that he has made his own.
* Writing With Grace - A Journey beyond Down Syndrome, by Judy McFarlane (Douglas & McIntyre): While the author tells of helping Grace achieve her dream of becoming a writer, she also discovers truths about herself, how she and the rest of us view people with disabilities, and how different that is from reality.
* High Clear Bell of Morning, by Ann Eriksson (Douglas & McIntyre). A strong, powerful look at the effects of mental illness on families, and the pollution of our oceans, neither problems with adequate solutions. The themes intertwine in this novel because of family connections.
And just for fun ...
* O Canada Crosswords, Book 15, by Gwen Sjogren (Nightwood Editions): Another in this bestselling series of crosswords with Canadian content. Just the thing for your crossword-loving friends (or yourself).
