by Jackie LaPlante –
Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada
Stephen R. Bown
Connecting Canada’s East and West Coasts by rail was a major driver in the creation of Canada. Stephen R. Bown’s fresh look at this milestone era is directed by the lessons we, as a society, are coming to understand. This is not only a tale of transport success: Bown also investigates the previously unacknowledged ill effects suffered by Indigenous peoples, foreign labourers and the environment alongside the politics that financed the massive endeavour.
The Jazz Club Spy
Roberta Rich
Giddy Brodsky was a child when Cossacks torched her village. Now re-settled in New York City and working in a jazz club, Giddy, amazingly, catches sight of the man who annihilated her family. When a well-connected club patron offers Giddy an opportunity for revenge, she jumps at the chance and faces adventure and betrayals. Vancouver author Roberta Rich’s historical fiction takes us through the grit and splendour of 1930s NYC, guided by a smart-talking, likeable main character.
Moon of the Turning Leaves
Waubgeshig Rice
In this sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow, Evan Whitesky and his people are still embracing a traditional way of life in the bush necessitated by a cataclysmic world event. Successful thus far, but with resources becoming scarce, Whitesky and his scouts move south in search of food and community, imperiling their survival. Waubgeshig Rice’s novel is a smooth blending of modern tone and traditional mores, offering a positive depiction of the resilience of human nature.
Mind Over Matter: Hard Won Battles on the Road to Hope
Jordin Tootoo with Stephen Brunt
“41-year-old Jordin Tootoo had a successful on-ice hockey career that was marred by off-ice turmoil. Dogged by family trauma, substance abuse and a tendency toward on-ice violence, Tootoo’s discussion of his healing journey imparts the message that only you can fix yourself. Well-known for his work with other Inuk and Northern youth, this book is almost a manual for self-help, and includes Tootoo’s own charming lists of personal guidelines from “Rules for Success” to “Rules for Failure.”
Scandal at the Savoy
Ron Base and Prudence Emery
This second book in the Priscilla Tempest Series continues the Swingin’ 60s adventures of the young Canadian secretary of the Savoy Hotel in London – a position once held by Emery. When a showgirl is murdered in the hotel, Prudence finds herself blackmailed by Scotland Yard, mixed up with the notorious Kray twins, and entwined with a Canadian Prime Minister. Swift-paced with a delightful amount of name-dropping, this light-hearted mystery is worth the read.
Followed by the Lark
Helen Humphreys
Henry David Thoreau’s two years on Walden Pond are illuminated by Helen Humphreys through fictional episodes that detail his grief over the death of his brother, his bumpy friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his thoughts on modernization and the disruption it causes in nature. Thoreau’s appreciation of the natural world is beautifully complemented by the author’s lyrical, gentle writing that draws the reader into the slow-paced family life of the Thoreaus.
The Lost Supper: Searching for the future of Food in the Flavors of the Past
Taras Grescoe
Taras Grescoe believes that food diversity is the path to food resiliency. In an effort to re-educate himself away from environmentally stressful mono-culture crops, he seeks ancient and diverse foods, from ancient Turkish grains to edible insects and the camas bulbs treasured by the Coast Salish. Descriptions of delicious, revered foods and the beautiful countries he finds them in make this book as much a travelogue as a thoughtful investigation of improving our global food security.
