Columbia Books

Authoritative and concise descriptions of various remote ski trips in the BC Coast Mountains. Well written and appealingly understated, the author's extensive travels are succinctly laid out, inspiring the adventurous, at least in the case of this reader. As an avid backcountry skier, I find this book an essential reference for accessing the numerous incredible backcountry routes characteristic of the Coast Mountains.

Boaters around here know the Douglasses as the king and queen of cruisers, and their handbooks are our bibles. They've been everywhere, done everything, and they take *really* good notes. This guide is one result; it includes details on every anchorage, waypoint and description in the area. If you plan to spend any time in Pacific Northwest waters, this book is a must have.

I own and use numerous guides to creatures of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Dr. Snively's book is clearly among the best of the genre. Her considerable skill as an educator and her extensive experience along local seashores have combined to create an excellent guide to the marine critters in this part of the world.

If you are planning a cruise South Coast BC (Gulf Islands, Desolation, Broughtons and Blundon Harbour) this book is a must. For frame of reference: My husband and I cruise on a small sailboat, anchor every evening (meaning we do not pull to dock) and go ashore to reprovision, sightsee, launder and take warm showers. Our trips are usually 2 months or less in length.

OK, so we have used several different books to cruise this area and have found ourselves referring to and trusting this one the most. If I had cruise with one book only, this would be it. The book's chapters are organized by logical, small area cruising grounds. The author gives an overview of the area and then segments out the waterways, coves, anchorages, etc. He tells you where they are (referring to other land, water points, charts and waypoints) and will also give waypoints for important things like entrances and anchoring. From there the author talks about the area in general, protection from winds, the bottom, what is there and how to best explore it, how the regulars anchor, on and on. He also provides VERY detailed maps for each area including, but not limited to fathoms, ground characteristics, anchoring notations... he also provides wonderfully detailed maps/information on marinas (piers, fuel dock, offices and their phone and monitored VHF numbers, dink dock restrooms, garbage, the pub!...), town info., boat/engine services, and the like. Each section also includes information on special things to note like rapids (characteristics and how to deal with them), traversing difficult waterways, tidal issues (like drying entrances to anchorages), and where his reader might likely spy a pod of orcas. The book is extremely accurate. If he does not know something (like what the holding is in an anchorage) he will tell you. I have only found one relatively minor mistake in the book and that was on a map for Broughton Island.

Back of the book items cover the usual info. on border crossing, VHF radio channel info. (Also found this a little outdated - but to be fair there are changes ongoing), fishing regs., and how they document local knowledge (made us confident that their onfo. was reliable - and it was).

Somewhere in the book there is a notation of a website you can go to with any updates or corrections.

So, lots of useful information, lots of historical and quirk information, easy book to use, well thought out and thorough. The ONLY negatives I can come up with is the lovely pictures could be in color, it could be spiral bound (which is easier to deal with when you are glancing at it from the helm and making last minute anchorage changes), and it could be fitted to deal with moist and downright wet conditions. That is merely a nit-picky little wish list!

This book is a must for any boater interested in exploring the West Coast of Vancouver Island. The anchorages identified are wonderful and the warnings should be heeded. This book has been our bible on 5 trips to Barkley Sound and it has never been wrong. We have also used the book to explore remote anchoages further up the coast. The book will not only help you enjoy one of the most beautiful boating destinations on earth but help you navigate these dangerous waters with safety and confidence

As the co-author of this now 20-year-old guidebook, I was pleased to see it still somewhat available, though the separate maps aren't mentioned, that go inside a special jacket with a pocket. Although there have been changes naturally since then, it's still the only book covering all the North Shore Mountain trails and the only one with detailed measuring-wheel measurements. -- [...]

Rosemarie Garland Thomson has written a book that is groundbreaking and essential reading for anyone interested in the fields of disability theory, disability studies, and literary criticism. She has skillfully examined how the figure of the disabled body has been used in literature in different periods as a marker or boundary line for defining what the "normal" body is or should be. The disabled figure operates to displace anxiety from more "normal" folks, and in the process shows how what we consider to be normal functioning changes across historical periods and cultures. Thomson also compares the disabled figure to the cyborg, as both are figures that are not seen as "natural," and both are places/signifiers where we can then interrogate what the natural is, has been thought to be, and what it could include. This is an excellent book, and should not be missed.

This book was designed by women about women but it's for all of us. The editors, Susan Aizenberg and Eric Belieu with a foreword by Eleanor Wilner. The poetry are written by some known and some unknown poets. The poetesses include the following: Marjorie Agosin; Ai; Susan Aizenberg; Sandra Alcoser; Elizabeth Alexander; Pamela Alexander; Julia Alvarez; Angela Ball; Dorothy Barresi; Erin Belieu; LInda Bierds; Chana Bloch; Michelle Boisseau; Catherine Bowman; Lucie Brock-Broido; Olga Broumas; Teresa Cader; Marilyn Chin; Lucille Clifton; Judith Ortiz Cofer; Martha COllins; Jane Cooper; Kate Daniels; Madeline DeFrees; Toi Derricotte; Deborah Digges; Rita Dove; Nancy Eimers; Lynn Emanuel; Angie Estes; Kathy Fagan; Candice Favilla; Carolyn Forche; Alice Fulton; Tess Gallagher; Amy Gerstler; Patricia Goedicke; Beckian Fritz Goldberg; Jorie Graham; Linda Gregorson; Linda Gregg; Marilyn Hacker; Rachel Hadas; Kimiko Hadas, Susan Hahn; Brenda Hillman; Jane Hirshfield; Linda Hogan; Janet Holmes; Fanny Howe; Marie Howe; Lynda Hull; Barbara Jordan; Allison Joseph; Brigit Pegeen Kelly; Jane Kenyon; Mary Kinzie; Carolyn Kizer; Maxine Kumin; Ann Lauterbach; Dorianne Laux; Cleopatra Mathis; Gail Mazur; Heather McHugh; Lynne McMahon; Sandra McPherson; Jane Miller; Susan Mitchell; Thylias Moss; Lisel Mueller; Laura Mullen; Carol Muske; Marilyn Nelson; Alice Notley; Naomi Shihab Nye; Sharon Olds; Jacqueline Osherow; Alicia Suskin Ostriker; Linda Pastan; Molly Peacock; Lucia Perillo; Marie Ponsot; Minnie Bruce Pratt; Claudia Rankine; Hilda Raz; Martha Rhodes; Adrienne Rich; Mary Ruefle; Kay Ryan; Mary Jo Salter; Leslie Scalapino; Grace SChulman; Maureen Seaton; Rebecca Seiferle; Vivian Shipley; Aleda Shirley; Betsy Sholl; Maurya Simon; Cathy Song; Elizabeth Spires; Pamela Stewart; Susan Stewart; Ruth Stone; Stephanie Strickland; Teresa Svoboda; Ann Townsend; Chase Twichell; Leslie Ullman; Jean Valentine; Mona Van Duyn; Ellen Bryant Voigt; Belle Waring; Rosanna Warren; Rachel Wetzsteon; Susan Wheeler; Elinor Wilner, and C.D WRight. The book concludes with a brief biography of each contributor.

Faces In The Forest: First Nations Art Created On Living Trees by Michael D. Blackstock (Aboriginal Affairs manager, Ministry of Forests, British Columbia, Canada) is an impressive and scholarly presentation of a unique form of Native American art carved into living trees. The text carefully details the history and significance of this special art form, and black-and-white photographs present examples carefully delineated with extensive research. A fascinating and informative read, Faces In The Forest is a very highly recommended contribution to Native American Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

Robertson provides a compelling look at desegregation in Southeast Texas and its implication on the national scene. Robertson gives us an inside look at the impact of segregation in sports (golf in particular), politics and societies social values of the late 40s and early 50s. I especially appreciated the biographical sketches of the major players in the civil rights case. It is an element often lacking in general historical recounts. A view of history which shows how ordinary citizens can have a significant impact on important events in our lives. I recommend this to avid golfers to see how their sport was transformed by these events.
Robertson knows his history and tells it through the lives of ordinary citizens. Excellent footnotes.
A good companion book to this is "Life is So Good" by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman. A story that also has its roots in East Texas.