Canada Books

Summer vacation with a ghost-story telling Grandpa is always filled with thrills and chills. But this year in Gimli, Manitoba, twins Michael and Angela and their cousin, Sarah, find the summer nights and sights prove more frightening than ever. Not long after Grandpa tells a spooky myth about an Icelandic ghost called a Draugr, the trio encounters something ghastly in the woods. Can ghosts really come back from the dead to cure their unrest? Sarah, Michael and Angela don't want to wait around to find out. And, just as the pieces to the mystery start to fit, Grandpa tries to send them back home to the United States. Before they leave Gimli, however, a dog turns dead and Grandpa suddenly disappears. Determined to get to the bottom of the strange happenings, Angie leads the others on a wild goose chase--that may just turn into a ghost chase. "You do have the Grettir's blood." I didn't know exactly what she was talk about, but I nodded as if I understood. Althea looked at me up and down..."Perhaps I've underestimated you. All of you. Maybe it would have been better if I told you the truth from the beginning." She paused for another second. "Alright," she said. "I'll tell you everything I know, and you can deal with the nightmares and the possibilities--it's a deal. But first each of you must give me your version of what happened. And don't leave out the smallest detail." Again we spoke about seeing the little boy in the forest and about how he had disappeared... Draugr is a wonderful book for young teens of either sex---a quick, but engaging read, with compelling chapter openings and cliffhanging endings. Arthur Slade has woven just enough fright into the story to keep the reader sitting on the edge of their chair, yet anxiously turning the pages. With Slade's newest book, The Loki Wolf, soon to be released by Orca, readers won't have long to wait for their next "shivers."

Lynne Remick, Reviewer

As an elementary teacher I found this book to be a great motivator for my Grade Six students. I found the content to be very enticing for this age level without the "gore" that is present in other books of this genre. Slade does an excellent job of filling all chapters with suspense and encouraging the reader to forge on into the story. An excellent classroom resource to excite readers and a wonderful read.

"Dreams Have No Expiry Date" is an excellent guide for creating and living out personal dreams for women of all ages. It is written from the heart and speaks to the heart. This book would make a great gift for the vibrant, vivacious, life-loving women in your life. I'm planning on buying a copy for my mom!

The authors ask mid-life women a difficult philosophical question: What are you doing with the rest of your life? But they don't leave us dangling. They provide thoughtful advice based on research and practical exercises that allow us to make sound decisions. Baby boomers are lucky to have Gottlieb and Rosenswig to lead us onward and upward!

I found this book to be absolutely wonderful. As well as giving an insight and background to the goings on around the time of the Irish potato famine, it also transported me to a village I only had a picture of in my head. Through reading the book, I felt I was in the village and personally knew the charachters. I often cried and rejoiced with them. It was so sad to leave them when I had finished the book, but it wasn't long till I went back and read it again. Elaine Crowley has a fantastic gift of making you feel a part of her book.

Anyone who has any interest at all in the potato famine,or Ireland should read this book. It tells the story of Katie and Jamsie, and allows the reader to understand the pain and suffering of this time.

With incredibly detailed, hand drawn sketches of each anchorage, the Dreamspeaker's Guide is helpful and beautiful. Unlike other guides I've seen, this guide details each harbor/anchorage with what to look for and what to look out for. It gives you the confidence of having talked to someone who has been there, and yet allows you to enjoy the excitement of your first visit. The artwork of Lawrence Yeadon-Jones is outstanding making this as pleasureable to look at as it is informative. I strongly recommend this book for anyone cruising the Gulf Islands or dreaming of doing so.

After cruising and teaching for 10 years in this area, the arrival of this terrific cruising guide is welcome. Great graphic presentation of harbor diagrams, and every possible anchorage.

Add a "Cruising Guide to Puget Sound" for the US San Juan Islands and Puget Sound, and a BBA Chart Kit, and you are set!

My daughter will be three years old soon. We read an average of seven books every day. Recently we began going to the local library. I chose Dreamstones because it appealed to me. I wasn't sure how my daughter would receive it. After reading it to her for a couple of nights, I decided it was a bit beyond her grasp and returned it to the library. Two days later, after reading five books, we inform her that it is time for bed. She sits up and looks around the bed, "But, where is Dream'tones?" I told her that I had returned it to the library, but we could get it again the following day. She whined a bit, clearly saddened that it was not there to read. So, obviously this is a good book for challenging your toddler beyond board books and easy reads. In addition, I think it also has adult appeal. Maybe children pick up on this and enjoy it even more because of it.

When a ship from England becomes trapped in the ice in theFarNorth and forced to stay through a long and dark winter, young David is the only person to leave the ship to follow the barking of foxes. Following the foxes into a glittering darkness, David loses his way and is in danger of dying of the cold. A wise man suddenly appears at the top of the hill, offers David safety, the warmth of fire, and the mystery of secrets and dreams. When David's father finds his lost son, David is asleep by the fire, sheltered by an Inukshuk (a stack of stones in the rough outline shape of a man). Dreamstones is a captivating picturebook story by Maxine Trottier written for young readers ages 4 to 8, and that is wonderfully illustrated by the museum quality artwork of Stella East.

If you hunt waterfowl you need an ID book. This is my goto guide.

I have utilized this guide since early 80's from Michigan to Texas with many stops in between. It is the best pocket size guide I have found for identifying ducks and other waterfowl. I would never go on a duck/goose hunt without it! This is well worth its nominal cost and you can make points with fellow duck hunters (friends and family) by giving them one. They will find it most useful and practical. What a better way to start the new year!

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is a hefty seven hundred page epic. However, I found the book spellbinding and finished reading it in less than three weeks time. I would especially recommend DUNANT'S DREAM to those interested in human rights or history. Caroline Morehead is a gifted writer who balances objectivity with revealing glimpses at the men and women who have made the International Committee of the Red Cross the premier human rights and relief agency in the world. I came away from Morehead's book with a clearer understanding of the complex circumstances involving humanitarianism during times of conflict and turmoil. I am sorry that this very worthwhile book is now out of print. However, I am glad that is available in libraries and through "out of print" dealers.

I am named after my aunt, a Red Cross nurse who was an Army nurse in World War II. I am also a nurse (and also a Red Cross nursing volunteer, although I have never worked full time for the organization), and a former officer in the Navy Nurse Corps. My speciality is international health; my work has taken me to some of the poorest and least developed places in the world. I have seen first-hand the work of the Red Cross in war zones and after natural disasters. I currently work in a human rights organization. I recently visited the ICRC Headquarters in Geneva, along with its spectacular museum.

All this is to say that I bring more than an casual perspective to this book--and it dazzled me. Despite its incredible length, it felt too short. Ms. Moorehead writes lucidly, compassionately, and well. Her research is scholarly, her documentation is meticulous, her compassion and her critical abilities are always evident. She rightfully praises the individual courage of the Red Cross founders and leaders (not only Dunant, the Swiss banker, but the other significant figures in Red Cross history, including the American nurse, Clara Barton, who founded the American Red Cross and pioneered its role in natural disasters).

But the book is not just an encomium to the good deeds of idealists. Moorehead is frank in her appraisals of the weaknesses and foibles of both the people and the organization itself. She examines the evolving role of the Red Cross, which began as an adjunct to the gentlemanly wars of the 19th century, grew to a worldwide relief agency in the unimaginable horrors of the 20th century and, most recently, has had to become a competitor for the world's glory in humantarian activities.

Most importantly, she examines the historical record and the ethical dilemnas of an organization which was founded on the Swiss principles of neutrality and quiet diplomacy and was then faced with atrocities in its own back yard: she provides a very careful appraisal of the role of the Red Cross during the WWII Holocaust. It is clear that the Red Cross as an organization provided too little aid to the victims of Nazis, gave it too late and perhaps gave it for the wrong reasons--publicity rather than compassion. (A horrendous, but little known, fact is that the physician who was appointed head of the German Red Cross by Hitler was behind the savage medical experimentation done in the camps. He committed suicide before he could be tried as a war criminal).

Nonetheless, Moorehead is unstinting in her admiration for those individual Red Cross delegates whose independent actions were able to save thousands of Jews and others. There were Red Cross delegates who raced along lines of Jews being forcibly marched to their deportation and death, desperately throwing them food and attempting to rescue anyone they could by bribing, cajoling or fooling the guards.

Moorehead depicts the failures and the multitudinous successes of the Red Cross, and includes enough individual tales and humor to make her account extraordinarily readable. Despite its failings in some arenas, I remain an overall admirer of the Red Cross itself, and I am an unabashed admirer of this book. "Dunant's Dream" can be read for its comprehensive and engrossing history, but readers interested in the larger diplomatic and ethical issues of international aid will find it invaluable. Absolutely recommended.

June 20th 2002- Timothy Fidley passed away.
Rest In Peace.

Timothy Findley has quickly become one of Canada's most prominent internationally writers. His ambiguous stories are always tinted with a twist of magical realism that leads his readers to believe there really are phenomenal elements left in the world. In this latest collection of works, "Dust to Dust," Findley brings back characters from past works, such as the beautiful but troubled couple Minna and Bragg and creates intriguing new ones like Evard and Erik Kelgard, the strange twins and their magic show. We can't help but be drawn in by the dicotomy Findley creates between the magic of life and the secrets of death. I endorse this tor Findley fans and new comers alike.

East of Mourning is a fantastic new story, from up and coming novelist Micheal Markus. Markus leads the reader by the hand into the dark and disturbing reality, that is minor hockey, in rural Canada. A twisted assortment of characters drive this story at a fantastic pace and leaving you flushed at times, but always wanting more. Murder, Sex, Drugs, more sex, and of course hockey. Well done!!!!!
I can't wait for the next installment.

Michael Markus' East Of Mourning is a superbly crafted dark comedy about the Great Canadian Dream gone bad for a frustrated hockey coach and the young, talented hockey player upon whom he pins the last of his bitter dreams. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, suicide, murder, and of course hockey all lurk within the eerily inviting pages of this dynamic and sharply framed literary tableau. Aptly written in a literary style as fast-moving as the sport of hockey itself, East Of Mourning captures the imagination and holds interest in its shadowy and wryly malefic way. Highly recommended.

An indispensable resource for Canadian editors, publishers, and writers.

This book, Editing Canadian English 2nd ed. (2000), is an extremely useful guide for those of us who write or edit in Canada, and as far as I know the *only* copyediting book written from a Canadian perspective and for a Canadian audience. It doubles as a grammar textbook, in that it gives the basic errors that most of us make while we write (capitalisation, spelling, punctuation, etc.), but it also includes chapters on bias, Canada-specific measurements, documentation, editors & the law, and including French words in English writing. It's an immensely useful sourcebook for any Canadian who works with words on a regular basis.

I'm quite surprised that the book is available for sale here, given that the company which produced it was bought-out and the book hasn't been in print for over a year. So, if you've ever thought about buying this book, GET IT NOW while it lasts!