Canada Books

I enjoyed this book very much, and I am not even Canadian

Edith Fowke collected much Canadian folklore and folk songs during her life, and wrote many books about these subjects. This is a good introductory book. Fowke carefully includes songs, jokes, stories, etc, from each part of Canada, showing that Newfoundland and Quebec do not have a monopoly on our folklore.

Far too often, Canadians downplay their rich cultural history and undervalue their store of folklore. Hopefully, more books like this one will help us to learn and appreciate our folklore and will whet a thirst to discover more.

This beautifully written book is a treat to read. Richard Wagamese writes an autobiography that is sincere and forthright. It contrasts the lessons he learns from elder's traditional teachings with his struggle with alcoholism. I bought several copies to give friends and highly recommend it for any First Nations person who loves someone who is alcoholic, or for any alcoholic who is also struggling to keep sober. Professionals who deal with substance abuse should not miss this one. Richard's love for his son, shines clearly throughout this sensitively written book.
Meegwetch!

One has to admire anyone who can expose their soul to the world. Wagamese gifts us this rare honesty which alone makes the book worthy of a read. At times painful and at times joyful - the journey we take thru Wagamese's life offers many lessons to the reader. A rare gem. Worth every penny and then some. I have put aside a few copies for my kids. One day, they will need to read it.

This is the most technical and detailed of the many tree identification books I have in my library. The book discusses 204 trees and gives detailed and extensive information on each species, including classification and taxonomy, uses, ecology, distribution, etc. Also helpful in IDing trees are illustrations of leaves, flowers, cones, bark, overall stature type, etc., and these get covered too. It's a well done, well written, well illustrated, and attractive book that should be useful to any tree enthusiast or natural history buff who wants to be better able to identify the most important trees in North America.

This guide gives information for 204 species of trees growing in the United States and Canada. Information includes scientific and common names, drawings of leaves and seeds or cones, brief descriptive notes for species identification, lists of principal uses of each species and range maps.

The book lists 17 important species of trees that range northward into Alaska from the lower 48 states. There are no range maps for Alaska and there are no range maps for Canada, except for species that range northward from the United States.

It's an attractive, useful, sturdy book

The Four Quarters of the Night is a creatively scripted bibliography of an immigrant Sikh facing many hardships. Tara Singh Bains takes the reader into a timecapsule to the racial era of the 50's and 60's. In this unbias book we see how Mr.Bains dealt with having to leave behind his wife and little children in India while trying to make a living in Canada. Living with his sister and brother-in-law, Mr.Bains takes the reader through a journey of juggling several manual labour jobs to survive and how he kept his religious faith alive when faced against the pressures of trying to "fit in." Mr. Bains kept his religious spirit alive by praying and turning spritual. I was so engulfed in Mr. Bains' journey of life, I could barely put the book down. It is definately something all immigrants should read. And all those who don't know the dept of the hardships of immigrants. A book well done!

This is a fascinating book. Tara Singh is an interesting individual with a strong belief system. The book describes this man's life journey. He has included his life in the Punjab, being brought up by a very harsh father, his travails serving in the Indian Army and the challenges that he faced. In so doing he presents a history of the Punjab over a number of decades, all presented through one man's personal experiences. These included suffering from illnesses with no money for getting treatment; and having to transport his pregnant wife from West Punjab to East Punjab during the partition of India. He proceeds to tell about his times in Canada which are equally fascinating. My parents emigrated to England in the 1960s so I empathized with Tara Singh immensely. However, the true character of the man comes out in the book. It is well worth reading.

For those of us who have known, admired, and loved the historical writings of Samuel Eliot Morison, this book is a special gift. Morison, an inspirational historian of exploration and naval warfare, provides us a very personal introduction to his own teacher and inspiration, Francis Parkman.

Parkman, born in Boston on September 16, 1823, was the fortunate son of a famous New England family that had arrived in the New World with the first wave of Puritan settlements. They managed their rise through trade and the church. Known to his friends as Frank, Parkman spent his summers in the woods near Medford exploring, studying, and conjuring.

Here he developed a lifelong affection for the outdoors and a pragmatic appreciation of the influence of geography on human affairs. He spent the summer of his freshmen year at Harvard College wandering the woods, reading and dreaming of Indians and the native civilizations that thrived and warred in the twilight before Europeans transformed North America.

When he graduated with his class in 1844 he had developed a reputation as a vigorous outdoorsman. He studied by candlelight in the early hours to make the most of daylight outdoors. He was a crack shot with a rifle and his endurance in cross-country excursions was legendary. He learned to live off trout and moose meat and once spend three days shivering in a constant rain after his hand-made bark canoe disintegrated in the rapids of the Magalloway river.

Late in his college career he developed a crippling neurological malady. He began to suffer terrible headaches, insomnia, and semi-blindness which he personified as "the Enemy." The Enemy would dog him for the remainder of his life. The headaches and blindness would make light unbearable and loud noise excruciating. The illness frequently created an enervating condition which, for others, would have made reading and writing impossible.

But Parkman overcame. He arranged that his historical research would be collected and read to him aloud. Like Churchill, he processed this material, composed his prose in his head, and often wrote through an amanuesis. When no help was available, he composed in the dark using a writing board equipped with a horizontal rule that enabled him to produce legible longhand. Parkman's love of the outdoors and his personal philosophy of history demanded that he visit every scene of interest. Despite his illness, Parkman personally walked each inch of the terrain that figured in his texts.

In his adult life, Parkman was not only an eminent and influential historian; his métier also encompassed horticulture. In an era when horticulture was respected as an arm of the natural sciences, he distinguished himself through the collection and cultivation of thousands of varieties of roses: he won prizes and wrote books on this subject as well. It was this gardening life that often brought him great comfort from his physical ailment.

Rather than settle into a respectable life's work, one involving, say, the study of ancient or continental history, Parkman chose to examine the conflict between England and France in the New World. Worse still, he was interested in Indians, their role in these wars, and the results on Indian civilization. Even worse, he loved forests, mountains, valleys, and sounds.

Fortunately for us, the results were spectacular. Over the course of a productive life (Parkman died in 1893 after a bout of pleurisy and phlebitis) and despite constant battle with his Enemy, Parkman produced a series of monumental histories.

Among other works, his masterpiece, France and England in North America, is surely among the most impressive of works by any American historian. Its magnitude alone - six books, most of which are multiple volumes - is simply the most thorough history available of early North America. However, it is Parkman's sensitivity, attention to detail, and critical faculties that make this work a history in the finest tradition of Herodotus. Moreover, Parkman's talents as a writer are formidable. His prose is vivid and (hundreds of years later) fresh and lively.

All of Parkman's works are out of print: most are unavailable to non-collectors. For those interested in Parkman's research and ideas, Morison's volume is therefore essential. Morison excerpts content from France and England in North America for our benefit and pleasure. And Morison makes a splendid cicerone. A master of the historian's trade, he understands the burdens of the research and writing, which Parkman bore under the most challenging of conditions. Morison's affection and awe at Parkman's work are apparent in his introduction, commentaries, and selections. Consequently, this volume is both a delight to read and a touching monument to a beloved teacher.

All Parkman's books are so good you never want them to end. The strange people and happenings have entertainment value that rivals Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' but is all well documented history.

First published in 1973, this book is without question the most valuable single work concerning Canada's freshwater fish fauna. The book is extremely reader-friendly, including detailed species descriptions, as well as biological and systematic information and distributions for Canada's 180-odd freshwater fishes. Clear and detailed keys for major fish groups are extremely valuable to professional and amateur biologists alike.

Jody is a third biology studet at WLU. I am in fourth year. We use this book for our Ichthyology class. It is by far the most easy to follow and thorough publication of the freshwater fishes found in Canada. We would highly recommend this book.

A friend recommended this to me knowing I read a lot of travel-related literature. This book did not disappoint.

Hughes is a Scotsman who quits his dull job in Scotland and, together with his girlfriend (whom in the meantime has quit her job in the USA) spends 3 busy months driving all over America, starting and ending in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This is a love story of sorts; between the author and his girlfriend and between the author and America. Anecdotes, vignettes, factoids and a significant number of footnotes make this book a very interesting and amusing read. Recommended!

Being an American and seeing many of the sights described, From Fear to Flattery is a breath of fresh air!

It is not just a travel guide, but includes history of the US, and a romantically comic tale of 2 young adults experiencing the sights of the US together. You can sense the thrill of getting to know a future spouse on an intimate level while in a car for 15,000+ miles.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have purchased several copies for relatives. This book will not disappoint.

Nice concise descriptions and good details of places to see, visit, and things to do. Easy to follow format and the index was surprisingly good. Good tips for hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Nice small size made it easy to keep this resource in a backpack pocket.

The key feature of Frommer's guides is their "what to do if" pages. While I was on a tour which took us to certain attractions, there was sufficient free time to explore others. Having someone to guide you to the most worthwhile attractions depending on how much time you have available is helpful when visiting for the first time. I took some of their suggestions, but also found others just as interesting. The guide book is targeted for the mainstream adult audience rather than youth or those on a frugal budget. The pages of need to know items as well as items such as where to find bookstores and other make it very handy. The pages concerning accommodations and restaurants are as current as can be.

I highly recommend it for its target audience

Jonathan

Having never been to Victoria before this book has been extremely helpful and informative. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is going to the beautiful City of Victoria or Vancouver Island.

Canada is so close to where I live, however, I don't know enough about the destination to truly feel that I will experience all that it has to offer. This guidebook helped me to plan out exactly what I felt would be worthwhile for me. I've got a great itinerary put together in anticipation of a great trip.

This book has great info on planning trip to Vancouver and Whistler and now after reading about victoria, think I should add tht to the trip.

This book has been very helpful in planning our trip to Victoria and Vancouver Island! Excellent recommendations for restaurants and hotels.
If you are planning a trip to this area, this is the book to help you see it all! Many Thanks