Canada Books

A Hard Witching is a finely wrought and wrenchingly beautiful collection -- indeed, so finely wrought it's difficult to believe it's her first. Each story opens a portal into the human soul -- that stained and sorry bit that exists in all of us. Baker shares with us, creates for us, imminently believable characters who only want to love or be loved, but cannot, because of that desert within -- each carry with them bits and pieces of the great and desperate Sand Hills of Saskatchewan. Your heart sings as you read. Jacqueline Baker shows such promised with this posed and mature collection. She evokes comparisons with such greats as Flannery O'Connor, Alice Munro and Kent Haruf and she deserves these accolades.

Ms. Baker's collection of short stories is beautifully written, her characters perfectly rendered. Like fine woodwork of old where the joints are carefully dovetailed, Baker has the ability to write seamlessly. The comparisons to Flannery O'Connor are apt. She is that good. If you enjoy the works of O'Connor, Walker Percy, Wendell Berry or Wallage Stegner, get this book and when you're finished reading it a few times, put it right next to those masters.

I loved this book. I recommended it to my friends, and gave a copy to my mom. It's a startling debut from a writer who has potential to be one of Canada's most outstanding writers. These stories are clear, restrained, and very emotional. It's refreshing to find a new voice in Canadian writing who actually knows how to write! These stories remind me of Alice Munro's best work; briefer, perhaps, but trandscendant and illuminating. The only annoying thing is that I maybe found the book too short. But apparently she's working on a novel I can't wait to read.

A must read!

Pastor Gwin's book is very liberating. It allows you to know the very heartbeat of God. It shows that God can take that which we seem to call little, and make much out of it. It was as if he was preaching from out of the pulpit. It also allowed me to know that we are to love and forgive people for the wrong that they have done to us. In all God loves us no matter what shape that we are in,or how much of a mess that we think that we are! We are royality to God as it is yet explained in this book,'Healing for the Royal Seed!'

"Healing for the Royal Seed" is brilliantly written, presenting a compelling portrait of yet another fall of mankind, redeemed by his "Maker" with a continual assurance of his heavenly father's unconditional love for his children; his seeds of royality. Most conventional thinkers will dismiss the conceptual ideas of royality as portrayed within the pages of this book, because the application of the principals shared are seemingly too simple, yet too hard. To allow ones imagination to drift upon a fallen being, dusting himself off moving toward a devine destiny of royalty is unheard of. When one however, allows the Spirit of God to move through the content of their mind to reflect on the cross of Calvary, the death, burial, resurrection and the ascention of the "seed" to the "Father", a perpetual understanding will be revealed as to what this author is saying. He is laying the road map out stating in such a pictorial way, that he is moved to share his own experiences for us to grasp hold of the idea that we are all sick in some way or another and need healing. He is also bringing into focus that Jesus, "the Kings Kid", our royal "Father", has extended to us; his children, his seed, part of his royal inhertiance. What good father would withold any "good" thing from his children?

The author has written this book with such clarity, all who endeavors to read this book will be able to comprehend and gain benefit from understanding that we all can be healed from what ever may be hurting us if we can come to terms to admit that we are hurting, accept the promised blessing for the seed of "Royality", "He" that has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ". When our acceptance hold hands with the desire to heal, Jesus will crown and robe his seeds of royality with his substaining and constant flow of healing. It is our obligation to step out in acceptance and faith to receive our healing.

This book was great, the author is a dynamic speaker
and teacher. His way of word just won me over. I could fill the God in him. I loved the first chapter I'm Lame, but I'm Royalty. He told about his childhood and how he became a true man of God. Hope to read more of his books.

Isle aux Morts means "Island of the Dead" and was thus named because of the number of ships and lives lost near its shores. One early morning in June, 1832, Anne Harvey was awakened by two familiar sounds: the howling wind of a storm and the distress call from a ship offshore. The pounding waves prevented Anne's family from approaching the ship in their small boat. The only hope was to send their dog Hairy Man into the sea with a rope. Hairy Man was a strong swimmer and reached the ship safely. Using a breeches buoy the Harveys were able to rescue 163 passengers, one-by- one, from the sinking ship. Splendidly illustrated in a 19th century evoking style by Geoff Butler, Alice Walsh's Heroes Of Isle Aux Morts is a vivid, engaging, and highly recommended retelling of a true story for young readers ages 8-11.

My kids and I love this book, not only because this true story is exciting and inspiring, but also because our own ancestors were on the rescued ship, the Despatch! This story was recorded in handwritten notes in our family archives, and it was wonderful to see it captured so well in print by this author and illustrator.

I've brought the book in to read at my childrens' school and it easily captures the attention of the class. It's inspiring to hear stories of ordinary people (and animals!) exhibiting courage and a can-do attitude, and doing extraordinary things.

The illustrations in this book are superb. The story of the rescue of the passengers of the Despatch by a Newfoundland dog are so vivid due to the bold, colorful pictures. My older daughter loved another Newfoundland dog rescue book called "The Wreck of the Ethie" & my 6 yr.old loved the pictures in this book. What fun to read & enjoy such exciting stories w/ my children!

I stayed up almost all night finishing this wonderful, engrossing novel. Ms. Keefer has truly captured the experience of the Ukrainian immigrant family! Highly recommended to anyone with Ukrainian roots!

When I found this book in the Amazon book store, I wondered if it was yet another autobiography by an English professor in a publish or perish bind at an obscure college, a New York off-off broadway author, or a BOBO with bucks restoring a mansion somewhere. WOW! what a pleasant surprise! HONEY AND ASHES by Canadian Janice Kulyk Keefer is as powerful as A BRIDGE ON THE DRINA, A WOMAN IN AMBER, SHATTERED SELVES, OR THE HAUNTED LAND. Don't they give out awards in Canada?

Kulyk-Keefer is Canadian of Ukrainian-Polish descent. (Keefer is her husband's last name.) She says the feeling of never "fitting in" with her Anglo-Canadian neighbors and classmates as a child inspired her as an adult to search out her own roots, thinking this might point her toward her "real" identity and her "real" home.

As part of the effort to constuct her "real" identity, she traces the geneology of her family, interviews the surviving members and others who knew them, and undertakes a difficult journey to the village of her mother's birth in the Ukraine. Since her father was of Polish descent, she visits her last known relatives in Poland on her way back from her mother's village. This may all sound fairly straightforward, but I have seldom seen such elegant and beautiful prose coupled with such tenacious research. The result is the resolution of a personal mystery, or at the least, the beginning of knowledge.

Anyone who has ever poured over old letters; dug through photo albums and other family treasures; searched Census, administrative, and other records; struggled with bureacrats to travel to a remote location will appreciate Ms. Keefer's efforts. She is a student of the history of her parent's bloody homeland. She is the ethnographer who waits with great patience while an old woman recalls with extreme pain and difficulty the day the Nazis shot many of her relatives, and the day the Russians collected the rest and sent them to the Gulag. She is the scholar pouring over old mouldering papers and notes in the archives. And above all, she is the poet who casts her story into a tale laden with rich metaphor....

"Are we, in the end only what we can remember? Or, are we also all that lies deep inside us, stored in the niches of a long, dark corridor whose door we shut behind us long ago? The painfulness of remembering--the physical process of recall. How we speak of triggering memory, as if it were a loaded gun."

Janice Kulyk Keefer explores her duel heritage as she is a Canadian by birth and a Ukrainian-Pole by blood. Keefer struggles to find a sense of belonging between these two very different worlds which act as threads that intertwine, weaving her identity. Keefer lyrically captures her memories and experiences while reflecting on her past in a manner that touches the reader for all time. A statement from the novel that has lingered in my mind is: "Belonging-a word that's both an outstretched hand and a fist clenched round your heart, a fist that won't let go." A truly magnificent read!

This is the only easy to undersatand and motivational guide to starting a small business in Canada. It is full of extreamly valuable resources those will enable you to overcome all of bottlenecks in starting and managing your own business including marketing strategies.

Its simply a cool guide about starting a small business in Canada or I should say it is "all you need to know" type of guide. If you are thinking to start a small business in Canada, I believe you will be in need of this guide.

A very motivational book which will not only encourage you to become an entrepreneur but will teach and guide you on each and every step to start a small business in Canada . Full of information from basic to advance level of small business start-up and management rules that are applicable anywhere in the world regardless of geographical boundaries . This book also elaborate the Canadian Taxation system rules and regulations which is a must to understand and act upon for every small business in Canada.

Information on Canada, business quotes and 14 points for doubling your productivity for success in business and life are absolutely wonderful and inspiring. I just added the best book on small business in my library of books on small business. You must read it even if you want to start a small business in any part of the world. Best of Luck.

I used this book during Advent with my third grade class in a Christian school in Winnipeg for a decade. We sang the song from the back cover with drumbeats(drumming on thighs and books)in English and Huron while I paged through the pictures as an opener for our Advent worship. They never tired of it. Nor did I. The gentle illustrations that accompany this first Canadian Christmas carol helped build a respect for Huron people, First Nations history, and nurtured a deeper love of Jesus Ahatonia, Jesus our King.
Elsie Rempel.

In a world where we must be careful how we approach the holidays in our clasroom, I found the Huron Carol to follow curriculum guidelines and enchant the reader as well. The illustrations are mystical and haunting in the blues of winter. The story is old, but we listen with new ears to the lovely tale of a Christmas in the far north. A welcome addition to any classroom.

This is an illustrated version of how the Christian missionaries tried to teach the story of the Nativity to native American Indians (in what is now Eastern Canada, I think). This book is the illustration of a beautiful song, telling of the birth of Jesus, with musical notation in the back so you can also learn and sing the song. The words of the song are given in English, and also an older version of French and of the native Indian language in which the missionaries were working.

It is a beautiful book and has a wonderful peaceful quality, like snow on a winter's morning. Very nice for the Christmas season.

This is a well-written memoir by Canadian wireless operator Howard Hewer, who flew more than his share of ops during WWII and contributed in both the European and North African theatres. Ironically, the title, "In for a Penny, in for a Pound" is also part of the libretto of Gilbert and Sullivan's light opera, Iolanthe, which continues: "It's love that makes the world go round." One wonders if the author intended any hidden commentary by referring to this particularly well-known couplet in such a context.

Laced with stories typical of the war, Mr. Hewer's fine recounting also provides insight into that damnable situation which existed on the Allied side: the treatment of so-called "colonials" by RAF personnel. Truly, it's a wonder the English were able to win the war at all, when one considers the tomfoolery they frequently got up to in relation to Canadian, South African, NZ, Australian and other Commonwealth troops fighting alongside. Since Mr. Hewer flew mainly as a non-com, this work also provides us with insight into the lives of the lower ranking members of the military establishment of the day.

Bomber Command was perhaps the most effective force fighting against Nazism prior to D-Day, but there was a very high cost paid in lost aircrews on each mission. Mr. Hewer reflects on the obvious: why was it he somehow always came back. This tension is woven throughout the text, making the book successful at yet another level, since who would really want to write or read a war memoir and come away smiling. It is not a pretty story, yet the author has presented it to us in a lively and balanced manner, making the book eminently readable while allowing a strongly-voiced message about war to come through as well. Highly recommended.

Howard Hewer has done a wonderful job in bringing us his life in Bomber Command as a wireless operator flying in the belly of Wellington bombers. From his nights flying over Berlin to the bombing of North Africa to his time spent convalescing after a crash (when he went on some of his most dangerous missions), Hewer spares few details in providing a colorful first-hand account. Anyone with even a passing interest in war memoirs, or who truly enjoys the view of the world from 10,000 feet, should read this book. Without a doubt the best memoir I've read in a long time.

"In For A Penny, In For A Pound" by Howard Hewer, sub-titled: "The Adventures And Misadventures Of A Wireless Operator In bomber Command". Stoddard Publishing, Toronto, Canada, 2000.

This book recounts the experiences of T. W. H. Hewer as a young man and a wireless operator in the Royal Canadian Air Force. As a young teenager, Howard Hewer had dreams of flying Spitfires, so he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force, which decided, at that moment, they had a greater need for radio operators than for pilots. He was shipped to Calgary for training in radio operations. Hewer then tells the story of his training as an enlisted radio operator, and his experience during bombing raids on Nazi held Europe. He retired as Wing Commander.

Young Hewer was well aware of the cultural differences between the British and the Canadians. He devotes an entire chapter (Chapter 6, "Yatesbury Wireless School - Collision of Cultures) to describe the class-conscious Brits and the young Canadians being trained in England. Throughout the book, these cultural differences will pop up, and, in some instances, be of major importance. In Chapter 19, (A Fine Line To Mutiny), it would appear that the British wanted a level of discipline that neither the Australians nor the Canadians wanted to accept. Admittedly, it as an Australian who first threw down his rifle and refused to drill, but Hewer appears to have approved of the group's refusal to exercise and drill. He later implies that this "mutiny" was responsible for the delay of his commissioning as an officer.

This book is not just the usual recounting of the terrors of flying bombers into German held Europe. There is that, of course, but Hewer narrates a story that involves the European Theatre, flying to Malta, on to Egypt and then a trip, in a ship, around Africa. In South Africa, when warned to avoid certain down town areas because the Boers still remembered the Boer war and therefore were "hostile" to the British, Hewer relies on his "Canada" shoulder flash. He and a Canadian compatriot slip into a down town hotel and are feted by the old Boers with free beer and lunch.

An interesting anecdote related by Hewer deals with the dance halls. He was on a balcony and looked down at the dancers, who reminded him of a field of moving daisies. . It seems that the ladies had all used peroxide to become blondes and their roots were slowly growing out in their darker colors. As Hewer glanced down, the whirling locks appeared as daisies in the wind. This remembrance, alone, makes the book worth reading.

Robert Louis Stevenson started to write "In the South Seas" in 1889, sailing at the "Equator", during his second cruise on the Pacific. This trip was taken in the company of his wife, Fanny, his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, his mother, Margaret Stevenson (Maggie)and a French nurse on service with the Stevensons, since 1887, Valentine Roch; His purpose was to engage in a serious work about of the South Seas, based on his personal experience and on his collection of a lot of informations about the manners and habits os its native inhabitants. However, his wife is not glad. She tells him that his condition as a social scientist is not as good as a writer. Robert Louis Stevenson didn't attempt to Fanny's advice, and he decided to keep on doing his work. Many critics recognize "In the South Seas" as the best travel's book published in the 19th Century. However I believe it is not only a simple travel's book. I think it is like an autobiography, with numerous and reasonable reflections by the author about human life, the occidental cilization, and peoples who live in remote places, without frequent contact with tje white's world. RLS reveals in his book what he has analyzed and understood about these peoples, expressing his ideas about their religion, art and life style. The language the author uses does not have the common prejudiced traceq which is a characterist of European writers. As he mentions the missionaries's action in Pacific islands.he denounces it with strong words and considers this action a crime against these péoples who are not sighted as human beings by Europeans and Americans, at that time, but simply savage men. The characters who appear in "In the South Seas" are represented by RLS with vivid details and we can perceive them as real people. I think "In the South Seas" is an essential book to study the Pacific Islands history and to understand its peoples; moreover, I consider Robert Louis Stevenson a pioneer in anthropological studies on this world's area. In his book, he really announces a new sight on Anthropology - on the Historical Anthropology as it was recently idealized by Marshall Sallins. Unfortunately , the historians of the Cultural Anthropology don't mention a single word about Robert Louis Stevenson's book; and I think is still time to redeem this great injustice.

If you read only one "South Seas" book from the 1920s back, this should be the one. This Penguin issue corrects a number of inaccuracies from previous editions, including Stevenson's own error in their departure date (!) It is the classic travel and observation book of the Pacific. The early descriptions of the Marquesas are unmatched, as are the accounts of the several islands they visited in Kiribati (Gilbert Islands). The account of Tem Binoka will give you a real eye opening into an absolute ruler and his ways in the late 19th century. Reading this could start a life long interest in Pacific literature.

In his book, In the South Seas, Stevenson gives an accurate and in depth look into the people and culture of the islands of the South Pacific. The book describes Stevenson's two year journey from the Marqueses Islands, to Tahiti, then Honolulu ,and finally Somoa. Stevenson uses the great adventures he experienced and his masterfully writing skills to paint a breath taking view of the islands and thier many beauties.

I have got to admit that Lau has been one of authors that I have been paying a lot of attention to for the unique material she keeps on pursuing and for her'frantic'work ethics that bears enormous works.
This collection of essays offered an unusually fulfilling reading experience. The clear, candid and artful on-going report on her life distinguished herself as a rare talent once again.
Lau this time benefitted the genre and eloquently articulated a couple of issues that she had not been specific about before; her pointing out the issue of racism in Canada she ran into as a Chinese second generation since very little and how the experience formed the psyche she always succumed to; she always felt inferior and had a trouble being self-confident even before trying. Her comment adds irreplacably valuable vocabularies to Asian-American experiences. From the early and uncommon 'independance' she acquired by sacrificing her childhood, the author established her life literally on her own refusing any conpromise no matter how her life got difficult. On the surface, that could give an impression that she was a rootless hybrid of an Asian-Canadian's English literature. However, readers are to discover how much she paradoxically got fixated by her past and childhood when she was not completed by the loss of the parental affection and understanding, which caused the pain she went through being caught between a cross fire of Chinese first generation immigrant parents and the world she struggled to adjust once she stepped out of the house that she walked away one day when she decided to seek for what she could not get inside of it. Her deprived peace in youth was an outcome of selfloath the society puched into her pshyce. She had to deny and leave her root behind to survive in this society where racism was the premise. I found the gutsy statement another landmark representation of Asian women doomed to assimilate until their identity vanish since Lau's former works always understated or subtle about the issue.
Those topics in this colleciton such as depression that she could not shake off and she ultimately chose to live with to just write for she could not be happy unless she wrote, or the recognition that her impossible relationships with men who give love only if transactions of ejaculation was processed, the fear and spiritual growth a trial brought about that was filed by her former lover, were neither cheerful nor easy. Stragely enough, though, they are truly encouraging. I tried to figure out what possibly made them sound so powerful; I should name her courage as one reason. Her writing never sounds like an idletalk-essay that people could read just comfortably and forget when they are done. Lau's words comes from her real pain. As she made it clear, she never minds sacrificing herself as a fuel to ignite fire of life of her writing. Even though it would cause another enormous pain, she is the fearless writer who knows what it takes to write. What could we do about it but applaude to her?

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who read Runaway and wanted to know what happened to Evelyn Lau. This book tells the reader about what has happened in the 10 years since Runaway was published. She discusses the long-term effects in her life of being a prostitute and the depression that she copes with. The language that Ms. Lau uses to describe her emotions, her perceptions and her thoughts is absolutely beautiful. In my opinion, she is one of the great writers of our time.

However, this book is not light reading. It discusses very serious issues and Ms. Lau is not afraid to explore her humanity within the essays that she writes. An excellent book!

but I really loved this book, and felt it needed a review.

It's a very quick read, and covers alot of Runaway: diary of a street kid. So some people may not like the repetativness of it.

She talks about depression, parents (and her relationship with them) her struggle with prostitution and more.

It isn't a happy read, but if like me, you do suffer from depression and like to read something you can identify with it's good.

She also talks about herself as a writer, why she writes how she almost stopped..
I'm a huge fan of evelyn lau and I wasnt' disapointed by this book.

A great presentation of what I expected to be an unexciting topic. Examines the workings of the political system in a highly readable way. I was not only well-informed after I read the book, but entertained as well!

This is excellent material if you are conducting any kind of serious research on NAFTA and its negotiations' development and outcome. It provides with a huge theoretical framework, every step of the process. If your line of work is game theory, this book will really help you (or at least it worked wonders for me). This is mandatory reference material for anyone interested in studying NAFTA.

Mayer rivals Grisham. He enfolds the strategy of NAFTA like a good murder-mystery. More proof that reality is more entertaining than fiction. It's a thriller, a nail-biter. I couldn't put it down!