BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Finalist, City of Vancouver Book Awards, 2008
At Home with History is a collection of real life stories that bring to life the glamorous and not-so-glamorous social histories of selected heritage homes in Greater Vancouver - stories of brothels and bootleggers, secret rooms, and Shakespearean-style murders. An Italian family survives the depression by selling booze and sandwiches from their eastside home. A Shaughnessy mansion headquarters the Ku Klux Klan and then a children's hospice. A secret radio room is uncovered during renovations. Every home has a social history and a genealogy that tells a tremendous amount about the history of the times and offers up a sense of place. Current home-owners are only temporary custodians, part of the chain in the ongoing narrative of the house. People change, styles change, colours change, cars change, but through it all, the house remains a central fixture and the structure for the stories in At Home with History.
Praise for At Home With History:
BC Books for Everybody Pick
"exceptional incidents in ordinary houses and ordinary people in exceptional houses." (Vancouver Sun)
"If the walls could talk, what stories would old Vancouver homes tell? Lazarus went searching and the result is an entertaining and informative book on the city's social history . . . Lazarus' diligent and extensively detailed book accompanied with archival photographs, serves to remind us rich stories lurking within old homes, whether a mansion or bungalow, are well worth preserving." (BC Historical News)
"A mix of old black-and-white street-scene photos, jovial stories, and unique neighbourhood profiles, the book crushes the idea that Vancouver is a city without history." (Georgia Straight)
Eve Lazarus has worked as a freelance journalist and writer for more than 15 years. Originally from Australia, she is the Vancouver correspondent for 'Marketing Magazine' and the author of 'Frommer's with Kids Vancouver 2001' (John Wiley & Sons). She is a former newspaper reporter and has written for a variety of periodicals in Canada and the United States including the 'Globe & Mail', the 'Vancouver Sun', 'Style at Home', 'B.C. Business' and 'Canadian Family 'magazines. In 2001, she won gold and silver awards at the Canadian Business Press KRW's. Lazarus has a communications degree from Simon Fraser University and a journalism diploma from Langara College. Since becoming obsessed with home histories, she has written articles on the subject for 'Style at Home', 'REM', the 'Globe & Mail', and 'Nuvo' Magazine. Eve lives in North Vancouver with her husband, three kids and miniature Schnauzer.