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."
At forty, deeply iconoclastic Spat Ryan is recently divorced, unemployed, and frequently intoxicated. Inspired by the cliche "we're only as sick as our secrets," he decides to reveal himself a piece at a time for the "cure." A deeply skeptical outsider, stunted by many adolescent appetites, Spat survived his often violent, terrifying past by keeping his darkest truths out of mind. A wholly unpopular student, he was christened "Big Dummy" by a nun teaching at his junior high. The name Spat the Dummy and an unearned bad reputation followed him to the end of his miserable school years. Raised by a bagman for the Irish mob, Spat has fictionalized or ignored chuinks of his life too painful to contemplate. When he meets an old friend of his father's in a bar on the Main, they develop a camaraderie built on memories of the man they both revered. During a drinking session with his father's old friend, it is revealed that she, too, has been keeping the same secret that ultimately shaped Spat's tumultuous life. Her reaction to the recollection ends their friendship and begins his quest to understand how he became hiself. 'Spat the Dummy' is a brilliant debut novel that will have readers longing for more from this wildly original writer.
"This is a satisfying read from a talented author that manages to convey the rather hopeful message that each od Spat's small successes mean moe than all of his spectacular failures combined." - Montreal Gazette
Ed Macdonald is an actor, playwright, and novelist. As an actor, he has appeared on various stages and in TV shows, including 'Trailer Park Boys', 'Lexx', 'Hatching Matching And Dispatching'. He was frequently a guest on Open Book With Mary Walsh. His first on-camera role was in Daniel Petrie's The Bay Boy. His first novel, 'Spat the Dummy', was published in 2010. His play 'Gemini' opened at the 78th Street Theatre Lab and received great reviews, including a rave from 'The VillageVoice'. The play was then re-mounted by NBC for a run in their PSNBC space. 'Mutant Sex Party', 'The Escape Artist', 'Erratica', 'Hot Meat' and 'Titus Lucretius Carus' have all been produced by the New York production house The Drilling Company. 'Titus Lucretius Carus' was recently nominated for the New York Innovative Theatre Award. Born and raised on Cape Breton Island, Ed now lives in Toronto.