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."
The Colour of Water is the story of a complicated family trying to hold itself together across the generations in the harsh, stunning Kootenay climate.
Luanne Armstrong holds a Ph.D in Education and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. She has written twenty-five books, and has co-written or edited many other books through to publication. She has published novels, children's books, memoir and books of essays, as well as poetry. Her most recent book is a collection of poetry and photography titled When We Are Broken: The Lake Elegy (Maa Press). Her most recent memoir was A Bright and Steady Flame (Caitlin Press, 2018), and her new book of essays, Going to Ground: Being and Place, was published by Caitlin Press in 2022. She has won or been nominated for many awards, including the Chocolate Lily Award, the BC Hubert Evans Award, the Moonbeam Award, the Red Cedar Award, Surrey Schools Book of the Year Award, the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Award, and the Silver Birch Award. Armstrong lives on Ktunaxa “amak'is, "The People's Land."
"[Armstrong's] voice is authentic and fearless... I had found a book about me. This is my winding road... the people of this book are like a broken mirror, reflecting the silvery slivers of my neighbours, my friends, my grandparents and children; these people are me and they are you... In The Colour of Water, I was whisked to the most exotic place of all-deeper into my own heart and soul... Buy this book. Dive into it, enjoy it, lose yourself then find yourself in it. Then buy a copy for your friend in the city who will read about this Kootenay land and people, and know you again for the first time."
--Mainstreet