- historical (60)
- women sleuths (35)
- literary (27)
- canadian (26)
- essays (26)
- western provinces (24)
- personal memoirs (21)
- women (17)
- expeditions & discoveries (15)
- police procedural (15)
- restaurants (14)
- cozy (13)
- architects (12)
- artists (12)
- contemporary women (12)
- photographers (12)
- short stories (single author) (11)
- condiments (9)
- hard-boiled (9)
- herbs (9)
Vancouver Island Scoundrels, Eccentrics and Originals
Found on the history shelves of the Greater Victoria Public Library, these twenty true stories are brought to life by Stephen Ruttan. They draw a picture of the life of a city with a recent past that's both unconventional and colourful. From Miss Wilson and her famous parrot, Louis, to Jimmy Chicken Island, named after a man who acquired his surnam …
Spirits of the West
The ghost of a scuba diver who still haunts the former British Columbia powerhouse where he met his death. An Alberta theatre where entities have been seen, heard, and even felt so often that it deserves to be called one of the most haunted sites in North America. The spirit of a dapper young man who is willing to share the second floor of a Saskat …
Food Artisans of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands
In Food Artisans of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, well-known and loved food writer Don Genova compiles a guide of the best food and producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Using his first-hand experience as host of CBC Radio Victoria’s weekly column "Food Matters," and based on interviews he conducted as a food writer for var …
Okanagan Slow Road
A book that invites you to slow down and explore the Okanagan Valley from a local’s point of view.
Whether it’s spying a rare canyon wren, cycling the historic Kettle Valley Railroad across heart-stopping trestle bridges, or hiking through fields of spring flowers, travel alongside the authors as they draw you into the exquisite, unforgettable e …
The Deerholme Mushroom Book
“Thorough and intense . . . A fully referenced field guide [for foraging mushrooms] and a collection of utterly delicious recipes, it’s destined to be a classic.” —Anita Stewart, Founder of Cuisine Canada
Shortlisted for a 2014 Taste Canada Award, this comprehensive cookbook and expert guide will expand your culinary knowledge of wild and cu …
The Land of Heart's Delight
Shortlisted for the 2014 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize
Shortlisted for a 2014 BC Book Prize
Finalist for the Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing
Just how, and why, did Vancouver Island get onto the map? How was knowledge of our immediate geography acquired and recorded? With 130 maps, dating between 1593 and 1915, this cartograph …
Harold Mortimer-Lamb
Harold Mortimer-Lamb’s name is in the index of almost every book written on the history of Canadian art, yet his place in that world has never been clear. Photographer, writer, painter, promoter—he was a man of many parts and the ideal patron and friend to some of Canada's most famous artists, including A.Y. Jackson, Emily Carr, and Jack Shadbo …
Harold Mortimer Lamb
Harold Mortimer-Lamb’s name is in the index of almost every book written on the history of Canadian art, yet his place in that world has never been clear. Photographer, writer, painter, promoter—he was a man of many parts and the ideal patron and friend to some of Canada's most famous artists, including A.Y. Jackson, Emily Carr, and Jack Shadbo …
The Cariboo Trail
Agnes C. Laut’s The Cariboo Trail is a fascinating history of the Canadian gold rush that began in 1858. When, in early 1849, a group of ragged miners arrived in the sleepy town of Victoria from California, no one would have believed that a little over ten years later a gold rush would hit the Fraser River.
Between 1859 and 1871, thousands of mine …
Always Love a Villain on San Juan Island
In the fourth mystery in the Islands Investigations International series, Noel Franklin and Kyra Rachel are called to Moresby University on San Juan Island to investigate a case of possible plagiarism. As they look into the theft, the two get to know the small island’s university. They soon discover another, more menacing crime: the daughter of a …
The Dove in Bathurst Station
Marta Elzinga has been searching for a sign. When she spots an elusive mink on the shoreline of the Toronto Island Airport, she thinks it is her sign. The pigeon that boards the subway at Bathurst Station is the second sign. But how to read these dispatches?
Plagued with indecision and prone to magical thinking, Marta needs direction. A floundering …
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage opens in the deep winter of 1891 on the Métis and missionary settlement of Lac St. Anne, Canada. A young woman of mixed-blood named Mahkesîs is carrying the child of the married Englishman who manages the Hudson Bay Company trading post. She is forced to reveal her devastating secret to her Cree grandmother. As an unmarried Catholic gi …
Swarm
In a not-so-far-off future of diminished energy reserves and collapsing economies, thirty-seven-year-old Sandy Burch-Bailey lives a difficult existence. She survives by fishing, farming, and beekeeping in a small island community with her partner, Marvin, and their elderly and ill friend, Thompson. As they wait for an overdue supply ship to arrive …
How to Expect What You're Not Expecting
Winner of a 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards Bronze Medal
One size fits all does not apply to pregnancy and childbirth. Each one is different, unique, and comes with its share of pleasure and pain. But how does one prepare for an unexpected loss of a pregnancy or hoped-for baby? In How to Expect What You’re Not Expecting, writers share their …
Cocktail Culture
The new art of the cocktail has arrived in bars and lounges. In this exquisitely produced book, world-class bartenders Shawn Soole and Nate Caudle compile cutting-edge recipes for the experienced bartender and beginner mixologist alike. The ultimate cocktail book, Cocktail Culture boasts over 110 original recipes, from Classic-inspired Drinks and T …
Beauty by Design
You may never look at a garden in the same way again. Though not a “how-to” book, Beauty By Design is a treasure trove of ideas and enchantment for seasoned gardeners and beginners alike. Eleven inspired artists of the garden share their stories, their secrets, and their passion for gardening. Landscape is the canvas. Foliage, flowers, rocks, w …
The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of …
The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of …
On the Flavour Trail
Vancouver Island has a diverse and exceptional food culture, drawn from both land and ocean. With this unique cookbook, try a vast array of favourite recipes from the Island’s innovative chefs. All members of the Island Chefs’ Collaborative, these professional chefs are dedicated to supporting local agriculture and the farmers, fishers, and for …
Hometown
Join beloved storyteller Anny Scoones as she sets out to discover the quaint and quirky charms of Victoria, BC. Not just a book of facts, Hometown is a gentle stroll through a diverse region with a fascinating and layered history. Observe, pause, ponder, and have what Anny likes to call “a little think” on the various characteristics and person …
Heritage Apples
Heritage Apples travels far beyond the grocery store of today to savor the apples of the past. These are the apple varieties—the Gravensteins, the Kings, the red-fleshed Pink Pearl—that link us to history, but through food movements and taste preferences are remerging as the fruit of the future. Heritage apples evoke memories and passion for so …
Eat Your Heart Out
With unsentimental prose and ironic dialogue, Katie Boland brings to life a variety of characters who all have one thing in common—a need for something more. A literary debut by a refreshing new voice in fiction, the stories in Eat Your Heart Out are about the haunted and heartbroken, about dreamers, losers and love-lost souls. From a sixteen-yea …
The Unfinished Child
Finalist for a 2014 Alberta Literary Award
Shortlisted for the 2014Edmonton Public Library Alberta Readers’ Choice Award
Fans of Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter will love this unforgettable and inspiring tale about the complex bonds of family, friendship, and motherhood.
When Marie MacPherson, a mother of two, finds herself unexpectedly …
On the Flavour Trail
Vancouver Island has a diverse and exceptional food culture, drawn from both land and ocean. With this unique cookbook, try a vast array of favourite recipes from the Island’s innovative chefs. All members of the Island Chefs’ Collaborative, these professional chefs are dedicated to supporting local agriculture and the farmers, fishers, and for …
Island Wineries of British Columbia
Winner of the Gourmand International Wine Books Award 2011 for Canada
Finalist for the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award, 2012 BC Book Prizes
This award-winning book celebrates the unique flavours, terroir, and grape varieties that can only be found on the wine islands off the West Coast. A collaborative effort from the writers of EAT Magazine, …
Rosina, the Midwife
Finalist for a 2014 Alberta Literary Award
Between 1870 and 1970, 26 million Italians left their homeland and travelled to places like Canada, Australia and the United States, in search of work. Many of them never returned to Italy. Against this historic backdrop comes the story of Rosina, a Calabrian matriarch, who worked as a midwife in an area wh …
The Third Riel Conspiracy
It is the spring of 1885 and the Northwest Rebellion has broken out. Amid the chaos of the Battle of Batoche, a grisly act leaves Reuben Wake dead. A Metis man is arrested for the crime, but he claims innocence. When Durrant Wallace, sergeant in the North West Mounted Police, begins his own investigation into the man’s possible motives, he learns …
South of Elfrida
The nature of relationships is skilfully illuminated in this collection of stories by award-winning author Holley Rubinsky. South of Elfrida delves into the lives of those coming face to face with personal truths that require resilience, humour and the ability to change.
With a clear eye for the complexities of the human heart, Rubinsky’s stories …
Unholy Rites
The third book in the Danutia Dranchuk mystery series reunites RCMP constable Danutia Dranchuk with her friend, drama critic Arthur Fairweather. Danutia is observing a youth rehabilitation program in England when Arthur returns to the Peak District to attend his mother’s funeral. Suspecting foul play in her death, Danutia and Arthur question the …
The Corpse with the Golden Nose
The second book in the Cait Morgan Mysteries brings overindulgent foodie and criminologist Cait Morgan to the vineyards of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
A world-famous vintner is dead. And when a heartfelt plea to look into the matter is paired with an exclusive gourmet event in BC’s stunning wine country, Cait Morgan cannot resist. She is …
The Arctic Journals of John Rae
Scottish doctor and explorer John Rae is a controversial figure in the history of the Arctic. He began his career with the Hudson's Bay Company as a surgeon in Moose Factory, Ontario, where he learned to survey, live off the land, and travel great distances on snowshoes. These skills served him well when, in 1846, he was charged with completing the …
The Apple House
Anglophone Imogene Jackson grew up in an English suburb on the uneasy edge of a francophone world. At the age of nineteen she quit college to marry a shoemaker from the close-knit French village of Saint-Ange-du-Lac. For ten years she has lived with her husband, Thomas, above his family's historic shoe shop, immersed in village life. When Thomas di …
Her Voice, Her Century
An original collection of four plays about unsung women from the history of the Canadian west. With theatrical twists and turns, Her Voice, Her Century takes us from an English doctor plunked into the middle of Alberta's unsettled north country, to a Canadian journalist covering the First World War, to the scandalous relationship between an Alberta …
Cadillac Couches
Winner of a 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal
Cadillac Couches is a picaresque road trip novel that journeys from prairie to big city and back again. A quixotic tale set in the late nineties and framed by the popular Edmonton Folk Music Festival, it follows two music-smitten twentysomething women as they search for love and purpose. A …
Flavours of the West Coast
The West Coast has an abundance of produce and natural food resources, and some of the most talented and influential chefs in the world. In this colourful cookbook, British Columbia's top restaurateurs, chefs, and foodies share signature dishes that will inspire cooks everywhere. Meet the province's well-known and up-and-coming culinary stars as th …
The Spencer Mansion
Built in 1889 and now home to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Spencer Mansion is a magnificent building with a rich and layered history. With detailed research, historian and author Robert Ratcliffe Taylor describes the original appearance of the house, designed by William Ridgway Wilson for Alexander Green and his family, as well as its i …
