The southwest region of British Columbia offers a motherlode of unique rockhounding experiences for both amateur and more seasoned prospectors. This revised and expanded edition of Rick Hudson's bestseller A Field Guide to Gold, Gemstone & Mineral Sites of British Columbia opens up a whole new world of exploration within a day's drive of Vancouver. …

Betty Lowman was 22 years old in June 1937 when she climbed into her beloved red dugout canoe Bijaboji and set out on a journey from Puget Sound to Alaska. Traversing some of the most treacherous waters on earth, the journey would have been a risky act for an extreme adventurer in any era; for a young woman in the conservative 1930s, it was a ventu …

Several years ago, Paula Wild spent a month in the Bella Coola Valley. Afterward, she couldn't get the place out of her mind, and it ended up hugely impacting her life. She spent the next few years travelling back and forth between the comparatively bustling metropolis of her hometown of Courtenay, British Columbia and the rugged wilds of Bella Co …

Go Leaving Strange - the latest collection from award-winning poet Patrick Lane - is filled with poems that explore the darker side of human consciousness and desire. A man kills his own six-year-old child in "Weeds." An addict strives to keep ahead of death in "Smack." But amid this bleak landscape of pity and regret, there is also redemption and …

Ready for a cruise up the coast? Here's a great way to explore every mile of it, including the Inside Passage. More than a guide, The Coastal Companion is a fascinating meander up the coast, with stories, maps and photographs, all keyed to the author's unique milemarker system for easier orientation along these complex waterways. Complete with refe …

Its maze of inlets, islands, sandy shores and rocky shoals gives the British Columbia coast some of the best cruising in the world—19,000 kilometres of spectacular coastline.

So it's no surprise that boaters flock here from around the world. Anne and Laurence Yeadon-Jones first found their way to Vancouver Harbour in 1988, after they left London' …

What was the three-letter last name of the Ladysmith native who is "the world's most recognizable Canadian?"

What is the four-letter name of the character Burnaby native Michael J. Fox played on Family Ties?

What's the four-letter word for the amount of clothing required at Wreck Beach?

What's the nine-letter pass near Sparwood where the CPR started c …

The story of Burrard Inlet is also the story of Greater Vancouver, the third largest port in North America and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. This engaging history traces the development of the area from the First Nations settlements dating back thousands of years, to the early European explorers and developers (and tree-huggers!), …

This exquisite cookbook instructs the epicure-boater on how to make magnificent gourmet meals using only a limited galley pantry and plenty of fresh food from the ocean: from spicy Haw Mog Hoy (mouthwatering spicy steamed mussels with a touch of Thailand) and Coquilles St. Jacques (a delectable creamy scallop dish), to a Sesame Seed Crusted Halibut …

Crows Do Not Have Retirement, David Zieroth's sixth book of poems, explores the many lives of the spirit and the flesh: lives that challenge, bewilder and excite. With the fluidity of language and sharpness of image that he is known for, Zieroth voyages through the conflicting worlds of dream and everyday life, exploring feelings of extreme self-ir …

For as long as we have communicated by words, men and women have turned to poets to help them express the surges of emotion that accompany the feelings we call romantic love. Recognizing that "love's domain is as huge, as vast as Canada itself," acclaimed poet Tom Wayman set out in 1997 to compile an anthology of the nation's best poetry on the sub …

In January 1887 a delegation of chiefs from the Nisga'a and Tsimshian peoples of northern British Columbia, seeking restitution from a government that had stolen their lands without a treaty or compensation, arrived by steamship in Victoria's Inner Harbour. They were met by Premier William Smithe, who refused them entry to the provincial legislatur …

Sixteen contemporary northern writers explore the unique place known as the North and tell us about their experiences on the boundary between bush and asphalt, trapline and supermarket.

The heart of this fresh and eclectic look at BC's history is an enormously popular 11-part series that ran in the Vancouver Province newspaper late in 1999. Starting with the years before the Europeans arrived, the book chronicles the life and times of BC through the decades, with plenty of photographs from public and private archives in large and …

The long-awaited sequel to BC children's classic Jason and the Sea Otter.

This delightful story of a Nuu-chah-nulth boy explores First Nations traditions and values through the making of a canoe. Jason's first canoe is crushed during a storm, and he must replace it. Through Uncle Silas, he learns the traditional methods of canoe building - plus scor …

The Bare Plum of Winter Rain is the latest collection of poetry by award-winning poet Patrick Lane, author of more than 20 published books of poetry. An icon in the Canadian literary scene, Lane has won nearly every literary prize in Canada, including the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 1979 for Poems, New and Selected, the Canadian Authors' …

Craig has finally made first string on the high school football team and is looking forward to the season ahead. But suddenly his best friend Ray is surpassing him and everyone else on the football field. When Craig learns his friend is on steroids, or what Ray calls his "vitamin program," he decides to start a steroid program of his own.

At first C …

"Magic is all around us" says Grandfather to his small grandson, Joseph, one sunny day in the springtime many years ago. "Come with me and I will show you some of nature's magic."

Five-year-old Joseph and his grandfather spend many days exploring the maple woods, the freshwater marshes, the mudflats and the seashores of Burrard Inlet. Through their …

How I Joined Humanity at Last, David Zieroth's fifth book of poems, explores the mid-life road to renewal and tells the story of one man's journey toward compassion.

Zieroth's work delves deeply into the issues that affect all of us, from relationships between children and parents and "the old blood turbulence/ of families, tribes," to the day-to-d …

Populations of Woodland Caribou and other large mammals are declining across Canada. Hundreds of "problem bears" are killed each year on government orders. Salmon stocks in BC are in danger of going the way of the East Coast cod. The quality and quantity of Canada's fresh water, one of our most precious resources, can no longer be taken for granted …

Look around at the roads today, and you'll see a variety of sport-utility vehicles, trucks, jeeps, and any other rugged outdoor vehicle you van think of. It all points to the fact that four-wheeling is becoming one of the BC's fastest growing leisure activities. If people aren't actually out there on weekends in their four-wheel drive, they're sitt …

This light-hearted murder mystery features Jimmy Sung, an unsuccessful private investigator who was once a certified whiz kid but has since sunk into a dreamy existential malaise.

When schoolgirl Janet MacDougall hears that her playboy brother Martin has committed suicide, she doesn't believe it. Desperate to learn the truth, Janet hires Jimmy Sung, …

Radical Innocence is an "invitation to reverie," a collection of poems that is at once suffused with marvels and a brilliant historical and cultural critique of our society's development. In this ambivalent look at classical christian attitudes and how they have influenced the western world, Pass moves beyond the ordinary, taking images and persona …

When Jim Spilsbury, B.C's most famous pioneer entrepreneur, teams up with master storyteller and literary craftsman Howard White, the result is a spell-binding romp up and down British Columbia's rugged coast; eighty years of fascinating anecdotes and memories distilled into 190 pages.

Jim Spilsbury grew up in a tent on Savary Island, squatting on c …

Anne Cameron is well-known for her humourous retellings of North West Coast Indian legends - Daughters of Copper Woman and Dzelarhons. In the present collection of poetry, she enters a darker, more eerie and threatening corner of this world. "The Sickness That Has No Name" is an exploration of alienation and Indian mysticism, and of a woman's deter …