Set sail with BC books on BC Ferries

Each year we work with BC Ferries to help promote local books on the vessels during the summer season. This year’s promotion has set sail! Watch for these 16 selected titles proudly displaying “Read Local BC selection” stickers in Passages onboard BC Ferries.

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The new edition of a funny weekly chronicle, A Year on the Wild Side: A West Coast Naturalist’s Almanac by Briony Penn (TouchWood Editions) offers readers a year-long, intimate view of the flora and fauna populating the West Coast.

The Three Pleasures by Terry Watada (Anvil Press) is an intimate and passionate novel concerning an unsightly and painful period in Canada’s history. The Japanese have just bombed Pearl Harbour and racial tension is building in Vancouver. The RCMP are rounding up “suspicious” young men, and fishing boats and property are soon seized from Steveston fishers; internment camps in BC’s interior are only months away. Our narrator is Daniel Sugiura, a young reporter for the New Canadian (the only Japanese-Canadian newspaper allowed to keep publishing during the war), who tells the story of three individuals in the Japanese community.

Nature Guide to the Victoria Region edited by Ann Nightingale and Claudia Copley (Royal BC Museum) highlights the natural wonderland of Victoria—one of the most biologically rich areas of the country. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned naturalist, a visitor or a resident, this book will give you the knowledge you need to get the most out of your explorations of southeastern Vancouver Island.

Don’t Never Tell Nobody Nothin’ No How: The Real Story of West Coast Rum Running (Harbour Publishing) by maritime historian Rick James separates fact from fiction in this authoritative look into BC’s rum-running past.

Amber River: a guide to unique pubs of Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea by Glen Cowley (Hancock House) takes the reader to 85 pubs—from Swartz Bay to Port Hardy and Tofino to Powell River—exploring their unique features, brews, and suggesting nearby activities to turn a pub trip into a full day outing. 

Complicated Simplicity: Island Life in the Pacific Northwest by Joy Davis (Heritage House) is a frank, practical, and entertaining exploration of the pleasures and complexities of living on small islands. The author shares her own experiences growing up on Bath Island (off Gabriola) and interviews with more than 20 intrepid figures who live on the San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands, the Discovery Islands, and in Clayoquot Sound. 

Among fly fishers, the Kamloops region in British Columbia’s Thompson-Okanagan is known as one of the best places in the world for catching trout. In Trout School: Lessons from a Fly-Fishing Master (Greystone Books) award-winning author and journalist Mark Hume passes on what he’s learned from his countless hours on and off the lake with the fly-fishing master Mo Bradley. 

Extraordinary Ornamental Edibles: 100 Perennials, Trees, Shrubs and Vines for Canadian Gardens by Mike Laschelle (Douglas & McIntyre) is an inspiring and easy-to-reference A-to-Z guide to growing perennial edibles across Canada. But more than just a listing of delicious plants, it is also a comprehensive guide to the edible landscape as a whole, with information about microclimates, pollinators, pests, ecological concerns, culinary suggestions, and more.

A BC Bestseller! One Eagle Soaring by award-winning team Robert Budd and Roy Henry Vickers (Harbour Publishing) engages young readers with the West Coast, and it’s the perfect size for little hands.

Claiming the Land: British Columbia and the Making of a New El Dorado by Daniel Marshall (Ronsdale Press) won the 2019 Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize for an outstanding scholarly book on BC by a Canadian author. This trailblazing history of early British Columbia focuses on a single year—1858—the year of the Fraser River gold rush, the third great mass migration of gold seekers.

In the northwest corner of BC, between the Alaska–BC border and the northern tip of Vancouver Island, lies one of the last untouched places on Earth: the Great Bear Rainforest, part of the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the world. Great Bear Rainforest A Giant-Screen Adventure in the Land of the Spirit Bear by Ian McAllister and Alex Van Tel (Orca Book Publishers) takes you behind the scenes of the production of IMAX film to learn about the incredible challenges of filming in such difficult conditions and feel the wonder that comes from experiencing this wild place.

The Nature of Canada edited by Colin M. Coates & Graeme Wynn (UBC Press / On Point Press) is a collection of short, beautifully crafted essays, enlivened with photos and illustrations, exploring how humans have engaged with Canadian nature and what those interactions say about the nature of Canada. These captivating reflections on the history of our environment and ourselves will make you think differently not only about Canada’s past but also about our future.

Where Are You Little Red Ball? by Patricia Coté with charming illustrations by Yayo (Tradewind Books) will have little ones following the adventure of a runaway ball. This board book is a delight for very young children and their caregivers.

Lines on a Map: Unparalleled Adventures in Modern Exploration by Frank Wolf (Rocky Mountain Books) captures two decades of adventure writing. Take a backseat ride with this entertaining and inspiring collection of travel journalism by renowned adventurer, writer, filmmaker and environmentalist Frank Wolf.

Body and Soul: Stories for Skeptics and Seekers edited by Susan Scott (Caitlin Press) is a collection of honest and insightful essays that show us how our spirit and intellect are intricately connected — and that they are allies, not adversaries. Contributors include Sharon Bala, Carleigh Baker, Eufemia Fantetti, Sue Goyette, K.D. Miller, Zarqa Nawaz, Alison Pick, Sigal Samuel, Ayelet Tsabari, Betsy Warland, and more.

A badly injured man. A nationwide power failure. A village buried in snow. A desperate struggle for survival. These are the ingredients of The Weight of Snow (Talonbooks), Christian Guay-Poliquin’s riveting new novel. The Weight of Snow won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction in French and is now available in English from award-winning translator David Homel.