Explore with BC Books on BC Ferries

A summer long weekend approaches, and for many British Columbians that means so does a trip aboard BC Ferries!

It will come as no surprise that browsing the books section of Passages Gift Shops is one of our favourite parts of the journey – especially come summer, when we can spot new and exciting BC books proudly bearing their “Read Local BC Selection” stickers.

As Passages Gift Shops on select routes have begun to reopen, keep your eyes peeled for this year’s Read Local BC selections! Remember to travel safely this summer. Here are some helpful guidelines on how to best protect yourself and others while onboard BC Ferries vessels.

And if you’re staying a little closer to home, we recommend picking up a Read Local BC selection or two (from your local bookseller, of course) and a soft serve cone to give that ferry feeling. Ship’s horn blast optional.

For Clayton Monroe, the last hope for refuge is a struggling settlement at the far northwest corner of  Vancouver Island. San Josef is his sanctuary from the imagined demons and real enemies who have pursued him for three decades, from the Civil War battlefields of Virginia and across the plains of Kansas to the gold rush gateway of Seattle. For Anika Frederickson, San Josef is her new home and her dream, a now failing community built on the promises of provincial government officials. The future of her colony, carved from the coastal wilderness by the tenacity of her fellow Danish idealists, is as uncertain as the storms that batter their farms. In San Josef by Harold Macy (Tidewater Press), the rainforest and the river will bear witness.

An ode to paths and the journeys we take through nature, as told by a gifted writer who stopped driving and rediscovered the joys of traveling by foot. Torbjørn Ekelund, author of In Praise of Paths: Walking Through Time and Nature (Greystone Books), started to walk — everywhere — after an epilepsy diagnosis affected his ability to drive. The more he ventured out, the more he came to love the act of walking, and an interest in paths emerged. In this poignant, meandering book, Ekelund interweaves the literature and history of paths with his own stories from the trail.

There are too many stories about Indigenous women who go missing or are murdered, and it doesn’t seem as though official sources such as government, police or the courts respond in a way that works toward finding justice or even solutions. At least that is the way Wren StrongEagle sees it. Wren is devastated when her twin sister, Raven, mysteriously disappears after the two spend an evening visiting at a local pub. When Wren files a missing persons report with the local police, she is dismissed and becomes convinced the case will not be properly investigated. In Bone Black by Carol Rose GoldenEagle (Harbour Publishing), protagonist Wren decides to take justice into her own hands.

Popular Wildflowers of Coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island by Neil L. Jennings is a full-colour field guide for the curious amateur naturalist, traveller, or hiker who wishes to learn to identify flowering plants that may be encountered while in the outdoors of Coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island during the usual blooming season.

From its Coast Mountain skyline to its seedy waterfront tattoo parlors, from the private downtown booze-cans of the city’s business elite and the Faux Chateau enclave of Whistler, to the riot-shaken streets of the early Sixties and the history of pipe bomb attacks in the city, John Moore has been there, done that. He’s been a graveyard shift cabdriver, deckhand, bartender, emergency room security guard, reporter and even sunk to the depths of freelance journalism, without losing his sense of humour. Part memoir, part polemic, Rain City: Vancouver Reflections (Anvil Press) is his version of a fat old Sixties rock band’s Greatest Hits album.

In Orcas of the Salish Sea by Mark Leiren-Young (Orca Book Publishers) readers meet Onyx and the orcas of J pod, the world’s most famous whales. Illustrated with stunning photos, this picture book introduces young readers to the orcas humans first fell in love with. The members of J pod live in the Salish Sea, off the coast of Washington and British Columbia. Moby Doll was the first orca ever displayed in captivity, Granny was the oldest orca known to humanity, and Scarlet was the orca humans fought to save.

In Gifts from Raven (Medicine Wheel Education), Kung Jaadee, a Haida storyteller, shares with us that Raven has given each person a special gist to share with the world. That gift is their unique talent or passion. This is an adaptation of her book Raven’s Feast for a younger audience. 

Spirits of the Coast: Orcas in Science, Art and History edited by Martha Black, Lorne Hammond and Gavin Hanke, with Nikki Sanchez (Royal BC Museum), brings together the work of marine biologists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, poets, artists and storytellers, united by their enchantment with the orca. Long feared in Western cultures as “killer whales,” and respected and honoured by Indigenous cultures as friends, family or benefactors, orcas are complex social beings with culture and language of their own.

Ice melt; sea level rise; catastrophic weather; flooding; drought; fire; infestation; species extinction and adaptation; water shortage and contamination; intensified social inequity, migration and cultural collapse. These are but some of the changes that are not only predicted for climate changing futures, but already part of our lives in Canada. Rising Tides: Reflections for Climate Changing Times, edited by Catriona Sandilands (Catilin Press) is a collection of short fiction, creative non-fiction, memoir and poetry addressing the past, present and future of climate change. Bringing stories about climate change—both catastrophic and subtle—closer to home, this new anthology inspires reflection, understanding, conversation and action.

Did you know that seemingly noiseless electronics may be upsetting your dog? Or that letting her sniff the breeze is one of the best gifts you can give her? Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy by Zazie Todd (Greystone Books) bridges the gap between human and canine by demystifying the inner lives of dogs to share evidence-based advice for making them happy. Acclaimed blogger Todd distills the latest canine science and shares recommendations from leading veterinarians, researchers, and trainers to cultivate a rewarding and respectful relationship with your dog—which offers many benefits for you, your family, and your four-legged friend. 

At the age of seventeen, an Anishinaabe boy who was raised in the south joined a James Bay Cree family in a one-room hunting cabin in the isolated wilderness of northern Quebec. In the five months that followed, he learned a way of life on the land with which few are familiar, where the daily focus is on the necessities of life, and where both skill and finesse are required for self-sufficiency. In The Shoe Boy: A Trapline Memoir (UBC Press), that boy – Duncan McCue – takes us on an evocative journey that explores the hopeful confusion of the teenage years, entwined with the challenges and culture shock of coming from a mixed-race family and moving to the unfamiliar North.

A concise, full-colour visitor’s guide to dozens of historical churches scattered throughout Vancouver Island, from humble country chapels to soaring urban cathedrals. Pioneer Churches of Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea: An Explorer’s Guide by Liz Bryan (Heritage House) features more than forty surviving churches whose construction dates back to the 1800s. It explores the architecture; the local history of the area; and the stories of the builders, worshippers, clergy members, those who are buried in the adjoining graveyards.

A lighthearted, self-deprecating account of one fledgling beekeeper’s misadventures. With wit and warning in equal measure, this informative, refreshingly honest narrative will resonate with any new beekeeper. In Show Me The Honey: Adventures of an Accidental Apiarist (TouchWood Editions) Dave Doroghy recounts his often tension-filled misadventures in beekeeping with self-deprecating humour and lightheartedness. Whether it’s the impending chaos of transferring tens of thousands of insects to an outyard, the horror of discovering bees on the inside of his beekeeping suit, or just wondering if he will end up with even an ounce of honey for all his efforts, Doroghy shares the joy, the surprises, and the less-acknowledged financial sting of keeping bees.

“By June, Philip’s view of English Bay, what’s left of it, will be utterly gone. It was always going to happen. For years now, it’s been getting harder and harder to see what’s out there. For years now, it’s been getting harder and harder to know what to do.” I Saw Three Ships: West End Stories by Bill Richardson (Talonbooks) captures a West End community vanishing under pressure from development and skyrocketing real-estate prices. As arch as they are elegiac, as funny as they are melancholy, these stories honour a cherished period in the history of the West End.