With the clocks back an hour and the temperatures ticking lower and lower, winter will be here before we know it, leaving us few opportunities to spend time in the great, golden outdoors. Luckily for us, books are irreplaceable experts at whisking us off to experiences and locales we might never find ourselves in otherwise, and all from the comfort of our homes.
Taking us from the driest place in North America all the way to an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, here are some titles we think are perfect for armchair travel.
TRAVELOGUES
A Complex Coast: A Kayak Journey from Vancouver Island to Alaska by David Norwell (Heritage House Publishing)
In 2014, twenty-four-year-old geography student David Norwell set off on a daunting kayak journey in search of purpose in his life. A jigsaw puzzle of jagged mainland and over 50,000 islands — stretching from southern Vancouver Island to Alaska — lay in front of him. A self-described ordinary kid from small-to-medium-town, British Columbia, David had paddled through the Gulf Islands and guided youth groups on a nine-day journey from Nanaimo to Victoria. But nothing could prepare him for this.
For the next several months, David navigated the waters off coastal British Columbia, recording his observations, musings, and daily activities in a notebook. The result is this one-of-a-kind travelogue, filled with more than 700 whimsical watercolour illustrations of coastlines, local plant and animal species, camping supplies, and portraits of people he met along the way. He wrote about the nature of solitude, the search for meaning and adventure, the wildlife he encountered, the survival skills he acquired, and the existence of his own privilege. A Complex Coast is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that will appeal to kayakers, naturalists, and anyone looking for adventure.
Out Now!
Naked in a Pyramid by Yosef Wosk (Anvil Press)
A scholar turned philanthropist turned art collector turned writer/philosopher, Yosef Wosk is a reclusive Lone Ranger who frequently helps others but remains a stranger. Here, for the first time, he has gathered a medley of observations to reveal his private world.
Having visited both Poles and circumnavigated the world, after all, Wosk has developed his own field of psychogeography. For instance, he describes the time he almost died climbing the Great Pyramid of Giza at midnight, only to descend the next day into an ancient cavern beneath the pyramid where he took off all his clothes, alone, and meditated.
Naked in a Pyramid is an unconventional book by an original thinker. There is quite simply nobody like Yosef Wosk, and this nonfiction collection takes you through as many locales as it does subjects and adventures: Leonard Cohen, Marilyn Monroe, Jesus as a storyteller, knowing Elie Wiesel, visiting anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, technology, and a gradient of destinations between the North and South Poles.
Out November 30, 2023!
Gone Viking III: The Holy Grail by Bill Arnott (Rocky Mountain Books)
Granted a fellowship by London’s Royal Geographical Society for his travelogues Gone Viking I and II, Bill Arnott is at it again: he’s going viking, and taking us along for the adventure. In Gone Viking III: The Holy Grail, Bill attempts to unravel the mysteries of fabled odysseys and legendary travellers, from seafaring Scandinavians to druidic Celts, goddesses, gods, and Arthurian knights. Discover storm-roiled coasts of the Atlantic and of the Baltic and Mediterranean seas and pursue pilgrimage paths across Europe, through Scandinavia, and into the Arctic.
With unfailing humour, insight, and an infectious take on the world, this inquisitive traveller can be a companion and guide on what can only be called the ultimate quest, capturing first-hand exploration and new findings in Viking Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the British Isles, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, and Turkey, with additional research into Poland and the city of Jerusalem.
Out Now!
FICTION
The House Filler by Tong Ge (Ronsdale Press)
A family saga set in China during the most tumultuous time of the twentieth century including the Japanese invasion, the civil war, and the Communist takeover, The House Filler follows Golden Phoenix, a woman who faces war, poverty, and political oppression as she fights for survival, freedom, and happiness.
Still reeling from the untimely death of her husband, Golden Phoenix finds her family torn in different directions: she is forced by poverty to give her teenage twins to the Red Army, the rest of her children are separated from her during the upheaval of the Japanese invasion of her hometown, and her remaining son leaves to fight with the Nationalist army. Only Golden Phoenix and an adopted son remain to endure the horror and hardship of war, but when the civil war ends with the Communists in power in 1949 and one of her children accused of being a traitor and sentenced to death, Golden Phoenix must find a way to stitch her family back together and save her child’s life.
Out Now!
Canoes by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Jessica Moore (Talonbooks)
“The beauty of [Maylis De] Kerangal’s poetic, multi-layered stories,” writes The Financial Times about this incandescent collection, “full of sensory detail and expertly translated by Jessica Moore, lies in their emotional resonance. Anyone dealing with change cannot fail to be moved.”
Seven stories orbit a central novella in Canoes, taking place in Paris, Toronto, Colorado, and beyond, yet altogether producing a seamless song that resonates with the vibrations and frequencies of women’s voices. De Kerangal casts light on daughters, friends, sisters, young and old, talkative or daydreaming. exploring human entwinement and the precarious balance between life and death.
Out Now!
Rains, At Times Heavy by Debi Goodwin (Caitlin Press)
Linden Kemp’s grandfather drowned trying to save others when Hurricane Hazel lashed an unprepared Toronto. The hippie father she never knew died in the monsoons of India. Her husband slipped from life on the black ice of freezing rain.
Linden’s grandmother tells her: Old age is a privilege our men never got to know.
The legacy of death in their family tree, compounded by Linden’s intimate knowledge of natural disasters as a climatologist, darkens her view of the future. But when a letter, held back by her grandmother, reveals that Linden’s father had a second child living in California, Linden travels from Toronto to Death Valley, the driest place on the continent and a cherished spot she visited often with her husband. There, in the sparseness of the desert, she seeks her half-brother and answers to the mystery of her father’s abandonment.
But weather still has a lesson to teach her: life must still be lived fully in the calm between storms.
Through vivid landscapes and complex characters, Rains, At Times Heavy explores how one moment, one trauma, can spiral through generations until a single person steps bravely into its path.
Out Now!
YOUNG READERS
What’s in it for ME? by LS Stone (Rebel Mountain Press)
“This fascinating glimpse into the world of elephant sanctuaries and international volunteering,” describes Susan Juby, author of The Woefield Poultry Collective and The Truth Commission, “is a delightful tale about the unexpected friendships that can happen when we are doing good things in the world. LS Stone’s debut novel is a treat.”
What’s in it for ME? finds fifteen-year-old Nick Bannerman with little other ways to spend his summer except daydreaming about making it big in music, mega partiers, and surfing in Tofino. His best friend Trevor wants him to spend the summer with him in Africa building a school with a changemaker organization, but Nick isn’t interested in global activism, volunteering, or physical labour — at least until he learns that the new girl Sheena is going on a similar trip of her own. In a turn of events, Nick ends up in Thailand instead while Trevor goes off to Kenya, setting Nick off on a summer that will land him in an elephant sanctuary working harder than he ever has in his life.
From glimpses of Africa as Trevor learns about Kenyan culture and language from twelve-year-old local boy Kito to Nick’s encounters with animal rights activists, drugged tigers, and rampaging elephants, this quick and charming read is sure to engage as much as it will educate.
Out Now!