Fully aware that his mythical home-place might have vanished forever into memory (or at least into sad disrepair), Gary Geddes set out to discover his roots in a 31-foot British sailing sloop, christened the Groais. Those tangled roots wound their way up British Columbia's famed Inside Passage, an ancient sea route of nearly one thousand miles, an often turbulent waterscape where Geddes discovers a vibrant history, livelihoods come and gone, dramatic scenery, and ghosts of the past. The result of that search is Sailing Home, a wonderful meditative literary journey that is both a poignant personal memoir and a crow's nest view of the west coast's rich 10,000-year cultural, social and economic heritage. Despite his seafaring background -- Geddes' grandfather was a fisherman who drowned mysteriously off Point Atkinson and his father was a deep sea diver, shipbuilder and salmon fisherman -- he knows he is navigationally challenged with nautical experience anchored by raw fear, mechanical ineptness and bouts of seasickness. Setting out with the latest in technology (along with indecipherable charts, an adventure library, and the writings of George Vancouver and Charles Darwin), he soon finds himself at the mercy of a willful boat and an even more headstrong sea. But as he sails through unexpected storms and cotton wool fogs, he discovers that his own past is becoming a strong current in the shifting tides of coastal history. Lyrical and evocative, this is a book for all those embarking on their own personal journeys, whether they be by water, land or the flight paths of the imagination.

Sailing home: A journey through time, place & memory

Travel

Geddes, Gary

Canada

HarperFlamingo Canada

Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada

Biographies & Memoirs

Hill, Lawrence

Community & Culture

The Toronto Star recently called Farley Mowat, the author of thirty-eight books that have sold more than fourteen million copies in twenty-four languages over five decades “Canada’s answer to Gerald Durrell crossed with Mark Twain” and “a meaty subject for the biographer.” And at age 82, he is still going strong with yet another new book, High Latitudes (Steerforth, March 2002). He is famous for throwing a spotlight on environmental and animal-rights concerns with such titles as Never Cry Wolf and A Whale for the Killing, for rankling the academy with such works of speculative history as Westviking and The Farfarers, and for attracting young fans with such heartwarming tales as Owls in the Family. He may be equally well known for his outrageous behavior — howling like a wolf at the dinner table and doing strange dances in a kilt while making oinking noises are among his exploits at formal events — and for headline-grabbing predicaments — he was barred for a time from entering the United States. James King’s Farley is the first biography of this singularly influential man of letters. Margaret Atwood calls Mowat’s books “the spark that struck the tinder that ignited the fire from which many subsequent generations of writers and activists have lit their torches, often ignorant of where that spark came from in the first place.” King gained full access to Mowat’s papers, including all embargoed letters and diaries. But while the book was researched with Mowat’s cooperation, King was free to write whatever he concluded to be the truth. The result is a colorful, energetic work in which biographer and subject are uncommonly well matched. “King identifies the key relationship in Mowat’s life as that with his difficult, charismatic father Angus. . . . Seldom has a book more carefully charted the manchild’s simultaneous needs to distance himself from and bring himself closer to his begetter.” --Quill &amp; Quire

Testy McTest and the Silver Bridle (Test Club Secrets)

KING, James

Health, Fitness & Dieting

The golden thread: A reader's journey through the great books (Ex libris)

Literature & Fiction

Meyer, Bruce

History & Criticism

The true story of the remarkable John Rae - Arctic traveller and Hudson's Bay Company doctor - a tale of imperial ambition and high adventure. In 1854 Rae solved the two great Arctic mysteries: the fate of the doomed Franklin expedition and the location of the last navigable link in the Northwest Passage. But Rae was to be denied the recognition he so richly deserved. On returning to London, he faced a campaign of denial and vilification led by two of the most powerful people in Victorian England: Lady Jane Franklin, the widow of the lost Sir John, and Charles Dickens, the most influential writer of the age. With this is story of courage and determination, McGoogan aims to capture the essence of one man's indomitable spirit. It is his redemption of Rae's rightful place in history.

Fatal passage: The untold story of John Rae, the Arctic adventurer who discovered the fate of Franklin

History

McGoogan, Kenneth

World

A graceful biography that was a #1 national bestseller, Flint & Feather confirms Charlotte Gray’s position as a master biographer, a writer with a rare gift for transforming a historical character into a living, breathing woman who immediately captures our imagination.In Flint & Feather, Charlotte Gray explores the life of this nineteenth-century daughter of a Mohawk chief and English gentlewoman, creating a fascinating portrait of a young woman equally at home on the stage in her “Indian” costume and in the salons of the rich and powerful. Uncovering Pauline Johnson’s complex and dramatic personality, Flint & Feather is studded with triumph and tragedy, mystery and romance—a first-rate biography blending turn-of-the-century Canadian history and the vibrant story of a woman whose unforgettable voice still echoes through the years.

Flint & Feather: The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake

Gray, Charlotte

The Romantic

For lovers of literary fiction, The Romantic is Barbara Gowdy’s utterly absorbing tale of love, longing, and loss. It is the story of Louise, whose former beautyqueen mother disappears one day, leaving a note that reads only—and incorrectly—“Louise knows how to work the washing machine.” Louise promptly falls passionately in love with Mrs. Richter, the new neighbor, and then with Abel, Mrs. Richter’s nature-loving, enigmatic son. Despite the fact that Abel moves away, Louise becomes more and more fixated on him, discovering that she cannot get Abel to love her as fiercely as she loves him. Only when she is forced to confront another great loss is she finally able to confront the costs of losing herself to another.The Romantic is a powerful exploration of the many incarnations of love in all of its painful and joyful variations, a novel that glows with Barbara Gowdy’s note-perfect style, gentle humor, and unforgettable characters.

GOWDY, BARBARA

World Literature

This pipe felt good, its cold sides penetrated through his jacket and made him feel more awake than he’d had in weeks. And there was something about cars passing without being able to see him that gave him a sort of satisfaction. He was hidden from the street, from anyone walking by and was cocooned in cement. Transported. Slowly the muscles in his body relaxed, his legs, his neck, though he hadn’t even realized they’d been tight. He felt himself breathe and with each exhale felt tension leave his body. Outside something began tapping the pipe. He opened his eyes, startled by the sound of a sort of scraping along the top of it as if something was being dragged against the cement. For a moment he though it might be an animal but quickly dismissed the idea, the sound being almost metallic. He waited, hoping whoever it was would continue walking and was surprised at how afraid he was. The sound of his heart seemed to slide from his ears and mouth into the pipe where it echoed and kept an ominous beat like a bad horror movie, he thought, the killer taking one slow step at a time… —From LuresGrace is 17 and wonders why she feels different. Sheila, her mother, spends endless hours cleaning, furiously trying to scrub away the stubborn pain leaching through the plastic-encased surface of their immaculate home. Gary, her brother, hides in the basement, squinting at life through a haze of pot smoke. Les, her father, finds instant gratification in buying an endless parade of gadgets, each one promising to give him the respect and power he craves. It’s no wonder that Lily’s family seems so normal to Grace. Attracted by her friend’s warm, bright house and caring parents, Grace searches for a refuge of love and acceptance. But although they hardly know each other, a secret thread connects both families, slowly and inexorably unraveling their lives.With lyrical grace and formidable story telling talent, Susan Goyette builds her first novel to a climax that is raw in its emotional power, yet sensitive and ultimately redemptive in its portrayal of people snared by their own pain. There is suffering, but also great beauty and hope in Goyette’s poetically drawn small-town world. Lures is a novel that is difficult to put down, driven by the remarkable writing skill of a writer who will be welcomed as one of the best new voices in today’s literary fiction.

Lures: A novel

Goyette, Susan

Katherine Mansfield, the New Zealand writer whose stunning career was cut short by tuberculosis, was "a woman with as many names as she had masks, as many roles as she had selves, most--perhaps all of them--false." Credited with revolutionizing the short story in English, yet often relegated to the fringes of the literary world, Katherine Mansfield was a contemporary of Virginia Woolf, who once said, famously, "She is the only writer I have ever been jealous of". In 1988, shortly before the centenary of Mansfield's birth, Monty, a New Zealand scholar, impulsively steals a letter intended for his writer-father, who has devoted his own life to the pursuit of Katherine Mansfield's. Intrigued by the letter's offer of new Mansfield material, and determined to upstage his emotionally distant, awkward father, Monty travels to Chicago and embarks on an odyssey to decode a seemingly minor love affair of Katherine's youth. Thieves is a masterful re-imagining of her brief but extraordinary life, unfolding how the writer's fierce ambition and forceful presence collided with the more ordinary possibilities of those who loved and admired her. Central to her story is the figure of Garnet Trowell, a violinist and father to Katherine's only--miscarried--child. It was to Garnet, from whom she parted when they were both just twenty, that Katherine wrote a series of passionate letters that he kept for the rest of his life. These letters, stolen after Garnet's death, reveal to Monty not only a dramatically new reading of Katherine's life and character, but also an understanding of the perilous shape his own life has assumed. Arcing gracefully from New Zealand to England, Europe and finally Chicago and Windsor, Ontario, Thieves is at once a brilliant mystery, an absorbing love story and a haunting exploration of what makes us whole and human.

Thieves

janice-kulyk-keefer

Crete on the Half Shell is a fascinating hybrid of a book, part travelogue, part culinary adventure, and part personal odyssey for the author. Byron Ayanoglu is a food critic and writer with an intriguing resume. He has written such well-received cookbooks as The New Vegetarian Gourmet and Simply Mediterranean Cooking, more than a dozen plays, a novel (Love in the Age of Confusion), served as the personal chef for Mick Jagger, and been the restaurant critic for Toronto's NOW magazine and The Montreal Gazette. Yearning for a quieter life, he decides to retreat to Greece, the land of his ancestors, but one he left behind for Canada at an early age. The richly historic island of Crete is his destination, though he's more attracted by its culinary than archaeological treasures: "In Chania, one never questions the purpose of life, one simply eats it." Ayanoglu's retirement plans are put on hold when long-time friend and master chef Theo decides the island's cuisine desperately needs the pair's talent. In what could be called Byron and Theo's Excellent Adventure (or perhaps Big Fat Greek Feast), they scour Crete for new taste treats and opportunities to dazzle the locals. Ayanoglu's aromatic descriptions of the ingredients and cooking will leave the reader literally drooling on the pages. Freshly caught fish, organic vegetables and meats, raw goat cheeses, local honey and yoghurt, and the omnipresent olive oil are all given loving treatment in the kitchen and in the book. Additionally, descriptions of the island's history, culture, and inhabitants are nicely integrated into the text. It is a pity more photographs could not have been used, especially as some of the best stories involve the author's photographer friend Algis, but that shortcoming is amply compensated for by Ayanoglu's breezy and colourful prose style. Chances are that the first call you make after happily digesting Crete on the Half Shell will be to your travel agent. --Kerry Doole

Crete on the Half-Shell

Byron Ayanoglu

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