Give the gift of books
Credit to Author: Dana Gee| Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2019 19:00:32 +0000
If you are still on the hunt for some Christmas presents but have run out of inspiration don’t despair below is a handy, dandy and all B.C. list of books that will appeal to anyone left on your list.
Outside In
Libby Davies
You don’t have to be a political junkie to get something out of this memoir from the longstanding MP from Vancouver East. Her four decades of political activism is inspiring, sure, but this book is an historic document as Davies grows alongside important political groups and issues. Her early inside view of Vancouver politics is especially interesting as many of the same issues remain front and centre in our city.
Mistakes to Run With
Yasuko Thanh
You want inspiration? You want a story about survival? Well, this is what you get from Victoria writer Thanh. This gritty memoir traces Thanh’s life from a broken childhood to being a teen sex worker to a struggling adult to where she is now an award-winning writer. This book will touch you.
The Grim Reaper: The Life and Career of a Reluctant Warrior
Stu Grimson with Kevin Allen
Okay it may not seem very festive to give a book about a notoriously tough NHL enforcer nicknamed the Grim Reaper but this memoir is much more than a recount of on-ice fisticuffs (he fought Bob Probert 14 times. Yikes). This memoir is about how a B.C. kid went on to survive one of sport’s most brutal gigs (“there’s no escaping it: the job we do takes a heavy toll.”) and after 17 years went on to become a lawyer that at one time included being in-house counsel for NHLPA. This is much more than a sports book.
Reproduction
Ian Williams
Vancouver’s Williams won this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize for fiction with his debut novel about the ways — genetic or constructed — people become a family. The colourful and varied Felicia, Army and Riot (short for Chariot) are at the centre of this lively world of mash-ups of every order possible. Williams, who is an assistant professor in the creative writing program at UBC, writes with great bounce and joy and his work, a love story at its soul, leaves the reader reminded that at the end of the day DNA is not a requirement for a loving tribe.
Little Fortress
Laisha Rosnau
In her novel Coldstream writer Rosnau brings to life the story of the Caetanis, a family of Italian nobility that left their homeland as fascism began to rise at the beginning of the 1900s. Rosnau’s portraits of three women are wonderfully entertaining and insightful. Each character is so well constructed and interesting that they each could easily carry their own book, but instead Rosnau chooses to tell the tale through the nanny, the diminutive in size but not life experience, Miss Jüül. This fictionalized history of an actual family lands firmly in the can’t put the book down category.
No Fixed Address
Susin Nielsen
For middle-graders, this novel is about family, friends and trying to survive as a homeless kid with a loving but very unreliable mother. Sure that sounds sad, and of course it is but here Nielsen has also skillfully given the reader hope as her lead, the 12 year old trivia loving kid Felix, is so damn likeable and relatable that you can’t help but cheer him on. While the homeless topic is a tough and necessary one there is a big serving of joy in this book about a resilient and big-hearted boy and those who help him succeed.
Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue
Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd
The latest in the First West Coast Book series is another feast of vibrant artwork from Vickers. A glossy and very importantly sturdy board book, Sockeye Silver, Saltchuck Blue introduces babies and toddlers to all the changing colours that the natural West Coast world goes through each year. An added bonus is you get to expose wee ones to the work of one of Canada’s most accomplished First Nations artists.
Gather: A Dirty Apron Cookbook
David Robertson
The Dirty Apron cooking school and Robertson are culinary stalwarts in these parts. This beautiful book is perfect for dinner done family style as it is crammed with 80 recipes that are meant to be passed round on platters and spooned out of big bowls. Hopefully after giving this you’ll get invited to dinner.
Burdock & Co: Poetic Recipes Inspired by Ocean, Land & Air
Andrea Carlson
The good news here (well for me) is the Vancouver restaurant’s buttermilk fried chicken and pickles recipe is in this book. Yum. This book is a beautiful nod to all our seasons and tastes with its unique take on good old-fashioned comfort food.
Rough Road to the North
Jim Christy
Vagabond writer, on and off Sunshine coast resident, and a truly unique character Christy has added a new chapter to his classic 1980 book of journeys on the Alcan Highway, the lengthy stretch of blacktop that connects Dawson Creek, B.C. and Fairbanks, Alaska. In the new chapter he has returned to some of the places he mentions in the original edition. Like all good road trips there are many interesting stops and colourful characters chronicled in this life of road tale. A life long wanderer, Christy is a fantastic tour guide who isn’t afraid — he actually loves it — to get his hands dirty. This book, while decades old, is really worth revisiting.
109 Walks in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland
John Halliday, Alice Purdey, Mary and David Macaree.
This handy, dandy guidebook is a must gift for the person in your life that loves our great outdoors. Now in it’s eighth edition the guide is your ticket into the best hikes from Squamish to Harrison Hot Springs. The maps are clear and easy to follow and the book comes complete with GPS co-ordinates and handy transit directions. This is a great addition to any swell-stocked backpack.
E.J. Hughes Paints British Columbia
Robert Amos
This is a spectacular visual love letter to our gorgeous province. Along with Hughes stunning artwork is interesting text talking about the painting and the manner in which Hughes, who called Duncan home before passing away in 2007 at the age of 93, worked. Amos traveled to the locations of Hughes’ inspiration for his inspiration for the text. The stunning B.C. scenes make for great conversation about road trips — the ones taken and the ones down the road.
Vancouver After Dark
Aaron Chapman
Chapman, a great chronicler of Vancouver — he has previously written books about the Penthouse, The Commodore and the Clark Park gang — is back with a look at the colourful history of Vancouver’s nightlife. While this book isn’t your traditional coffee table book — it is text driven — it is so accessible and entertaining that open it to any page and you’ll find a great story or maybe even a personal memory of a good time.