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The British Columbia Review is the online book review journal for BC writers and readers.

01/05/2025

‘Ache towards rectification and inclusivity’

We Oughta Know: How Celine, Shania, Alanis and Sarah Ruled the ‘90s and Changed Canadian Music (ECW Press, 2024) by Andrea Warner.

“…celebrate[s] these four powerhouse creators with a deeper sense of the larger context, both of Warner’s individual self, and of our Canadian society as it was then, as it is now, and within the potential it can have for a fiercer embrace of a more just future.”

Reviewed by Catherine Owen.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/13/2388-owen-warner/

01/05/2025

Reviewer Picks 2024 (Part 1)

“We asked, our contributors answered. And did we mention eclectic? The titles range from prize- winners (BC Book, Pulitzer, Writers’) to, well, books you’re likely to be seeing for the first time as you scroll through the picks below. Thank You to our reviewers for their efforts!” —Eds.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/13/2388-best-books-of-the-year-part-one/

01/05/2025

Values motivating human rights advocacy

For Land and Culture: The Grassroots Council Movement of Turkmens in Iran, 1979-1980 (Fernwood Publishing, 2024) by Peyman Vahabzadeh.

“This book presents the possibility for life saving dialogue as the Earth labours under the devastation of failed ideas.”

Reviewed by Linda Rogers.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/12/2387-rogers-vahabzadeh/

01/05/2025

Face-offs over injustice

Standing on High Ground: Civil Disobedience on Burnaby Mountain (Between the Line Books, 2024) edited by Rosemary Cornell, Adrienne Drobnies, and Tim Bray.

“Standing is an honourable and compassionate compendium of heartfelt statements from people who were willing to go to jail for their beliefs.”

Reviewed by Ron Verzuh.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/12/2386-verzuh-bray-cornell-drobnies/

01/05/2025

Ms. Prynne, in a hall of mirrors

Hester in Sunlight (New Star Books, 2024) by Hannah Calder.

“Calder plays with the repressed and hypocritical world of Puritan New England as she notes contemporary problems such as children’s fixations with cell phones.”

Reviewed by Candace Fertile.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/11/2385-calder-fertile/

01/04/2025

Restaurant gods, clay feet

The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf (Dundurn Press, 2024) by Timothy Taylor.

“It’s about the decline of middle age, and artistic compromise, and finally about the moral weight of bad decisions.”

Reviewed by Greg Brown.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/10/2384-taylor-brown/

01/04/2025

‘Express something within you’

Bloom Across Canada: 50 Inspiring Conversations (Heritage House Publishing, 2024) by Beka Shane Denter.

“The book includes fifty inspirational stories of women from all walks of life— photographers, artists, musicians, business founders, journalists, designers, producers, knitters, models, activists, writers, editors, flower farmers, dancers, actors, a chocolatier, and even a political rapper—to name but a few.”

Reviewed by Valerie Green.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/09/2383-green-denter/

01/03/2025

Trainspotting at 603 kph

Quest for Speed: A History of Trains from Rocket to Bullet and Beyond (Douglas & McIntyre, 2024) by Derek Hayes.

“We go along for the ride, spotting trains from Japan, China, Australia, and several EU countries. And from the United Kingdom, where trains were invented and have been a principle mode of transport for over two centuries.”

Reviewed by Ron Verzuh.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/05/2382-verzuh-hayes/

01/03/2025

‘Mutual respect among neighbours’

ALHA DISNII – My Truth: Words from a Wet’suwet’en Woman (Medicine Wheel Publishing, 2024) by Corinne George.

“ALHA DISNII – My Truth is well written and well edited. A lot gets said in just a few words.”

Reviewed by Sage Birchwater.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/04/2381-birchwater-george/

01/03/2025

Queer-rom, literate characters, revenge

Serpentine Valentine (Giana Darling Publishing, 2024) by Giana Darling.

“Giana Darling’s Serpentine Valentine is a novel that shares DNA with the audacious film Promising Young Woman, only with snake tattoos and group vigilantism.”

Reviewed by Jessica P**n.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/04/2380-poon-darling/

01/03/2025

Urban fantasy, mystery, and romp

The Mona Lisa Sacrifice (Wolsak & Wynn Publishing Ltd, 2024) by Peter Darbyshire.

“With that said, if you come to The Mona Lisa Sacrifice willing to throw genre to the wind and go along for the ride, you may well have quite a bit of fun.”

Reviewed by Zoe McKenna.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/04/2379-mckenna-darbyshire/

01/03/2025

In-your-face adventure travel

Two Springs, One Summer: a year inside the life of a chronic adventurer (Rocky Mountain Books, 2024) by Frank Wolf.

“As much as this is the account of three long expeditions, it is also a frank and supercharged self-portrait. Holding back is not something Wolf does.”

Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/03/2378-dombrowski-wolf/

01/03/2025

An alternative to “rock bottom”

You Don’t Have to Quit: 20 Science-Backed Strategies to Help Your Loved One Drink Less (Page Two, 2024) by Maureen Palmer (with Michael Pond).

“As far as alcohol use disorder (AUD) is concerned, Maureen Palmer and Michael Pond are something of a power couple in the BC recovery movement.”

Reviewed by Daniel Gawthrop.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/03/2377-gawthrop-palmer/

01/02/2025

A musical, musical life

Have Bassoon, Will Travel: Memoir of an Adventurous Life in Music (Ronsdale Press Ronsdale Press, 2024) by George Zukerman.

“Even without turning to such language, the author, with a razor sharp eye for recollected detail, can make vividly recalled circumstantial details dance off the page.”

Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/02/2376-dombrowski-zukerman/

01/02/2025

Really tough times

The HBC Brigades: Culture, conflict and perilous journeys of the fur trade (Ronsdale Press, 2024) by Nancy Marguerite Anderson.

“Anderson’s book does a very good job of letting her people speak for themselves. Almost every page contains lengthy passages extracted directly from her mostly HBC primary sources.”

Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/12/01/2375-stewart-anderson/

01/02/2025

A Grand Dame and a divorcée

The Champagne Letters (Gallery Books, 2024) by Kate MacIntosh.

“Her narrative flows seamlessly between discrete eras with plots that build on one another.”

Reviewed by Valerie Green.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/11/29/2374-green-macintosh/

01/02/2025

‘A relationship with place’

E.J. Hughes: Life at the Lake (TouchWood Editions, 2023) by Robert Amos.

“Taken together they would prove an engaging read for those interested in learning about Hughes’ personality on a deep level, or simply just perusing his most characteristic paintings.”

Reviewed by Matthew Downey.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/11/27/2373-downey-amos-hughes/

01/02/2025

‘A relationship with place’

E.J. Hughes Paints Vancouver Island (new edition) (TouchWood Editions, 2024) by Robert Amos.

“The enticement of E.J. Hughes’ paintings is that…they are firmly rooted in their time, romanticizing the mundane and elevating the suburban.”

Reviewed by Matthew Downey.

Clickable Link in Bio: https://thebcreview.ca/2024/11/27/2373-downey-amos-hughes/

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