National Network for Equitable Library Service

In Talking to the Story Keepers: Tales from the Chilcotin Plateau, writer and journalist Sage Birchwater gathers dozens of stories spanning decades in the Cariboo Chilcotin from those who hold onto stories passed through generations. These stories reflect on the story keepers themselves as well as our collective humanity, tying everything from the small, almost forgettable moments, heroic deeds and colourful characters, to the greater significance of our histories.

At his first cabinet meeting Premier Dave Barrett takes off his shoes, leaps onto the leather-inlaid cabinet table and skids the length of the room. "Are we here for a good time or a long time?" he roars. His answer: a good time, a time of change, action, doing what was needed and right, not what was easy and conventional. He set the tone for a government that changed the face of the province. During the next three years, he and his team passed more legislation in a shorter time than any government before or since.

Birding is one of the fastest-growing hobbies in North America—one in five Canadians enjoy identifying, photographing or filming birds. With easy access to coastal mountains, marshes and mudflats of the Fraser delta, temperate rainforest, and rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean, the Vancouver area is a wonderful destination for birdwatchers. Of the 450 species found in Canada, over 400 can be seen in the Lower Mainland.

An investigative reporter traces the role of DNA evidence in two groundbreaking murder cases involving young girls killed two decades apart in the same town. In 1977, the industrial town of Port Alberni was shaken by the brutal murder of twelve-year-old Carolyn Lee, who had been abducted while walking home from her dance class. In 1996, the town was devastated again when eleven-year-old Jessica States disappeared while chasing foul balls at a local fast-pitch game, her lifeless body later found beaten in the woods.

What do you do when you decide you no longer want to be responsible for anyone but yourself? When faced with that moment, Donna Kane leaves her twenty-five-year marriage for life with a conservationist and wilderness guide who is so certain of the path he is on that she thinks she's just along for the ride. A few days before Kane's new husband leaves for a three-month horse-pack expedition, a gelding is seriously injured, and she agrees to stay behind to tend the horse's wound.

Takaya's Journey introduces young children to Takaya, the lone wolf. Using beautiful photography and charming, accessible text, Cheryl Alexander and Alex Van Tol take elementary school readers into Takaya's world. Along the way many questions are answered: Who is Takaya? Where did Takaya come from? What does Takaya need? What is Takaya's home like? What does Takaya eat? Who keeps Takaya company? What will Takaya do?

The very first guidebook written just for snorkellers exploring these unique ecosystems. The chilly waters surrounding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are rich in colourful and diverse marine life. Scuba divers have long been aware of this submarine cornucopia, and Jacques Cousteau himself recognized the Pacific Northwest as one of the world's premier temperate diving destinations. But scuba diving is an elite hobby, requiring training and costly equipment, and consequently is accessible only to a relatively small number of people.

Ex-logger and gas station owner Frank White says living to the age of one hundred is not all it's cracked up to be but it has some plusses. When he trundles down to the local shopping centre in Pender Harbour pretty girls hug him and everybody in town seems to be glad he's lived another day. But celebrity has its drawbacks—when he was only fifty and still had most of his marbles, people only wanted to know what was wrong with their car.

"Luke Whittall avoids the stuffiness and pretension all too common in wine writing and instead approaches the topic with humour and joy." —Montecristo Magazine. The eagerly awaited second installment in the offbeat BC wine guide the Vancouver Sun calls "the perfect go-to." Following on the popularity of Volume 1, the second installment of The Sipster's Pocket Guide brings the same offbeat, lateral thinking and experiential focus to a whole new batch of BC wines.

Acclaimed author Tom Wayman's account of his shift from urban to rural. The recent pandemic accelerated an existing trend among urban Canadians to move to the country. Yet to quote from a 2022 Globe and Mail article, "People from cities don't always realize what they're getting into." For anyone setting out in that direction, or dreaming of doing so, Tom Wayman's The Road to Appledore, or How I Went Back to the Land Without Ever Having Lived There in the First Place is rewarding reading.