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This Strange Visible Air: Essays on Aging and the Writing Life
By Sharon Butala. 2021
A collection of essays on women and aging from Canadian legend Sharon Butala "What I didn't have a clue about…
was that I was soon to be old, or what being old would mean to my dreams and desires. While dreading old age with every fibre, I was at the same time in full denial that it would ever happen to me, and so, was shocked down to the soles of my feet when it did." In this incisive collection, Sharon Butala reflects on the ways her life has changed as she's grown old. She knows that society fails the elderly massively, and so she tackles ageism and loneliness, friendship and companionship. She writes with pointed wit and acerbic humour about dinner parties and health challenges and forgetfulness and complicated family relationships and the pandemic -- and lettuce. And she tells her story with the tremendous skill and beauty of a writer who has masterfully honed her craft over the course of her storied four-decade career. Butala gives us a book to be cherished -- an elegant and expansive look at the complexities and desires of aging and the aged, standing in stark contrast to the stereotyped, simplistic portrayals of the elderly in our culture. This Strange Visible Air is a true gift.Care Of: Letters, Connections, and Cures
By Ivan Coyote. 2021
Beloved storyteller Ivan Coyote returns with their most intimate and moving book yet. Writer and performer Ivan Coyote has spent…
decades on the road, telling stories around the world. For years, Ivan has kept a file of the most special communications received from readers and audience members—letters, Facebook messages, emails, soggy handwritten notes tucked under the windshield wiper of their truck after a gig. Then came Spring, 2020, and, like artists everywhere, Coyote was grounded by the pandemic, all their planned events cancelled. The energy of a live audience, a performer’s lifeblood, was suddenly gone. But with this loss came an opportunity for a different kind of connection. Those letters that had long piled up could finally begin to be answered. Care Of combines the most powerful of these letters with Ivan’s responses, creating a body of correspondence of startling intimacy, breathtaking beauty, and heartbreaking honesty and openness. Taken together, they become an affirming and joyous reflection on many of the themes central to Coyote’s celebrated work—compassion and empathy, family fragility, non-binary and Trans identity, and the unending beauty of simply being alive, a giant love letter to the idea of human connection, and the power of truly listening to each other.The Mother of All Degrassi: A Memoir
By Linda Schuyler. 2022
Linda Schuyler, co-creator and executive producer of the long-running Degrassi series, shares her personal stories about the grit and determination…
it took to make it as a woman entrepreneur in the bourgeoning independent Canadian television industry of the early 1980s.A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré
By John Le Carré. 2022
An archive of letters written by the late John le Carré, giving readers access to the intimate thoughts of one…
of the greatest writers of our time.The never-before-seen correspondence of John le Carré, one of the most important novelists of our generation, are collected in this beautiful volume. During his lifetime, le Carré wrote numerous letters to writers, spies, politicians, artists, actors, and public figures. This collection is a treasure trove, revealing the late author's humour, generosity, and wit—a side of him many readers have not previously seen.The long-awaited sequel to Grant Lawrence’s bestselling memoir Adventures in Solitude. It’s been over a decade since renowned broadcaster and…
indie rock musician Grant Lawrence launched his writing career with the award-winning Adventures in Solitude, yet some things never change—including the winding Sunshine Coast Highway, close calls at the BC Ferries ticket office and carsick children. But this time, Lawrence returns as a husband and father, not as the vomiting and nerdy kid dragged along by his athletic and unflappable parents. In his inimitable, high-voltage style, Lawrence interweaves the rich and harrowing history of the Desolation Sound area with his own experiences of life on the coast. This lively book recounts the life and times of the legendary Cougar Lady, tracks a phantom-like squatter known as the Spaghetti Bandit, and details the bizarre exit and even more bizarre death of Bernard the German. Here too are many of the beloved personalities introduced in Lawrence’s first book, including hippie recluse Russell the Hermit, plus the continued voyages of Big Buck$, the decrepit family boat, and the incredible return of large ocean mammals to Desolation Sound. From a hilarious, heartfelt and slightly wiser voice comes a momentous story of time, family and place whirling around one increasingly ramshackle cabin on a beautiful and not-at-all-desolate coast.Levon: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond
By Sandra B. Tooze. 2020
A dazzling, epic biography of Levon Helm––the beloved, legendary drummer and singer of the Band. He sang the anthems of…
a generation: "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek," and "Life Is a Carnival." Levon Helm's story––told here through sweeping research and interviews with close friends and fellow musicians––is the rollicking story of American popular music itself. In the Arkansas Delta, a young Levon witnessed "blues, country, and gospel hit in a head-on collision," as he put it. The result was rock 'n' roll. As a teenager, he joined the raucous Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, then helped merge a hard-driving electric sound with Bob Dylan's folk roots, and revolutionized American rock with the Band. Helm not only provided perfect "in the pocket" rhythm and unforgettable vocals, he was the Band's soul. Levon traces a rebellious life on the road, from being booed with Bob Dylan to the creative cauldron of Big Pink, the Woodstock Festival, world tours, The Last Waltz, and beyond with the man Dylan called "one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation." Author Sandra B. Tooze digs deep into what Helm saw as a devastating betrayal by his closest friend, Band guitarist Robbie Robertson––and Levon's career collapse, his near bankruptcy, and the loss of his voice due to throat cancer in 1997. Yet Helm found success in an acting career that included roles in Coal Miner's Daughter and The Right Stuff. Regaining his singing voice, he made his last decade a triumph, opening his barn to the Midnight Rambles and earning three Grammys. Cancer finally claimed his life in 2012. Levon is a penetrating, skillfully told tale of a music legend from Southern cotton fields to global limelight.Have You Eaten Yet?: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World
By Cheuk Kwan. 2022
From Haifa, Israel, to Cape Town, South Africa, Chinese entrepreneurs and restaurateurs have brought delicious Chinese food across the globe.…
Unravelling a complex history of cultural migration and world politics, Cheuk Kwan narrates a fascinating story of culture and place, ultimately revealing how an excellent meal always tells an even better story. Dotting even the most remote landscapes, family-run Chinese restaurants are global icons of immigration, community and delicious food. The cultural outposts of far-flung settlers, bringers of dim sum, Peking duck and creative culinary hybrids like the Madagascar classic soupe chinoise, Chinese restaurants are a microcosm of greater social forces—an insight into time, history and place. From Africa to South America, the Jade Gardens and Golden Dragons reveal an intricate tangle of social schisms and political movements, offering insight into global changes and diasporic histories, as the world has moved into the 21st century. Author and documentarian Cheuk Kwan, a self-described “card-carrying member of the Chinese diaspora,” weaves a global narrative by linking the myriad personal stories of chefs, entrepreneurs, labourers and dreamers who populate Chinese kitchens worldwide. Behind these kitchen doors lies an intriguing paradox which characterizes many of these communities: how Chinese immigrants have resisted—or often been prevented from—complete assimilation into the social fabric of their new homes, maintaining strong senses of cultural identity, while the engine of their economic survival—the Chinese restaurant and its food—has become seamlessly woven into cities all around the world. An intrepid travelogue of grand vistas, adventure and serendipity, Have You Eaten Yet? charts a living atlas of the global Chinese migration, revealing the synergies of politics, culture and family.Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004-2021
By Margaret Atwood. 2022
NATIONAL BESTSELLERFrom cultural icon Margaret Atwood comes a brilliant collection of essays--funny, erudite, endlessly curious, uncannily prescient--which seek answers to…
Burning Questions such as:Why do people everywhere, in all cultures, tell stories?How much of yourself can you give away without evaporating?How can we live on our planet?Is it true? And is it fair?What do zombies have to do with authoritarianism?In over fifty pieces Atwood aims her prodigious intellect and impish humour at the world, and reports back to us on what she finds. This roller-coaster period brought the end of history, a financial crash, the rise of Trump, and a pandemic. From debt to tech, the climate crisis to freedom; from when to dispense advice to the young (answer: only when asked) to how to define granola, we have no better guide to the many and varied mysteries of our universe.Ordinary Wonder Tales
By Emily Urquhart. 2022
A journalist and folklorist explores the truths that underlie the stories we imagine—and reveals the magic in the everyday. “I’ve…
always felt that the term fairy tale doesn’t quite capture the essence of these stories,” writes Emily Urquhart. “I prefer the term wonder tale, which is Irish in origin, for its suggestion of awe coupled with narrative. In a way, this is most of our stories.” In this startlingly original essay collection, Urquhart reveals the truths that underlie our imaginings: what we see in our heads when we read, how the sight of a ghost can heal, how the entrance to the underworld can be glimpsed in an oil painting or a winter storm—or the onset of a loved one’s dementia. In essays on death and dying, pregnancy and prenatal genetics, radioactivity, chimeras, cottagers, and plague, Ordinary Wonder Tales reveals the essential truth: if you let yourself look closely, there is magic in the everyday.Letters with Smokie: Blindness and More-than-Human Relations
By Rod Michalko, Dan Goodley. 2023
Letters with Smokie captures an epistolic exchange between Dan Goodley and Rod Michalko, or rather, Rod Michalko's late guide dog,…
Smokie. A lively exploration of human-animal relationships and disability as disruption, disturbance, and art, the book offers a refreshing re-evaluation of cultural misunderstandings of disability.The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .
By Rick Mercer. 2023
THE INSTANT #1 BESTSELLERRick Mercer is back—again!—with the eagerly awaited sequel to his bestselling memoirAt the end of his memoir…
Talking to Canadians, Rick Mercer was poised to make the biggest leap yet in his extraordinary career. Having overcome a serious lack of promise as a schoolboy and risen through the showbiz ranks—as an aspiring actor, star of a surprisingly successful one-man show about the Meech Lake Accord, co-founder of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, creator and star of the dark-comedy sitcom Made in Canada—he was about to tackle his biggest opportunity yet. The Road Years picks up the story at that exciting point, with the greenlighting of what would become Rick Mercer Report. Plans for the show, of course, included political satire and Rick’s patented rants. But Rick and his partner, Gerald Lunz, were also determined to do something that comedy tends to avoid as too challenging: they would emphasize the positive. Rick would travel from coast to coast to coast in search of everything that’s best about Canada, especially its people. He found a lot to celebrate, naturally, and was rewarded with a huge audience and a run of 15 seasons. The Road Years tells the inside story of that stupendous success. A time when Rick was heading to another town—or military base, sports centre, national park—to try dogsledding, chainsaw carving, and bear tagging; hang from a harness (a lot); ride the “Train of Death;” plus countless other joyous and/or reckless assignments. Added to the mix were encounters with the country’s great. Every living prime minister. Rock and roll royalty from Rush to Randy Bachman. Olympians and Paralympians. A skinny-dipping Bob Rae. And Jann Arden, of course, who gets a chapter to herself. Along the way he even found the time to visit several countries in Africa and co-found and champion the charity Spread the Net, which has gone on to protect the lives of millions. Join the celebration, and revive a wealth of happy memories, with what is Rick Mercer’s funniest, most fascinating book yet.Vanished Years
By Rupert Everett. 2012
'[An] instant classic' IndependentRupert Everett's first memoir - Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins - was an international bestseller and…
an instant classic on publication in 2006. Reviewers compared him to Evelyn Waugh, David Niven, Noel Coward and Lord Byron. But Rupert Everett is - of course - one of a kind.Mischievous, touching and nothing less than brilliant, this new memoir is filled with stories, from childhood to the present. Astonishing encounters; tragedy and comedy; vivid portraits of friends and rivals; razor-sharp observations of the celebrity circus from LA to London and beyond... there is something extraordinary on every page. A pilgrimage to Lourdes with his father is both hilarious and moving. A misguided step into reality TV goes horribly wrong. From New York to Moscow to Berlin to Phnom Penh, Vanished Years takes the reader on a wild and wonderful new journey with a charming (and rather disreputable) companion.The Ultimate Muffin Book
By Bruce Weinstein, Mark Scarbrough. 2004
What's quick, easy, and sure to bring on the smiles? Muffins, of course! For recipes that are sweet, savory, or…
just over the top, look no further than The Ultimate Muffin Book. From classics like Berry and Corn Muffins to new favorites like Margarita and savory Quiche Lorraine Muffins, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough once again take an American fun-food classic to new heights by offering more than 600 recipes and variations for absolutely every muffin imaginable. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, anyone? Or luscious Hazelnut? Or what about Pizza Muffins for kids of all ages? Low-fat, nonfat, gluten-free, dense, and decadent -- they're all here, as well as baking tips, an ingredients guide, and a witty history of how the muffin came to be an American institution. Muffins. Is there a better way to make everyone in your life smile?The Lost Art of Reading: Books and Resistance in a Troubled Time
By David L. Ulin. 2018
The new introduction and afterword bring fresh relevance to this insightful rumination on the act of reading--as a path to…
critical thinking, individual and political identity, civic engagement, and resistance.The former LA Times book critic expands his short book, rich in ideas, on the consequence of reading to include the considerations of fake news, siloed information, and the connections between critical thinking as the key component of engaged citizenship and resistance. Here is the case for reading as a political act in both public and private gestures, and for the ways it enlarges the world and our frames of reference, all the while keeping us engaged.Freddie Mercury: The Biography
By Laura Jackson. 2011
This fascinating biography of Freddie Mercury which received outstanding acclaim from Queen and rock fans worldwide, has now been updated…
for reissue to coincide with the release of the film about his life. Laura Jackson addresses topics including:* The reality behind Queen's flamboyant front man and lead singer* Mercury the star of mystery - amusing, loyal and generous, yet revealing a dark side to his personality* His frequent use of cocaine and how it heightened his tendency to excess - both on and off stage* The women in his life - his bizarrely enduring relationships with his first love, Mary Austin, and his long-time confidante, Barbara Valentin, who speaks for the first time in this bookThe book also includes new and intimate stories by those who knew him well, such as Tim Rice, Richard Branson, Cliff Richard, Bruce Dickinson, Mike Moran, Wayne Eagling, Zandra Rhodes and Susannah York.Rebecca Lando was sick of survival eating. The sight of boxed mac 'n' cheese and ramen noodles curdled her appetite,…
but her meager paycheck severely limited her options. Creative cooking led to what's now a popular weekly web series chronicling her adventures in making delicious cheap meals -- with the best local and seasonal ingredients. In The Working Class Foodies' Cookbook, Rebecca's mission is to share tasty, affordable recipes and invaluable advice for the home cook, including how to stock a $40, $60, and $100 pantry; which organic items are okay to skip; and why making your own stock, ketchup, and even Pop-Tarts is good for your body and your wallet. Many people think that the real food movement is only for the wealthy, but Rebecca's delicious recipes -- including red-skinned potatoes coated in chives and butter for under $2, sweet potato gnocchi for under $5, and a chicken roast for under $8 -- show readers the way to eating better and more cheaply. Starving students, working parents, and fixed-income retirees alike will eat up Rebecca's message, because real people deserve real food, real cheap! .The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes From New York City's Famed Bakery
By Christie Matheson, Elisa Strauss. 2007
When a world-famous shoe designer walked into his surprise birthday party and saw the cake that was waiting for him--a…
Manolo stiletto perched alluringly next to a tissue-filled shoebox--it was his turn to ogle someone else's talent. The cake, created by Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes in New York City, was a sensation. Not only did everyone at the party want to know how it was made, they wanted to know how to create something as dazzling themselves. This unique book contains projects for every skill level: from gorgeous, sugar-dusted heart cookies to delightful billiard-ball cupcakes, to sculpted cakes in the shape of wine bottles and Chinese takeout boxes, to the extravagantly beautiful, threetiered embroidery cake showcased on Sex and the City. With delicious recipes, stunning creations for every occasion, suggestions for time-saving shortcuts, and hot tips for fabulous results, all illustrated with gorgeous photographs and easy-to follow diagrams, THE CONFETTI CAKES COOKBOOK is a must-have for the outrageously chic baker in all of us.Bit of a Blur: The Autobiography
By Alex James. 2007
I was the Fool-king of Soho and the number-one slag in the Groucho Club, the second drunkest member of the…
world's drunkest band. This was no disaster, though. It was a dream coming true.'For Alex James, music had always been a door to a more eventful life. But as bass player of Blur - one of the most successful British bands of all time - his journey was more exciting and extreme than he could ever have predicted. In Bit of a Blur he chronicles his journey from a slug-infested flat in Camberwell to a world of screaming fans and private jets - and his eventual search to find meaning and happiness (and, perhaps most importantly, the perfect cheese), in an increasingly surreal world.Love Food, Can't Cook?: Simple Recipes For Everyone Who Loves Food But Doesn't Know How To Make It
By Caroline Eastman-Bridges, Lara DePetrillo. 2009
Are you tired of getting cooking tips from people who can't even remember what it's like to need them? The…
shelves are full of people who can tell you how to bake a better pie - but will they remember to tell you that if you have cheap or old tins, you have to line them with baking paper so that you can get the food to come out of them?In this heartwarming guide to food in all its forms, you will find superb recipes, amazing facts and invaluable tips to creating fabulous meals at home.All-Time Best Dinners for Two (All-Time Best)
By America'S Test Kitchen. 2018
Leave it to America's Test Kitchen to help you get a perfectly scaled dinner for two on the table--no guesswork…
required.Because small households, newlyweds, empty nesters, college students, and other two-person families shouldn't have to rely on recipes meant to serve four or six, we've reengineered our favorite dinner recipes from the ground up. We used equipment in unexpected ways, such as ramekins to make individual Chicken Pot Pies, and also found clever techniques for scaling recipes with ease, such as swapping in smaller blade steaks for a large chuck roast to make a streamlined Yankee Pot Roast for just two. An appendix with 15 side dish recipes offers fuss-free options for rounding out your meals, while an introduction full of tips and tricks will help you avoid waste and shop for small-scale recipes more efficiently.