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The golden spruce: A True Story Of Myth, Madness And Greed
By John Vaillant. 2005
In 1997, when a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an Alaskan island north of the Canadian border,…
they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. The author braids together the strands of this mystery and brings to life the historical collision of Europeans and the Haida and the harrowing world of logging. Canada Reads 2012. Winner of the 2005 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. Bestseller. 2005.The doctor will not see you now
By Jane Poulson. 2002
Autobiography of Dr. Jane Poulson, the first blind person in Canada to become a practising doctor. Poulson suffered from diabetes…
and because of the disease, lost her sight and then experienced severe heart problems. Nonetheless she was an extremely accomplished doctor, published widely in leading medical journals, and showed great courage and endurance to all who knew her. She wrote this book during the last two years of her life. 2002.The end of absence: reclaiming what we've lost in a world of constant connection
By Michael Harris. 2014
Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the internet. For everyone who follows us,…
online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. The author chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained and lost in the bargain. He argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself -- of silence, wonder and solitude. Winner of the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction. 2014.The blind mechanic: the amazing story of Eric Davidson, survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion
By Marilyn Elliott, Janet Kitz. 2018
Eric Davidson was a beautiful, fair-haired toddler when the Halifax Explosion struck, killing almost 2,000 people and seriously injuring thousands…
of others. Eric lost both eyes-a tragedy that his mother never fully recovered from. Eric, however, was positive and energetic. He also developed a fascination with cars and how they worked, and he later decided, against all likelihood, to become a mechanic. Assisted by his brothers who read to him from manuals, he worked hard, passed examinations, and carved out a decades-long career. Once the subject of a National Film Board documentary, Eric Davidson was, until his death, a much-admired figure in Halifax. Written by his daughter Marilyn, this book gives new insights into the story of the 1917 Halifax Explosion and contains never-before-seen documents and photographs. Winner of the 2019 The Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction). 2018.The Acadians: in search of a homeland
By James Laxer. 2006
In 1604, a small group of migrants fled political turmoil and famine in France to start a new colony on…
Canada's east coast. Their roughly demarcated territory included what are now Canada's Maritime provinces, land that was fought over by the British and French empires until the Acadians were finally expelled in 1755. In the absence of a state, what defines an Acadian today is elusive, and while their community, centred in New Brunswick, is more confident than ever, it is entering a contentious debate about its future. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.Sword of the spirit, shield of faith: religion in American war and diplomacy
By Andrew Preston. 2012
A richly detailed account of how religion has influenced American foreign relations, told through the stories of the men and…
women - from presidents to preachers - who have plotted the country’s course in the world. Winner of the 2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. 2012. If you request this book on CD it will be on 2 or more CDs. You must play the first CD to the end before playing the next CD.Stephen Harper
By John Ibbitson. 2015
Stephen Harper has made government smaller, justice tougher, and provinces more independent. Those who praise Harper point to the Conservatives'…
skillful economic management, the reformed immigration system, the uncompromising defence of Israel and Ukraine, and the fight against terrorism, while critics accuse the Harper government of being autocratic, secretive and cruel. Ibbitson explores Harper’s suburban youth, the forces that shaped his tempestuous relationship with Reform Leader Preston Manning, how Laureen Harper influences her husband, his devotion to his children--and his cats. Ibbitson explains how this shy, closed, introverted loner united a fractured conservative movement, defeated a Liberal hegemony, and set out to reshape the nation. Bestseller. Winner of the 2015 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. 2015.Starting out in the afternoon: a mid-life journey into wild land
By Jill Frayne. 2002
After Jill Frayne's long-term relationship with her lover ended and her daughter left home, she packed up her life and…
headed for the Yukon. Sleeping in her car or pitching a tent by the road, she became a solitary traveller and lived close to the natural world. What started out as a three-month trip became a personal journey that lasted several years. 2002.Seven fallen feathers: racism, death, and hard truths in a northern city
By Tanya Talaga. 2017
Over the span of ten years, seven high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of…
miles away from their families, forced to leave their reserve because there was no high school there for them to attend. Award-winning journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest, and struggle with, human rights violations past and present against aboriginal communities. Bestseller. Winner of the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize and the 2018 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. 2017.Settler education: poems
By Laurie D Graham. 2016
In the stunning poems of "Settler Education", Graham explores the Plains Cree uprising at Frog Lake -- the death of…
nine settlers, the hanging of six Cree warriors, the imprisonment of Big Bear, and the opening of the Prairies to unfettered settlement. In ways possible only with such an honest act of imagination, and with language at once terse and capacious, she reckons with how these pasts repeat and reconstitute themselves in the present. Poems from this book won the 2013 Thomas Morton Poetry Prize. 2016. Uniform title: Poems.Shadow maker: the life of Gwendolyn MacEwen
By Rosemary Sullivan. 1995
Using the personal impressions of the poet's intimate friends, Rosemary Sullivan builds a composite portrait of Gwendolyn MacEwan, the Toronto…
poet who died in 1987 at the age of 46. The daughter of an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother, MacEwen's story is a painful one, yet the richness of her art and inner life redeemed the pain. Winner of the 1995 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction.Sailing home: a journey through time, place & memory
By Gary Geddes. 2001
Poet, writer, and critic, Gary Geddes, sets out to discover his roots in a 31-foot British sailing sloop called the…
Groais. Sailing up British Columbia's famed Inside Passage, an ancient sea route of nearly one thousand miles and an often turbulent waterscape, Geddes discovers a vibrant history, livelihoods come and gone, dramatic scenery, and ghosts of the past. 2001.Rolling home: a cross-Canada railroad memoir
By Tom Allen. 2001
Tom Allen travels with his family and alone, from Halifax to the interior of British Columbia, riding everything from a…
two-car dayliner held together with duct tape to a luxury rail cruiser through the Rockies that is packed with wealthy tourists. Along the way, he meets honeymooners and abandoned spouses, ordinary folk and deranged passengers, and veteran railwaymen who sustain pride in their work despite the massive cuts to their industry. Allen weaves his own memories of railroad travel with a family narrative past and present, all the while conjuring the drama, the disappointments, and the magic of Canada's railway history. 2001.Ride the rising wind: one woman's journey across Canada
By Barbara Bradbury Kingscote. 2006
In May 1949, at the age of twenty, Barbara Kingscote left her farm in Mascouche, Quebec, and set out for…
the Pacific Ocean on horseback. Barbara and her equine companion Zazy reached the West Coast just over a year later. After travelling 4,000 miles, she discovered both herself and her country on the journey of a lifetime. 2006.Rag cosmology
By Erin Robinsong. 2017
In this time of ecological precarity, "Rag Cosmology" is an urgent invitation to reinvent our modes of engagement with the…
environment we not only inhabit, but are. Refusing the lamentation that leaves us as resigned witnesses to devastation, "Rag Cosmology" counters fatalist narratives with the pleasures of ecological entanglement and engagement. Tracing relationships between seemingly irreconcilable things--economy and ecology, weather and lust, bills and inner voices, wages of avoidance and wages of listening--these poems offer the intimate and lush language of thought that yearn for an imaginative reinvention of how we understand what we are part of and what we are losing. Winner of the 2017 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry (QWF). 2017.L'aveugle aux mille destins ((Chronique).)
By Joe Jack. 2010
" L'aveugle aux mille destins est une tranche de vie haïtienne, une plongée dans l'histoire d'Haïti à travers l'itinéraire d'un…
aveugle. Joe Jack est un musicien de renom né aveugle aux Gonaïves en 1936. Il grandit dans un milieu où personne ne sait à l'époque ce qu'est un aveugle. Ses parents vont alors de pèlerinage en pèlerinage dans tous les recoins du pays, espérant rencontrer un Saint qui aurait pu aider leur fils à recouvrer la vue. Mais... c'était peine perdue. Joe Jack a tout misé sur l'éducation pour réussir sa vie. Après des études collégiales aux États-Unis, il revient dans son pays où il a enseigné l'anglais. Il s'accroche à la musique, qui est sa véritable passion. Crooner hors pair, Joe Jack a su charmer toute une génération d'amateurs de musique [...] " -- 4e de couv..Invisible? Impossible? Not ever!: biography of Jean-Paul Losier
By Edna Arseneault-McGrath. 2005
Acadian-born, fifth in a family of thirteen, and born blind, Jean-Paul Losier has overcome many obstacles to achieve success. Attaining…
Bachelors of Arts and Education degrees and a law degree, known as 'the man who knew the books by heart', Losier spent 24 years teaching while also cultivating the family farm. He is known as a tireless volunteer in his community and on behalf of the blind and deaf-blind, and as a man who is dedicated to the betterment of all mankind. 2005.Polio: an American story
By David M Oshinsky. 2005
Account of the twentieth-century search for a polio vaccine and the rivalries that developed between competing medical researchers, notably Jonas…
Salk, Albert Sabin, and Hilary Koprowski. Traces the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis campaigns and the public health experiment involving Salk's vaccine. Evokes the widespread panic over the disease. Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for history. 2005.Pig girl
By Colleen Murphy. 2015
At 4:00 a.m. on a secluded farm, a woman fights to take her life back from a serial killer as…
her desperate sister and a haunted police officer reach across time and distance in an attempt to rescue her. Winner of the 2016 Governor General’s Award for Drama. 2015.Paris 1919: six months that changed the world
By Margaret MacMillan. 2001
Analyzes the failure of the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I. Focuses on the nationalistic goals of American president…
Woodrow Wilson, French premier Georges Clemenceau, and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George - the author's great-grandfather - as they reorganized the defeated empires and created the League of Nations. Foreword by Richard Holbrooke. Bestseller. Winner of the 2003 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. Canada Reads 2012. 2001. Uniform title: Peacemakers