Columbia Reviews

From the Columbia's mouth on the Pacific to the rock-trimmed canyons of the Lower Snake River, the Columbia-Snake River Inland Waterway is 465 miles of spectacular scenery and historic attractions. Authors Sharlene and Ted Nelson take you to the most interesting and beautiful places along the river, offering anecdotes and stories as well as information about driving, cruise ships, boating, and accommodations. Includes photos and maps.

James Herriot, John Irving, and Pete McCormack. These are the few authors whose works I have insisted on reading aloud to my newspapers-only husband. It was difficult to control the laughter while reading aloud, and impossible to read other passages without choking back tears. The story is related by a ten/eleven year-old boy whose passion is hockey, though he knows he's only the second-best player, and whose world is getting out of control both on and off the ice. His parents are separating and his father is behaving strangely. The boy feels that the responsibility of keeping the family together, and winning hockey for the team falls squarely on his shoulders. In a show of support for his Dad, he decides to live with him. He then tries to adjust to a new home where Dad keeps knocking walls out, a new school and friends, and an unsympathetic teacher. This novel covers current issues of how divorce affects children; how sports can bring out the 'ugly' in adults; and how children cope with loss. It sounds heavy, but it is related with a child's simplicity, optimism, and humour. It is an 'easy' read that would appeal to a wide audience.

Everyone loves a bargain, and perhaps enjoys hunting for them just as much. So this guide to the offbeat, the cheap, and the obscure places to buy and dine around Victoria could be the key to getting your money's worth--no small achievement in a city with a new reputation for being among the most expensive places in Canada. To say that the authors have done their homework might be an understatement, for they must have put in countless hours of research, and maybe worn out considerable pairs of shoes, to compile this book: they've managed to include bargain sources for nearly every taste. Want to know where to buy good maternity wear cheap? There's a listing of eight places in Victoria. Like old books but want to avoid those literary rip-off artists along Antique Row? Victoria's Best Bargains lists more than a score of reasonably priced second-hand bookstores, as it does for every other conceivable kind of purchase, from low-cost linoleum and discount earthworms to once-worn Paris evening gowns and cheap places to get your car fixed, from little-known charity sales and flea markets to cut-rate stores. The book indexes 12 pages of categories of bargain items available around Victoria. Not least of interest are economical eating-places, rare finds in a town notorious for costly restaurants. This book's a bargain in itself. (review by Sidney Allinson for Canadian Book Review Annual

The book consists of a series of informative papers analyzing the current forest regulatory scheme in British Columbia. The authors include academics from the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria as well as lawyers and business people. Their discussion is very analytical and comprehensive.

This book is useful for anyone wanting to conduct an indepth study of forest regulation in British Columbia.

Are you looking for a new and beautiful destination for a weekend getaway or a Sunday afternoon excursion? Purchase a copy of West Coast Gardenwalks and the fun has just begun! Alice Joyce has written a lyric, comprehensive and splendidly organized garden tour book that is guaranteed to delight gardeners and garden enthusiasts alike. It includes charming lodging recommendations and a captivating resource section for gardeners that describes shops and shows, periodicals and websites. My husband and I are currently pursuing Ms. Joyce's recommendations for the Winery Gardens of Napa and Sonoma Counties. As life-long residents of Northern California we are astounded that so many of these magical places were previously unknown to us--but no longer! We are planning a host of gardenwalks this spring and summer throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including a much-anticipated visit to a Sebastopol nursery to view a "legendary" Dove tree in full bloom. We highly recommend West Coast Gardenwalks to anyone interested in discovering the beauty and variety of our many West Coast gardens. Thank you Ms. Joyce for creating this much-needed guide!

I am surprised that no one else has read this book (or, if they have, that they have not posted a review). I realize that natural photography is not everyone's cup of tea (it's certainly not one of my hobbies), but the visual power of this book is overwhelming. As the title suggests, the book is a compilation of photographs from various wild regions of British Columbia. Gilbert chooses to focus his photography on light and colour, with amazing results. From cascading waterfalls to old-growth forests to sunsets on the beach, Gilbert's pictures accurately capture the power and beauty of British Columbia's majestic (but, tragically, shrinking) natural places. The book is really a feast for the eyes, especially if one has never been to B.C. (I have, and the book was bought for me as a gift while I was there). The only aspect of this book that I did not enjoy was the poetry that accompanies each section of the book. Example:

Ocean Blue......Blue Sky Forest Green......Green Moss

Sunset Yellow......Yellow Lichen

I don't know much about poetry, but the passages in this book didn't appeal to me that much. No matter, however, they are more than compensated for by the stunning visual element of this title. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in photography, in nature, in British Columbia as a whole, or to anyone who lives in B.C. and has not yet realized how privileged they are to call that province home. I wish I could do the same.

Robert Adams displays his photographic excellence in photographing the incredible power, yet subtle mergence of the Columbia River with the Pacific Ocean. The viewer is tranported to the beaches and shorelines by the excellence of Adam's incredible black & white photography.

To test Wet Coast Words, I tried to come up with a small list of BC words: whistlepunk, geoduck, widowmaker, PNE, crummy, saltchuck, and peevee. All but peevee appear in Wet Coast Words. For comparison, the new Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998) misses peevee and geoduck. On the downside, Wet Coast Words is not a formal dictionary. The entries are encyclopedic or anecdotal rather than the traditional: ie. a) part of speech, b) pronunciation, c) first meaning, d) second meaning, etc ,and e) etymology. Too bad because this makes the book much less useful as a reference but it is a fun read.

Perhaps a 10th anniversary edition with revisions and additions will come out next year. If it does, peevee (long crow-bar like tool with grapple on one end used to move about logs in log booms) could be included.

"Who Killed CBS" is a dated but still relevant expose of how the network which was once unsurpassed for the quality of its news division sunk during the 1970s and 1980s to the depths of mediocrity. How the modern evening news came to resemble tabloid shows like "A Current Affair" and "Hard Copy" is plainly evident in Boyer's descriptions of how CBS executives came increasingly to see television news as "entertainment." As news consumers, we are all worse off for this unfortunate development.

I really enjoyed reading this book. There was quite a bit of good advice concerning wilderness living and survival. Also included interesting tales concerning Brad and Vena Angiers experiences living in the British Columbia wilderness. I found the style of writing to be quite easy to read and the explanations to be easily understandable. Would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in living in the wilderness or just enjoys reading about people who have done it.