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From Ben Loman to the Sea (HC)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95This is one of two unique books that delight both children and adults, combining the work of folk artist Maud Lewis with the poetry of Lance Woolaver. Each volume contains a narrative that complements the paintings; one follows the mail sleigh as it delivers Christmas packages; in the second, the reader sees through the eyes of a young man as he leaves his home, countryside, and town to go to sea.
Both titles are treasures, the first books to celebrate the life and work of Maud Lewis, Nova Scotia’s most prominent folk artist. Now brought to readers in a new format that enhances the beauty of the art of Maud Lewis.
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Failures and Fiascos
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Do you remember the invasion of Newfoundland’s hydroponic cucumber? How about New Brunswick’s ill-fated space-age sports car?In this dynamic collection, Dan Soucoup follows the money trail up the political ladder to deliver the dirt on the most devastating failed business ventures, political scandals, and industry fiascos in Atlantic Canadian history. Presented in concise, entertaining vignettes, Boondoggles exposes two centuries of debacles in regional, national, and international scope.Exposed is the downfall of many local industries including steel, coal mining, nuclear and hydro-power, oil, heavy-water, and even rum-running. Relive the tragic fall of Sydney Steel in Cape Breton, PEI’s flawed immigrant investor program, the controversial (and ongoing) Churchill Falls project in Newfoundland, New Brunswick’s doomed Chignecto Ship Railway, and plenty more. From the coal mines of Cape Breton to the dry docks of Esquimalt, rediscover the stories that made headlines and continue to baffle Atlantic Canadians today.Includes 40 historical and contemporary images.
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From Old Hollywood to New Brunswick Memories of a Wonderful Life
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Imagine receiving a mysterious invitation from Charlie Chaplin, doing jigsaw puzzles with Marilyn Monroe, having a heart-to-heart with Jack Kennedy, or being kissed by Greta Garbo. All of these and more are the sensational memories of UK-born, honorary Maritimer Charles Foster. After an unlikely childhood, his adventurous spirit brought him in 1943 to RAF pilot training school in Calgary. Through a series of incredible circumstances and fortunate friendships, Foster went on to become a Hollywood writer and publicist.Now writing from New Brunswick as a regular columnist for Senior’s Advocate, Foster shares his most tantalizing stories as a collection for the first time. With tales from the golden age of film, radio, theatre, and music, including international adventures from Moscow to Berlin and beyond, From Old Hollywood to New Brunswick shows just how far an RAF uniform, a little bit of luck, and whole lot of charm could take you in mid-twentieth century show business.Includes a 20-page insert of original photographs.
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Maritime Lighthouses
Photographer: Jordan CrowePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Still shining proudly over Atlantic waters, lighthouses have become icons of Maritime folklore, serving as reminders of a rich nautical history. Exploring the nooks and crannies of the East Coast, photographer Jordan Crowe brings us through the fog to uncover these spectacular monuments of the past.
Travel from the tip of Nova Scotia’s Yarmouth County to experience the rugged structure of Cape Forchu, then revel in the captivating Swallowtail at Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. Featuring unforgettable photographs, full historical profiles, and detailed travel information for many of Canada’s most famous beacons, Maritime Lighthousesis not only a timeless treasure, but an adventure-seeker’s personal guide.
A former photography student at the University of Western Ontario, Jordan Crowe moved to the East Coast to pursue a career in the Maritimes. Garnering a deep appreciation for the local lighthouse love and lore, Crowe began to preserve these aging structures with his lens. He lives with his wife in Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia.
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I Spy a Bunny
Artist: Richard RudnickiPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Mandy and her Aunt Carla are spending the day at Nova Scotia’s White Point Beach. They are playing I Spy, but Mandy can’t see the white-nosed bunny Aunt Carla spies!
On each page, Mandy sees another beautiful part of White Point. There are surfers out in the water and families playing on the beach. There are big rocks to climb and colourful chairs to relax in. Mandy spies white in the waves, in the sand, in the lighthouse, and even in a white-capped chickadee- and just before she snuggles into Aunt Carla for a nap, she finally sees the little black bunny with a white nose.
This is a wonderful book to read aloud to young children and for early readers to read themselves, especially those who are learning their colours and who love bunny rabbits! -
Pumpkin People
Artist: Ron LightburnPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Every Autumn strange figures start appearing around the town of Kentville, Nova Scotia, sauntering down the sidewalk, sitting in a tree, cavorting on a lawn-who are these peculiar people? Why, they’re the Pumpkin People! Constructed from cornstalks, straw, and, of course, pumpkins, these folkloric figures are put together every year to celebrate the harvest in the Annapolis Valley in a most creative way.
Pumpkin People tells the tale of Kentville’s famous pumpkin people. Sandra Lightburn’s simple verse reveals the secret world of the half-funny, half-spooky figures; Ron Lightburn’s stunning illustrations bring that secret world to life. And a special section in the back teaches pumpkin fans young and old how to build their own pumpkin person! -
Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Revised and updated this popular resource for amateur genealogists and history buffs is the best package for finding out more about the people who populate the province.
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Vancouver Island Book of Musts 2nd edition
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$17.95Savouring a sunset on Chesterman Beach, browsing local fare at the Salt Spring Island Market or admiring the Chemainus Murals–it’s all here–the best beach on Hornby Island and the islands’ best place to stay: Vancouver Island Book of Musts is the ultimate guide to our 101 best places. Knowledgeable islanders like oenophile John Schreiner, author Lynne Bowen and naturalist Bruce Whittington weigh in with their top five MUSTS.
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The Blind Man’s Eyes
Publisher: Breton Books$17.95With over 100 of her best poems plus George Elliott Clarke’s essay on the achievement of Rita Joe, The Blind Man’s Eyes confirms Joe’s place in Canadian literature.
From a homeless child who led a blind beggar door-to-door, Rita Joe emerged as spokesperson for her nation and for the individual’s heart. Her much anthologized poems and rare autobiography have riveted her message to the Canadian conscience, revealing both the Mi’kmaq people and the universal artist’s heart of this Elder.
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Prometheus Reconsiders Fire
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95In his new collection of poems, Prometheus Reconsiders Fire, PEI poet Brent MacLaine undertakes an exploration of fire. The prefatory title poem establishes Prometheus as the poet’s persona, a voice that is dedicated to the reconsideration of fire in both its benevolent and malevolent aspects. Formal and elegant, Prometheus plots a trajectory between the classical and the local, a bearing that will be familiar to readers of MacLaine’s earlier work Athena Becomes a Swallow. Wide-ranging in its geography, the new book is wrapped ’round by “The Fire Hall Suite” that begins and ends the book. These are poems that respond to the “drive-by wisdom” created by the anonymous “Sign Person” who speaks to the local community by way of the Fire Hall’s roadside sign. Framed by the “Suite,” the poems of Prometheus move between city and country. A naturalist in the city, MacLaine brings to the urban environment the acutely observing eye that has always characterized his Island nature poems. MacLaine’s imagery, both urban and rural, is remarkable, and no other Canadian poet is quite as capable as MacLaine is in marrying the formal and the colloquial.
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Variations on Blue
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95This year’s poetry book by an Island writer is by former P.E.I. bookseller Pam Martin; this is her first book. As a child Pam Martin had four very sudden and unexpected encounters with death. These experiences shaped her emotional life as she struggled to understand them and to find beauty in a world that seemed fraught with peril. The poems also examine, with delicacy and humour, the world she encountered as a teenager, a social worker and a wife.
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Here for the Music
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95Laurie Brinklow’s long-awaited first collection of poems beaches the reader on the shores of contemporary womanhood. Strewn with memories of the tumultuous journey through childhood to adulthood and the detritus of relationships chanced and abandoned, finally being “here” brings to devotion to daughters and friends and an Island place. Brinklow’s book contains the tidal pull of loss and renewal, departure and arrival that keeps a lover of islands so close to the edges of life and death. That’s the here. But what she is “here” for is both more magical and more pragmatic: the music. It’s the music of language and the dance of human relationships, the sex and love melodies that bewilder and beguile. Brinklow brings this music down to us where we live, with the earthy touch of the “angel-in-charge-of-things-as-they-really-are.”
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The Reluctant Detective
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95A young widow, orphan and mother, Wilhelmina Anne Brown is just beginning to find some stability in her new home in Prince Edward Island when she is forced to deal with the death of her beloved uncle, Bill Darby. Darby, a Charlottetown private investigator, leaves Anne and her fourteen-year-old daughter a small savings account and his business, where Anne has worked as office manager for six years. What follows is Anne’s struggle to protect her family, find justice for her clients, and forge a new life for herself in this page-turning thriller.
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At First, Lonely
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95Best-known as a musician and a spoken-word performer, poet Tanya Davis has now taken to the page with At First, Lonely. In this collection, she reflects on life’s many passages: falling in love and out, the search for personal truth, the search for home. Davis’s style is one-of-a-kind: a blend of contemporary phrasing with profound personal expression. But her message is universal; over two million people have watched How to Be Alone, a film adaptation of her poem created by independent filmmaker Andrea Dorfman. Tanya Davis’ poetry challenges the intellect and touches deep places in the heart.
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Destination White Point
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$17.95White Point Beach Lodge has been in operation since 1928, persevering through early bankruptcy, the Great Depression, World War II, and a sometimes unforgiving climate in the hospitality industry. The resort is situated on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, where authors Zane Grey and Albert Bigelow Paine once travelled to write about the charms of the undisturbed wilderness.The evolution of tourism in southwest Nova Scotia owes much of its early progress to well-connected foreign anglers and hunters, who used their own pipelines to broadcast this Canadian destination as a bountiful game reserve and a gem for tourists to discover. This book depicts the contribution of some of these foreigners, notably Philip Hooper Moore, the creator of White Point. His conception was a vacation haven where discerning sportsmen could hunt and fish while their families enjoyed the state-of-the-art amenities at the resort. The Lodge remained a seasonal destination for several decades until the 1980s heralded a shift to year-round operations. A convention centre and more accommodations were added, all designed to blend with the original rustic log buildings.Destination White Point draws on the oral history of former and current staff and guests, some whose experiences date back to the 1930s, to paint authentic pictures of work and play at White Point. The descendants of a number of guests have perpetuated the White Point vacation tradition, travelling from New England as well as Upper and Lower Canada on an annual basis. Multi-generational connections are commonplace at White Point with a half-dozen or more family members employed at the resort across several decades.For the last thirty years or so, stories of ghostly sightings and manifestations have been circulating around the property. One of the supernatural visitors is believed to be Ivy Elliot, who co-managed White Point with her husband Howard for over forty years. These events recently attracted a group of paranormal investigators, who paid a visit to White Point. Since the 1980s, colourful rabbits have delighted children and adults alike. Today, the lodge remains a popular destination for both Canadians and foreigners and a vital link to our storied past.
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Otto Strasser in Paradise
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$17.95H. Millard Wright was born and grew up in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. He had a successful business career, becoming a vice-president and board member of L.E. Shaw Ltd. And president of Clayton Developments. He is a past president of the Halifax Board of Trade, a past director of the Maritime Chamber of Commerce, past director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and past director of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council. He formed his own company, Colonial Scientific Ltd., in 1971 and retired in 1992. He has published eight books.
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History of Hangings in Nova Scotia
$17.95Almost as soon as Halifax was settled by the British in 1749, it became a violent place to live, and in attempts to deal with this, public hangings and floggings were a common occurrence for close to a hundred years. Subject to the British legal system, criminals in Halifax were hanged for crimes that ranged from petty theft to gruesome murders.
From the original gallows tree at the bottom of George Street to hangings in rural communities, citizens were always drawn to a hanging. This book explores many of the Nova Scotian crimes that ended with the noose. Some of those included are the Saladin pirates, one of the bloodiest cases ever brought before a court in Nova Scotia; the hanging of Peter Mailman, who murdered his wife but captivated a reporter; and the trial of William Robinson, who not only murdered his wife but desecrated her body and tried to burn the evidence.
Hangings may have been grisly events, but they drew large crowds, and are a testament to the prevalent interest in the dark side of history. Issues of deterrence, public opinion, and effectiveness down through the years are explored by the author as she traces the crimes and punishment for murders that prevailed from the very first hanging in the province in 1749 to the last hanging in 1937.
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Nova Scotia’s Curious Connections
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Previously published as 59 Stories, this new edition brings back into print Bruce Nunn’s collection of quirky stories. With his entertaining style and penchant for library and word-of-mouth research alike, Nunn introduces readers to the province’s claim on some world-famous stuff, including Moby Dick, mutton-chop sideburns, and the very first Donald Duck comic. The collection includes chapters on the interesting origins of words like “Bluenose” and “Acadian” and strange homegrown inventions like the telephone-flashlight. Nunn’s passion for history and the unusual make Nova Scotia’s Curious Connections a must-read for anyone looking to add a little quirk to their knowledge of Nova Scotia’s past.
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Only in New Brunswick
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95IN HIS LATEST VOLUME of offbeat New Brunswick history and lore, popular Saint John storyteller David Goss delivers over forty-five new stories gleaned from his years as a columnist and tour guide. Goss introduces readers to local personalities like Perth Andover, artist Violet Gillett, chainsaw carver Albert Deveau, and the key-collector of Neguac. Other New Brunswickers have shared their memories of some of the province’s oddities, including Deer Island’s town clock, a quest to save the largest tree in the province, and the story of the Bricklin SV-1, manufactured for a brief time in Minto and Saint John. In these pages you’ll also find some of the ghost stories and legends that Goss has recounted to visitors in the parks where he’s worked as a a guide. The ghost ship Squando, the Hampton werewolf scare, and the Norton noise have made the rounds of many campfires and are captured here in print.
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Halifax Street Railway 1866-1949
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95The Halifax Street Railway is a photographic history of Halifax’s oft-forgotten transportation system. The book features over one hundred historical photographs documenting technological changes to the street railway system over its eighty-three-year history. The Halifax Street Railway will appeal to history buffs and all those who remember the city’s early transit systems.
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Nova Scotia Moments
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Clary Croft has gathered intriguing historical moments of Nova Scotian history into a readable and informative look at the province. These inspiring vignettes bring together many of the historical events, accomplishments, and unusual details that make up the more interesting aspects of Nova Scotia’s long history. Over four hundred profiles of inventors, radicals, and rogues make this collection the absolutely best volume of popular and fascinating facts and events covering over five hundred years in the region’s history. From Captain Kidd to Prohibition; from the origin of the Nova Scotian Tartan to the first automobile and the origins of our famous lobster suppers, Clary Croft writes with enthusiasm and genuine affection about his native province.
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Historic Lunenburg
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Historic Lunenburg brings together a host of images celebrating Lunenburg’s proud sailing heritage and its history as a centre of fishing and marine culture, as well as its people, business, rich architectural traditions, and celebrated events.
From Lunenburg’s beginnings as a British settlement for “Foreign Protestants” to its days as an international fish exporter, and as a home to traditionally crafted schooners, this book brings to life the spirited past of one of Nova Scotia’s most picturesque communities. -
Louisbourg Phoenix Fortress
Photographer: Chris ReardonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95A wonderful photographic look at the fortress accompanied by text that illuminates its history.
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Know New Brunswick
Publisher: Maritime Lines$17.95Active in bookselling and publishing for many years, Dan Soucoup is the author of numerous books including Historic New Brunswick, McCully’s New Brunswick, and The New Brunswick Phrase Book.”Dan Soucoup’s articles are well documented, interesting, articulate, unbiased, and are really going back in the history of our province.” Edmond Bourgeois, Grand Digue, New Brunswick
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Where the Water Meets the Land
Publisher: Saltscapes$17.95In 1976, the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited was created, with responsibilities for the redevelopment of the Halifax, Dartmouth and-later-Bedford waterfronts to restore the flavour and vigour of an earlier time. In Where the Water Meets the Land, author and historian John Boileau recounts the story of Halifax Harbour and its waterfront from prehistory to the modern day, detailing the rise and decline of the historic area, and its rejuvenation during the last 30 years under the guidance of the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited.
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That Bloody Cape Breton Coal
Publisher: Breton Books$17.95Rennie MacKenzie is the author of ‘In the Pit: A Cape Breton Coal Miner’.
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Evangeline for Young Readers
Artist: Patsy MacKinnonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, Evangeline, tells the story of two young people deported from beautiful Acadie just before they are to be married and their search for each other that lasts the rest of their lives. First published in 1847, the poem has been important to Acadian identity ever since.
In Evangeline for Young Readers, the tragic story of Evangeline and Gabriel’s Deportation is recounted to a new generation. In simple prose true to Longfellow’s poem, Hélène Boudreau describes the utopian village of Grand-Pré where Evangeline grows up, the traumatizing Deportation, and Evangeline’s relentless search across America for her true love. Patsy MacKinnon’s stunning illustrations bring the story to life in full colour.
Evangeline for Young Readers is a vital interpretation for children of Longfellow’s classic.
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Hockey’s Home (new edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Hockey’s Home includes a wealth of information about the origins of the great game of hockey in Nova Scotia with particular emphasis on the role that the community of Dartmouth has played in forming the game.
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A Bluenose Twelve Days of Christmas
Artist: Doretta GroenendykPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Five Highland flings!
Four coal seams,
Three lobster traps,
Two fiddle tunes,
And a Bluenose in at Pier Three.“The Twelve Days of Christmas” gets a taste of Nova Scotian revelry in this energetic retelling by storyteller Bruce Nunn. With Doretta Groenendyk’s charming and funny illustrations, readers young and old will want to read–and sing!–this version of the carol every Christmas.
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An Island Christmas Reader (Updated edition)
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$17.95An Island Christmas Reader is a book about Christmas past and present on Prince Edward Island. In 22 stories and essays, David Weale combines reminiscences of Islanders with his own musings to rekindle the memory of Christmas, where imagination and magic work hand in hand to create the “unsullied wonder of childhood vision.”