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The Grand Change
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95William Andrews’ first novel examines life in a small PEI communityin the 1940s and 50s as changes, so common in the restof the world, begin to take hold. Using a road as an allegory, heweaves a lyrical tale of simple country people, their strugglesand their joys. The story is told through the eyes of a boy calledJake: he is the witness to life on the Hook Road and the eventsthat change that life forever. The book is in some ways like along poem: the people and the world they inhabit are richlyand meticulously described, and the superb writing takes thereader to a world no one will ever see again.
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The Midnight Murder
Publisher: Breton Books$16.95In his short, vigorous life, McKinnon was the courageous editor of three Cape Breton newspapers, and a successful novelist. He fearlessly found a voice in the Boston literary world. Then he became a Methodist minister and tried to burn his “evil” novels. He died at 33-after a life as romantic and passionate as any of his characters.
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The Making of Tom Cat
Publisher: WoodenBoat Books$19.75A Canadian by birth, Bill’s family moved to Seattle Via Portland, Oregon, in 1928, when Bill was 10 years old. In Seattle, he found himself surrounded by wooden boats of all kinds and sizes-and took full advantage of that wonderful environment.
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William Roach: Folk Artist
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95William Roach’s interest – training, if you like – in carving and shaping wood into representations of the world around him, came naturally. When they weren’t making or repairing practical articles and tools, the older men in his life spent countless hours whittling curiosities that delighted children, neighbours and friends.After years working in Ontario, Roach and his family moved home to his Acadian birthplace, Chéticamp, Cape Breton, striving for the stability of family and community. A new life, turning a new leaf, William began expressing himself through his gift – a diversion at first, his passion for creating objects of beauty and value became an obsession and later a business.From his Sunset Gallery and studio on the outskirts of Chéticamp, Roach works tirelessly at his entertaining creations.
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From the Coast to Far Inland
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95From the landing of the Vikings these stories trace the dramatic evolution of the relationship between aboriginals and non-aboriginals in Labrador; they trace the progress of Labrador from the British conquest to the flowering of the Labrador identity and the rise of the New Labrador Party in the late 20th century. In between are treks through various parts and times of Labrador
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Among the writings: Pierre Berton tracks through iron ore country; Peter Newman paints Lord Strathcona and the Hudson’s Bay Company warts and all; Elliott Merrick, Tony Paddon, the Labrador doctor, and Elizabeth Goudie describe the joys and hardships of life in the central Labrador plateau; Norman Duncan and Michael Crummey bring to life the humour and pathos of those who clung so tenaciously to a barren and bountiful coast; and Richard Gwyn, an adopted son of the province, sketches the rise of the New Labrador Party, a political force bursting with resentment against the neglect and indifference of a distant capital during the last days of Joey Smallwood. -
Tracking Treasure
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Lost, stolen, or undiscovered treasures have long been rumored to be buried throughout Atlantic Canada. Stories abound of loot squirreled away on islands and beaches by pirates and privateers, of fortunes in gold, silver and precious stones lost in the holds of ships wrecked on the jagged rocks of the rugged coast. In Tracking Treasure, Crooker investigates mysterious sites that are the subject of story, myth and song. Some are documented in historical accounts, while others belong to folklore.
William Crooker’s fascination with hidden treasures made him the foremost expert on the great Nova Scotia treasure hunt. -
Historic Mahone Bay
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Mahone Bay has played an important role in Nova Scotia’s history, contributing significantly to the forestry, fishing and shipbuilding industries, and in recent years emerging as an important tourism destination.
With an emphasis on people and anecdotal history and more than 150 photographs and other images, Historic Mahone Bay covers the period from 1754 through 1960, with the focus on the period from the 1880s to the 1930s. -
How to Build the Catspaw Dinghy A Boat for Oar and Sail
Publisher: WoodenBoat Books$10.95The Catspaw Dinghy is Joel White’s 12’8” version of the famed Herreshoff Dinghy Columbia. Catspaw is a carvel planked with 1/2” cedar over steam-bent oak frames, and copper rivet fastened.
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Forty-Five Wooden Boats
Publisher: WoodenBoat Books$16.95Deciding what boat to build is one of those wonderful mind pursuits, and study plans catalogs are a great way to get that thought process in gear because you have a nice variety of boats to compare/contrast.
The designs range from three different skin-on-frame boats, to glue-lap-ply dinghies and daysailers, to a 20′ trimaran, and some go-slow canal boats. There are several power boats, including simple skiffs and more rugged powercraft, and weekender type sailboats go up to 24 feet. What sets these design catalogs apart from other such publications is the honest commentary, and the lines provided so you can understand the hull shapes of a three-dimensional boat from a flat piece of paper. Basic particulars are included, as well as building skills needed. And, all of the plans shown are available for purchase from WoodenBoat.
This is the fourth in the very successful series of boat design catalogs published by WoodenBoat. The three prior sutdy plans catalogues have approximately 100,000 copies in print. None of the designs in Forty-Five Wooden Boats are shown in the prior books, and the emphasis is on boats you can build.
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The Nova Scotia Colouring Book
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95Colour Nova Scotia as you’ve always imagined.
From the celebrated illustrator of A Halifax ABC, A Halifax 123, and the Theodore Tugboat series comes a fun-filled colouring book depicting Canada’s Ocean Playground. From coastal villages dotted with dories and fish huts to the sprawling Annapolis Valley to the Cape Breton highlands, The Nova Scotia Colouring Book covers the province’s must-see locations and is a creative souvenir for all ages.
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The First Violin The life and loss of the Titanic’s violinist John Law Hume
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95In Halifax’s Fairview Cemetery lies the body of John Law Hume, first violinist of RMS Titanic. As the ship sank that tragic night in April 1912, legend has it that the band played on right to the very end. The First Violin tells the story of the construction and sinking of the great ocean liner on her maiden voyage and also recounts the fascinating life and loss of the ship’s violinist John Law Hume. Written by Hume’s great-niece, Yvonne Hume, the book traces the first violinist’s early years in Dumfries, Scotland, the events that led him to play on board the Titanic, and the doomed voyage across the Atlantic. The book also recounts the chaotic aftermath, with the recovery of bodies and the eventually identification in the Halifax graveyard of body No. 193: John Law Hume. This illustrated edition includes over 100 photos, diagrams, and letters documenting the tragic story, and includes a short foreword by Millvina Dean, Titanic’s last survivor.
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Pirates of the North Atlantic
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95Along miles of rugged coastline, in secret bays and hidden inlets, and even in the busiest ports lurk stories of the infamous pirates who visited the North Atlantic in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Peter Easton, and Black Bart all came here in search of plunder, supplies, and sanctuary. From Newfoundland to Boston, from Cape Breton to the Bay of Fundy, the North Atlantic was once teeming with highwaymen of the sea.
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The Race to the Bottom How Scuba Diving in Nova Scotia Saved My Life
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$21.95This is the story of one man’s hobby and its overwhelmingly positive effect physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally on his life. The hobby is scuba diving, but not on the reefs of southern seas. This is about diving in Halifax Harbour. Diving summer and winter in one of the biggest and deepest harbours in the world has given Bob a view of history that few will ever witness.
Inquisitive and energetic, the author spins yarns about the strange and fascinating objects he finds and the hair-raising moments he has experienced, from coming to the surface and seeing the boat drifting out of sight to arriving on the surface in a snowstorm and having to navigate by compass to find the shore.
The bottom of Halifax Harbour has collected artifacts over the centuries from around the world. Each find gets picked up, cleaned, researched, and documented. The author’s database is a gold mine of little details about what arrived, eventually got dumped into the ocean, and is now sitting on display at home and in museums as a reminder of what once was.
The author takes the reader under warships, container ships, and tugboats, through huge docks, and under the ice. Along the way, he reflects on the toll that our civilization is taking on the ocean, of seagulls trying to break open golf balls to find food, of crabs trapped inside tires, and fish that take refuge in castoff bottles and grow too big to stay in but also too big to get out.
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Thousand Islands
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95George Fischer’s photographs has been featured in dozens of book. He is the author of a number of books including Destination Fundy Trail, Along the St. John River and Rendezvous in the Magdalen Islands. His stunning photography can also be found in a brilliant new book Boldt Castle, the Story of an Unfinished Dream. George Fischer’s photographs has been featured in dozens of book. He is the author of a number of books including Destination Fundy Trail, Along the St. John River and Rendezvous in the Magdalen Islands. His stunning photography can also be found in a brilliant new book Boldt Castle, the Story of an Unfinished Dream.
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Boldt Castle
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95When prominent New York City hotelier George Boldt demonstrated his love for his wife, Louise, by building a magnificent chateau in the beautiful Thousand Islands, no expense was too great and no idea too grand. But when Louise died suddenly, George immediately brought construction to a halt. Broken-hearted, he never set foot on the island again, and the lonely castle was abandoned to time and the elements for over 70 years.
In Boldt Castle: The Story of an Unfinished Dream, Anthony Mollica Jr. shares the fascinating details behind the crumbling castle that captured his imagination as a child, and describes the ambitious restoration project that has brought new life to the Boldts’ island estate. George Fischer’s stunning photographs capture the magnificence of Boldt Castle today, an enduring symbol of devotion that attracts thousands of visitors each year
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Panama
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: George Fischer$29.95Lounge on a deserted beach or dive for treasure. Enjoy fine Panamanian coffee in a plantation and a jungle lunch with an Indian tribe. Follow the sounds of nearly 1,000 bird species. Make friends with monkeys, toucans, and iguanas. George Fischer’s images have captured Panama’s magical mix of nature, culture, history, and a thoroughly modern infrastructure. Best known for the Panama Canal, the country is also recognized for its other wonders: five UNESCO sites, distinct Indian cultures, more than 1,500 islands, and countless historical monuments.
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Iceland Reflections on the Ring Road
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: George Fischer$39.95Vast landscapes, extraordinary natural sculptures of rock and ice, cascading waterfalls, wildlife and a wonderful culture are revealed from unique vantage points through the lenses of three photographers. Travel the Ring Road (the main road) and circumnavigate the country with award-winning photographer George Fischer, and Sean Fischer. Discover geothermal vistas, ice caves, glaciers and verdant valleys with Jón Gauti Jónsson, Mountain Guide and photographer. Images from these different viewpoints bring this remarkable region to life.
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Miss Nackawic Meets Midlife
Publisher: Chocolate River Publishing$14.95Colleen Landry’s delusional alter ego, Miss Nackawic 1981, is ready for her second coming. Oh sure…it’s been 37 years since she reigned over her tiny town wearing a tiara and sash, but she has clung to the memory of adoring fans and paparazzi chases ever since. Her husband and two sons hardly ever clap or take her picture when she enters a room so she has no choice but to seek fame and glory elsewhere–the Miss World pageant! Despite more than three decades of unanswered requests for information about the pageant, Miss Nackawic 1981 refuses to give up hope that there is life after picking up soggy towels, burning Thanksgiving turkeys, and trying to make her menfolk understand that throw cushions are never to be touched.
This middle-aged writer’s hilarious and delusional observations about raising boys, surviving(ish) menopause and searching for meaning in mid-life will make you laugh out loud…at her expense.
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Cultivating Success The Life of Acadian Seaplants Founder Louis Deveau
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$27.95Louis Deveau was born in the Acadian village of Salmon River, Digby County, NS, in the early years of the Great Depression. He inherited his father’s work ethic and his mother’s entrepreneurial flair, soon pioneering the creation of the commercial crab industry?now the second-largest fishery in Atlantic Canada. That work put him on the front lines of the industry he would transform over a lifetime: the seaweed business.
At forty-nine, Louis incorporated Acadian Seaplants Limited (ASL), and doggedly grew the company by capitalizing on research and development innovations. Today, ASL employs hundreds of people in more than a dozen nations, keeps a research staff of about fifty, and exports a wide range of products to over eighty nations worldwide.
With dozens of black and white photos and two colour inserts, this comprehensive biography tells the story of a visionary whose determination to build a successful business in Nova Scotia, and whose commitment to church, family, community, and Acadian culture transformed ASL into a world-leading, research- and technology-driven juggernaut.
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Maritime Melange
Photographer: Shannon WilliamsPublisher: Chocolate River Publishing$12.95Maritime Melange was inspired by New Brunswick?s coastlines and the International Sculpture Symposium that was hosted by Sculpture Saint John. The award-winning poem is illustrated by the photography of Shannon Williams as it appears in print for the first time. Previously, it was set to music and performed by the New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra at the 2016 Sculpture Symposium in Saint John, NB.
A map showing the locations of the sculptures is included.
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Les Sept Amis
Artist: Daniela ZekinaPublisher: Bouton d'or Acadie$8.95Monday throws on warm clothing, Tuesday takes the train to meet Wednesday while Thursday crawls out of bed to meet up with Friday… for a whole week’s worth of rhyme and sparkling illustrations.
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La bonne idée!
Artist: Natasha PilottePublisher: Bouton d'or Acadie$12.95Océanne would love to have a swimming pool or take a trip in an airplane like her new friend does. But Océanne’s parents are farmers. They sell at the local market. It doesn’t earn them a great deal and it takes a lot of work. Nevertheless, the family takes a weekend off to go visit Oceanne’s great grandmother at Baie Sainte-Marie in Nova Scotia. It’s a trip that will give her a chance to appreciate how fortunate she is, and put her little aggravations into perspective. What’s more, she has an idea that will take shape while she’s there–one which will make her parents proud and make Océanne herself a partner in their market venture.
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Highland Settler The Classic Portrait of the Scottish Gael in Cape Breton and Eastern Nova Scotia
Publisher: Breton Books$18.95At the core of Charles W. Dunn’s pioneering work with the Canadian Gaelic-speaking community in the twentieth century, Highland Settler is the story of immigration, rural settlement, and the later dispersion to the industrial world–a thoughtful and entertaining history of an extraordinary people.
Dunn’s extensive interviews and the informed warmth of his approach make Highland Settler an essential book in the discovery of Cape Breton Island. Drawing on delightful storytelling, and local songs and poetry that settlers composed and loved, Dunn achieves a Gaelic settlers’ self-portrait as well as the historian and folklorist’s insight into the culture.
A fresh new edition of an elegant and accessible classic about folk ways vibrant in the 1940s and alive today in Cape Breton Island, with the details and historical perspective of this expert researcher.
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Dispensing Aid
$20.00The floors were deep with plaster and glass, shelving was toppled, and heavy wooden counters broken. Amidst this disarray pharmacists gave first aid to the injured who came to the drug stores seeking care almost immediately following one of the worst disasters in Canadian history, the Halifax Explosion.
Dispensing Aid tells the stories of druggists in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion, the care they provided, their narrow escapes and the unexpected roles they played. The common medications of a hundred years ago are identified and their usage described. Photographs of corner drug store promotions, century old prescriptions and medication bottles add to this book’s unique perspective of an unforgettable time in Halifax’s history.
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Maud Lewis Colouring Book Volume 2
Publisher: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia$6.95The Maud Lewis Colouring & Activity Book Volume 2 features pictures to colour, crosswords, word searches, connect-the-dot, and other activities. Inspired by the artwork of Maud Lewis, Canada’s most beloved and best-known folk artist, this delightful book is suitable for children between the ages of 3-10.
