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My Nova Scotia Home Nova Scotia’s best writers riff on the place they call home
Editor: Vernon OicklePublisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$19.95In this no-holds barred look at the province, writers captivate and capture the true essence of Nova Scotia. From these personal accounts of life here, the writers reveal the great joys and small pleasures but also the schisms, foibles, and missed opportunities of a life made in Nova Scotia. By revealing themselves, they make the province larger, more welcoming, more interesting, and certainly more colourful. This book is proof positive that life really is a search for home.
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You Might Be From The Great White North If …
Artist: John HendersonPublisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$19.95You Might Be From The Great White North If … is a delightful, illustrated romp through the Great White North. From one of the most celebrated cartoonists in the North, John Henderson delivers his unique take on this extraordinary place, tickling the funny bone on every page. As Henderson proves, the people of the North are proud of who they are and like nothing better than a good laugh.
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Forgotten Nova Scotia
Photographer: Ingrid Bulmer, Ted PritchardPublisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$29.95The stunning images found in Forgotten Nova Scotia offer a window into our past, showing life as it was then, and stirring in us the emotions of wonder and curiosity about those who have gone before us and the lives they lived.
Nova Scotia is in Ingrid Bulmer and Ted Pritchard’s blood, and you might say Forgotten Nova Scotia is their love letter to the province. Where others may see only decay and rot in these long-forgotten locations, Bulmer and Pritchard see exquisite beauty. This is the book they were meant to do.
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Grain Elevators Beacons on the Prairies
Photographer: Chris AttrellPublisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$29.95Rising above the landscape, the grain elevator heralds a time when wheat was king across the West. At their zenith, 5,758 of these prairie giants defined the economy and skyline of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. While many still stand, every year their numbers dwindle. Sometimes these towering signposts are all that is left of a town or hamlet once built around them. In this stunning photo collection, award-winning photographer Chris Attrell captures the haunting presence of those that remain to stand guard over an ever-changing agrarian lifestyle.
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Newfoundland Pictorial Cookbook
Artist: Sherman HinesPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Perfect food and perfect pictures all about Newfoundland.
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We Belong to the Sea
Editor: Meddy StantonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Nova Scotia’s marine heritage is rooted in the very fibre of the people. In this anthology of the best writing about Nova Scotia and its historic relationship to the sea we hear from numerous well-known authors.
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Rendezvous in the Magdalen Islands
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Situated in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Magdalens are a series of 12 beautiful islands of sand in the shape of a half moon stretching over 65 kilometres and with over 300 km of wonderful sandy beaches. This archipelago enjoys a Maritime climate, boasts a stunning landscape that always leads to the sea and features a unique human history beginning with the Mi’kmaq, the early French explorers, and the Acadians fleeing the expulsion of 1755, as well as the later Scottish immigrants. English Edition
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Christmas with the Rural Mail
Artist: Maud LewisPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95A gentle poem describing the journey of a mailsleigh through rural Nova Scotia at Christmas time, delivering packages and parcels to children, Christmas with the Rural Mail is a holiday classic. The poem is carefully crafted to fit Maud Lewis’s colourful paintings, and the mailsleigh passes children skiing and tobogganing, oxen and Clydesdale horses pulling heavy loads, and the train station, among other classic rural winter scenes.
Lewis’s artwork is ideal for babies and toddlers, with its bright colours and simple forms, and the paintings and poem together perfectly evoke Christmases gone by. This is a sturdy board book edition great for young readers.
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Underground Halifax (2nd edition)
Editor: Paul EricksonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$26.95Across North America and beyond, urban archaeology is enjoying a widespread and growing popularity, as people are drawn by its sense of mystery and the alluring prospect of discovery. The individual authors of the narratives within Underground Halifax tell stories with a “human face,” bringing people and events-some ordinary, others famous-back to life, and doing so with objects as well as words. Each author in the volume employs an array of illustrations of what once lay hidden underground-map, photographs, and sketches-as well as drawings and photographs of unearthed structures and artifacts. Once you”ve been given a glimpse at what lies beneath the layers of Halifax, walking the city”s streets will never be the same again.
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Country Roads Memoirs from Rural Canada
Editor: Pam ChamberlainPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Rural people, places, and communities vary greatly in a country as geographically vast and culturally diverse as Canada. For some, the country was a place of happiness and belonging; for others, it was a source of hardship and sorrow. For many, it was both. Some writers grew up loving their rural homes, never wanting to leave. Others couldn’t wait to escape to the city.
From Victoria, British Columbia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, three generations of Canadians tell their stories of growing up in rural communities in Country Roads. The writers–including journalist Pamela Wallin, NHL coach Brent Sutter, and award-winning authors Sharon Butala and Rudy Wiebe–share one thing in common: they were all country kids whose upbringing profoundly impacted their identities. The thirty-two memoirs in Country Roads are sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, but always engaging. -
A Christmas Dollhouse
$18.95Dot’s family is having a hard time. Her father has work, but her mother is terribly sick, and there is barely enough to make ends meet—and definitely not enough money for a lot of presents this Christmas. In the window of the town’s drugstore, Dot sees a beautiful dollhouse that is being raffled away. But her family doesn’t even have a dollar to spend there so she can enter the contest.
A Christmas Dollhouse is about hope in the face of hardship and about communities gathering close and taking care of each other. Set in Nova Scotia during the Great Depression, this is a story that will appeal to anyone who believes in the magic of Christmas.
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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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The Christmas Secret
Editor: Dan SoucoupPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95The Christmas Secret is a homemade collection featuring twenty tales of Atlantic Christmases past and present, plucked from the memories and traditions of famed purveyors of local lore. This edition features a veritable buffet of Atlantic holiday celebrations and experiences, from the heartwarming holidays inside a lighthouse on Bon Portage Island to a struggling Cape Breton coal mining community, to the spirit of “old Christmas” in Island Cove, Newfoundland.
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Wild Nova Scotia (pb)
Photographer: Len WaggPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Nova Scotia has designated thirty-three Crown-owned areas as Wilderness Areas, consisting of about five percent of the provincial land-mass. The wilderness area designation means no mining or logging is allowed, but people are free to hunt, fish, hike, and camp as they have for generations. These Wilderness Areas- from the massive Tobeatic Wilderness Area that covers five counties to tiny McGill Lake- showcase the best of natural Nova Scotia, and Len Wagg has photographed them all for Wild Nova Scotia. Over the last year and a half, Wagg spent close to a hundred days in the province’s wilderness, logging over fifteen thousand kilometres and taking beautiful, telling portraits of the province’s most secret and lovely places. Photos of important areas not designated Wilderness Areas are included as well- like the shores of the Northumberland Strait, where herds of seals find places along the shores to have their young; the Bay of Fundy, where world-class tides erode massive cliffs; Keji National Park, where the sounds campers hear are all natural; and Nova Scotia’s “barren” Sable Island, home to birds, plants, seals and a herd of wild horses. Each area has distinctive characteristics that make it unique. Wild Nova Scotia showcases the special places, protected or not, allowing people to bring home some of the amazing natural beauty of this province.
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Exotiques Îles De La Madeleine Ever Exotic
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95The inexhaustible affection lavished on Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine is the envy of many tourist destinations. First-time visitors are pleasantly surprised and totally enchanted by the discovery of an archipelago that is as exotic as it is bucolic. With its local island delicacies, beaches of fine sand that stretch forever, a quality of light that is typical of open-sea islands, and countless other charms, the Québec archipelago casts a spell that is irresistible.Photographer George Fischer is a habitual and prolific visitor whose capacity to amaze never wanes. The exotic Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine includes over 200 colourful and spectacular images.
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Maritime Christmas Treasury
$29.95A collection of best-loved Maritime Christmas stories in one beautiful book for children. From the hilarious Gadzooks the Christmas Goose to the heartwarming A Christmas Dollhouse, each carefully selected story highlights another aspect of the Christmas season. Love, family, the natural world, and yes, even Christmas presents, are all celebrated in this gorgeous treasury.
Interspersed with the stories are classic poems and Christmas carols (including Bruce Nunn’s Bluenose version of “Twelve Days of Christmas”!), as well as beautiful and lively illustrations from a range of artists. A Maritime Christmas Treasury is sure to be cherished by Christmas lovers of all ages.
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Letters Home Maritimers and the Great War, 1914-1918
Editor: Ross HebbPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95With personal letters gathered from public archives and the relatives of those who fought in the First World War, historian Ross Hebb tells the story of Canadian soldiers, from recruitment to deployment to return, in their own words. Letters Home is a collection of the correspondences of 20 people shipped overseas from across the Maritimes, asking about their homes and farms, wondering at the girls in Britain, and leaving keepsakes and life advice for their children.
Organized chronologically, the letters describe crossing the Atlantic, training in England, the confusion and anticipation leading up to combat, and for some, the journey home. Includes 20 photographs of the letter writers, their families, postcards, and memorials.
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Mother’s Message in a Bottle
Editor: Tyler HaydenPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95The most important message that moms deliver is underscored by love.
Mother’s Message in a Bottle is an inspirational collection of over 40 letters from mothers around the world to the people they love.
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The Little Book of Newfoundland and Labrador
Photographer: John SylvesterPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95In The Little Book of Newfoundland and Labrador, photographer John Sylvester beautifully captures the quintessential fishing villages, magnificent natural landscapes, and stunning array of wildlife that “The Rock” is famous for.
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Then and Now
Photographer: Len WaggPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95Wallace MacAskill (1887-1956) is one of Nova Scotia’s foremost photographers, lauded for his portraits of seascapes, sailing and fishing ships, and picturesque landscapes. In this remarkable collection of then and now photographs, Len Wagg follows in the footsteps of 50 of MacAskill’s best shots, recreating them in colour contemporary portraits. Through side-by-side comparisons, readers see how much has changed, and how much has remarkably remained the same. Included are urban streetscapes, important events and monuments, and spectacular scenery from around the province, Halifax to Louisbourg, Chester to Pictou. The 100 photographs in this book are captioned with short anecdotes conveying the significance of the images and the process of finding the location for some of MacAskill’s original work. Includes a foreword from Garry Shutlack.
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Peggys Cove (Munn)
Photographer: Scott MunnPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Seasoned photographer Scott Munn documents the iconic landscape of Peggys Cove in this gorgeous book of colour photography. Features 46 colour photographs with descriptive captions, and an introduction by award-winning journalist Quentin Casey.
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Atlantic Animal ABC
Artist: Angela DoakPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95From Atlantic puffin to zooplankton, with lots of wild Atlantic Canadiana in between–like lobster, brown bat, moon jellyfish, porcupine, and more–Atlantic Animal ABCs is the perfect introduction for young ones to the region’s wildlife.
With vibrant paper collage illustrations, Angela K. Doak’s whimsical animal interpretations are a great teaching tool for introducing baby to alphabet and animals all at once, and leave lots of room for play!
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The Little Book of Ontario
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95In The Little Book of Ontario, George Fischer captures the crystal clear lakes, sprawling forests, and glittering skylines of the Heartland Province. From the Great Lakes to the Canadian Shield, Fischer takes readers on a visual journey, with nearly 80 stunning full-colour photographs, across Ontario’s graceful waterfalls, flowing rivers, rustic buildings, rolling farmlands, and vibrant cities. In this popular, travel-sized format, the newest offering in the Little Book series shows Ontario’s people, towns, and landscapes through every season.
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Nova Scotia from the Air
Photographer: Len WaggPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95In this brilliant follow-up to the bestselling Then & Now, award-winning photographer Len Wagg again takes readers back through time. Aerial landscapes shot in dazzling colour from Louisbourg to Church Point are contrasted with black-and-white photos from the Nova Scotia Archives collection. Readers will see high rises where there were once open fields; stark vistas filled in with residences and windmills. In some side-by-side pairings, the change is startling; in others, subtle.
Nova Scotia from the Air is both a photo book and an historical study. Wagg flew over towns and landmarks from one end of the province to the other, recreating scenes from archival photos dating back to the 1930s. This remarkable collection of then-and-now images shows both the growth and the decline of this province by the sea. The 100 photographs evoke nostalgia and surprise.
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Algonquin Park A Photographic Journey
Photographer: Iain McNabPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$26.95At 7,700 square kilometres, Algonquin Park offers constant surprises, even for McNab, who shoots in all seasons and never tires of the park’s natural beauty. In this travel-friendly keepsake book, photographer Iain McNab shares some of the stunning photographs he has taken in over twenty years of visiting Canada’s first provincial park.
Sunsets, brilliant foliage, foxes, bear, and moose, all shot all with the same eye for detail, Algonquin Park features over 100 colour photos as well as an introduction from McNab, detailing his imperfect quest for the perfect photo.
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Nova Scotia at Night
Photographer: Len WaggPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95See Nova Scotia like never before. Celebrated photographer Len Wagg returns off the success of Then & Now, his exploration of Wallace MacAskill’s photographic legacy, with another entirely original perspective on his home province. Nova Scotia at Night showcases Canada’s Ocean Playground from sunset to twilight and beyond.
Showcasing stunning vistas from across the province, including iconic Nova Scotia landmarks like the Annapolis Valley Lookoff underneath the stars and Louisbourg in silhouette, a snow-covered Public Gardens on a winter’s eve, whales breaching at Canso Causeway, the Northern lights dancing over the Cobequid Mountains, and much more, this beautiful and surprising book highlights Nova Scotia’s seldom seen after-dark personality. Features 80 colour photographs, including a selection from Len’s favourite up-and-coming Nova Scotia photographers.
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In Their Own Words
$21.95What was the First World War really like for Maritimers overseas? This epistolary book, edited by historian Ross Hebb, contains the letters home of three Maritimers with distinct wartime experiences: a front-line soldier from Nova Scotia, a nurse from New Brunswick, and a conscripted fisherman from Prince Edward Island. Up until now, these complete sets of handwritten letters have remained with the families, who agreed to share them in time for the one-hundredth anniversary of the Great War’s end in 2018. These letters not only give insight into the war, but provide greater understanding of life in rural Maritime communities in the early 1900s.
In Their Own Words includes a learned introduction and background information on letter writers Eugene A. Poole, Sister Pauline Balloch, and Herry Heckbert, enabling readers to appreciate the context of these letters and their importance.
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Nova Scotia Cookery, Then and Now Modern Interpretations of Heritage Recipes
Editor: Valerie MansourPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$27.95Take one batch of historic recipes, add a handful of local, inspired chefs, mix well, and serve up a modern version of Nova Scotia culinary history. To create this book, food writer and editor Valerie Mansour reviewed the Nova Scotia Archives’s What’s Cooking? digital collection and, along with their staff, pulled out a cross-section of recipes dating back as far as The Halifax Gazette of 1765, and featuring material from wartime newspaper supplement recipes, community cookbooks, and more. Taste of Nova Scotia then matched recipes with Nova Scotia chefs and food-industry specialists, who put a modern twist on the recipes. Using their expertise, today’s food styles, and local ingredients, top chefs from across the province have recreated everything from classic seafood dishes like planked salmon and fish chowder to time-honoured favourites like brown bread and baked beans, with items like Irish potato pudding, rabbit stew with bannock, Gaelic fruitcake, and rappie pie showcasing the province’s multicultural and ever-evolving foodways.
Features over 80 recipes, full-colour photos of the dishes in historic Nova Scotia settings from photographer Len Wagg and stylist Jessica Emin, as well as fascinating archival materials.