★ Clear Skies, No Wind, 100% Visibility

Théodora Armstrong’s debut collection launches House of Anansi Press’s new short-fiction imprint, Astoria, in impressive fashion. This is a writer to watch, and a book not to be missed. In the trio “Rabbit,” “Whale Stories,” ... Read More »

March 11, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

The Demonologist

By Andrew Pyper

Andrew Pyper’s unabashedly commercial tendencies, already on display in novels such as The Killing Circle and The Guardians, stretch into new territory in The Demonologist, a thrilling, slapdash, and at times even melancholy mix of ... Read More »

March 4, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Lion Seeker

By Kenneth Bonert

Kenneth Bonert’s ambitious debut novel arrives as this year’s only addition to Random House of Canada’s New Face of Fiction series, following a long list of career-launching titles that includes Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your ... Read More »

February 25, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Best Stories Behind the Top 20 Canadian Rock, Pop and Folk Songs

By Jim Brown

There are few things more central to music criticism than list making. In the introduction to his new volume, music critic and biographer Jim Brown suggests every reader should have his or her own list ... Read More »

February 21, 2013 | Filed under: Art, Music & Pop Culture

The Other Side of Midnight: Taxicab Stories

By Mike Heffernan

Newfoundland writer Mike Heffernan seems to be documenting the experiences of his home province’s working class one book at a time. His first was the best-selling Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster, ... Read More »

February 21, 2013 | Filed under: Science, Technology & Environment

Honour on Trial: The Shafia Murders and the Culture of Honour Killings

By Paul Schliesmann

Listening to the tragic news story in the summer of 2009, it was clear that something was very wrong. A car containing the bodies of four women had been found submerged in a lock station ... Read More »

February 21, 2013 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

Liquor, Lust and the Law: The Story of Vancouver’s Penthouse Nightclub

By Aaron Chapman

Contrary to what the Chamber of Commerce would have you believe, the three most important cultural institutions in Vancouver are MacLeod’s Books, the Sylvia Hotel, and the Penthouse Nightclub. Aaron Chapman’s lively history of the ... Read More »

February 21, 2013 | Filed under: History

Every Wolf’s Howl

By Barry Grills

The well-meaning among us who adopt a dog from a shelter have, at one point or another, all experienced the nagging doubt that we can actually take full responsibility for that beast in the cage. ... Read More »

February 21, 2013 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Soldier of Christ: The Life of Pope Pius XII

By Robert A. Ventresca

The papacy of Pius XII (1939–’58) will forever be viewed through the lens of the Holocaust, in particular his refusal to publicly condemn German actions against the Jews during the war. However, historian Robert Ventresca ... Read More »

February 21, 2013 | Filed under: History

Leonardo and the Last Supper

By Ross King

Among Leonardo da Vinci’s writing and journals, one note in particular reveals his genius: his desire to paint “Man, and the intention of his mind.” Da Vinci’s constant search for new ways to reveal the ... Read More »