Off the Page
A blog on Canadian writing, reading, and everything in between
Notes from a Children's Librarian: Life Sciences
Celebrate Earth Day with these fun and inspiring picture books.
Courage from the Outliers
A recommended reading list by the author of new novel Constant Nobody.
The Chat with Krista Foss
With Half Life (McClelland & Stewart), Krista Foss has delivered a spectacular sophomore novel, one that entangles compl …
8 Books for Fans of Fabulism
A recommended reading list by Kim Neville, whose debut novel is The Memory Collectors.
Exciting Fiction to Read This Spring
New books by Camilla Gibb, Marissa Stapley, Wayne Grady, Uzma Jalaluddin, and more! Sme of the novels and short fiction …
New Picture Books for Spring
A selection of gorgeous new picture books celebrating new life, hope, nature, and mindfulness.
She Blinded Me With Science
When wonder and inquiry are subverted and held up to the light by these writers, the results are often uncomfortable, al …
Notes from a Children's Librarian: Celebrating STEM
This list includes all kinds of STEM’ers—science enthusiasts, builders, inventors, real life engineers—in both fic …
Pairs Well: Ali Bryan's Awesome YA Reading List
Celebrated novelist Bryan shares great titles to complement her latest book.
Why Is Harold and Maude Considered a Cult Film?
The critic Roger Ebert dismissed it with a measly one and a half stars. Variety claimed that “It has all the fun and g …
Results for keyword: “travel books”
Stranger in a Strange Land (by Laura Boudreau)
The economy of a life reduced to a suitcase can be as romantic as it is alienating. Being on the move, as I have been for much of the last few years, changes you. It changes you because of the newness you encounter, certainly, and this can be tremendously rewarding. But all that newness also layers itself over the past, altering it. Or at least I have found that to be a sad and liberating truth of my own experience. All lands, even the ones I know best, are strange.
I am drawn to stories about travellers, and this list celebrates writers who explore the excitement, adventure, and anguish of life in parts unknown.
Natasha by David Bezmozgis: What a privilege to see my hometown of Toronto through the eyes of Mark Berman, a Jewish boy whose family moves to Canada from Riga, Latvia. When we first meet Mark he is six, and these early stories are my favourites of the collection — some of Mark’s first English words are “gaylord,” “shithead,” and “mental case,” and these “germs of a new vocabulary” are both cure and disease when it comes …
Continue reading >
Spring Break: Explore Canadian-Caribbean Writing
The good news is that we're all going to get an escape from winter sooner or later, because we're nearly midway through March and spring is just around the corner. But in some parts of this fine country, mid-March is also officially the point at which we-just-cannot-take-this-damn-winter-anymore and some are even fortunate enough to fly away to sunnier climes. For the rest who must opt for armchair travelling, here are some perfect Spring Break reads for tropical literary immersion.
Also check out Pamela Mordecai's wonderful list of novels from the Caribbean.
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Visit Cuba with...
The Begger's Opera, by Peggy Blair
In beautiful, crumbling Old Havana, Canadian detective Mike Ellis hopes the sun and sand will help save his troubled marriage. He doesn’t yet know that it’s dead in the water—much like the little Cuban boy last seen begging the Canadian couple for a few pesos on the world famous Malecon. For Inspector Ricardo Ramirez, head of the Major Crimes Unit of the Cuban National Revolutionary Police, finding his prime suspect isn’t a problem—Cuban law is. He has only 72 hours to secure an indictment and prevent a vicious killer from leaving the island. But Ramirez also has his own troubles to worry about. He’s dying of the same dementia that killed his …
Continue reading >
The Ultimate Guide to Canadian City Guides
This month we've been talking about road trips and travel guides, and now we've put together a list of ultimate guides to Canadian city breaks. Some of these are traditional travel guides and others definitively otherwise—a book about Montreal's underground city, a guide to Regina's "secret spaces," and Calgary-in-verse among them—but each of them promises to enrich your visit to Canadian cities from coast to coast to coast.
****
Newfoundland
St. John's: A Brief History, by Joan Rusted
A concise, comprehensive overview of the oldest city in North America. St John’s: A Brief History describes how, through war and the fishery, Newfoundland became settled, a colony, a Dominion of the British Empire, and finally a province of Canada. The book highlights the landmarks and historic sites of old St John’s, architecture and historic buildings, the harbour, its seafaring heritage,the oil and gas industry, and the outlook for the future. The book is illustrated with maps and contains some quirky facts.
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Prince Edward Island
Continue reading >
Stranger in a Strange Land (by Laura Boudreau)
The economy of a life reduced to a suitcase can be as romantic as it is alienating. Being on the move, as I have been for much of the last few years, changes you. It changes you because of the newness you encounter, certainly, and this can be tremendously rewarding. But all that newness also layers itself over the past, altering it. Or at least I have found that to be a sad and liberating truth of my own experience. All lands, even the ones I know best, are strange.
I am drawn to stories about travellers, and this list celebrates writers who explore the excitement, adventure, and anguish of life in parts unknown.
Natasha by David Bezmozgis: What a privilege to see my hometown of Toronto through the eyes of Mark Berman, a Jewish boy whose family moves to Canada from Riga, Latvia. When we first meet Mark he is six, and these early stories are my favourites of the collection — some of Mark’s first English words are “gaylord,” “shithead,” and “mental case,” and these “germs of a new vocabulary” are both cure and disease when it comes …
Spring Break: Explore Canadian-Caribbean Writing
The good news is that we're all going to get an escape from winter sooner or later, because we're nearly midway through March and spring is just around the corner. But in some parts of this fine country, mid-March is also officially the point at which we-just-cannot-take-this-damn-winter-anymore and some are even fortunate enough to fly away to sunnier climes. For the rest who must opt for armchair travelling, here are some perfect Spring Break reads for tropical literary immersion.
Also check out Pamela Mordecai's wonderful list of novels from the Caribbean.
**
Visit Cuba with...
The Begger's Opera, by Peggy Blair
In beautiful, crumbling Old Havana, Canadian detective Mike Ellis hopes the sun and sand will help save his troubled marriage. He doesn’t yet know that it’s dead in the water—much like the little Cuban boy last seen begging the Canadian couple for a few pesos on the world famous Malecon. For Inspector Ricardo Ramirez, head of the Major Crimes Unit of the Cuban National Revolutionary Police, finding his prime suspect isn’t a problem—Cuban law is. He has only 72 hours to secure an indictment and prevent a vicious killer from leaving the island. But Ramirez also has his own troubles to worry about. He’s dying of the same dementia that killed his …
The Ultimate Guide to Canadian City Guides
This month we've been talking about road trips and travel guides, and now we've put together a list of ultimate guides to Canadian city breaks. Some of these are traditional travel guides and others definitively otherwise—a book about Montreal's underground city, a guide to Regina's "secret spaces," and Calgary-in-verse among them—but each of them promises to enrich your visit to Canadian cities from coast to coast to coast.
****
Newfoundland
St. John's: A Brief History, by Joan Rusted
A concise, comprehensive overview of the oldest city in North America. St John’s: A Brief History describes how, through war and the fishery, Newfoundland became settled, a colony, a Dominion of the British Empire, and finally a province of Canada. The book highlights the landmarks and historic sites of old St John’s, architecture and historic buildings, the harbour, its seafaring heritage,the oil and gas industry, and the outlook for the future. The book is illustrated with maps and contains some quirky facts.
**
Prince Edward Island
