Nonfiction Books

A 10,000 copy seller in Canada, The Rumrunners offers a photographic history of the regular men and women who smuggled Canadian liquor to the United States during the roaring ’20s. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Prohibition.

“I can’t imagine a walk through Windsor’s history with anyone else…A colourful time in Windsor’s history, told by one of our best storytellers.”—Sandra Pupatello, M.P.P. Windsor West

“Prohibition certainly was a colourful era, filled with characters and stories the likes of which we may never see again. If not for Marty Gervais’s research into the phenomenon that was Prohibition, many of these stories would have faded with the memories of their leading players.”—Laryssa Landsale, Walkerville Times Magazine

A unique and rare collection of postcards from Essex County, David Newman’s Postcards from Essex County documents the churches, factories, fairgrounds, houses, beaches, trains and cars of old Essex. Over 315 cards have been catalogued into fourteen chapters, including sections on Harrow, Leamington, Kingsville, Maidstone and more. A beautiful gift book in hardcover with full-colour illustrations.

By the end of World War II, Windsor had established itself as one of the greatest industrial cities in the British Commonwealth. The region seemed on an easy path to prosperity. But history took a different turn. Starting with the closure of Ford Plant One in 1953, the city was hit by several unanticipated challenges. How would its residents respond? How would they react to rapid changes that swept North America?

From the Vault, Volume II: 1950-1980 explores what were perhaps the three most important and exciting decades of our history. Revealing how Windsor-Essex County overcame obstacles to achieve later triumphs, the book touches on the region’s baby boom, building craze, auto industry, labour struggles, arts and culture, immigration, Black history, and more.

With a foreword by The Windsor Star’s former photographer and photo editor Bill Bishop, From the Vault, Volume II illustrates the era by featuring over 1,250 iconic images, from the 1954 Centennial celebrations and Queen Elizabeth II’s visit in 1959, through the Bulldogs’ Allan Cup victory in 1963 and Windsor’s reaction to the 1967 Detroit Riot, to the Curling Club Disaster of 1974 and to the assassination of Charlie Brooks in 1977.

As Windsor-Essex’s paper of record for over 150 years, The Windsor Star remains our region’s greatest source of historical photography and eyewitness testimony. Like its predecessor, the national best-selling From the Vault, winner of the inaugural Kulisek Prize, this book—the most authoritative and beautifully produced of its kind—sets a new standard for Canadian excellence in regional history. Documenting landmark events, timeless memories, and unforgettable characters, it is a “must have” for history lovers.

Ford City was a town steeped in the history of the auto industry. Companies including Ford, E.M.F., Studebaker, Chalmers and Chrysler all called Ford City their home of Canadian operations. But it was more than just an industrial town. It was a rumrunning hub, a communist hotbed, and a thriving cultural centre for the people of the Border Cities. From the town’s inception, through amalgamation, to the revitalization of the Ford plant in the 1990s, Ford City is the story of the industrial heart of Windsor.

PRAISE FOR HERB COLLING

“Colling rebuts the curious notion that Canadian history, even when told in relation to major U.S. events, is not compelling or important.”—Quill & Quire

Learn to live the way of the green witch

Green witchcraft is a school of witchcraft for those who want to live in harmony with the earth and its green things―and this book is your how-to guide. Open yourself up to everything from growing herbs and plants for magic and medicine, to honoring the spirits of trees and animals, and using crystals for power and healing.

Put natural magic into practice, with spells and rituals that harness the natural, plentiful energy and power of herbs, plants, stones, crystals, wood, and more. Green Witchcraft makes it easy, with practical tips and instructions on everything from using honeysuckle to attract wealth, quartz to direct energy, and moonlight for cleansing your tools.

Inside Green Witchcraft you’ll find:

• Anyone can be a witch―Expand your witch library with this craft book that will empower both new witches and experienced practitioners.
• Creating a green space―Your home is a sanctuary. Learn how to arrange your space to serve as a place of green power and a source of your magical energy.
• Real witchcraft―Learn what words like “magic” and “energy” really mean to witches, and some of the common misconceptions about magic and the people who believe in it.

Discover the power of the natural world with hands-on spells for green witches

The Canadian border city facing Detroit was not always simply “Windsor, Ontario”—it was a patchwork of multiple communities that amalgamated into Windsor throughout the 20th Century. In Five Days Walking Five Towns, fabled local raconteur Marty Gervais puts on his boots and takes the reader on a street-by-street walking tour through Riverside, Ford City, Walkerville, Windsor, and Sandwich—weaving together his own memories with the booms and busts of his eclectic, storied city. Along the way, tales of Indigenous curses, rum-running, union-busting, and murderous ministers abound.

With intimate, conversational prose and an acute eye for lore that time forgot, Marty Gervais has created a work not just for Ontario history buffs but for anybody who cares about the evolution of cities and the strange, beautiful people who inhabit them.

Praise for Five Days Walking Five Towns

“Windsor like we’ve never seen it”—Nino Ricci, author of Where She Has Gone

“Gervais does not tire, and never fails to amuse.”—Patrick Brode, author of Border Cities Powerhouse

To celebrate Canada's 150th birthday, Governor General David Johnston and Tom Jenkins have crafted a richly illustrated volume of brilliant Canadian innovations whose widespread adoption has made the world a better place. From Bovril to BlackBerrys, lightbulbs to liquid helium, peanut butter to Pablum, this is a surprising and incredibly varied collection to make Canadians proud, and to our unique entrepreneurial spirit.

Successful innovation is always inspired by at least one of three forces -- insight, necessity, and simple luck. Ingenious moves through history to explore what circumstances, incidents, coincidences, and collaborations motivated each great Canadian idea, and what twist of fate then brought that idea into public acceptance. Above all, the book explores what goes on in the mind of an innovator, and maps the incredible spectrum of personalities that have struggled to improve the lot of their neighbours, their fellow citizens, and their species.

From the marvels of aboriginal invention such as the canoe, snowshoe, igloo, dogsled, lifejacket, and bunk bed to the latest pioneering advances in medicine, education, philanthropy, science, engineering, community development, business, the arts, and the media, Canadians have improvised and collaborated their way to international admiration. Ingenious tells you why they did it and how they made the world a better place.

Craft a life filled with your own magic―a guided grimoire journal for new witches

A witch’s grimoire, or book of spells, is their magical companion and most powerful tool―and The Grimoire Journal is your personal guide to building your own. Learn to bless your home, scry with stars, craft your own tarot reading, or brew an enchanted tea. Then follow the journal prompts to create your own spells, recipes, and rituals for clearing writer’s block, protecting a friend, opening yourself up to new opportunities, and so much more.

The Grimoire Journal provides:

• For all kinds of magic―You’ll work with candles, crystals, herbs, and more. Plus, find inspiration in quotes about magic, illustrations of the moon phases, and a write-in Wheel of the Year.
• Empower yourself―Tune in to your inner magic and develop a custom keepsake that will evolve along with your craft.
• Ample writing space―Find plenty of room to reflect on the included spells, along with enough space to write your own.

Explore, channel, and preserve your magic with a journal that guides you as you build a beautiful grimoire.

“Like meeting a stranger, much of the pleasure of a story is its unknown power,” writes Best Canadian Stories 2020 guest editor Paige Cooper. “The right story, at the right time, if you happen to be open to it … can perhaps move you so far outside of yourself that you will not consider going back.” From Festival du Voyageur to the shores of Lake Erie, Tbilisi to Toronto, the Amisk River to a hotel-turned-hospital in the midst of a mysterious pandemic, this wide-ranging anthology brings together the real and the speculative, small towns and big cities, grief and humour, introducing readers to stories that startle us into new understanding—of ourselves and each other, the worlds we inhabit and the ones they help us to imagine.

Featuring work by:

Maxime Raymond Bock • Lynn Coady • Kristyn Dunnion • Omar El Akkad • Camilla Grudova • Conor Kerr • Alex Leslie • Thea Lim • Madeleine Maillet • Cassidy McFadzean • Michael Melgaard • Jeff Noh • Casey Plett • Eden Robinson • Naben Ruthnum • Pablo Strauss • Souvankham Thammavongsa

This anthology features stories by Canada’s finest authors who were born in another country and who went through the experience of trying to “fit in.” The stories explore fourteen journeys and their telling incidents, from the shock of first impressions to the writers’ first stirrings of “becoming Canadian” and what that meant to them. The young adult audience is a perfectly tuned readership for this collection, which features such acclaimed and award-winning authors as Linda Granfield, Alice Kuipers, Rachel Manley, Marina Nemat, and Richard Poplak.

Canada Reads 2019 longlist.

National best-seller.

New York Times best-seller.

Finalist for the 2018 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

Finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Awards.

Long-listed for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize.

A New York Times Editor's Choice.

A Globe and Mail best book of 2018.

A CBC best book of 2018.

A Toronto Star best book of 2018.

A Walrus best book of 2018.

An NPR best book of 2018.

A Chatelaine best book of 2018.

A Bustle best book of 2018.

A GQ best book of 2018.

A Thrillist best book of 2018.

A Book Riot best book of 2018.

An Electric Lit best book of 2018.

An Entropy best book of 2018.

A Hill Times best book of 2018.

A BookPage best book of 2018.

A Library Journal best book of 2018.

A Goodreads best book of 2018.

A New York Public Library best book of 2018.

Named one of the most anticipated books of 2018 by: Chatelaine, Entertainment Weekly, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Huffington Post, B*tch, NYLON, BuzzFeed, Bustle, The Rumpus, and Goodreads.

Selected by Emma Watson as the Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick for March/April 2018.   

Guileless and refreshingly honest, Terese Mailhot's debut memoir chronicles her struggle to balance the beauty of her Native heritage with the often desperate and chaotic reality of life on the reservation.

Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in British Columbia. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II, Terese Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father - an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist - who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame.

Mailhot "trusts the reader to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain and what we can bring ourselves to accept." Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people, and to her place in the world.

A funny and fascinating tour de force from Will Ferguson, three-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour.

Ferguson has spent years wandering and musing across Canada and beyond. Canadian Pie includes his reflections on the lost art of crank calls, tips on how to get someone to pick blueberries out of a muffin for you, and lessons of a mini-bar ninja. There are “lost” radio scripts of a Maritime soap opera, a roundup of big objects beside the highway, and an ode to young love in Old Quebec. Read about his encounter with an aging kamikaze pilot, listen in on an interview with a pair of Canadian brothers playing semi-pro hockey in Japan, gain an appreciation of the unintentional beauty of New Brunswick’s covered bridges, learn how to pick up women (or not), join a journey on the rainforest coast of Vancouver Island, take a trip to PEI in search of someone—anyone—who will criticize Almighty Anne, and much more.

In You Are Here, astronaut Chris Hadfield creates a surprisingly intimate and compelling visual essay about the planet we live on, choosing the best from the thousands of photos he took on the International Space Station.

     Chris Hadfield's new book shows us our home--our city, country, continent, our whole planet--from a unique perspective. The millions of us who followed Chris's Twitter feed from the ISS thought we knew what we were looking at when we saw his photos. This photo documentary shows us we didn't. We caught the beauty but missed the meaning. Curated from images never before shared, Chris's big picture reveals why our planet looks the way it does and why we live where we do. Chris sees more in these images than we do, not just because he's spent months in space but because his in-depth knowledge of geology, geography and meteorology allows him to read the mysteries the photos reveal.

     Divided by continent, You Are Here represents one (idealized) orbit of the ISS. This planetary photo tour--surprising, playful, thought-provoking and visually delightful--is punctuated with fun, fascinating commentary on life in zero gravity, too. In the spirit of his #1 bestselling An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here opens a singular window on our planet, using remarkable photographs to illuminate the history and consequences of human settlement, the magnificence (and wit) of never-before-noticed landscapes, and the power of the natural forces shaping our world and the future of our species.

Every Canadian town has a hockey story, and Ron MacLean has a hockey story for every town. A new book by the co-author of the national bestseller Cornered.

When you first meet Ron MacLean, he asks where you’re from, and he always comes back with a story. No one has crossed this country more than MacLean. In his 28 years on Hockey Night in Canada and now as host of Rogers’ Hometown Hockey, Ron has met fascinating people from coast to coast and has great stories to tell. Now, in this new book, MacLean is back, with brand new tales from across the country.

These are stories you’ve never heard before. From London to Castlegar, Yellowknife to Cole Harbour, Medicine Hat to Trois Rivieres, from Bantam to Junior B to the NHL, our country is full of great characters: Players, coaches, hockey moms and hockey dads; rivalries, practical jokes, careers that grew out of nothing and "can’t lose" prospects who flamed out too soon; spectacular triumphs, heart-breaking tragedies and tales of friendship, betrayal, love and loyalty—all compelling, entertaining and inspiring.

Once again working with Kirstie McLellan Day, co-author of the blockbuster bestsellers Playing With Fire, Tough Guy and Cornered, this is MacLean at his finest.

The greatest story never told, this formidable and gorgeously written biography documents the amazing and controversial short life of Calixa Lavallée--the composer of "O Canada"--and the tumult of 19th-century North America.

The story of "O Canada" is one of the great unknowns of our collective lives. No longer. This formidable and gorgeously written tale documents the history of this song of a nation, from its origins in French Canada in the years just after Confederation to the surprisingly controversial story of its adoption as Canada's national anthem a hundred years later.

Song of a Nation is also the extraordinary and mysterious story of Calixa Lavallée--the anthem's French-Canadian composer--and his compelling, almost unbelievable personal journey: his early life as a blackface minstrel, travelling throughout the United States for more than a decade; his service for the Union Army in the American Civil War; his production of the first opera in Quebec; and, in a final act, becoming a leading figure in American music education. To understand "O Canada," and to understand the man who wrote it, is to return to the Canada of the mid-1800s, just forming as a nation, bringing together ancient racial hatreds and novel political possibilities. More than just a song, in its own story "O Canada" evokes the history of a country creating an identity for itself out of the unique forces and rivalries of French and English Canada, and looking to the infinite possibilities that lay ahead.