Books

KNOW YOUR SHIPS

Everything you need to know about the ships that pass our shores, including:

​The lowdown on hundreds of U.S., Canadian and international-flag vessels that sail the inland seas, including owner and port of registry, vital statistics, and former names, Boat pictures, Stacks & flags, Locks & canals Stories about ships and sailor

GRIN REAPING

Grin Reaping catalogues the foibles of the fictional Boyle family. In a series of fourteen interconnected short stories and musings, Rudy Boyle, a Northern Ontario college English teacher stuck both in middle age and in the middle of his five siblings, transforms the strangeness of his everyday life into exaggerated home-movie prose. From the significance of tuna fish and Botox, the threat of coyotes and aliens, to the big-ticket items of mortality, gender, climate-change, and Armageddon, Rudy tackles a range of topics with a wry, self-deprecating wit. He talks largely about small matters and trivially about great affairs. It is the nature of his dilemma and the dilemma of his nature.

I THINK WE SHOULD GO CAMPING

Camping, like life, rarely goes as planned. Even if you’re “glamping” in a top-of-the-line rock star bus, things can go sideways, and fast!

Climb aboard with Janet, a dog-loving rookie camper, and her fearless RV-camp-aholic boyfriend to enjoy a front-seat view of the secret and not-so-glamorous side of RV camping. You’ll find out about the ghastly and sometimes embarrassing bits that never make it into the glossy sales brochures.

KINMOUNT

Rod Carley has concocted another hilarious romp behind the theatre curtain – a showdown between artistic freedom and censorship in rural Ontario. Kinmount is the last place down-and-out director Dave Middleton wants to revisit yet there he is directing an amateur production of Romeo and Juliet for an eccentric producer in farm country. And there his quixotic troubles begin. From cults to karaoke, anything that can go wrong does. In one hilarious chapter after another, Dave becomes the reluctant emissary of truth in a comic battle between artistic integrity and censorship. Add in a pesky ghost and a precocious parrot and the stage is set for a summer Kinmount won’t soon forget.

A MATTER OF WILL

Will Crosswell’s decision to pursue acting shattered his father’s dream of him being a useful adult. When we first meet the young Will he is a wolf in wolf’s clothing. But in the ensuing years, from relationships to the theatre, his life has become one shipwreck after another. Dumped by his fiancée and desperate to pay the rent, he finds himself taking a job on the bottom rung of the Great Chain of Being – a telemarketer. Funny, surprising, outrageous, and moving, A Matter of Will is the tale of a middle-age maybe minister and his journey to find a mighty purpose

RON JAMES ALL OVER THE MAP

His legion of fans—the ones who ensure his every show the length and breadth of Canada is sold out—recognize Ron James as one of the great stand-ups of his generation. His seemingly improvisational flights of fancy—no two shows are ever the same—are crammed with inventive phrase-making, feature a voluminous vocabulary, and put every word into the service of uproarious comedy.

SHIP TO SHORE COOK BOOK

Like the plates of food that she fills to capacity, these pages are spilling over with stories, recipe0s, photos, that chef Catherine loves. Open her book and take a trip through her adventures sailing the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence Seaway, including Atlantic Canada and Newfoundland. Catherine welcome you to enjoy our family recipes that she has perfected along the way.

FROM MAD DOG TO SENATE

In this tough-to-put-down memoir, former Senator Bob Runciman takes us through his early days, leading into an extraordinary forty-five years of political life at all three levels of government and his experiences and challenges dealing with powerful political figures, many of whom remain prominent today. Stephen Harper, Pierre Poilievre, Bill Davis, John Tory, and Mike Duffy, are just a few of the well-known political players who crossed his path.

10-33 OFFICER DOWN

On November 27, 1998, Laurie White, in her third year as a constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was that “Officer down.” Shot in the line of duty, Laurie had to have her right leg amputated below the knee. 10-33 – An Officer Down Steps Back Up is an inspiring memoir revealing her struggles to adjust to her new normal while working to return to active duty with the RCMP.

IS ZAT YOU MYRTLE

Author, Marnie Fossitt takes us on the rollercoaster ride that was her grandmother’s life. Wrote about an era in Canada that is no more, this non-fiction will have you clutching your sides with laughter and wiping tears from your eyes

A THOUSAND MASKS

“Play pretend and it will all be okay…” When Anastasia Rose was young, she endured a childhood trauma at the hands of someone she loved. As a teenager, she struggled to overcome worthiness and often felt separate from her family that tried to love her as much as they could through her wounds. Now an adult, Ana is trying to find herself while in the corporate jungle of misogyny and romantic entanglements at work. She can’t help but hide behind various masks of who she thinks she should be in her career and her relationships. She finds partners who fulfill her desires but not the needs of her heart. After a whirlwind romance with a man who is, seemingly, perfect and a major career disaster, Ana begins to question exactly what it means to love and be loved, and who she really is behind the masks.

REVENGE FART

Get ready to hold your breath as you follow Ellie on her smelly mission to clear the air and teach her big sister a lesson in the art of silent-but-stinky revenge. Based on a (mostly) true story, “Revenge Fart” is a hilarious showdown full of plots and planning that will leave you laughing your gas off!

STOWAWAY ADVENTURES

Mitchell Mouse finds fun and adventure as a stowaway on a cargo ship. Along the way, he meets Chef Catherine and together they sail through the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway. Experience the day-to-day life on board as the ship carries a load of grain from Thunder Bay to Quebec City.

THE BOY WHO LOST HIS FART

Cameron woke up without his fart. Where did it go? Can his family help him find it? Will it be absorbed into his body and come out of his mouth as the world’s most disgusting burp? YIKES!

THE MESS

Picture the biggest mess you’ve ever made. Are you picturing it?
Ok, good.
Now multiply that by ten, add a few heaps of dirt, sprinkle in some wildlife,
and you might get an idea of what happened here.