Join us for our June meeting of the Online New West City Reads!
With a surge in eBook reading (for obvious reasons!), we recognized the need to keep up our monthly book club, and meet in a virtual space.
Each month, we make a selection from four possible books or pairs of books to read. Readers vote, and the winning title(s) is announced shortly after. We spend the month reading (in splendid isolation) and meet via Zoom.
Without further ado, here are the potential books for our June meeting. The focus is on books that had a strong link to Canadian stories. Click through the links to read more about each title. The secondary title is optional for readers.
- N’in D’la Owey Innklan by Bonita Lawrence
Celebrated Mi’kmaq author, Bonita Lawrence, uses five centuries of interconnected history between the Mi’kmaq people of Atlantic Canada and London, England. This is an historical novel in a series of vignettes, with some intellectual commentary.
French and Indian Wars in Maine by Michael Dekker
Sometime allies in the French and Indian wars, French settlers and Mi’kmaq communities shared a brutal history fighting against the British. This book tracks the time between 1675 and 1759, as all groups fought to defend their land claims.
- The Whale Chaser by Tony Ardizzone
A son of Italian immigrants flees his family and country’s expectations to end up in Tofino where he finds his calling as a whale guide in the company of an Ahousaht man.
The Whaling People of the West Coast of Vancouver Island and Cape Flattery by Eugene Arima and Alan Hoover
An intimate account of the traditional ways of the First Nations groups from the Pacific Northwest that hunt whales, drawn from the narratives of 12 First Nations elders.
- Little Fortress by Laisha Rosnau
This is a true story of Italian nobles exiled by the rise of fascism, as they resettle in the Okanagan Valley. The historical fiction part is investigating how the family draws into itself; a microcosm of friendship, trust, betrayal, and love.
In Search of Kings by Tony De Bolfo
The author searches for the truth in his family stories of immigration from Italy to Australia in 1927.
- Henry & Self by Kathryn Bridge
The story of a young English woman who settled with her young family in a far-flung corner of the British Empire on the West Coast of North America (ie: Victoria, BC). Through her long life, we learn a lot about the times and places she lived in and how her status as settler shaped her views of the world around her.
Britannia’s Navy on the West Coast of North America by Barry Gough
Rather than a focus on settlers, explorers, fur traders and railway builders, this history looks at the role of the British Navy in the 19th Century, and how the fleet based in Esquimalt was a vital force in shaping the region.
Click here to vote on June’s title!
Winner will be announced on June 4.
Zoom meeting will be on June 25 at 7:00 and June 26 at 10:30.
To take part in the meeting, you must register by emailing AskUs@nwpl.ca . Please indicate your name, and which session you would like to register for.
These eBook titles are available from our Freading database. We recognize that many readers prefer the interface provided by Overdrive. Unfortunately, Overdrive does not allow multiple users to access the books at the same time, but Freading does. If you need help accessing books on Freading, please let us know and we’d be happy to help. We made a video and one page Getting Started Guide – Freading to get you started.
Happy reading!
