Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • a new and challenging Russell Quant mystery
  • Lovely Story
  • Fresh, New, Entertaining
  • A Wonderful Adventure
  • After waiting so long, it's a real disappointment
Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
Anthony Bidulka
Manufacturer: Insomniac Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GayGay | Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1897178247

Book Description

Everyone has their boogeyman. But who-or what-is scaring Saskatoon locals to death? Private Detective Russell Quant is roused from sleep only to fall into a nightmare case when the family of a suicide victim hires him to uncover the real cause of death. But what is real and what is imaginary? Quant works to narrow his list of suspects only to find the number of victims growing. He is mystified as the trail of fear connects him to a vast landscape of people, including an elegant potash miner, dubious trailer park denizens, reticent farm folk, the Pink Gopher choir, and a gaseous psychiatrist.

Compounding Quant's bewilderment is the complete and perfect disappearance of his once very real friend, Sereena, who has become a ghost he simply can't find. With the boogeyman always a few paces ahead, Quant struggles to keep the hounds of failure from baying. Traveling from Saskatchewan's summer storms to the menacing Lotus Land of Vancouver, he finally touches down in the Canadian Arctic, where tragic hope resides. He returns home to bully attacks, a desperate chase through midnight woods, and a sadistic abduction. As Quant penetrates the truth of the boogeyman, he finds himself on a perilous suspension bridge between idyllic childhood and grown-up violence.

Anthony Bidulka is an avid traveler, party-giver, and sun-worshipper. One of his favorite sayings is: "Life may be short, but it can be wide." He lives in Saskatoon and invites you to visit his website at www.anthonybidulka.com. This is the fourth book in his Russell Quant mystery series.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars a new and challenging Russell Quant mystery.......2007-10-03

I just finished this fourth book I've read in the series. They have all been different and this one was another step in the author's growth as a writer. I was enthralled. and sometimes disturbed. But I can't wait for his next one to be published, (in October) even though he has said on his website that the next book he is working on will not be a Russell Quant mystery. I hope that doesn't mean the end of the series. I know Russell and want to continue getting to know him in future books. Whatever, I will read any of Anthony's books.

5 out of 5 stars Lovely Story.......2007-09-23

Stain of the Berry is an excellent mystery that is really about the mystery of Russell Quant - his life, loves, career. And, it is wholly enchanting. From the beginnings that lead us into a case that involve the Boogeyman, the Pink Gopher Choir, a tragedy in Delhi, an Artic hideaway, a Grace Jones lookalike and a Shakespearean actor...yes, all in one book...one can barely imagine all these parts making a wonderful whole. But that they most certainly do. In spadess. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars Fresh, New, Entertaining.......2007-08-17

Stain of the Berry is not your typical mystery. Many readers might say that the most unique thing about it is that the protagonist is a gay man. In my view, this is the least unique attribute amongst many unique attributes of this Anthony Bidulka book.

Stain of the Berry finds Russell Quant trying to make ends meet as he pursues a career as a private eye in the sultry heat of a Saskatchewan summer. Where? Los Angeles? Nah. New York? Nope. London. No way. Boston? Not even close. Not even Toronto or Vancouver. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Believe it. And believe you'll want to read more about Bidulka and Quant's hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewanand the people who live there.

Quant's case at first seems pretty pedestrian. Girl kills herself. Girl's family doesn't buy it. Quant investigates. But what he quickly uncovers is a smorgasbord of quirky characters, the Pink Gopher Choir, and everyone's nemesis: The BOOgeyman. And it's how Quant pursues his clues that I loved. He's no Jason Bourne, closer to a prairie Magnum PI. Always room for a bit of dancing and sex and good food and time with family and friends and his dogs. He's a real, full person.

Intertwined with the above tale, Bidulka deftly inserts another story line that by the time I realized was only minimally tied to his ongoing case, I was so drawn in I wanted a separate book just for those characters and storylines. Maybe that's coming?

After reading Stain of the Berry, I was surprised - and thrilled - to find three other Quant books on the market. For this fly girl, with lots of hotel hours to read in, it was a real gift to have something fresh, new and entertaining to sink my teeth into. I give this a 5/5 for sure.

5 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Adventure.......2007-08-02

In Stain of the Berry, Anthony Bidulka's fourth Russell Quant mystery, yet again, our favorite gay detective is on a rollicking adventure taking him from his Canadian hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to Vancouver, British Columbia to the Arctic Circle of all places and even a city called Moose Jaw. Only with a Bidulka novel does the reader really get taken to places you've likely never been before (but just might like to visit!)

Russell Quant is called in by the parents of a young woman who is found dead at the bottom of her apartment building. She jumped. But, unlike the police, they don't believe it's suicide. Russell digs into the woman's past finding the oddest of characters, involving the aforementioned most curious of locales, and unveiling one of the most devious and dark bad guys so far in the series (and there have been some baddies). Along the way, Russell takes a high action/high emotion/high suspense side trip to put to rest a personal matter that has been an engaging ongoing mystery throughout most of this unique series.

To read an Anthony Bidulka novel is to be surprised and entertained and titillated and even a bit scared. Bring it on!

2 out of 5 stars After waiting so long, it's a real disappointment.......2007-07-31

Let me start by saying that I am a great fan of Mr. Bidulka's previous books. He presented the reader with really interesting main characters and sub characters too. The setting was one I'm not familiar with, so it was nice to get to know the "great prairies of Canada". Plus his plotting was careful and spare. Nicely done.

All of this tells you that I was eagerly looking forward to a new mystery and was equally disappointed after I finished reading it. The book starts with an interesting plot and "mystery". Very readable and believable. But midway thru the book Mr. Bidulka makes a 180 degree turn and begins a new plot only very slightly tied to the main story he had already established that is neither readable or believable. In fact, it is so fantastical that it destroys the last half of the book. I hope that with his next book, Mr. Bidulka can get back on track and again give us, the readers what he so successfully did in his first three books.
Owls in the Family
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • OK Owls
  • A good book with funny parts!
  • Laugh out loud funny!
  • Excellant Book
  • Owls in the Family
Owls in the Family
Farley Mowat
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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( M )( M ) | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books | Marshall, James | Martchenko, Michael | Mayer, Mercer | McPhail, David | Milne, A.A.
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ASIN: 0440413613
Release Date: 1996-03-30

Book Description

This time-saving, easy-to-use teacher guide includes inspiring lesson plans which provide a comprehensive novel unit--the legwork is done for you! The guide incorporates essential reading, writing and thinking practice. (This is NOT the paperback novel.)

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars OK Owls.......2007-07-29

I might be in the minority, but I thought this book was simply - OK. It is clean cut, which is refreshing in juvenile literature. Unfortunately, I found it almost boring. Worse, as a novel writing teacher, I found the writing technique tended to "tell" rather than to "show." It is a quick-to-read book and lends itself to a great unit study of owls, so go ahead and get it, but don't hope for the best novel you've ever read.

4 out of 5 stars A good book with funny parts!.......2007-05-25

Our reading group, The Picky Pickles, liked this book. We thought it had interesting scenes with animals and funny parts. The first chapter was a little slow, but the book got better and better as you read. We also liked how the animals were so attached to the people.

5 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny!.......2005-10-19

Great heartwarming stories about a boy, 2 owls and a dog. I recommend this for all ages. The cover markets this as a childrens's book, but adults who like animals will love this story too. A bird lovers' delight!

5 out of 5 stars Excellant Book.......2005-07-21

Granddaughter loved the book. Will read it myself. Perfect reading material for children.

5 out of 5 stars Owls in the Family.......2005-07-20

I read Owls in the Family to my second and third grade class last year and they loved it. There were a lot of funny situations as a young boy tries to win a prize in the pet parade with his owls. It is realistic as well humorous and kids can learn a lot about owls and their interaction with other animals like dogs,gophers, rats, snakes. Ii is set in a small town in Canada in a time when parents could let their children explore the town and surrounding wilderness without worrying about kidnappers and gangs.

It is a recommended read aloud for grades 2-6 in Jim Trelease's book "The Read Aloud Handbook."
What the Spirit Is Saying to the Churches (LifeChange Books)
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Church-planting God's way
  • Disappointment
What the Spirit Is Saying to the Churches (LifeChange Books)
Henry Blackaby
Manufacturer: Multnomah
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 159052036X
Release Date: 2003-03-07

Book Description

People today are hungry for God's sure guidance in their churches. But how do they find it? One of the strongest prophetic voices to the church today, Henry Blackaby, helps Christians grasp God's pattern for strengthening their churches, rather than relying on human ideas and methods that leave God on the periphery. They'll learn how to be sensitive individually and corporately to the effort of the Spirit, exploring the trustworthy principles by which the Lord longs to guide each congregation toward its own distinctive mission.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Church-planting God's way.......2007-06-19

Having been trained in "church-planting" as almost a science, like starting a business (back not many years ago when the "Church" seemed to be caught-up in applying business principles to "doing church" - and maybe still is?), I found Henry Blackaby's book refreshing...and confirming, of what the Spirit seemed to saying to my heart and mind over the years about church-planting. It is God's work, not ours! And that's very much the emphasis of the book, supported with several examples from the author's own experiences as a church-planting pastor, as well as others'. This book has become our recent church-plant-endeavor's guidebook - next to the Bible, of course (which, yes, has plenty to say about church-planting!). I learned the hard way about trying (and watching several other ministers 'trying' at the same time) to plant a church by men's ideas (and, of course, asking God's to bless us in our ideas, even our really clever ideas of how to reach people and enfold them - none of which, in the end, worked). There are true principles, even Biblically-based principles - but it still doesn't mean you can take them and run with them as you please; at least not in doing God's work in church-planting. Blackaby's book ought to be read by every wide-eyed seminarian (or young, naive pastor) getting ready to conquer the unchurched world, armed with every book on church-planting strategies. His message is an important reminder, that behind all the principles and methodologies, if you aren't truly moving in God's timing and guidance and provision - well, you're only going to get what YOU can do, not what HE will do. Unfortunately, I didn't come across Blackaby's little gem until I'd learned this the hard way, by some 16 years of doing it according to my extensive church-planting training. Not that there aren't certainly good principles and methods to learn; but you can't substitute them for abiding so closely to He Who is the Real Church-Planter, that you are truly 'led by the Spirit' in the work. Church History records so many amazing moves of God's Spirit in building His Church in such unusual ways - I guess you just can't put God in a box, or even a method. E.M.Bounds put it this way, echoing the message of Blackaby's book, "Men are looking for better methods; God is looking for better men."

2 out of 5 stars Disappointment.......2003-08-24

I bought this book after hearing the author give a radio interview. Much to my surprise, the book bore little resemblance to the interview topics; the title is misleading, as well. It is a story of prayer that occurred in the author's church over 20 years ago. There are lots of published accounts on God answering prayer, and nothing sets this one apart from the pack. It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, and really was not all that good a read.
Tapas on the Ramblas: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Secrets to Uncover
  • Russell Quant on a Whole new Exciting Adventure
  • Wonderful from start to finish-Something new in the Mystery Genre
  • Disappointing
  • More than just your everyday mystery
Tapas on the Ramblas: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
Anthony Bidulka
Manufacturer: Insomniac Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
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  1. Flight of Aquavit: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries) Flight of Aquavit: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
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  3. Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries) Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
  4. Mahu Mahu
  5. The Paper Mirror: A Dick Hardesty Mystery The Paper Mirror: A Dick Hardesty Mystery

ASIN: 1894663977

Book Description

Charity Wiser, matriarch of the Wiser clan by rank of weakth and power, is an indomitable provocateur...and private detective Russekk Quant's newest employer. From the delight of tapas and sweet sangria in Spain to the bitter taste of death in Sicily, Quant connects and clashes with friends and foes in a series of unforgettable locales.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Secrets to Uncover.......2007-07-02

I enjoyed this book, the first of the Russell Quant books I read. Russell, a former police officer who is now a private detective, is surprised to be offered a job by the granddaughter of a woman who lives in Victoria, British Columbia. But it turns out the woman, a lesbian and matriarch of a family fortune, wants a gay detective to accompany her family on a gay cruise through the Mediterranean and determine which one wants to kill her.

I'll bet Tony Bidulka had a fabulous time researching this book, and he creates lots of fun places and things along the cruise, run by a line called FOD, or Friends of Dorothy. I finally understood the title by the end of the book-- a tapa was originally a plate used to cover a bottle of wine, and there are lots of secrets for Russell to uncover here.

Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery)

5 out of 5 stars Russell Quant on a Whole new Exciting Adventure.......2006-05-30

I was thrilled when I read the descriptor of this newest Russell Quant mystery. There is nothing more satisfying than putting a familiar hero in an unfamiliar - yet sinfully luxurious setting (a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Rome)- along with some quirky characters, a potential love interest, some sun and frothy cocktails and see what happens. And the author does not disappoint.

A true page turner that will have you laughing and dreaming of foregn holidays and thrilling to the action...until you are shocked by an ending that I did not expect. Nicely done.

Note: there is a family tree at the beginning of the book - you'll need to use it, at least for the first bit until you figure out who everyone is (thank you to the author for including it)

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful from start to finish-Something new in the Mystery Genre .......2006-05-29

This is a most modern of all retelling of the standard whodunit-on-a-cruiseship with clever riffs on Wizard of Oz, Agatha Christie, Mary Tyler Moore and The Love Boat. All done with a gay twist. What more can a reader ask for if your looking for something new in the mystery genre?
I've since read the first two books in the series (Amuse Bouche and Flight of Aquavit), which - although not necessary to do - certainly make this trip aboard the Friends of Dorothy Luxury Cruiseliner an even richer experience as we first meet some of the intriquing characters who pop up along the way.
I am very much looking forward to another outing from Russell Quant and a writer who just gets better with every book.

2 out of 5 stars Disappointing.......2006-05-28

Over the top and silly. I was a big fan of his first two books and recommended them to many people. There are just too many characters, too many places and, too many things happening that we just don't care about. The book is far too short to employ as many twists and characters as it did. Not his usual effort.

5 out of 5 stars More than just your everyday mystery.......2006-04-03

In Tapas on the Ramblas, detective Russell Quant takes the reader on a high spirited sleuthing job aboard a luxury ocean cruiseliner filled with colourful characters and stopping at marvelous foreign locales filled with unfamiliar foods, stupendous scenery, and, more often than not, great peril for Russell and his client - an 80 year old Katherine Hepburnesque creature.
As are all the books in this irresistable series, the reader is treated to more than a standard mystery - we have danger, romance, wit and wiles, and a tour through destinations some of us can only dream of visiting some day, and a hero you come to really root for. This reader can ask for nothing more.
Bad Beekeeping
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Best Book in Ages
  • Nothing "Bad" about it!
  • A Honey of a Tale!
Bad Beekeeping
Ron Miksha
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1412006279
Release Date: 2006-07-06

Book Description

A million pounds of honey. Produced by a billion bees!

This memoir reconstructs the life of a young man from Pennsylvania as he drops into the bald prairie badlands of southern Saskatchewan. He buys a honey ranch and keeps the bees that make the honey. But he also spends winters in Florida swamps, nurse-maid to ten thousand dainty queen bees.

From the dusty Canadian prairie to the thick palmetto swamps of the American south, the reader meets with simple folks who shape the protagonist's character - including a Cree rancher with three sons playing NFL hockey, a Hutterite preacher who yearns to roam the globe, a reclusive bee-eating homesteader, and a grey-headed widow who grows grapefruit, plays a nasty game of scrabble, and lives with four vicious dogs.

Encompassing a ten-year period, this true story evolves from the earnest inexperience of the young man as he learns an art and builds a business. Carefully researched natural biology runs counterpoint to human social activities. Bee craft serves as the setting for expositions that contrast American and Canadian lifestyles, while exemplifying the harsh reality of a man working with and against the physical environment.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Best Book in Ages.......2006-01-05

Bad Beekeeping is not a bad book at all! It is hilariously funny and packed fun of really neat things everyone would like to know. It's all about bees and beekeeping, but all about lots of other things, too. This is such a great book, I started on Friday evening and read all weekend long. Couldn't put it down. Best book I've read!

5 out of 5 stars Nothing "Bad" about it!.......2004-11-03

Nothing bad about this book, Ron has given the beekeeping world another cracking good read. There is every thing here, history fun information and entertainment. Also a very good read for those people who do not have the insanity to employ millions of buzzing workers, with potentially very hot tails! An excellent book.

5 out of 5 stars A Honey of a Tale!.......2004-08-29

The author's account of his career as a beekeeper will appeal to a wide variety of readers. It is a delightful blend of both humorous and sobering personal anecdotes and exhaustively-researched facts about honey. You can't help getting drawn into Ron's life and the diverse personalities he encountered across North America. His engaging writing style makes this book one you'll want all your friends to read.
Amuse Bouche: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Another terrific Russell Quant mystery
  • A Great & Original Mystery Series
  • Great debut from Bidulka
  • A Tasty Treat!
  • Yummmmmmm
Amuse Bouche: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
Anthony Bidulka
Manufacturer: Insomniac Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ComicComic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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  1. Flight of Aquavit: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries) Flight of Aquavit: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
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  3. Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries) Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)
  4. The Back Passage The Back Passage
  5. Fingering The Family Jewels Fingering The Family Jewels

ASIN: 1894663470

Book Description


A gay wedding gone bad. A missing groom. An unsullied reputation at risk. Enter Russell Quant-cute, gay, and a rookie private detective. With a nose for good wine and bad lies, Quant is off to France on his first big case. From the smudgy streets of Paris, he cajoles and sleuths his way to the pastel-colored promenade of Sanary-sur-Mer.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Another terrific Russell Quant mystery.......2007-10-03

This was the third of the Russell Quant mysteries I read. The second one was "Tapas on the Ramblas", which took place on a cruise ship, and as I had just finished a Mediterranean cruise, it was very easy to put myself into the story. Each of the books was a new adventure and this one was another new and exciting adventure. I actually feel like I know personally a lot of the characters, especially Russell. And I've learned so much about a part of Canada that I knew nothing about. When I finished this one I couldn't wait to get on to the next one.The writing is so good.

5 out of 5 stars A Great & Original Mystery Series.......2007-08-23

I was pleasantly suprised by the first book in the Russell Quant mystery series. An intersesting unstereotypical Gay PI as the main character, original plotting w/ plenty of twists & refreshing, interesting locales & characters. I was soon hooked & upon finishing immediately ordered the rest of the books in the series. Highly recomended.

4 out of 5 stars Great debut from Bidulka.......2006-11-14

To make it short, I'll just go through the parts I liked and those I didn't.

Good: The Saskatoon setting, through which I became aquainted with an entire city I would never have though twice about. Had to pull out the big guns (atlas) to see where it was. Being surprised at every metion of Canada being home made me realize that I read way too many USA-centric books. The book is well-written. The amount of introspection came just to the line before snooze fest. The characters are interesting and engaging, although some more than the narrator. The ending more than makes up for the simplistic climax. Russell Quant's little world is a comfortable place to be. If you like a mystery with minimal violence, good style, and a character-driven plot, this is for you.

Bad: The first two big twists, so to speak, were so easy to guess it was almost painful. Being ahead of the detective is frustrating. The author abandoned suspects and, at the end, you know it's going to be one of two people.

The book takes on almost a literature feel to it. It is labled mystery/gay literature. A nice little hybrid. I found it enjoyable and would read more titles in this series.

5 out of 5 stars A Tasty Treat!.......2006-06-14

I have to start by saying I think that Tony Bidulka is handsome and charming. But do I let that prejudice my opinion of his books?

Fortunately, that's not a problem, because Amuse Bouche is just as charming as Tony himself is. It's evocative and well-written; it made me want to jump on a plane and head right for France, where his first big case takes rookie private eye Russell Quant.

The mystery is intriguing, and I love that Russell keeps a file he calls "red herrings," which are there to tantalize and mislead the reader as well, yet are cleverly wrapped up by the end of the book.


I highly recommend Amuse Bouche!

5 out of 5 stars Yummmmmmm.......2006-05-30

Amuse Bouche are little tastes served at the beginning of the meal - but this thriller by Canadian author Anthony Bidulka is a full and hearty meal that will leave you wanting more. Meet Russell Quant and his very real and human cast of friends and foes - someone for eveyone.
Water and Wetland Plants of the Prairie Provinces: A Field Guide for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northern United States
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Water and Wetland Plants of the Prairie Provinces: A Field Guide for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northern United States
    Heinjo Lahring
    Manufacturer: Canadian Plains Research Center
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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    1. Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the Northern United States Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the Northern United States
    2. How To Identify Grasses: And Grasslike Plants How To Identify Grasses: And Grasslike Plants
    3. A Field Guide to Eastern Trees (Peterson Field Guides) A Field Guide to Eastern Trees (Peterson Field Guides)
    4. Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers 2: A Field Guide to Common Wildflowers and Plants of the Prairie Midwest (Falcon Guides Wildflowers) Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers 2: A Field Guide to Common Wildflowers and Plants of the Prairie Midwest (Falcon Guides Wildflowers)

    ASIN: 0889771626

    Book Description

    Over 400 species of water and wetland plants found across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the northern United States are included in this handy field guide designed for use by both amateur and professional botanists.

    The book includes over 300 colour photographs; over 300 line drawings; scientific names, including synonyms and origins; common names; detailed plant descriptions; habitats and distributions; special features, including traditional uses as food or medicine, and unique or harmful characteristics; comparisons to and descriptions of related species.

    Since many of the northern wetland plants are circumpolar in distribution, this book will also be useful in other parts of Canada, the United States, and Eurasia.
    Saskatchewan Premiers of the Twentieth Century
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Saskatchewan Premiers of the Twentieth Century

      Manufacturer: Canadian Plains Research Center
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: 0889771642

      Book Description

      From the optimism associated with provincial status in 1905, through the trials of Depression and war, the boom times of the post-war period and the economic vagaries of the 1980s and 1990s, the twentieth century was a time of growth and hardship, development, challenge and change, for Saskatchewan and its people. And during the century, twelve men, from a variety of political parties and from very different backgrounds, led the government of this province.

      The names of some, like T.C. Douglas and Roy Romanow, are still household words, while others, like Charles Dunning and William Patterson, have been all but forgotten. Yet each in his unique way, for better or for worse, helped to mould and steer the destiny of the province he governed. These are their stories.
      Saskatchewan: Uncommon Views
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • A truly beautiful collection that instills a great appreciation for the wide open spaces of nature in the reader
      • Excerpts from review by Christopher Wiebe, Dec 4, 2005, Vue Weekly, Edmonton
      Saskatchewan: Uncommon Views
      Sharon Butala , David Carpenter , and Helen Marzolf
      Manufacturer: The University of Alberta Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      Collections, Catalogues & ExhibitionsCollections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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      1. Saskatchewan: Centennial Edition 1905-2005 (Canada Series) Saskatchewan: Centennial Edition 1905-2005 (Canada Series)

      ASIN: 088864454X

      Book Description

      Decidedly quirky in their vision yet punctuated with breath-taking beauty these photographs rejoice in a Saskatchewan landscape known only to insiders. From brash to subtle, John Conway's keen eye for unusual detail, colour, and irony celebrates an unsung landscape with warm affection and brilliant light. With essays by Sharon Butala, David Carpenter, and Helen Marzolf, this fine blending of text and image will both surprise and invite wonder on the occasion of Saskatchewan's centennial. “John Conway's photos, startlingly original in their view of this province, have captured exactly what strangers have failed to see…” Sharon Butala “These images speak eloquently to me of the hopes of people like my grandparents, hopes dashed and tattered and rising once again, upbeat and sassy…” David Carpenter

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars A truly beautiful collection that instills a great appreciation for the wide open spaces of nature in the reader.......2006-03-03

      Saskatchewan: Uncommon Views is a stunning, full-color photographic gallery of Saskatchewan's countryside. Only the barest minimum of commentary supplements this collection of stunning images of grasses, open parklands, crop fields, prairie, snowfields, hills and more. A truly beautiful collection that instills a great appreciation for the wide open spaces of nature in the reader. Award-winning photographer John Conway proves his exquisite gift in this superb compilation particularly for those who appreciate the majesty of landscape photography.

      5 out of 5 stars Excerpts from review by Christopher Wiebe, Dec 4, 2005, Vue Weekly, Edmonton.......2006-01-15

      ...And now, the University of Alberta Press has published John Conway's amazing collection of photographs, Saskatchewan: Uncommon Views. The fruit of 12 years of photographing the province's changing countryside, the collection is an unlikely centennial gift that grapples with the tensions between the province's collective imagination and the testament of the land. Conway's photographs are driven by questions: there is beauty here, yes, but it is not a pretty postcard end in itself; rather, the beauty is a crowbar used to pry open our habitual ways of seeing-the way we edit and ignore much of what we see around us. The result is a book that is soul-searching, ironic, invigourating, depressing, demystifying, and yet, in the end, that celebrates the enduring power of place and the transformative potential of dreams.

      The first photograph depicts a Yellowhead highway billboard that read "Future Home of Something." It's a poignant beginning for the exploration of a province that in its settlement phase was figured as a blank canvas awaiting European narratives. After establishing the familiar pastoral genre (bison spread on bald, snowy prairie) Conway shifts to the unexpected, to Saskatchewan's recreation as an industrial/scientific landscape. Many of these photographs centre around a manmade object that dialogues with or "interprets" its landscape context: signs next to plots of experimental crops; a row of piebald, rusting oil tanks in crop of barley; a tousled, Edward Burtnysky-esque grain tarp on a desolate field. In another, a pile of rocks and glacial erratics, plucked by a rock-picker from a stony field, becomes a sort of modern drumlin left behind by modern farming ideologies. Elsewhere, an abandoned farmstead (covered with decades of high-school grad graffiti) becomes a stage for different rites of passage, while a landscape and animal mural in Duck Lake conveniently ignores the 1885 battle that put it on the map.

      Throughout, Conway records the land's exquisite, subtle range of texture, as well as the centrality of the sky where the drama of light and clouds plays out. He captures, as few others have, the gorgeous clarity of winter light on the prairies-the pinkish-white light at the horizon dissipating to powdery cobalt-a light that moves me in ways that exceed mountains or seascapes. Though Conway occasionally places short texts alongside the photographs, the reader for the most part is left to identify their own thematic progression.

      In the 1970s, writers asserted that Western Canada needs to be "written into being." This makes sense. But the visual representations of a place are of similar importance. Saskatchewan's image continues to be swaying fields of grain, hip-roofed barns and grain elevators, a land still knit together in a gloriously productive quarter-section patchwork. Fact is, family farms have dwindled and agribusiness now exploits the land on a mass scale-filling sloughs, bulldozing copses and shelterbelts...

      This disjuncture, between imagination and what one finds in the field, is what Conway records in his brilliant collection of photographs. Art historian Helen Marzolf's introductory essay theorizes Conway's "post-pastoral" photographs, seeing them as visual anecdotes that correct "the distorting lens of nostalgia" and act as unflinching "witness to inexorable change." I would add that Conway picks up where people like poet Andy Suknaski or photographer Sandra Semchuk left off in their explorations of ancestral legacies and prairie landscape. By comparison, Conway's vision is in a sense depersonalized, though no less valuable. Untouched by layers of family memory, he examines the land through the lens of public history and the collective imagination.

      Alberta thirsts for this kind of "revisionist" book. The lunar devastation of the tar sands, the boreal forests slashed by seismic lines, the blighting of rural landscapes with dumps and power projects that benefit urban dwellers: all these cry out for a skilled photographer's eye. But Alberta just may be too jittery with its own adrenaline these days to be so thoughtful. Saskatchewan has won and lost at Lady Fortune's wheel and in doing so has developed a lovely, quiet grace. Uncommon Views beautifully captures these provincial qualities in rich tableaux that captivates, surprises and challenges. By framing typical, "forgettable" views, Conway reveals, as Sharon Butala writes, "what strangers have failed to see, and what it would not occur to us to explain to others."
      Bittersweet Bliss
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Bittersweet Bliss
        Ruth Glover
        Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell Company
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        United StatesUnited States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
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        1. Seasons of Bliss: A Novel (Saskatchewan Saga, 4) Seasons of Bliss: A Novel (Saskatchewan Saga, 4)
        2. Back Roads to Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga, 6.) Back Roads to Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga, 6.)
        3. A Place Called Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga.) A Place Called Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga.)
        4. Journey to Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga, 3,) Journey to Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga, 3,)
        5. With Love from Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga.) With Love from Bliss: A Novel (Glover, Ruth. Saskatchewan Saga.)

        ASIN: 0800758285

        Book Description

        Two pioneer women, as different as can be. Two secrets skillfully buried, but not forgotten. Two journeys to embrace the Bittersweet Bliss of the Canadian frontier.

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