Eight Great BC Books to Read This Summer

Long days, warm sunshine, balmy breezes, cool waters and forests teeming with life — the summer season can be mesmerizing in BC. And whether it be a road trip, a beach day or a vacation with family or friends, one thing that completes a warm weather adventure is a good book.

Here is a list of eight B.C.-published, Canadian-authored books you can read this summer to explore the varied geographies, histories and perspectives that make our province unique.

A Season in the Okanagan
By Bill Arnott (Rocky Mountain Books)

Bestselling B.C. author Bill Arnott welcomes the reader into his world of writing-as-adventure in this vivid travelogue that captures the beauty, character and hidden gems of B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. With an open mind and a heart ever hungry for new experiences and revelations, Arnott immerses himself in the outdoors and mines the sights, sounds and smells for written accounts and painted photos that are their own worlds.

Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck
By Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press)

Eve Lazarus sets the record straight on the Empress of Ireland's 1914 sinking — a tragic event that claimed more lives than the Titanic — which devastated communities all across Canada. In spellbinding prose, the bestselling author reconstructs the events leading up to and after that fateful foggy night on May 28, 1914, when the Empress collided with the Storstad (a Norwegian coal ship), dispelling myths and centring the incredible true stories of those who survived and those who were lost.

Blind Drunk: A Sober Look at Our Boozy Culture
By Veronica Woodruff (Tidewater Press)

A social lubricant, a rite of passage for young adults coming of age and sometimes even integral to cultural ceremonies and traditions — alcohol is ubiquitous in North American culture. Recently, the eventful history of our drinking culture is at a turning point with more and more young people choosing to be sober. In this memoir accompanied by research, Veronica Woodruff traces the evolution of this intrinsic intoxicant, interweaving the research with a personal account of the impacts of alcohol on her life and those closest to her.

I Want to Die in My Boots
By Natalie Appleton (Brindle & Glass, an imprint of TouchWood Editions)

New author Natalie Appleton brings to life a long-forgotten world of the Canadian Wild Wild West in this work of historical fiction to tell the story of Belle Jane, who led Canada’s largest cattle thieving rings in the 1920s and made a life out of risky and subversive choices — breaking misogynistic conventions, acquiring five husbands and becoming a fortune teller before the law caught up to her, to name a few. This edgy twist on a real-life figure combines the classic Canadian western story with a badass woman heroine who thieves cows and steals hearts.

Summer of Rocks
By Jenna Greene (Heritage House Publishing)

Summer of Rocks is a funny and fun-filled story of three sisters who go on a rock-studying jaunt poorly disguised as a summer road trip. The family, including a geologist father, drive for days to the B.C.-Yukon border to admire the scenery, pitch their tents under the stars, play in hot springs and even fly a helicopter. A perfect summer read for tweens, this middle-grade fiction is an homage to lifelong memories made on simple backcountry adventures.

The O'Keefes of O'Kanagan: The Families of O’Keefe Ranch
By Ken Mather (Heritage House Publishing)

This historic and fascinating account of early farming communities in the Okanagan Valley provides a glimpse into the lives and struggles of the O’Keefe family, who founded the historic O’Keefe Ranch in 1867. Several decades of hardships and resilience turned Michael, his son Cornelius, and Cornelius’s three wives and 17 children into a famous ranching family with a page-turning rags-to-riches story.

The True Cost of Wool
By Anna Hunter (Nine Ten Publications)

From sheep to shelf, this eye-opening book explores why we send 90 per cent of Canadian wool overseas while importing 95 per cent of the yarn we use. A shepherd and mill owner herself, Anna Hunter weaves together stories of farmers, mill owners and conscientious entrepreneurs to create a tapestry of the social, economic and environmental ramifications of the Canadian wool industry. This quick non-fiction read is perfect for eco-conscious readers who want to understand the hidden environmental and labour costs of fast fashion and textiles, and discover sustainable alternatives.

This Book Is a Knife: Radical Working-Class Strategies in the Age of Climate Change
By L.E. Fox (Arsenal Pulp Press)

This is author L.E. Fox’s powerful anti-capitalist response to climate change rooted in hope for the future. Summer might be a break from school and work for many, but for British Columbians rising temps also trigger climate anxiety. Summer is, among climate scientists, often referred to as "disaster season" for the increased risk of heat domes and wild fires. Fox's engaging, smart and class-conscious call to action offers new possibilities for saving the world in a time where climate crisis events — and the fear of them — is ever present in our minds.

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Read Local BC is a project of the Association of Book Publishers of BC that celebrates the vibrant community of authors, publishers, bookstores and libraries that make up our province’s literary landscape. Read Local BC acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC and the City of Vancouver.