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Long days, warm sunshine, balmy breezes, cool waters, and gardens blooming with colour and heady scents — can summer last forever? Unfortunately, seasons change. What doesn’t change is the joy and thrill of a good book. We’ve curated a list of B.C.-published, Canadian-authored books you can read this summer to explore the histories and geographies of our little corner of the world.
The guidebook of the season for nature-loving locals and visitors
Plants of Greater Victoria: An Ambler's Guide
Collin Varner
(Heritage House Publishing)
A companion to Trees of Victoria, this guidebook features more than 200 species of flowers, berries, ferns, bushes and marine plants to observe, enjoy and avoid. Full of stunning photographs, this guidebook is the perfect companion to a leisurely walk around the neighbourhood or a hike into the wilderness.
The must-read biography of a tenacious eco-warrior
Walrus: The Remarkable Life of Eco-Warrior David Garrick
Catherine Marie Gilbert
(Ronsdale Press)
Many people don’t know that Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver and David Garrick was there! A connection and reverence for all creatures permeated Garrick’s life since early childhood, leading to a life of environmental activism that began in the early 1970s, including Greenpeace’s inaugural campaigns and working with local First Nations to halt logging.
Exposing the conditions of temporary foreign workers in Vancouver
A Fight for Justice: The Compelling Story of Temporary Foreign Workers & Human Rights
Joe Barrett
(Ronsdale Press)
A conversation through a chain link fence with three Costa Rican construction workers kicked off a struggle for fairness, equality and dignity through court battles, ending in a landmark decision by the BC Human Rights Tribunal and $2.4 million in compensation. Not much has changed about the treatment of migrant workers in the two decades since, but this story offers hope for what unions and organizing can achieve.
Teenage journal turned autofiction, showing the path to self-acceptance
Growing My Way Home: Stories of Resilience and Care
Jenn Ashton
(Talonbooks)
A fast-paced work of autofiction based on the author’s teenage journals, Growing My Way Home documents the author’s journey from abuse to early involvement in the criminal justice system, from her experiences as a thirteen-year-old drug dealer, a fifteen-year-old parent, and finally an award-winning writer, artist and filmmaker.
Memoir and cultural reflection, from an artist and muse
The Art of Looking Back
Theresa Kishkan
(Thornapple Press)
In this absorbing memoir, author Theresa Kishkan reflects on her time in the art scene of 1970s Victoria, mainly her complex, murky relationship with an older artist who made her his muse. This poetic memoir asks questions about older men and younger women and girls, the persistence of that dynamic in art and the stories we tell about our past.
The true and turbulent story of a resilient heroine
Bloomsbury to Barkerville: The Life of Florence Wilson
Marion McKinnon Crook
(Heritage House Publishing)
The girl boss of the 1800s. Florence Wilson was thirty-nine years old when she sailed from London to the colony of British Columbia on a “brideship,” but a boring marriage with a gold miner was not what she had in mind. This sweeping yet intimate biography pulls back the curtain on a life well lived and a name deserving of more recognition.
Life in a small Mexican fishing village, through Canadian eyes
Barefoot Gringo
George Bowering
(UBC Press)
George Bowering lends his highly regarded Canadian voice to his time spent as a foreigner in a small Mexican fishing village. With ponderings on close friends, tiny creatures, fellow writers and U.S. football, this memoir is a love letter for travellers, writers, and longtime readers alike.
2026 Indigenous Voices Award Finalist for Published Prose
ᑭᐢᑭᓱᒥᑐᐠ kiskisomitok: ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ to remind each and one another
ᑳᐯᓵᑳᐢᑌᐠ reuben quinn
(Talonbooks)
nêhîyaw educator ᑳᐯᓵᑳᐢᑌᐠ reuben quinn outlines the foundation of the ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ nêhîyawewin language through the spirit marker system, consisting of forty-four large spirit markers and fourteen small spirit markers. Educational and fascinating, ᑭᐢᑭᓱᒥᑐᐠ kiskisomitok won the 2026 Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction.
About Read Local BC
Read Local BC is your doorway to B.C.’s literary world. Brought to you by Books BC, we celebrate 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. ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
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