I love reading books, mostly non fiction, and I enjoy reaching out to guides, past clients, friends and family about their favourite in 2024 so I can pass along those recommendations to you for 2025. If you have read an amazing book this past year and would like to share please leave a review at the bottom of the page and leave your choice there. Happy New Year and happy reading.
The Darkest White. Eric Blehm – This was my favourite from this past year and it inspired me to get back on my snowboard again. The book provides a great history of sport of snowboarding and follows snowboarding legend Craig Kelly and the story behind his death in an avalanche in the Selkirk Mountains while working towards becoming the first ACMG Certified snowboard guide. – Norm
The Anxious Generation. Jonathon Haidt – How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. – Bruce Kirkby. Bruce is an author himself and if you are looking for a great family adventure book check out his book Blue Sky Kingdom.
Life in Two Worlds. Ted Nolan – A Coach’s Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back. – Jen Segger
North of Nowhere. Marie Wilson – A profound and incomparable firsthand account of the historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada from one of the commissioners who led it. – Heather Martin
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America. Matt Kracht – A completely irreverent and hilarious compilation of North American bird species that provides great campsite entertainment and is likely to insult those who take their birding a bit too seriously. (Neil and I were pretty much crying in laughter when we reviewed this book for the first time at the bookshop in Tofino) – Neil Gilson
Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike. Charlotte Gray – A great story about the Gold Rush told through the lives of six very different people, including a young Jack London. “Brilliantly interweaving their experiences, Gold Diggers presents a fascinating panorama of a subarctic town where minors, saloon keepers, dance hall girls, preachers, and law makers were thrown together at one extraordinary moment in history.” The story telling is vivid of the rawness of the Yukon River and settlements. What impresses too is the great challenges they all went through in just getting there and getting their supplies there. Having camped on similar river banks, it gives you another unique perspective of the area and those that came before and the indigenous that made way for the prospectors and opportunists. – Chris Smith
Kings of the Yukon. Adam Weymouth – A River Journey in Search of the Chinook. Since I have guided on the Nisutlin and Yukon Rivers I loved this story about the history and challenges of the wild salmon from headwaters to the Beaufort Sea and those people that live along the rivers and depend on the salmons livelihood. – Tina Currie.
Swell. Liz Clarke – If you’re looking for something light to read Swell by Liz Clark is a book worth picking up. Not a new book but one full of inspiration and determination of a young woman’s path to sailing across the Pacific solo on route to learning more about independence, the environment and all the hardships that accompany the search for a perfect wave. – Andrew Woodford
