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Category: Animals & Nature

My favourite books of 2011: Danielle (Publicity)

by Danielle
Animals & Nature + Art & Photography + Food & Drink + Humour + Sports / December 22, 2011

When I was asked to list my top books for this season I was at a loss. Working at Raincoast for all these years the seasons seem to mesh together so I thought to let you in on some books that mirror who I am and what I'm about...

My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea. It's a truly awesome coffee table book filled with not only beautiful photographs of some 50 top chefs but includes their recipes as well. Truly, it's a gem. When I blogged about this book this season I had let readers know what my last supper would be.
"I'd like to eat steak, good steak. Ones we bought from the market. Baked potatoes with all the fixings and a yummy beet salad. And chicken wings from grain fed chicken too (hot of course)." You can see by the pic this is exactly what I love to eat when we're camping in the Okanagan so if I would have to choose this would be my 'last supper' as well.

I was lucky enough to attend quite a few hockey games this past year. We were able to go to the Western Conference finals where the Canucks beat out the Sharks. We had a blast.  When Portable Press decided to update their Uncle Johns Shoots and Scores, with 70 all new pages I might add, I was quick to take a flip. I'm a bit of a poser when it comes to the game so by reading up I can hang with the boys and show off with som fun hockey facts and stats.

When the sun is shining and I'm in need of getting fresh air what better way to get out and about than riding around town. In my house we love to ride so Cyclepedia made my list. A book for any bike enthusiast. 

If you know me, I'm a bit of a cat person. So this is why Meow made it on my list. This book's full of pictures of these adorable creatures with cute captions. Easy. Oh this is Dash -

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May the Fourth be With You

by Brian
Animals & Nature + Art & Photography + Fiction + Film + Food & Drink / May 04, 2011

A long time ago… (last week)

In a galaxy far far away … (Downtown Vancouver)

We were presented with several brand new Star Wars books and products from several publishers which prompted someone to ask, “Is 2011 a Star Wars anniversary year?”

Silly, sales reps – EVERY year is a Star Wars anniversary year.

And no day better exemplifies that than today. May Fourth.

And while we’d like to think that the book industry is the omni-present gatekeeper of culture and higher learning, we can’t all publish the Atwoods, the Ondaatjes and the Gladwells. Which is fine by me. This intern here loves the quirky titles that spin off of pop culture icons. I’ll take the Zombies, the Bathroom Readers and the Darcy Romance line any day.

But that’s a blog post meant for another time.

Today it’s all about the George Lucas Empire – in book form.

Here’s a look at a couple of my favourites that have made their way to my desk.

The Star Wars Cook Book 1 & 2

These Star Wars themed recipes are great for all ages and feature scenes from each Star Wars episode using the recipes found inside.

 

 

The Wildlife of Star Wars

Do you remember all the sea life in the backdrop of Naboo during Episode 1? Or the various animals running around Tatooine? Me neither –but if you ever wanted to impress your friends at your next Star Wars marathon by yelling out “WHOA! Check out that Geejaw” during Return of the Jedi then yeah, this book is for you.

 

The Art of Star Wars Comics

Ok, I’m guilty here. I didn’t actually know there were Star Wars comics. But after flipping through some of the cover art in this collectible postcard set I have to say that I am intrigued and will be picking a couple up.  Of particular note – Star Wars Purge: Last Stand of the Jedi looks pretty bad *ss.

 

 

The Art Of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The concept art and lighting tests found within this book are amazing. It reminds me of the robots and monsters I used to draw as a kid except those were never made into a multi-billion dollar franchise. Maybe I should pick up a (shameless plug alert!) Doodle Sketchbook from the nearest indie book retailer…

The Sounds of Star Wars

At first glance I thought this book was something my 7 year old nephew might enjoy, but after flipping through the book I realized that this one is fun for the whole family. The sounds will keep anyone entertained (except for my pod mates who cringe at hearing lasers and Darth Vader breathing every 15 seconds) but the real value is in the behind the scenes look at what inspired Lucas and Ben Burtt to create Wookie language and speeder sounds.

After a quick review, I’ve decided I need to find a way to sneak these books out of the office for a closer read, I better practice my Jedi wave… “These are not the books you are looking for.”

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Easter Books to Usher in Spring

by Siobhan
Animals & Nature + Art & Photography + Humour / April 20, 2011

Growing up in Northern Ontario, I always thought the image of Easter you see on TV was a bit off... I mean, how could you possibly have an Easter egg hunt outdoors when the ground is still blanketed in snow — or worse, slush? (Wearing poufy pastel dresses, no less.)

And then I moved to Vancouver... and now I get it (except for the pastel dresses; I think I may be a bit old for that now). While some (most?) of the country is still bracing for snow, it's feeling quite Spring-like and Easter-y here in Vancouver. The cherry blossoms are out and it's bright and sunny outside. There are daffodils poking up all over the place. Sorry, rest-of-Canada, but it's true.

But there's hope yet. In the spirit of Easter, here are a few books to usher in Springtime, no matter how cold, wet or snowy it may be outside. Just curl up with a book that's full of Springtime goodness, and use your imagination... Chocolate eggs also help.

 

Chicken and Egg is one of my personal favourites from Chronicle's Spring list. In it, food writer Janice Cole shares her adventures of deciding to take on raising chickens in her backyard. This book is not only lovely to look at (thanks to the crack design team at Chronicle), it's also topical, as allowing "urban poultry" seems to be an issue that's been raised in several Canadian cities in the past couple of years, and also downright delicious... Did I mention that the book also includes 125 recipes for delicious chicken and egg dishes?

Read a guest post by the author on the Chronicle blog.

Read the spread on Chicken and Egg in a recent issue of HELLO magazine (PDF).

 

Another gorgeous book with a Springtime feel is Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them. This book featuresamazing photography drawn from the collections of the California Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley, and the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. Close-up photos of nests are accompanied by short portraits of the birds that constructed them. The variety and detail is fascinating. Here are a few spreads from the book... (Click on the images below to see them larger.)

 

And for something that's just plain fun(ny), check out One Chick to Another. Full of quips and funny one-liners paired with cute photos of, you guessed it, chicks.

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Feel Better Little Buddy - Spoons edition

by Matt
Animals & Nature + Events + Fashion & Textiles + Health & Wellness + Home & Garden + Humour + Podcasts + Vancouver / March 21, 2011

 

Just after we picked Spoons up from emergency in the morning. Not sure how he did it, but broke two bones in his paw. Ouch. I think I'll submit this to Chronicle Books' "Feel Better Little Buddy", 2nd ed

Here he is getting used to his cast...doing his favorite thing (beside eating and defending his territory)

Cast comes off in 4-5 weeks. Healing time is a little longer than normal because he is 11 years old in May. 60 years old in human years. I hope my whiskers look as good!

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Bee by Rose-Lynn Fisher

by Dan
Animals & Nature + Art & Photography / March 22, 2010

Bee by photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher presents 60 astonishing photographs of honeybee anatomy in magnifications ranging from 10x to 5000x.

As you can see from this video, Fisher's photographs — rendered in stunning detail — are almost otherworldly:

 

Bee
by Rose-Lynn Fisher
ISBN 978-1-56898-944-0
Princeton Architectural Press
Hardcover
Price: $35.95

AVAILABLE APRIL 2010

 

 

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Talking about The Life and Love of Trees with Ellen

by Siobhan
Animals & Nature + Art & Photography + Environment + Excerpts / January 05, 2010

In case you missed it over the holidays, here's Lewis Blackwell's interview with Ellen about two of his passions - trees and photography - which he has married in his truly gorgeous book, The Life and Love of Trees.

The book really is stunning - everyone who picks it up seems to have the same reaction as Ellen.

If you haven't seen it yet, have a look at's an  are few images from the book posted on the this slideshow of images from the book posted on the website for O, The Oprah Magazine.

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A quick fix for pre-holiday stress…

by Siobhan
Animals & Nature + Humour / December 08, 2009

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little stressy in the lead-up to the holidays. It seems that every day there are more and more things to do... and fewer days in which to get them done. Fortunately, here's the ultimate distraction from all that madness: cats in wigs.

Yup, I said it. Cats in wigs.

It doesn't get any sillier than that. Well, not until you put it on film.

Here's a trailer for the book Glamourpuss by Kitty Wigs creator Julie Jackson.

"The photos in this book are equal parts cute, funny, and creepy (in that "obsessive cat lady" way), and the combination is most enjoyable. The book is well-designed for casual flipthroughs and kitteh-obsessive pageturners alike, with vivid color reproduction with which to faithfully present all those technicolor wigs. I may buy several copies for teenage, female cat-fanciers on my holiday list. Something about the brand of humor here seems particularly fitting for that age group, and I do not say that with the intent to condescend (although, hey, if the wig fits...). It's sweet, ridiculous stuff." -Boing Boing

Still feeling stressed? Check out this behind-the-scenes video about photographing the cats for the book. There's also a Flickr pool of photos of cats in Kitty Wigs. And in case you missed it, here's Glamourpuss on the cover of Publishers Weekly.

Me-ow.

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