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The border : a journey around Russia : through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage / by Fatland, Erika,1983-author.; Dickson, Kari,translator.; translation of:Fatland, Erika,1983-Grensen.English.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Imperial, communist or autocratic, Russia has been--and remains--a towering and intimidating neighbour. Whether it is North Korea in the Far East through the former Soviet republics in Asia and the Caucasus, or countries on the Caspian Ocean and the Black Sea. What would it be like to traverse the entirety of the Russian periphery to examine its effects on those closest to her? An astute and brilliant combination of lyric travel writing and modern history, The Border is a book about Russia without its author ever entering Russia itself. Fatland gets to the heart of what it has meant to be the neighbour of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history. As we follow Fatland on her journey, we experience the colourful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations along with their cultures, their people, their landscapes. Sharply observed and wholly absorbing, The Border is a surprising new way to understand a broad part our world.
Subjects: Travel writing.; Fatland, Erika, 1983-;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Someday I'll find you : a novel / by Humphreys, C. C.(Chris C.),author.;
Includes bibliographical references."For readers of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls, a dazzling novel about Ilse, a spy, and Billy, a pilot, who fall in love but are wrenched apart during World War II, and must find their way back to each other--from bestselling author C.C. Humphreys. When Billy Coke steps onto the streets of London one December evening in 1940, he has no idea he is stepping to his fate. As Hitler's bombers come close to burning the city down, Billy meets the woman who will change the course of his life: Ilse Magnusson, a musician from Norway, but also something more--a spy in training. Escaping the Blitz for three days, she and Billy drive, quarrel, conceal, reveal ... and fall finally, fully, in love. Now they must part, each to fight the war their own way. Billy, a Canadian Spitfire pilot, to duel with the Luftwaffe over North Africa and the Med. Ilse to return to her conquered country, ingratiate herself with the Nazi elite--which includes her beloved father--and send vital intelligence back to Britain. They know that the odds of both of them surviving are poor. All they can hope is that the other does survive--and that someday they find each other again. From decadent pre-war Berlin to the atrocity at Guernica, from dogfights over Sicily to an Oslo ground under the German jackboot, through small victories and bitter losses, this is the story of a man and a woman at war. A tale of causes and compromises, heroism and betrayal. Of choices made, with consequences unforeseen. And finally, how sometimes ... love can give you a second chance."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Women spies; Fighter pilots; Man-woman relationships; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The invisible hotel / by Ham, Yeji Y.,author.;
Yewon dreams of a hotel. In the hotel, there are infinite keys to infinite rooms -- and a quiet terror she is desperate to escape. When Yewon wakes, she sees her life: a young woman, out of her job at a convenience store, trapped in the tiny South Korean village of her birth, watching her mother wash the bones of their ancestors in their decrepit bathtub. Every house has them, these rotting and fragmented bones, reminders of what they have all lost to a war that never seems to end. Yewon and her siblings were born in this bathtub -- and every year women give birth to new babies in the bathtub. Now, Yewon's brother is stationed near the North Korean border, her sister has just undergone a life-changing tragedy, and her mother is constantly worried, her health declining. In crisis and in stasis, Yewon's dreams of the decrepit hotel lead her to an unsettling truth about her country's collective heritage.
Subjects: Horror fiction.; Novels.; Generational trauma; Korean War, 1950-1953; Dreams;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Carbon change : Canada on the brink of decarbonization / by McConaghy, Dennis,1952-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An investigation into the scale and costs of transitioning our energy systems to achieve net-zero emissions. Canada and the rest of the developed world have committed to decarbonizing basic energy systems, but do this country's citizens and governments truly understand the sacrifices ahead--and once we do understand, will we accept those sacrifices in the name of reducing the impacts of climate change? Will the rest of the developed world take on the necessary costs, and will Canada forge ahead with decarbonization, even if other countries do not? Carbon Change explores this most visceral of public policy choices for Canada, with a deep dive into major North American energy and climate policy from 2019 to the end of 2021, the enduring impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and political processes across the developed world with respect to dealing with climate change risks. It offers a dispassionate analysis of the scale and cost of trying to realize the aspiration of decarbonization. Dennis McConaghy asks if a more balanced and nuanced approach is possible to mitigate the extremes of the climate change impact, while still using hydrocarbons optimally to maximize global human welfare."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Carbon dioxide mitigation; Carbon dioxide mitigation; Climate change mitigation; Energy policy; Energy transition; Energy transition;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The other Dr. Gilmer : two men, a murder, and an unlikely fight for justice / by Gilmer, Benjamin,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."A rural physician learns that a former doctor at his clinic committed a shocking crime, leading him to uncover an undiagnosed mental health crisis in our broken prison system--a powerful true story expanding on one of the most popular This American Life episodes of all time. When family physician Dr. Benjamin Gilmer began working at the Cane Creek clinic in rural North Carolina, he was following in the footsteps of a man with the same last name. His predecessor, Dr. Vince Gilmer, was beloved by his patients and community--right up until the shocking moment when he strangled his ailing father and then returned to the clinic for a regular day of work after the murder. He'd been in prison for nearly a decade by the time Benjamin arrived, but Vince's patients would still tell Benjamin they couldn't believe the other Dr. Gilmer was capable of such violence. The more Benjamin looked into Vince's case, the more he knew that something was wrong. Vince knew, too. He complained from the time he was arrested of his "SSRI brain," referring to withdrawal from his anti-depressant medication. When Benjamin visited Vince in prison, he met a man who was obviously fighting his own mind, constantly twitching and veering off into nonsensical tangents. Enlisting This American Life journalist Sarah Koenig, Benjamin resolved to get Vince the help he needed. But time and again, the pair would come up against a prison system that cared little about the mental health of its inmates--despite an estimated one third of them suffering from an untreated mental illness. In The Other Dr. Gilmer, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer tells of how a caring man was overcome by a perfect storm of rare health conditions, leading to an unimaginable crime. Rather than get treatment, Vince Gilmer was sentenced to life in prison--a life made all the worse by his untrustworthy brain and prison and government officials who dismissed his situation. A large percentage of imprisoned Americans are suffering from mental illness when they commit their crimes and continue to suffer, untreated, in prison. In a country with the highest incarceration rates in the world, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer argues that some crimes need to be healed rather than punished"--
Subjects: Clemency; Mentally ill offenders;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A like vision : the Group of Seven & Tom Thomson / by Dejardin, Ian,editor.; Milroy, Sarah,editor,writer of introduction.; McMichael Canadian Art Collection,host institution.;
"A like vision is a lavish celebration of the legacy of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, Canada's canonical landscape painters. The Group's depiction of the rugged beauty of the Canadian landscape - from the coastal mountains of British Columbia to the north shore of Lake Superior, the villages of rural Quebec, and the rocky, windswept coves of Newfoundland - charged Canadians to experience their country in a bold new light and changed the face of Canadian art forever. Through their vigorous and expressive painterly style and vibrant colours, the Group of Seven significantly contributed to Canada's sense of autonomy and identity as a modern state in the aftermath of the First World War. Featuring three hundred full-colour images, A Like Vision includes a lead essay by Ian A.C. Dejardin, Executive Director of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and contributions by a host of artists, curators, and writers. Among them are Indigenous art historian and curator Gerald McMaster, filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal, novelists David Macfarlane and Jane Urquhart, painters John Hartman and Robert Houle, and Inuk writer Tarrilik Duffy. One hundred years on from the Group's first exhibition in 1920, A Like Vision is both a chance to review the Group's legacy and a tribute to these giants of Canadian art and culture."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Exhibition catalogs.; Thomson, Tom, 1877-1917; Group of Seven (Group of artists); McMichael Canadian Art Collection; Landscape painting, Canadian; Landscapes in art; Painting;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Our crumbling foundation : how we solve Canada's housing crisis / by Craigie, Gregor,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Canada is experiencing a housing shortage. Although house prices in major Canadian cities appear to have topped out in early 2023, new housing isn't coming onto the market quickly enough. Rising interest rates have only tightened the pressure on buyers, and renters, too, as rising mortgage rates cost landlords more, which are passed along to tenants in rent increases. Even with the recent federal budget commitment to bring more housing online by 2030, there will still be a shortfall of 3.5 million homes by 2030. Gregor Craigie is a CBC journalist in Victoria, one of the highest-priced housing markets in the country. On his daily radio show On the Island he's been talking for over 15 years to local experts and to those across the country about housing. Craigie has travelled to many of the places he profiles in the book, and in his interviews with Canadians he presents the human face of the shortfall as he speaks with renters, owners and homeless people, exploring their varying predicaments and perspectives. He then shows, through comparable profiles of people across the globe, how other North American and international jurisdictions (Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Helsinki, Singapore, Ireland, Mexico, to name a few) are housing their citizens better, faster and with determination--solutions that could be put into practice here. With passion, knowledge and vigour, Craigie explains how Canada reached this critical impasse and will convince those who may not yet recognize how badly our entire country is in need of change. A Crumbling Foundation provides hope for finding our way out of the crisis by recommending a number of approaches at all levels of government. The prescription for how we're going to house ourselves and do so equitably, requires not just a business solution, nor simply a social solution."--
Subjects: Housing policy; Housing;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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American ramble : a walk of memory and renewal / by King, Neil,Jr.,author.; Hamilton, George,illustrator.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-352)."A stunning, revelatory memoir about a 330-mile walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City--an unforgettable pilgrimage to the heart of America across some of our oldest common ground. Neil King Jr's desire to walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City began as a whim and soon became an obsession. Determined to rediscover what matters in life and to see our national story with new eyes, Neil turned north with a small satchel on his back and one mission in mind: To pay close attention to the land he crossed and the people he met. The journey travels deep into America's past and present, uncovering forgotten pockets and overlooked people. By turns amusing, inspiring, and sublime, American Ramble offers an exquisite account of personal and national renewal--an indelible study of our country as we've never seen it before"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; King, Neil, Jr.; Journalists; Walking;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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They call me George : the untold story of black train porters and the birth of modern Canada / by Foster, Cecil,1954-author.;
"A historical work of non-fiction that chronicles the little-known stories of black railway porters-the so-called "Pullmen" of the Canadian rail lines. The actions and spirit of these men helped define Canada as a nation in surprising ways, effecting race relations, human rights, North American multiculturalism, community building, the shape and structure of unions, and the nature of travel and business across the US and Canada. Drawing on the stories and legends of several of these influential early black Canadians, this book narrates the history of a very visible, but rarely considered, aspect of black life in railway-age Canada. These porters, who fought against the idea of Canada as White Man's Country, open only to immigrants from Europe, fought for and won a Canada that would provide opportunities for all its citizens."--
Subjects: Pullman porters; Porters; Train attendants; Black Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The good allies : how Canada and the United States fought together to defeat fascism during the Second World War / by Cook, Tim,1971-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From our country's most important war historian, a gripping account of the turbulent relationship between Canada and the US during the Second World War. The two nations entered the war amidst rivalry and mutual suspicion, but learned to fight together before emerging triumphant and bound by an alliance that has lasted to this day. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it set in motion a deadly struggle between the Axis powers and the Allies, but also fraught negotiations between and among the allies. On questions of diplomacy, economic policy, industrial might, military capabilities, and even national sovereignty, thousands of lives and the fate of the free world depended on back-room deals and desperate trade-offs between soldiers, diplomats, and leaders. In North America, Canada and the US strained to forge a new military alliance to guard their coasts and fend off German U-boats and the menace of a Japanese invasion. Wartime economies were entwined to produce a staggering contribution of weapons to keep Britain and other allies in the war. The defence of North America against enemy threats was essential before the US and Canada could send armies, navies, and air forces overseas. In his trademark style, Tim Cook employs eyewitness accounts to vividly lay bare the brutality of combat and the courage of North Americans under fire. Behind the fighting fronts, the charged and often secret communications between national leaders, Churchill, Roosevelt, and King, reveals how their personalities shaped the outcome of history's most destructive war, the fate of the British Empire, and the North American alliance that lives on to this day. The Good Allies is a masterful account of how Canadians and Americans made the transition from wary rivals to steadfast allies, and how Canada thrived in the shadow of the military and global superpower. In exploring this complex and crucial dimension of the Second World War and its legacy, Cook recounts two nations' story of cooperation, sacrifice, and of bleeding together to save the world from the fascist threat"--
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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