As Christmas nears, I thought I would offer you a few options for where to purchase books. We know, of course, of our city’s grand bookshops and the Island’s smaller neighbourhood and village independent booksellers, as well as the famous Sidney Book Town.
However, books can be found elsewhere — one of my books sits on a rack in a drugstore, kitty-corner to the foot-care aisle.
A friend said she saw a stack of my older books for $3 each at a big-box store between the adult colouring books and men’s underwear. “You’ve made it!” she said.
The Royal British Columbia Museum has a superb book section, predominantly non-fiction, and lately, I have been a good customer there.
I love used books, though. Truth be known, I have tremendous anxiety in our lovely city bookshops that sell new books, and at times have had to rapidly escape into the fresh air to cool down and lower my heart rate.
But in a used bookstore, that musty pungent yellowed paper fragrance, the faded and stained pink velour sofas, the coffee and the date square on mismatched china, or two eccentrics talking philosophy in the corner, well, it’s just less stressful.
This week, I spent some tranquil time at my favourite haunt, slowly searching the shelves for an interesting read. Many books are now out of print, which makes the experience unique. The books are a little more special, having become old, perhaps vintage or dated, alone and forgotten.
Here are three that I chose on my quest.
Rumrunner, The Life and Times of Johnny Schnarr by Marion Parker and Robert Tyrrell (Orca Book Publishers, 1988). Johnny Schnarr is described as “the most successful rumrunner to work the Pacific Northwest” with “high speed midnight chases, bullet-riddled boats, hijackings and murder!” during the Prohibition era.
What makes the book unique is that Johnny told his entire life’s tale on tape to his niece, co-author Marion Parker, who recently passed away. Marion spent endless hours transcribing her uncle’s recollections into a manuscript and it’s a great read.
Johnny begins with his childhood, including being pushed down a well by his sister and almost drowning. He recalls fighting in the First World War, and then, on returning home, discovering his skill at developing fast boats (faster than the coast guard!).
In the book, he describes his wild adventures: “… On the way back to Victoria we stopped and cached the load of liquor on D’Arcy Island. There were quite a number of broken bottles in that load. Whiskey, glass and gunny sack is not too good at stopping bullets.”
I also discovered an anthology, A Canadian Book of The Sea, Spindrift, edited by Michael L. Hadley and Anita Hadley (Douglas and McIntyre, 2013). This is a vast compilation of novel and essay excerpts, poetry and descriptions, some older, others contemporary, on the theme of the sea by numerous Canadian authors from coast to coast.
Manitoba-born French novelist Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) writes on the Titanic, Farley Mowat tells about a cod-fisher’s life, and UVic’s environmental educator Gloria Snively describes our coastline in B.C.’s Rocky Shore. Atlantic Canada poet Bliss Carmen writes poignantly about the old ships that were once tied up in Saint John Harbour.
This collection has everything from oil tankers to the Northwest Passage to a naval prayer — “ … be pleased to receive into thy almighty and most gracious protection … the Fleet in which we serve …”.
With these two books being slightly intense, I discovered a lovely coffee-table book full of coloured photos, The Comox Valley, Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland and Area by Paula Wild with Rick James, with photography by Boomer Jerritt (Harbour Publishing, 2006).
Full of facts but not overpowering, and with an abundance of vivid images, this book was a total delight to relax with in my big chair. It covers everything from the artist E.J. Hughes to the heritage post office at Union Bay, Denman Island author Des Kennedy, the Mount Washington marmots and a First Nations traditional salmon barbecue.
This Christmas, check out the used books in our many thrift stores and used-book shops — you never know what is lurking on those dusty old wooden shelves — and then have yourself a merry, merry Christmas with your treasured pages.
Seasons greetings from this book lover to you.
