Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation, Vol. 3by Deana J. Driver and ContributorsPublished by DriverWorks InkReview by Keith Foster$19.95 ISBN 978-1-927570-62-3 “Oops.” That’s not a word you want to hear when you’re flying. But that’s what one pilot uttered when he noticed things flying around the cockpit and realized he’d forgotten to secure them before taking off. This incident, and more, are covered in Deana Driver’s latest book, Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation, Vol. 3. The third volume in the series has thirty-three chapters or stories by fourteen authors. Among them are Saskatchewan aviation historian Will Chabun, internationally renowned storyteller Vincent Murphy-Dodds, and fighter pilot Frank Hanton. The authors know what they’re talking about. Dave McElroy, for instance, has logged in more than 4,000 hours in twenty-nine different aircraft in more than sixty countries, and former bush pilot Peter Enzlberger has logged in more than 50,000 hours in the cockpit. This volume, like the previous two, has its share of accidents and near misses. Pilot Dave McElroy was amazed to see a huge DC-6 four-engine airliner bearing down on the very runway he had just taken off from. As a passenger, Murphy-Dodds recalled being in a small plane while the pilot…

Star Songby Edward WillettPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Amanda Zimmerman$24.95 ISBN 978-1-989398-03-6 In the same vein as his Worldshapers series, Regina author Edward Willett weaves a standalone sci-fi fantasy tale for young adult readers that is sure to captivate from the very first chapter. Worldhugger Kriss Lemarc has never fit in on the planet he’s grown up on, his appearance setting him apart from the native born villagers. His precarious place in the community is further unsettled when his caretaker and only family is brutally attacked and her house burned. Kriss has only a strange kind of emotion-expressing instrument called a touchlyre to his name- a musical oddity gifted from his father that he promised never to reveal. What secrets from the past does it hold? Summoning his courage, Kriss walks the days-long journey to report Mella’s murder in the city. Upon his arrival and through a few misadventures, the teen begins to realize just how impossible his dream of leaving the planet for the stars really is. There are only two ways to travel and both are closed to him based on his funds, education, and connections. He’s desperate though, so he breaks his promise and uses the touchlyre…

Bread and Waterby dee Hobsbawn-SmithPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$26.95 ISBN 9780889778115 I know dee Hobsbawn-Smith as a multi-genre writer, chef, yogi, runner, mother, and yes, as a friend. She and husband Dave Margoshes hosted me for a reading at their ancestral rural home (“The Dogpatch”) near Saskatoon years ago, and when dee was touring a poetry collection on Vancouver Island, I welcomed her at my place. “I’ll cook for you,” she said, “using whatever you have in the house.” I’m was embarrassed by my uninspired inventory, yet she whipped a brilliant meal together with my mundane larder. One doesn’t forget that. So yes, I know this dexterous writer, and expected a great read in her essay collection, Bread & Water. The text behind the gorgeously apropos cover photograph—a chunk of homemade bread and a glass of water—is wide-ranging, provocative, and, like that heel of bread, hearty. What I didn’t expect was how much I’d admire these lyrical essays which took me back to the Dogpatch, but also to Vancouver, Comox, and the waters off Vancouver Island; to dee’s Calgary home, restaurants, and the 2013 flood in that city; to Fernie; and to France, where the…