From the Street to the Stars: Andy Nebula, Interstellar Rockstar – Book Oneby Edward WillettPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Toby A. Welch$19.95 ISBN 9781999382728 From the Street to the Stars is not my first Edward Willett book. Odds are it won’t be my last, as Willett is constantly publishing (that is a bonus for those of us who love reading the tales that come out of his super-imaginative mind.) Like his other works, this one doesn’t disappoint. It is filled with prose that draws you right in while the characters and plot keep you glued to every page.  While From the Street to the Stars is geared for young adults and I’m approaching middle age, I loved Kit’s story. The tale of a teenager turned rockstar would’ve been enough to keep me sucked in yet Willett takes the plot several exciting steps further. He adds in spaceships, aliens, interplanetary travel, and a few other galactic surprises. While that could’ve turned cheesy fast, in this case it added fabulous layers to the story. New depths are created, especially with the kooky aliens. It was a thrill ride to go along with the cast of quirky characters on their adventures.  One of…

Duty Done: Memories of Fairmont BarracksEdited by Donna Morse and Ric HallPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Toby A. Welch$19.95 ISBN 9781988783802 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have a lengthy, distinguished legacy in our country’s history. They were established in 1873, just six years after Canada was created. This phenomenal book delves into a slice of that RCMP history.  In 1914, a building was erected in the Cambie Corridor in Vancouver, BC. It served as a private boys school and then a military hospital before the Mounties took up residence there in 1920; they renamed it Fairmont Barracks. I’d wager they had no idea at that time that members of the RCMP would call the place home for the next 93 years.  Duty Done was clearly a labour of love for dozens of people. Beyond the Vancouver division of the RCMP Veterans’ Association, the list of people who devoted time and energy to ensure this book came to fruition is impressive.  You’ll find 28 chapters in this book, although they are called memories instead of chapters. Each of the 28 sections is a story from someone with ties to the Fairmont Barracks. The stories they share are diverse but…

Sacred Geometry for the Soul: Volume 1by Ann ChatfieldPublished by Wood Dragon BooksReview by Toby A. Welch$39.99 ISBN 9781990863066 What a beautiful book – every page is a feast for the eyes! For those who think this may be a book about math, it’s actually more about mandalas. Sacred geometry is the practice of attaching sacred meanings to certain geometric shapes and their architectural proportions. It has its foundation in nature and the mathematical principles at play there. The circle, for example, typically plays a huge role in sacred geometry.  In case that isn’t clear, Chatfield explains in this book that sacred geometry is an ancient science that explores and explains the energy patterns that create and unify all things in our universe and beyond. To truly cover the depth of this topic, it would take a lot more space than this review provides. Diving into the book, once you get past Chatfield’s story, she covers numerous topics: her explanation of the Akashic Records; descriptions of the symbols, crystals, and numbers used in her mandalas; the meanings and energy of colours; the seven basic chakras; and how to use mandalas for meditation. The rest of the book displays 63 mandalas…

Points of View: A Guide on Saskatchewan Projectile Points with Indigenous PerspectivesEdited by: Faith BoserPublished by Saskatchewan Archaeological SocietyReview by Toby A. Welch$29.95 ISBN 9781999530815 Right off the hop, Points of View struck me as a visually stunning book. It is a pleasure to hold and read. The cover features a graphic image that includes buffalo, trees, mountainous hills, and a wispy sky with a full sun. It’s so striking that I would like to have that illustration blown up to a massive size to hang on my living room wall.  Once you flip open the cover, you encounter a coil binding that is a huge asset as you work your way through the pages. (It’s so great when a book lays flat without you having to hold it that way.) Once into the book, you get page after page of colourful diagrams, breathtaking pictures, and charts and graphs galore. The entire book, from one cover to the other, is a feast for your eyes.  The over 200 pages of Points of View are glossy sheets, something I am a huge fan of. I love feeling the slickness between my fingers as I turn the pages. The smoothness is oddly…

Silencing Rebeccaby Nikki VogelPublished by Thistledown PressReview by Toby A. Welch$18.95 ISBN 9781771872263 Silencing Rebecca is a fantastic book that jumps right into the action with a claustrophobic scene that has us questioning what the heck is going on with the main character. The book then goes on to answer that intriguing question. The story of Rebecca, a teenager transplanted from Toronto to Edmonton, starts predictably. She struggles with the upheaval of moving to a new place and starting at a new school, something most of us can relate to. But things quickly take an unexpected turn when Rebecca morphs into a golem.  I had no idea what a golem was. I vaguely remembered hearing the word in an X-Files tv show episode. But that was in the late 90s and my memory was drawing a blank. Vogel described a golem as an ugly monster, a mythical clay creature straight out of Jewish folklore. Still feeling clueless, I had to find out more. Enter Google. Stories of golems go back centuries. While golems started in Jewish mythology, they have morphed into popular culture in Dungeons & Dragons, Pokémon, and many more places. Currently golems are considered robots that operate through…

Dysfunctional Regulatory Bodies: Scarecrows and Stupidityby D.R. CameronPublished by Cameron NarrativesReview by Toby A. Welch$24.99 ISBN 9781738687701 Dysfunctional Regulatory Bodies is a work of satirical fiction. That’s a new genre for me so I needed to get the lowdown. It turns out that satirical fiction is loosely defined as a work that ridicules a specific topic in order to provoke readers to change their thoughts and/or opinions on the topic. That works for me – bring it on!  I was clueless when I dove into this book so I was grateful for the preface that Cameron included before chapter one. I highly recommend you don’t skip the preface as it gives you a solid explanation of the treat that you are in for in the pages ahead.  The layout of this book makes it a joy to read. It’s broken up into short chapters, which I love. The font isn’t large but it’s not small either – my eyes were grateful. The frequent use of bullet points is aesthetically pleasing, breaking up the pages into easily digestible chunks.  Each chapter begins with dysfunctionality questions for you to keep in mind as you read the next few pages. I found them…

Murder at San Miguelby Danee WilsonPublished by Radiant PressReview by Toby A. Welch$22.00 ISBN 9781989274767 Murder at San Miguel is a solid read with a riveting storyline. The main character – an archaeological illustrator named Beatrix Forster – tags along to Spain when her archaeology professor husband goes to excavate a medieval cemetery. (They undertake the adventure as it is believed that a famous medieval knight is potentially buried at the site.) What ensues is an exciting story involving a murder as well as twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I won’t say more as I don’t want to ruin it for you – although I will mention that an adorable fox terrier named Muffin tags along on the journey, adding a touch of canine love and humour to the book.  Don’t fear – you don’t need to have even a remote interest in archaeology to enjoy Murder at San Miguel. I knew nothing about secondary burial places or burying bodies facing specific directions yet I thoroughly devoured every page. As a side bonus, as someone who has never given a thought to archaeology beyond watching Indiana Jones movies, I found myself enjoying the subject matter. Of course…

The Boy From Buzwah: A Life in Indian Educationby Cecil KingPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Toby A. Welch$29.95 ISBN 9780889778504 I’ll admit it – I live in a bubble. I have a routine life that is cozy. That said, when something comes my way that pushes me out of my comfort zone, I love it! The Boy From Buzwah did just that – it ripped me out of my sheltered life and deposited me into a fascinating new world that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about. This book is the self-written memoir of Cecil King. King grew up in Buzwah on the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island in Ontario. A residential school survivor, King moved to Toronto to earn his teaching degree before spending his career striving for much-needed changes in Indigenous education.  I am not a fan of the current trend to write memoirs with a timeline that jumps all over the place, skipping around from current day to birth to young adult, back to childhood and everywhere in between. Thankfully King avoided any of that and The Boy From Buzwah unfolds in seamless chronological order. We start with King’s childhood attending the Buzwah School before…

Frozen Fury: Agricultural Crops and Hail Damageby Malcolm BucholtzPublished by Wood Dragon BooksReview by Toby A. Welch$19.95 ISBN 9781989078853 Frozen Fury is a “resource for farm operators, agricultural students, and hail adjustors.” Even though I am none of those things, I found this non-fiction book to be informative and fascinating. Anyone with even a remote interest in agriculture as well as the effects of hail on that industry will find this book valuable.  A few interesting tidbits I learned while reading Frozen Fury: – India is the largest mustard grower in the world, followed by Canada – Sunflower originated in northern Mexico and was used as a diuretic and an expectorant – Corn is one of the most difficult crops to hail adjust – If crops are treated with micronutrients after hail damage, they recover faster and better As this book is thorough and contains a great deal of information, I found it a huge help that Bucholtz included a brief summary in bullet points at the end of each chapter. That kept my confusion at bay and helped cement everything I’d just learned.  And I learned a heck of a lot reading Frozen Fury. I had no clue that…

Sariri: Travels Through Boliviaby Ivar MendezPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Toby A. Welch$24.95 ISBN 9781988783796 This is a fascinating read to add to your collection of travel books! You’ll find 20 chapters in Sariri (not counting the introduction, afterword, and glossary.) Each chapter covers a specific place in Bolivia, a terrific way to lay out a book about a country. Close to the front of the book you’ll find a map that pinpoints the location of each chapter – so handy! If you are confused by the title of this book, ‘sariri’ is the Bolivian word for the nature of a traveller – a pilgrim on a spiritual quest, a traveller in search of new horizons, adventures, and cultures. That sums up Mendez himself perfectly. Mendez does an amazing job of describing each place he visits in Bolivia without being flowery – I love that! For example, when detailing the houses in the village of Culpina, he writes, “A row of brick houses… are still in use. These small red houses with chimneys look like they belong in an English town rather than in the middle of the Bolivian pampas.” Of all the interesting places Mendez wrote about,…