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Dreaming in Nuchatlitz
By David Barnes
Trafford Publishing, 2008
ISBN 978-1-4251-7211-4
www.trafford.com
One line from the introduction to Dreaming in Nuchatlitz won me over: “Far away from where I live, I am home.” Dreaming in Nuchatlitz chronicles the paddling journeys of David Barnes and three male buddies to the outer shores of Nootka Sound. It is not a particularly remarkable journey, and it’s not for everyone. Consider some bad behavior such as drinking, smoking pot and playful guy antics that include creating pagan gods, and some readers are likely to be turned off. This is no epic journey to Siberia, either. However, insights from the journey are thoughtful and well-written, making this a good companion for anyone who has traveled to Nuchatlitz or is planning on going.

Alone Against the Arctic
By Anthony Dalton
Heritage House
ISBN 978-1-894974-33-2
www.heritagehouse.ca
If you know the Arctic is a dangerous place, why go? Anthony Dalton asks himself that in the introduction to Alone Against the Arctic, and reaches the inescapable answer that has lured explorers here for hundreds of years: glory, adventure, fortune or – as likely – because the visitor is a misfit. Dalton is self-confessed as the latter as he takes a near-fatal trip in a small boat along the northwest coast of Alaska in 1984. His experiences follow the route of other historic journeys, particularly the journey of the U.S. cutter Bear in its rescue attempt of eight whaling ships in 1897, and Dalton writes about both the first-person and historic perspectives as he recounts his experience in gripping and sobering detail. For adventure fans building a library, Dalton’s experiences will have a place.

The Explorer’s Guide to Algonquin Park
By Michael Runtz
Boston Mills Press, 2008
ISBN 978-1-55046-498-6
My first-ever camping trip was in Ontario’s Algonquin Park, and as we boated through a series of lakes and channels I knew I was only scratching the surface of this magnificent location. So it is wonderful to see the park laid out so completely in detailed maps, colorful photography and useful tips. Particularly inspiring is the exceptional wildlife photography, mixed with useful information on viewing opportunities and habits. The result is a valuable resource for anyone thinking of visiting the park or interested in exceptional works about exceptional places.

Fatal Tide
By David Leach
Penguin Books
ISBN 978-0-670-06629-2
Few sports besides perhaps mountain climbing search as inwardly as kayaking when disaster strikes. And disaster did strike on June 1, 2002 when Rene Arsenault and another dozen competitors set out on the dangerous Bay of Fundy for a day of adventure. By the end of the day Arsenault was dead. David Leach chronicles this misadventure of adrenaline, machoism and poor risk assessment that defined this adventure race, and he does it through painstaking research and detail. This work should no doubt be a bible for the adventure racing community on what not to do. Other technical-minded readers will perhaps find it a grim insight into the mindset of adventure racers, and may even learn a thing about proper assessment of conditions. Not to the level of reading of Into Thin Air, it is certainly a case of history being doomed to repeat itself, as in 2007 two more deaths hit the West Coast adventure racing community through a tragically poorly planned outing in Howe Sound. While I am no fan of dissecting disaster – even magazine articles on kayaking tragedies tend to peer too deeply into what is ultimately just poor risk assessment – apparently the lesson unlearned does need to be stressed.

Albatross
Their World, Their Ways
By Tui De Roy, Mark Jones and Julian Fitter
Firefly Books
ISBN 978-1-55407-415-0
Some wildlife books you will want to take into the field. Others will take up a special place of note in your library. Albatross: Their World, Their Ways is clearly the latter. With its oversize pages and hard cover it isn’t to be used for casual reference. Plus the many writers and photographers go well beyond simple behavioral notes to write what is tantamount to an albatross thesis. Expect topics such as “Applying Spatially-explicit measures for Albatross Conservation” and “Albatross Flight Performance and Energetics.” Too scientific? No worries. The publishers tempered the technical writing with the obvious solution: pages and pages of breathtaking photography. Bird lovers who think their library is complete, think again. You’ve never encountered the albatross quite this up-close and personal before.