George Blondin’s quest to write the Dene universe

Even though I like talking to people, I never really learn anything until I read about it. If you’re anything like me and you live in the NWT, you need to know about George Blondin.

Dying for Gold — a brilliant chronicle of Yellowknife miners at war

Wowsa. This serious work of investigative non-fiction tracks the Giant Mine strike of 1992/93 in stupefying detail.

Tatsea, a novel, takes us deep into 18th century Tlicho life

A historical novel imagines two eighteenth century lovers forced into exile in and around present day Whati.

Trapping is my Life by John Tetso

Trapping was indeed the life for John Tetso, who writes vividly about his life on the land in this slim 1970 book. “The wind flowing on the face and the smell of campfire smoke are two temptations I can’t resist … and the good solid feeling that you are your own boss.”

Thrasher… Skid Row Eskimo: Tony Thrasher’s 1976 jailhouse memoir

I had no idea there were so many books written by Inuit. This one is a really good read.

A former CBC-er wrote a novel about a classical musician’s escape to Iqaluit

In Joe Fiorito’s 2002 novel, a concert pianist runs away from the Toronto cultural scene and into the arms of a not-even-thinly disguised Bryan Pearson.

Sanaaq, the first Inuit novel

I enjoyed Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk's sketches of life in Arctic Quebec in the years and months before the first white men come to stay for good. The book also confounded me a little. Is it comedy? Tragedy? I have no way of knowing.

The life and times of Antoine Mountain, Dene residential school survivor

Obviously a great way to get to know a place is to read about the lives of people who live there. Strange how difficult this still is.

From the Tundra to the Trenches by Eddy Weetaltuk

This seriously good book had me in its grasp from start to finish, until I learned some troublesome facts that made me question part of its power.

Second Nature: The 1985 book that took on the anti-sealing activists

God help the animal rights activist who steps into an elevator with Alan Herscovici.