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100 Photos That Changed Canada

Edited by Mark Reid

HarperCollins, 230 pages, $45

This priceless collection of photographs and accompanying one-page essays is certain to delight both buyers and gift receivers.

It is produced by the principals of the Winnipeg-based national history magazine The Beaver.

Some images are obvious, such as Louis Riel on trial, Canadian soldiers in the D-Day landing, Pierre Trudeau with the Queen signing the Constitution and Charles de Gaulle making his "Vive le Quebec libre" speech.

Still, there's great variety; for example, the daguerreotype of Ojibway chief Maun-gua-daus (1847), Oscar Peterson playing piano with his father (1945), Wayne and Shuster mock strong-arming Ed Sullivan (1958-59).

Inevitably, some will quibble over photos present, photos excluded. And aside from the General Strike, not even the 1950 Flood appears in reference to Winnipeg or Manitoba.

-- Ron Kirbyson

Canada's Weather

The Climate That Shapes a Nation

By Chris St. Clair

Firefly, 227 pages, $30

Chris St. Clair, a TV forecaster with the Weather Network who was once chosen Canada's Most Dependable Weatherman, has managed to compile weather data, folksy factoids, myth-busting argument-enders, Canadian history and vivid photographs for a handy guide to everyone's favourite coffee-break topic.

While Canada is known for its cold and snowy winters, St. Clair gives even-handed treatment to the nation's three other forgotten seasons. He splits Canada into five different regions, so Prairie folk aren't left in the cold too long while he explains lake-effect snow and the Pineapple Express.

Winnipeg's 1950 Flood is remembered in a chapter on weather disasters and an awesome photograph of the 2007 Elie tornado is front and centre in a back-to-basics primer on prairie twisters.

-- Alan Small

Planet Ape

By Desmond Morris with Steve Parker

Firefly, 288 pages, $50

Talk about monkey business. During this 150th anniversary year of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, it is instructive to pore over this handsomely illustrated and textually rich overview of our non-human cousins.

"Genetically they are so close to us that their existence makes it impossible for any rational person to imagine that we humans have nothing to do with animal evolution," writes Morris, the British zoologist known for his 1967 classic, The Naked Ape.

"They force us to accept that we are part of the biosphere rather than being a separate mystical creation."

-- Morley Walker

Galapagos

Preserving Darwin's Legacy

By Tui De Roy

Firefly, 240 pages, $50

A stunning volume about the islands that spawned the Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, this book contains contributions from researchers and experts whose mission it is to preserve the worlds most famous animal and geographic ecosystem.

The essays are written in the first person in easily accessible language, on topics that will intrigue even the most unscientific.

Dedicated conservationists have brought the Galapagos Islands back from near-ruin, but it's still threatened by pollution, overfishing and development.

-- Harriet Zaidman

Photo:Box

By Roberto Koch

Abrams, 512 pages, $39

If you're looking for a extra gift for that creative person in your life then Photo:Box may be the answer.

Working with photographers and copyright holders to get permission to put together a photography book with 250 works from 210 photographers is no small feat.

This cool 512-page book book is jammed with works from the world's best photographers. And at $39, it's a real bargain.

-- Joe Bryksa

Dream Big

O's Guide to Discovering Your Best Life

Oxmoor House, 320 pages, $35

This fourth volume in the Best of O, The Oprah Magazine book series includes 75 articles to help readers fine-tune every aspect of their existence -- inner and outer.

"How fantastic would your life look if nothing were holding you back?" the queen of self-improvement asks in the intro.

Well, if you actually follow the advice -- Dr. Phil, Suze Orman and various other experts and celebs chip in -- you'll be healthier, wealthier, more organized, less self-critical and better at relationships. Bonus: you'll learn 53 ways to say "no."

-- Carolin Vesely

Led Zeppelin

Shadows Taller Than Our Souls

By Charles R. Cross

HarperCollins, 96 pages, $60

Veteran rock critic and biographer Charles R. Cross has taken a unique approach to his latest examination of the second bestselling band of all time.

He tries to create a "full-sensory experience" that transports the reader back to Led Zeppelin's heyday. Though more scrapbook than time machine, it contains rare photos, an audio CD, removable reproductions of ticket stubs, set lists, posters and backstage passes making sure this package is jam-packed with enough Zepp memorabilia to keep even the most jaded rocker intrigued for hours.

-- Ben Kahler

The Book of Negroes

Illustrated Edition

By Lawrence Hill

HarperCollins, 510 pages, $35

If it worked for Yann Martel's Life of Pi, perhaps it'll work here, too.

The recent Canadian literary bestseller, about a 19th-century African slave woman, has been printed on high-quality paper in a square-format gift edition and tarted up with 100 paintings, maps, line drawing and various illustrations from the era.

All this for about the same price as the original hardcover edition.

-- Morley Walker

Michael Jackson Before He Was King

Photographs by Todd Gray

Chronicle Books, 144 pages, $36

Gray, an American photographer, documents the late superstar's rise to fame over 10 years, culminating around the release of his Thriller album.

The pictures are a refreshing change from the tabloid shots most of us became accustomed to as his record sales waned and since Jackson's death this past summer. For example, the only noticeable plastic surgery in the majority of pictures is a nose job.

-- Geoff Kirbyson

Bon Jovi

When We Were Beautiful

Conversations with Phil Griffin

HarperCollins, 192 pages, $35

To mark 25 years in the music industry, New Jersey band Bon Jovi gave filmmaker/photographer Phil Griffin unlimited backstage access during its Lost Highway tour, the highest-grossing rock tour of 2008.

The result is this insider's compilation of conversation and behind-the-scenes photographs, destined to be treasured by fans of all stripes.

-- Gail Cabana-Coldwell

The Book of Exploration

By Ray Howgego

Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 360 pages, $50

Exotic is too ordinary a word for describing this extraordinary publication, which in size and content is worthy of a sturdy coffee table.

In an amazing collection of two-page presentations, Howgego describes the feats of 150 explorers. He includes the widely known, the John Cabots and David Thompsons, but also the bizarre (the Parisian woman, Alexandra David-Neel, who explored Tibet and still lived to be 100), frequently revealing arcane detail. Typically each page of text is faced with spectacular graphics, including the maps, illustrations and paintings.

-- Ron Kirbyson

A.Y. Jackson

The Life of a Landscape Painter

By Wayne Larsen

Dundurn Press, 265 pages, $60

Much has been written about Canada's influential Group of Seven. But this is the first full-length biography of Alexander Young Jackson (1882-1974), the rugged Montreal-born painter who is said to have travelled more widely than any other artist -- often by snowshoe or canoe -- in his quest to render a uniquely Canadian "intensification of nature."

Montreal journalist Wayne Larsen gives a detailed account of the bachelor painter's life. The text is helpfully broken up by headings and the book is beautifully illustrated with a wealth of Jackson's vibrant, now-iconic works.

-- Alison Mayes

Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats

By Bradley Trevor Greive

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 223, $24.50

So there you have it. Many of us knew it all along, but it is nice to settle this pet fight. After all, as Greive, a former Australian paratrooper and bestselling author, points out, where were the cats in the aftermath of London Blitz when search and rescue teams picked their way through the shattered shards of a burning civilization to save the wounded innocents?

Those with no stake in this debate may have little appreciation for his provocative polemics. Sure, Greive gives cats their due, noting that they exponentially outnumber their canine rivals.

But the whimsical essay introducing the thumbnail observations that dot the picture pages makes clear that this was never a fair fight over which is the superior companion. Dogs want love; cats want fish.

-- Catherine Mitchell

Michelle Obama The First Lady in Photographs

Norton, $33.50

This is a great book to look at. Some of the images will be familiar -- Michelle in the White House garden, walking the dog with the kids, hula hooping -- but many will be fresh: year-book photos, ribbon cuttings, meetings with world leaders, high achievers and White House chefs and loads of hugs for all.

-- Julie Carl

The Golf Book

Edited by Kevin Cook

Sports Illustrated, 296 pages, $35

Relive the "olde game" from Old Tom Morris to Bobby Jones and up to Tiger's time.

Even those who don't know a feathery from a niblick will enjoy the essays from Sports Illustrated's writers, which excellently complement the images of PGA players on the iconic courses we duffers only dream of playing.

-- Ian Stewart

Canada's Olympic Hockey History 1920-2010

By Andrew Podnieks

Fenn, 256 pages, $40

There's an enormous amount of text here, along with the requisite photos -- the old black-and-white action shots are worth the price of admission -- and exhaustive records listing every Canadian to have ever worn a maple leaf in Olympic hockey competition.

The veteran Canadian hockey historian covers the years Winnipeg dominated the gold, the years that our amateurs got creamed by eastern bloc national teams, and the current era of championship women's squads and our gold medallist men's teams packed with NHL legends.

-- Nick Martin

Gil Cohen

Aviation Artist

Boston Mills Press, 144 pages, $50

Cohen is an American artist whose work captures intricate and intimate details of the men and equipment who fought the wars of the 20th century. He explores the fear, horror and danger with an almost uncanny and contradictory beauty.

Look at the tiniest details in the instrument panels and the men's gear. Cohen's art is so real that you can almost smell the interior of a cramped aircraft.

-- Nick Martin

A is for Armageddon

An Illustrated Catalogue of Disasters

By Richard Horne

Square Peg Press, 272 pages, $35

No matter whether you are naughty or nice, make your doomsday list and check it twice.

This enjoyably gloomy curative for optimism is an Old Testament prophet's dream come true.

After all, is there a better way to spend the holidays than contemplating the myriad of ways humanity's collective demise might come about?

-- Ian Stewart

Guinness World Records 2010

The Book of the Decade

Guinness, 288 pages, $35

Did you know that Canadians set the record for largest mascot gathering, oldest female water skier and longest asparagus -- not to mention highest blood-sugar level?

That's only the tip of the weirdness iceberg in this jaw-dropping annual collection of superlatives, which run the gamut from inspiring to icky.

New features include the top 100 records of the decade and a key code that allows you to view video footage on the Guinness website.

In an age of instant celebrity, it's refreshing to see folks actually earning their fame, even if it is for producing the loudest burp.

-- Carolin Vesely

Who Shot Rock & Roll

A Photographic History, 1955-Present

By Gail Buckland

Alfred A. Knopf, 320 pages, $47

This survey of rock musicians cuts a wide swath, from Elvis giving rock its first tangible image in 1955, to the wasted survivors like Keef and Axl, to the casualties like Hendrix, Lennon, Joplin and Cobain.

The photos run from album covers to publicity handouts to one-of-a-kind candid shots. The 298 photos include the mundane, performers waiting for the show to start, to the iconic, like Lennon in the sleeveless NYC T-shirt, to action-packed concert shots.

The book is fun for its history, its memories and the reminder that no matter how old we get, we'll never look as rough as Keef.

-- Chris Smith

On the Money

The New Yorker: The Economy in Cartoons, 1925-2009

Edited by Robert Mankoff

Andrews McMeel, 260 pages, $31

Given the recent economic down times, this collection is one of the most relevant of this season. It is all cartoons, save for the introduction by Malcolm Gladwell, prodigious New Yorker in-house reporter and author of such books as Outliers and Blink.

The title reflects the recurring themes -- banking, investing, spending, even taxes -- in which cartoonists have found humour through the decades.

-- Ron Kirbyson

The Migration of Birds

Seasons on the Wing

By Janice M. Hughes

Firefly, 207 pages, $40

People watch in awe as overhead flocks of birds battle winds, weather, predators and distance to fulfil the instinctive drive to migrate.

This book explains how birds' bodies are adapted to minimize their weight and maximize their strength and stamina for long-distance flight. It has more than 70 brilliantly coloured photographs of these intrepid travellers, some of them tiny, as well as diagrams and maps that outline their journeys.

-- Harriet Zaidman

Eco House Book

By Terence Conran,

Octopus Books, 271 pages, $60

Conran's fifth house book looks at green living. Optimistically declaring that sustainability is the "new normal," the influential British designer, retailer and restaurateur sets out the fundamentals of eco-design, with sprightly, specific text and loads of cool visuals.

Looking at both new builds and renos, both high-tech gadgets and simple, old-school solutions, Conran considers basic building technologies like heating, cooling and water, as well as green options for windows, floors, furniture and fittings. He advocates landscaping that works with nature instead of against it and cleaning that avoids "chemical concoctions."

-- Alison Gillmor

World Heritage Sites

A Complete Guide to 878 UNESCO World Heritage Sites

By the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Firefly, 832 pages, $30

This fat collection of many of the world's most historic sites and natural wonders will keep armchair travellers busy for hours.

It is organized according to the year the sites were proclaimed heritage locations. High-quality photos are accompanied by historic or other pertinent information.

From the troglodyte villages in Goreme National Park in Turkey to Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland and Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic, this compilation will intrigue anyone whose bucket list includes seeing as many interesting places as possible.

-- Harriet Zaidman

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The First 25 Years

Edited by Holly George-Warren

HarperCollins, 256 pages, $50

This is one of those rare gems that words simply can't describe.

With awesome photos and amusing anecdotes; this is a year-by-year look at musical geniuses by fellow geniuses.

If you have a library hall of fame, this deserves, no screams, to be at the head of the class. Mind-blowing.

-- Randy Midzain

Let it Bleed

The Rolling Stones, Altamont, and the End of the Sixties

By Ethan A. Russell

Springboard Press, 239 pages, $43

Russell documents, in both words and pictures, the 1969 tour of the biggest band in the world still on the road (the Beatles retired from live concerts three years earlier). Many of the pictures, including ones shot behind the scenes, have never been published before.

One shot shows Mick Jagger drinking Jack Daniels straight out of the bottle while sitting on a suitcase. But Russell also caught the Stones looking like awestruck children when they met some of their idols, such as guitar legend Chuck Berry.

-- Geoff Kirbyson

One Hundred Butterflies

By Harold Feinstein

Little, Brown, 128 pages, $60

In the preface, the celebrated American photographer Harold Feinstein quotes Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."

This book captures images of 100 different kinds of butterflies from around the world with some useful accompanying text. They are beautiful, and being butterflies, a reminder that happiness, like life, is both fleeting and fitful.

-- Tom Oleson

Native American Clothing

An Illustrated History

By Theodore Brasser

Firefly, 368 pages, $65

One can't summon enough superlatives to describe this truly beautiful, definitive history of aboriginal clothing, organized into 12 regions covering all of North America.

More than 300 superb photos document the artistry and ingenuity of indigenous peoples through artifacts such as leggings, moccasins and headdresses.

Author Theodore Brasser, an academic and former curator at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, expertly traces the social and historical context of everything from Inuit parkas to Hopi masks in this simply stunning volume.

-- Alison Mayes

Chairs

By Judith Miller

Conran Octopus, 335 pages, $80

It wouldn't be right to call this "chair porn," because the scholarly back stories behind the creation of history's most famous chair designs by Miller, the world-renowned antique expert, are sober and restrained.

But the production and photography in this serious presentation of more than 100 chairs is jaw-dropping.

-- Martin Cash

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 5, 2009 H10