Archives: Reviews

Open Wide a Wilderness book review A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

Open Wide a Wilderness

Nancy Holmes, a professor in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, is to be congratulated for this plump and sumptuous anthology of English language Canadian nature poetry.

The Transition Handbook book review A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience

At last, here is a book about our common future that we don’t have to be afraid to read. Written by “transition movement” founder Rob Hopkins, The Transition Handbook offers an inspiring and practical blueprint for community-based action in response to the challenges of climate change and peak oil.

Tar Sands book review A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent

It’s no secret that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have designed their environmental policy to fit a full-speed-ahead exploitation of Alberta’s tar sands. It’s important, therefore, to have an understanding of the industry’s environmental impact. Andrew Nikiforuk’s award-winning Tar Sands offers precisely that.

Slow Death by Rubber Duck book review A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How The Toxic Chemistry Of Everyday Life Affects Our Health

Slow Death by Rubber Duck has one non-chemical ingredient that catapulted it to the top of the charts. As the story goes, the duo behind the Chicken Soup for the Soul empire couldn’t find a publisher when they assembled their first book. But despite Chicken Soup’s winning formula – 112 million books sold in 15 years […]

The Sacred Universe book review A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century + The Christian Future and the Fate of the Earth

In June 2009, Thomas Berry, the historian, priest, author and self-described “geologian,” passed away at his home in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was 94. Uniting recent scientific discoveries concerning the provenance and progression­ of the universe with religious insights into the nature of creation, Berry’s writing blended empirical and spiritual elements […]

Silence of the Songbirds Where the Wild Things Were A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

The World Without Wildlife

Part of me cringed at the thought of reading yet more tales of humanity’s inclination to extinguish and diminish other life forms. It’s a reaction, I discovered after a quick survey of colleagues, I am not alone in experiencing when confronted with titles such as Silence of the Songbirds and […]

Defending the Environment book review A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

Legally Green

An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy in Canada is the perfect book for university or even high-school students who want to understand the basic language of environmental debate. From an outline of environmental protection regimes to endangered species issues and environmental assessment, this text covers a diverse range of themes, […]