8. The Hills Is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith

ISBN 0099066203 - Arrow Books ,1959
When Lillian Beckwith arrives in the Hebrides she initially feels she's made a big mistake travelling there for a rest-cure. She quickly becomes enamoured with the island, its inhabitants and their way of life.
This is the first in a series of semi-autobiographical books that are chock full of eccentric scots, comical anecdotes and vignettes of the crofter's traditional way of life.

7. Canadian Pacific Posters 1883-1963 by Marc H. Choko & David L. Jones

ISBN 0929058151 - SIAP (Societe d'information et d'affaires publiques), 1999
I bought this book in the gift shop of EXPORAIL, a world class railway museum in Delson/St. Constant, a suburb of Montreal.
This book is broken down in to chapters that highlight the role played by the Canadian Pacific and illustrated in its poster art through: immigration (largely from Europe); settlement of the Canadian west; luxury cruises in the 1920s and 30s on the Empress and Duchess ships; the war years - moving troops and more ; and post war travel by air, sea and rail.
The gorgeous art work of the early posters has stood the test of time.

6.The Ghost of the Stanley Cup by Roy MacGregor

ISBN 07710 5622-2 - McClelland & Stewart, 2000

An enjoyable yarn that weaves the legends of the Ottawa Rebels, Tom Thompson, "Bad" Joe Hall and Lord Stanley with a hockey tournament that the fictional Screech Owls attend in the nation's capital.
I greatly enjoyed meeting sports writer & columnist Roy MacGregor with my grade 5 class at a local public library where he gave a book talk. He graciously signed each of the drawings that they had made in class that they created while a read the first book of the Screech Owl series, Mystery at Lake Placid, aloud.

5. In the Crease: Goaltenders Look at Life in the NHL by Dick Irvin

ISBN 07710 4361-9 McClelland & Stewart , 1995

Noted hockey writer and broadcaster, Dick Irvin, interviewed NHL goaltending legends from the past and present to gain their perspectives of the game from in the crease. I enjoyed the way that Irvin allows the likes of Glen Hall, Gump Worsley, Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur to talk about why they became goalies, who their heroes are and to share anecdotes about life on and off the ice for an NHL netminder. It seems that the reputation they have as being "different" and superstitious has some basis.

4. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

ISBN 044022814X - Doubleday, 1961

A classic story of the loyalty and courage of dogs infused with Christian values and the power of prayer. Billy Coleman is obsessed with owning redbone hounds for coon hunting. He works for two years to save enough to buy puppies he names Little Ann and Old Dan. The pair have an unsual relationship and uncanny knack for treeing wiley racoons. Billy's resourseful stubborness gets him out of several dangerous situations but tragedy strikes and results in the death of a young boy and Billy's beloved dogs.

3. Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene

ISBN 0140185011 - The Bodley Head, 1969

Henry Pulling, a retired banker and dahlia fancier, gets a shock at his mother's funeral. His Aunt Augusta reveals that the woman Henry was raised by was not his biological mother. Henry is brought out of his mundane existance by his very colourful aunt who has a chequered past. Journeys to Istanbul by train and to Paraguay by ship, intrigue, time in jail and a murder follow.
Described by Graham Greene as, "the only book I have written just for the fun of it." It was made into a film in 1972 and starred Maggie Smith as Aunt Augusta, Louis Gossett Jr as her companion Wordsworth and Alec McCowen as Henry.