A Perfect Eden

In 1842, when famed world explorer James Douglas first encountered the rugged natural paradise that would become Vancouver Island, he described it as "A perfect Eden." He was just one among many European explorers to experience the intense beauty of the Pacific Northwest, most of whom have left fascinating accounts of their encounters with the terrain and the peoples they found, their exploration and settlement of the land there. Interspersed with maps, illustrations, paintings, and photographs, these first-hand accounts create a captivating tale of discovery and exploration. Starting from before the first known European arrivals, the stories feature Spanish and British naval officers, traders seeking sea otter pelts, colonial surveyors, "Indian” chiefs, soldiers, settlers and adventurers, and end in 1858, when Douglas, by then Sir James, retired as governor of the two colonies -- Vancouver Island and British Columbia. The companion book to Michael Layland’s prizewinning The Land of Heart’s Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island, which traces the cartographic history of this remarkable region, A Perfect Eden paints a vivid picture of what the explorers saw, the people they met, the hazards they faced, and some mysteries, as yet unsolved.

Goodbye, Perfect is a beautiful and emotional contemporary YA novel, with a powerful friendship at its heart, by bestselling author Sara Barnard. Now with a bold updated cover look. When I was wild, you were steady . . . Now you are wild - what am I? Eden McKinley knows she can’t count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So it’s a bit of a surprise when Bonnie runs away with a guy Eden knows nothing about five days before the start of their GCSEs. And it's the last person she would have expected. Sworn to secrecy and bound by loyalty, only Eden knows Bonnie’s location, and that’s the way it has to stay. There’s no way she’s betraying her best friend. Not even when she’s faced with police questioning, suspicious parents and her own growing doubts. As the days pass and things begin to unravel, Eden is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world, her best friend and herself.

The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden is a sprawling epic in which his most mesmerizing characters and enduring themes were created and explored: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love’s absence. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this expansive and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. East of Eden was a 1955 film introducing James Dean, the book that revived Oprah’s Book Club, considered by Steinbeck to be his magnum opus, and has remained vitally present in American culture for over half a century. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

God’s Story Will End Better than It Began . . . Experienced Bible teacher Nancy Guthrie traces 9 themes throughout the Bible, revealing how God’s plan for the new creation will be far more glorious than the original. But this new creation glory isn’t just reserved for the future. The hope of God’s plan for his people transforms everything about our lives today.

Shortlisted for the 2014 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize Shortlisted for a 2014 BC Book Prize Finalist for the Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing Just how, and why, did Vancouver Island get onto the map? How was knowledge of our immediate geography acquired and recorded? With 130 maps, dating between 1593 and 1915, this cartographic history tells the story of how Vancouver Island and the surrounding area came to be mapped. The book shows local cartographic milestones, marking progress in our knowledge through the island’s rich—although comparatively short—recorded history. However, the maps, by themselves and without context, cannot tell the whole story. The accompanying text reveals the motives, constraints, agendas, and intrigues that underpin their making. The narrative, roughly chronological, begins before the arrival of Europeans and concludes at the outset of the First World War and includes an introduction on the history and significance of map-making, as well as an afterword summarizing subsequent cartographic developments. Also included are an index, endnotes, a list of cartographic sources, and a glossary.

“A history of the human brain from the big bang, fifteen billion years ago, to the day before yesterday . . . It's a delight.”—The New York Times Dr. Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offering his vivid and startling insight into the brain of man and beast, the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most haunting legends—and their amazing links to recent discoveries. “How can I persuade every intelligent person to read this important and elegant book? . . . He talks about all kinds of things: the why of the pain of human childbirth . . . the reason for sleeping and dreaming . . . chimpanzees taught to communicate in deaf and dumb language . . . the definition of death . . . cloning . . . computers . . . intelligent life on other planets. . . . Fascinating . . . delightful.”—The Boston Globe “In some lost Eden where dragons ruled, the foundations of our intelligence were laid. . . . Carl Sagan takes us on a guided tour of that lost land. . . . Fascinating . . . entertaining . . . masterful.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ecclesiastes shows a frank, unafraid familiarity with transparency, beauty, and ugliness. Eswines study helps us address these topics boldly ourselves and grounds them in the person and work of Jesus.

“McIntosh gives readers the spellbinding conclusion to her Mesopotamian trilogy . . . Images of ancient deities and angels enrich this thrill ride.” —Publishers Weekly A mysterious tome holds the key to a millennia-old religious conspiracy, which could reveal a lost world and the secret origins of the human race . . . John Madison is hired by a magician to find a rare sixteenth-century book of sorcery, stolen by the magician’s assistant, and lost to him for thirty-five years. In his widest reaching journey yet, Madison travels from the great mosques of Istanbul to the ruins of Pergamon and the temples of the Near East. His search will lead him to a revelation of biblical proportions and the secrets behind his own mysterious birth. The devastating conclusion to the Mesopotamian trilogy, The Angel of Eden is perfect for fans of James Rollins, Scott Mariani, and Steve Berry. “I don’t know if any of this is based on reality, but as fiction, it works so well that an otherwise unbelievable tale becomes completely absorbing. And the resolution, when it comes, also reveals a bigger secret for John Madison about his own heritage. This is a great escape novel for the cottage.” —The Globe and Mail