Feature Products | P'lovers Book Club
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Several months ago, P'lovers' staff suggested that we have a book club so that we could discuss the great books we sell in the store. At first, the book club was limited to only staff but now it has opened up to others.
For those of you who can't meet with us in Halifax, we thought we would give you a quick look at what we've been reading and what we thought. Be sure to visit the P'lovers Blog for current Book Club related News and information.
Please note that Cover Art may not be exactly as shown.
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Generation A
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by Douglas Coupland
Think of a future time when there are no longer any bees and how startling it would be if five people, in different parts of the world, all were stung by a bee! This is the premise for Generation A as it introduces and follows these five men and women and, ultimately, brings them all together in one place.
Read More about 'Generation A' on our Blog »
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$21.00
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Slow Death by Rubber Duck
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by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie
The sub-title of this book provides a great summary of its contents: 'How the toxic chemistry in our everyday life affects our health'.
Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie give a factual and, at times, comical insight into their experiments and trials conducted with a variety of household products commonly used in our homes. The two chose to live in an apartment and use readily available items including popular personal care products, common Teflon cooking pans, plastic dishes, and ordinary food such as canned tuna fish. All during this time, they regularly tested their blood and urine for levels of toxic chemicals. The results even surprised them…that the majority of things we use all the time are intensely harmful to our health.
Read More about 'Slow Death by Rubber Duck' on our Blog »
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$19.95
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The Fifth Agreement
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by Don Miguel Ruiz & Don Jose Ruiz
The Fifth Agreement is a follow up to an earlier book titled 'The Four Agreements'. The first four agreements are all simple and yet profound words of advice about how to live ones life. For example, one of the agreements is 'don't make assumptions'! Imagine if we all could do that?!
Read More about 'The Fifth Agreement' on our Blog »
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$24.95
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Getting a Grip
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by Frances Moore Lappe
This book invites readers to see how assumptions and beliefs can disempower others, whether it is an assumption about a ruler's 'Divine Right' or an assumption about the inferiority of a lower class or caste.
Read More about 'Getting a Grip' on our Blog »
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$19.95
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The Golden Spruce
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by John Vaillant
This haunting tale of a man driven mad by the environmental destruction he sees all around him is a true story and win the Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. The subject of the book, John Hadwin, first visited the sacred forests of the Haida Gwaii, in British Columbia, in 1966.
Read More about 'The Golden Spruce' on our Blog »
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$21.00
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ZEITOUN
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by Dave Eggers
This is a very moving story about what happens to one family during the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Abdularahman Zeitoun, a Muslim immigrant from Syria, lives in New Orleans with his children and his wife, Kathy. Zeitoun and Kathy have established a thriving construction business and they work together to enrich their community, business and family life.
Read More about 'ZEITOUN' on our Blog »
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$29.95
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ECOTOPIA
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by Ernest Gallenbach
ECOTOPIA is a reprint of a 1975 release and is, perhaps, an even more essential read at this time of both earth consciousness and general planetary degradation.
This book gives an intriguing outlook into an ecological lifestyle and, given that it is completely relevant to issues of 2009, it is fascinating to think that this book was published in 1975. A good read for all concerned with an environmental lifestyle and some choices, like William Weston, we might all have to consider.
Read More about 'ECOTOPIA' on our Blog »
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$16.50
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David Suzuki – The Autobiography
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Suzuki's life, starting with the WWII deportation of his family to British Columbia because his family was Japanese in origin. Suzuki honestly and with candor describes his rise as a scientist and his lack of attention to his first marriage. We hear about his initial struggles with a radio show about science and also about the ultimate great success of his television show. The book ends with Suzuki’s hopes for the future. Overall, the book is both informative and thoughtful.
Read More about 'David Suzuki – The Autobiography' on our Blog »
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$22.95
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The Big Picture
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by David Suzuki
As the title suggests, this book is about looking beyond what is right in front of us and seeing the complete interconnectedness of everything. The Big Picture also examines the real forces in society that inhibit change. The book is recommended for seeing the connections between the environment and the economy.
Read More about 'The Big Picture' on our Blog »
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$24.95
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David Suzuki's Green Guide
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David Suzuki's Green Guide provides useful and doable tips for greener choices - whether at home or traveling and whether about reducing waster or becoming an activist. One member of the P'lovers Book club said that this book could be the only book she would need to make sensible and doable changes for the planet.
Read More about 'David Suzuki's Green Guide' on our Blog »
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$19.95
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A Year by the Sea
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by Joan Anderson
This book chronicles the life of one woman during the year that she chose to walk away from her ordinary life and 'live by the sea'. Joan Anderson realized, when her children had left home, she had replaced her own dreams with their dreams, but they no longer needed her and her life with her husband was stagnant.
She had no idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life and so, in essence, took a 'time out' from her husband (who had just been offerred a new job in another city to go live on her own by the sea. During the course of that year of self-discovery, Joan determined that she was 'an unfinished woman, and that her life was full of possibilities.
While this is more a book about 'mindful living' than about the environment per se, the author does learn to appreciate her natural surroundings in new ways and shares them eloquently with the reader.
The next book is any book by David Suzuki - July 8th
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$21.95
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Into the Forest
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by Jean Hegland
Everyone in the P'lovers' Book Club loved this novel and for some, it became their favourite read so far.
This gripping novel follows two sisters, one 17 and one 18, who live outside of a city and on the edge of a forest as the world they have known begins to disintegrate. As a result of their mother's illness and their father's traumatic injury. they are suddenly alone. When the nearby city loses power, fuel and food, the two sisters have to learn how to cope with circumstances they could never have imagined.
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$21.00
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Poor Story
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by Giles Bolton
An insider discovers how globalization and good intentions have failed the world's poor...
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$24.95
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Banker to the Poor
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by Muhammad Yunus
The story of Muhannad Yunus who, in 1976, was head of the Economics Department at Chittigong University in Bangladesh. He saw that teaching existing models of economics to his students wasn't sufficient to help bring about change for the poor of his then young country. He therefore took his students down into the villages to meet the people, to talk with them and to try to come up with new ideas.
Read More about 'Banker to the Poor' on our Blog »
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Price/Details:
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$18.00
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Greasy Rider
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by Greg Melville
The sub-title of this engaging true story is 'Two dudes, one fry-oil-powered car, and a cross-country search for a greener future'.
The car? - a beat-up 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon converted to handle restaurant vegetable oil grease.
The two dudes? - a journalist and an old college buddy.
The greener future? - the author (the journalist) takes on 'errands' to search out a variety of things like 'the ultimate green home' (Hint: it is not Al Gore's 10,000 sq.ft. home); 'the future of wind power'; 'the headquarters of Google; and 'whether there is such a thing as a 'green' Wal-mart'?
In addition to the central question - 'Can these two old friends drive from Vermont to California in a French fry oil car, picking up grease along the way?' - there is a second important question - 'Can they survive 192 consecutive hours together?'
The P'lovers Book club found there were times when everyone laughed out loud as a result of some of the situations these two guys found themselves in…and there were other times when we all said we learned a lot. The end result is that this is a book that entertains while it instructs…and it makes you think that there may be solutions to the environmental mess we've created.
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Price/Details:
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$21.95
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In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed
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By Carl Honore
Carl Honore explores negative the consequences of society's tendency to go fast - whether driving or eating or waiting for a web-site to load – and then introduces readers to the alternative…the Slow Movement. He argues that 'fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity.'
The Slow Movement started with food but has spread to everything from cities and medicine to sex and work. The book has chapters devoted to different aspects of the slow movement.
The P'lovers Book Club members loved this book, claiming that (a) it has almost displaced Three Cups of Tea as their favourite and (b) it has encouraged each person to examine their lives and make some changes to be able to savor experiences.
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$22.00
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A New Earth
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by Eckhart Tolle
Chosen for Oprah's Book Club, 'A New Earth' explores the damage that can be done by one's ego and how transcending one's ego can enhance personal happiness and end conflict and suffering throughout the world.
This book provoked a lively discussion at the P'lovers Book Club – people felt it was an important book to have read and to be constantly reminded of in our day-to-day lives.
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$15.50
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Water Inc.
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by Varda Burstyn
This is a fast-paced, gripping novel - a great read! The tension of the book is between those forces who want to commercialize water for their own greed and those who are trying to protect water as a resource for all. Further tension is evident between drought-afflicted Americans and resource rich Canadians, especially in Quebec. While she has officially written a novel, the Canadian author may well be foretelling real future struggles.
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$18.99
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Blessed Unrest
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by Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken, well-known for his book 'The Ecology of Commerce', turns his attention in his latest book to a perspective of what he calls 'good news'. While he is ever aware of man's destruction of the planet, he is inspired by how many people are working tirelessly to protect the planet.
The subtitle of the book says it all: 'How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World.' The first half of the book details the history of the 'green movement', both the problems and the early crusaders; the Appendix makes us the second half of the book, detailing all the groups who are working all over the world for improvement in the planet, in social justice and fair trade.
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$16.00
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
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by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver, known for her novels, takes us with her family as they decide to abandon the industrial food pipeline to live a rural life. They vow that, for one year, they will only buy food raised in their local neighbourhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without.
Chapter titles range from 'Waiting for Asparagus' to 'What do you eat in January?', the reader is welcomed into their world, their longings for the foods they won't allow themselves to have, and their deep pride that came from making tough choices and working hard. As many of us in cities have lost touch with the basic question of where food really comes from, this book brings us back to the land, literally and figuratively.
Kingsolver's writing skill infuses this book and holds the reader's attention. As delightful diversion, delicious sounding recipes intersperse the text.
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$17.50
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The Omnivore's Dilemma
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by Michael Pollin
The core question of this book is 'If you are going to eat, and especially if you are going to eat meat, do you know what you are eating and how it came to you?' Pollin introduces you to tonnes of information about how prevalent the diverse elements of corn are in our diets and how this has come to be; he introduces you to successful organic farmers who have chosen to stick to their principles and even tells us about humane slaughter-houses. This is a hugely important book if you want to understand the deeper meaning of the notion that 'You are what you eat!'
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$17.50
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Better Off
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by Eric Brende
Eric Brende and his wife decided they wanted to see what life would be like pared down to the most simple elements. Consequently, they chose to take a year 'off' and leave their day-to-day lives and jobs and go live with a group of Amish men and women. Electricity was immediately a thing of the past as was refrigeration, plumbing, and the use of a car.
Told with both humour and deep insights, Brende and his wife struggle and then succeed, stumble and then learn. At the end of the year they have to decide is they have been 'better off' and whether to return to their former lives.
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$14.95
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Silent Spring
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by Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, not because she wanted to but because she felt she had to. As a keen observer of nature, she realized that birds and plants and water were all being innocently attacked by the escalating use of chemical pesticides.
When Silent Spring was published in the early 60's, it caused an uproar and was challenged by 'big business' who tried to discredit her science. However, her science was not only upheld by a Congressional Inquiry established by President Kennedy, it also became the reason the government established the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.
Silent Spring is full of scientific data but is still very readable and compelling. Her core invitation - to ask all of us to consider the consequences of our actions on nature - is as relevant today as it was well over 40 years ago!
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$23.95
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Three Cups of Tea
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by Greg Mortensen
This book might be the book club's favourite so far! Greg Mortenson takes us on the journey of his life, from climbing mountains, serving as a nurse in emergency departments, and discovering that building schools for children (and especially young girls) in isolated villages which have never had real schools before is fraught with tension and unforeseen challenges.
Mortenson's belief that he is pursuing world peace, one school at a time, fuels him and keeps him focused in spite of extraordinary dangers and unforeseen difficulties. Page after page, it is both heart-warming and a cliff-hanger.
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$16.50
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Way of the Peaceful Warrior
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by Dan Millman
This book was first published in 1980 and has, since then, sold millions of copies. It follows the story of a young athlete (Dan Millman) who was feeling something was missing in his life. It is when Millman meets someone he calls 'Socrates' that his life begins to be tested and changed. This book asks readers to consider what is really important in life and what truly brings each of us satisfaction and happiness.
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$12.95
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Me to We
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by Craig & Marc Kielburger
'Me to We' is an inspiring book with the subtitle of 'Finding Meaning in a Material World'. Through its chapters and contributions, from such people as Richard Gere, Desmond Tutu, and Oprah Winfrey, the Kielburger brothers, from Mississauga, Ontario, challenge readers to examine their lives for moments of opportunity to contribute to a greater good in the world.
The stories of Craig and Marc set a high standard - at age 12, Craig founded a movement called Free the Children in an attempt to eradicate the world of child labour; Marc turned his back on high paying jobs after completing a Rhodes scholarship in England and, with his younger brother, founded Leaders Today, the top youth leadership training organization in the world.
Each chapter, whether titled 'Empathy' or 'Redefining Happiness' or 'Creating Community' contains a general section, specific tips for your life, how to start, why it matters, and a personal story of action. A perfect book for those who are depressed about the world, showing the power of making change, even if it is one person at a time.
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$18.99
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Reason for Hope
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by Jane Goodall
Having found 'A Short History of Progress' somewhat alarming and depressing, 'Reason for Hope' was the next book chosen. Autobiographical in nature, 'Reason for Hope' chronicles Goodall's youth and ultimate work and fascination with chimpanzees in Africa. She explains her admiration for chimpanzee society and how she initially concluded that if humans could just be like chimpanzees, the world would be a kinder place.
As Goodall's story unfolds, she shares her shock and dismay as her 'family' of chimpanzees divides into two warring factions, bent on the destruction of each other. This book is full of moments of adventure, awe and wonder…and insights into a great woman of our time.
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$22.00
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A Short History of Progress
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by Ronald Wright
The five chapters of this short book initially were five lectures of Canada's Massey Lecture Series a number of years ago. Wright captures and reveals the history of the world and societies' tendency to destroy themselves in the name of 'progress'. He shows us that all the warning signs of our own demise are already evident and asks if we will prove to be any different than most societies in the past who paid no heed and collapsed.
If anyone is afraid the approach might be too academic, please relax! Wright's writing style is both interesting and very accessible. And, as an added bonus, his bibliography and annotated footnotes are compelling in their own right.
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Price/Details:
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$18.95
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Ordering Made Easy!
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Prices listed are in Canadian Funds and do not include taxes. Pricing and availability are subject to change at any time. Shipping fees and taxes will vary depending on the size and destination of your order.
If you have any questions or if there is something special you are looking for, please call us at toll free from anywhere in North America at 1-800-565-2998 or locally at 1-902-422-6060. We just might have what you are looking for!
Click Here for an Order Form in PDF format that you can fax to us (24 hours) at (902) 423-9107. You may require Adobe Reader software on your computer to view it.
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