Subtitled "The Alex Gill Story". A novel that claims to be based on true events, relating the story of two brothers who together man a large lighthouse near a small settlement in Bonavista Bay in the early 1950s, and the aftermath for the surviving brother and the families of both men after one suddenly dies.

The story of the explorer, told in a slim book for fairly young readers. Newfoundland is incidental to the story, which is mostly a biography.

A (very) fictional telling of Cabot's voyage to Newfoundland, and the seemingly immediate start of settlement, supposedly based on an old diary. Written for grade schoolers, and presented as if fact. Includes a selection of the author's poetry.

A revision and extension of the 1969 book "Just Call Me Joey", now containing brief vignettes (ranging from one to a few pages in length) involving Smallwood by thirty-three writers. Some interesting, some not. All laudatory, although often as much so about the writers themselves as about Joey. No attempt at balance here!

A volume from "Carpenters' World Travel" series. While only 4 of the 38 chapters are about Newfoundland (about general location, St. John's, the cod fishery, and the Wabana iron mines), what is there is quite interesting.

[8-1/2x11 format] A sort of biography of Newfoundland, including history, government, and other major aspects of life, such as the populace and industries. Many pages of photos. From "The Story Of Canada" series.

Subtitled "The Tourist's and Sportsman's Guide to Eastern Canada and Newfoundland". Newfoundland has pages 227-239 (of 267). Provides information about travel by steamer from Halifax and how to get about northeastern Newfoundland by steamer.

[11x8-1/2 format] A slim volume, but the chapter on the "Newfoundland Narrow Gauge" includes several worthwhile photos.

Subtitled "Canada Integrates Newfoundland as a Province". A history exploring the role played by the Canadian federal government from 1948 to 1957 in integrating Newfoundland as its newest province. The main topics include politics, social programs, manufacturing and the fisheries. Definitely from a "mainland" viewpoint, but attempts to be impartial. Extensive footnotes. Often overly detailed, but an interesting read nonetheless!

Some early Grenfell history woven into a readable story. Not a colorful writer, tending to just relate the story, rather than painting a rich tapestry, so the tale comes across a bit flat.

Based on a lengthy journal, or diary, covering the period 1770-1786 and covering George Cartwright's six voyages to coastal Labrador via Newfoundland. Edited for both size and presumed reader interest. Day to day happenings, including observations from a sharp naturalist's eye commenting on the flora and fauna. An avid hunter, he shot at pretty much anything that moved. Includes etchings and photos added by the editor.

A fairly slim biography, pretty much praise without criticism.

Subtitled "The Story of A Newfoundland Hostel". A slim (82 pages) history of the Caribou Hut, a hostel for servicemen on leave or furlough in St. John's, that was started in late 1940 and closed in 1945 after the war in Europe ended. Although an authorized history, and therefore leaning toward boosterism in places, the book provides an interesting look at the facility, its St. John's locale, its services, its workers, and its customers.

Subtitled "True Stories from Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula". The disappearances of three women at different times, unrelated to each other except for being from the same general area. Looks to be decently researched, but also looks to contain a lot of comjecture and a lot of peripheral information, including details about seemingly everyone who ever might have met any of the women. Includes black&white photos of a lot of the local people.

[11x8.5 format] A very slim (32 pages) book to be read with a young child. The story of icebergs, with side panels with additional information for the non-child reader. Color illustrations by Diana Dabinett.

A novel set in St. John's in 1942, starring 12 year old Evelyn, an outport girl whose father has gone off to war, so she (and her mother) have come in to stay with her paternal grandparents. She starts out as very self-centered, but gradually changes her outlook. For young adults.

Subtitled "A photo-illustrated history of early aviation in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland". [10x8-1/2 format] Many photos, but most inadequately captioned. A few well known flights; most not so well known.

Subtitled "Steering a Sensible Course". The Crosbie in the title is John Crosbie, a Newfoundlander and at the time Federal Minister of Fisheries, who is here just used as a convenient target at which the author can hurl his personal views on past, present and future life in Newfoundland (and in Canada as a whole). Seems to be based largely on the pronouncements of various ecological groups mixed with a hefty dose of nostalgia for an idealistic past fishery that never existed. For example, the author claims that the fisheries problems started with Confederation with modern boats and nets (even though the fishery was known to be in trouble at various times even before 1900), then proposes a supposedly self-sustaining fishery in which all fishing is done with sailboats and handlines (no nets or trawls), assures the reader that there will be enough fish for all who want to participate, and (of course) stipulates that the government provide whatever investment and support is needed to sustain this suppoedly self-sustaining fishery. Wishful thinking mixed with a seemingly willful ignorance of economic reality.

A slim (65 pages) study that is far more about the Channel Islands than about Newfoundland. Written from a British viewpoint, and consisting mainly of details selected from official and business correspondance files. Looks to be of more use as a secondary source for a student paper than as something to attempt to read.

A novel for young adults. An adventure story of the fourteen year old title character, a boy from Brigus, who stowed away on a troop ship bound for Europe and served as a medical volunteer in the front lines in 1916.

A novel for young adults (12 and up), and a more than worthy sequel to "Charlie Wilcox" by the same author. An adventure wherein it is 1919, the Great War has ended, and young Charlie Wilcox has finally returned home from the trenches of Europe to his family and friends in Brigus. Details of his experiences with the Newfoundland regiment in the trenches in the later years of the war are told in a series of flashbacks. A fairly gritty view of the war and death, including encounters with a few lads from his home town.

Subtitled "An Anthology of All New Writing From Newfoundland". Numerous poems and short stories, almost all by women authors. A mixed bag, especially the poetry, but some of the stories stand out.

Subtitled "The Axis Planned to Invade America". A catchy title, but other than for the first and last chapters, this book is really a collection of stories about the Canadian military air base at Goose Bay in Labrador, from construction through operations in 1943, told largely through anecdotal stories about a couple of the people stationed there. That the base is in Newfoundland is largely incidental here, and the main Newfoundland content is some observations about the Indians and Eskimos repeated without firsthand knowledge. The author opens with some off kilter views of the prelude to war and the war at the time of writing, and concludes with some impractical and simplistic prescriptions for peace and beyond.

Subtitled "Newfoundland's front row on history". Twenty-five short chapters on a variety of notable events, most involving ships. A mixed bag, but generally entertaining.

A mystery/adventure novel for pre-teen girls, one of a series. Cherry accompanies a patient to Newfoundland, to Balfour Island near St. John's (modeled loosely on Bell Island), where there are a mansion, iron mines - and a mystery!

Subtitled "A Ghostly Love Story". The interactions in the lives of a group of quirky (or maybe more accurately "off kilter") people centered loosely around a food joint in a small Newfoundland settlement. The book jacket promises "music, laughter, dancing and the detail of shimmering lives", but what I read was mostly pointless and uninteresting.

An overview of the industrialization schemes of the 1950s. Jumps around chronologically, is somewhat repetitive, and lacks depth.

[9x6 format] A series of eleven cute Christmas tales for children, all involving Eldred, an elf who lives most of the year in a hollow tree near the Peter Pan statue in Bowring Park in St. John's, but who works for Santa Claus during the winter. Includes numerous color illustrations by Jo-Anne Dooling Drake.

Subtitled "Holiday Stories from Newfoundland and Labrador". A slim volume. An anthology of previously published Christmas related material by various authors. Some as reminiscences, some as observations, some as poems, but the quality varies.

A selection of forty or so previously published short Christmas season stories from various authors, with emphasis on personal experiences and mummering. All involve Newfoundland.

[12-1/8x11-1/4 format] Color reproductions of a selection of Pratt's art, with brief technical data, narrative commentary, and even preliminary drawings for some of the works. The narrative is often reflective of his own life and why he did particular drawings. Some repetition from his 1991 book.

[12-1/8x11-3/8 format] Another book of color reproductions of Pratt's drawings, with some repetition from Pratt's 1991 book. The narrative tends to be the author's opinions, rather than descriptions of the drawings. A brief timeline biography of Pratt is included.

Selected stories originally presented on radio from 1953 to 1961, all set in the fictional outport of Pigeon Inlet. Enjoyable tales, often a bit "tall", and probably even more enjoyable to those who heard the original broadcasts.

Subtitled "Out Of Our Hearts". A publication of the Canadian Bible Society, providing a brief history of each of the nine largest church groups that they consider to be Christian, and then small black&white photos and short narratives about 180 of those individual churches - old and new, large and small - from the nine denominations. Not very informative.

[10-1/3x8-1/4 format] In 1977 a 10-year old New York City girl spent a summer with cousins in the outport settlement of Salvage in Newfoundland, accompanied by the author/photographer, a family friend. A narrative of the child's day to day experiences accompanied by numerous black&white photos.

A fairly lengthy, and often windy, novel about a young man's entry into the political life of Newfoundland, under the wing of a premier who bears a strong resemblance to Mr. Smallwood. Why read a novel when there are histories available that provide similar information? Crammed with pages of banal conversations.

Subtitled "An Illustrated History of the Labour Movement in Newfoundland and Labrador". [11x8-1/2 format] The subtitle says it well. Somewhat one-sided, but very readable.

Subtitled "Albert B. Perlin: The Wayfarer" (after his newspaper column name) and "Observations on the National Convention and the Confederation Issue 1946-1949". Selected sections of his newspaper columns from that time. A window into the events.

A Memorial University publication. Pedantic and dull - and not a single diagram! A knowledge of the terminology of choreography would seem a prerequisite to digesting this study.

A novel consisting of three unrelated stories that are tied together rather unconvincingly at the end of the third one. The first part takes place in WWII and is quite good, but the second part - well over half of the book - is an overlong, windy, and highly fictional Beothuk tale told from the viewpoint of Shanawdithit, and the third story has little to do with Newfoundland other than to attempt to tie all three stories together. A disappointment.

Subtitled "The Southwest Corner". Two dozen brief stories of shipwrecks and other tragedies that took place around the South and Southwest coast of Newfoundland.

Chock full of rules, regulations, suggestions, tips and extensive coverage of individual places along the north and west coasts, but the skeletal coverage and lack of specifics given for the south and east coasts, particularly Fortune Bay, Placentia Bay and St. Mary's Bay, indicate that the author probably hasn't visited them. Maybe the book should be called "Coastal Cruising Parts of Newfoundland".

[9-3/8x12-1/8 format] A volume of color photographs, mostly one per page, but with some two-page spreads. Terrain, locales, plants and animals, with informative captions. Often quite interesting.

[11x8-1/2 format] One hundred pencil sketches of various places and scenes around Newfoundland, each with a brief caption. Unfortunately, the captions are grouped several to a page, and are not on the pages with the sketches described.

Subtitled "A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World". The entire story, including both sides of the North Atlantic (and the USA and Canada in the West, along with Newfoundland), from the early records right up through overfishing and the collapse of the stocks. Also includes numerous cod recipes.

A romance novel of sorts, that starts off well in a small outport with the disappearance of the central character, a 12-year old local girl named Mary Immaculate, who has apparently been taken by the "little people". And that was the high point. After that the book settles in to be a tedious observation of this girl over the next few years, as she is taken in by a well-off family (even though her own family is alive and well), schooled in St. John's, and pursued by a pair of suitors.

Subtitled "Simon Stock and Lord Baltimore's Colony in Newfoundland 1621-1649". Precious little information about Newfoundland; Simon Stock never set foot there. A slim treatise full of assumptions, based on a several year correspondence between Italy and Rome, often containing conjectures about the New World. Not exactly academic publishing at its best!

A collection of the author's work, including 28 short stories and 44 poems and songs. Although no mention is made, this book is essentially a reprint of most of the stories and poems that previously appeared in the books "My Newfoundland" in 1966, "From Boat To Blackboard" in 1987, and "Newfoundland Echoes" in 1988. Very little material appears here in book form for the first time.

A slim volume of essays on various aspects of life in Newfoundland, including virtually the entire contents of the author's earlier work "Old Foolishness ... or Folklore?" (16 stories), plus five additional stories. An entertaining read.

Most, if not all, of the chapters are reprints from her prior books "Be You a Library Missionary, Miss?" and "Journey to Yesterday", with many chapters not included and those that are included printed in a larger type face that pads the page count and makes the book appear to have more content than it does. Read the two prior books.

A collection of eleven of the author's short stories, all previously published, despite the rather disingenuous comment in the Forward "... we reprint these stories culled from the many which Otto has written". The first three stories appeared in "A Yaffle of Yarns" in 1985 (the only stories by Tucker in that work) and the other eight were in "From the Heart of a Bayman" in 1984 (comprising the entire contents of that book).

A collection of four stories of varying length, all with Newfoundland content, including a tale of a French invasion at Placentia, one of love and criminals, one of espionage, and one of a house on Signal Hill.

Historical novel centered on the life of Joey Smallwood.

Subtitled "a portrait of Newfoundland & Labrador". [8-1/2x12 format] A 28 page poem for young readers, consisting of rhyming couplets, some cute, some forced, and accompanying color drawings of various aspects of life in Newfoundland, from homespun socks to icebergs.

Subtitled "A Newfoundland Songbook". Contains 120 lesser known songs, most remembering events, and most gathered on the Avalon. Each song is accompanied by a musical score and comments.

Also known as "The Danger Tree". A family's history in outport Newfoundland, centered in the WWI era.

Subtitled "A Romantic Adventure". Maybe a good story, but the Newfoundland involvement, other than the odd passing mention, is confined to a 17 page section (out of 239 pages).

The author's first collection of humorous Newfoundland short stories and tall tales. Illustrated throughout with pen&ink drawings by Derm Duggan.

Subtitled "A Visitor's Guide to the Island of Newfoundland". Starts with a brief history, then a travelogue from Port-aux-Basques across the island. What to eat, what to see, where to stay. Breezy and readable. (But I note that the author credits Ship Cove rather than Ship Harbour as the site of the Atlantic Charter). Obviously ten plus years out of date, but still interesting.

[10-1/2x8-3/8 format] Details of fifteen backpacking hikes that the author took in the 80s and early 90s, about half of them in Newfoundland. Decent commentary, along with many decent, if not always well described, photos - most in color.

Subtitled "Stories and Memoirs". Tales of ships and shipwrecks in the seas around Newfoundland. The author's sixth book on this theme.

Subtitled "An Examination Of Household Resettlement in Newfoundland". A 1979 reprint of a 1968 report at Memorial University. Broad conclusions drawn from interviews with some resettled residents from a few communities. Dry, and by now very dated.

Subtitled "Nineteenth Century Views of Newfoundland". Excerpts, some brief, some lengthy, from 19th century writers on the topics of St. John's, outports, pastimes, newspapers & politics, Labrador and missionaries. Provides some interesting insights.

Subtitled "A History Of Newfoundlanders In Action, Second World War". [8-1/2x11 format] Lots of stories and lots of photos in whatever theaters and with whatever services Newfoundlanders served. Well done.

Subtitled "A History Of Newfoundlanders In Action, Second World War". [8-1/2x11 format] Lots of stories and lots of photos in whatever theaters and with whatever services Newfoundlanders served. Well done.

A slim (62 pages of text including some graphics) overview of the processes that resulted in Newfoundland joining Canada as a province. Pretty much even handed, but told without much drama or details of the campaigning, and tending to emphasize throughout what eventually won out - confederation - while minimizing alternative choices.

A novel about a boy growing up on a farm outside St. John's in the 1950's and 1960's.

Subtitled "Newfoundland's Pre-confederation Links with Canada and the World". A collection of previously published essays, many in The Newfoundland Quarterly. The title sort of tells it, although there is little of "the World". He seems to think that confederation was some kind of manifest destiny, in large part because (he claims) Canada and Newfoundland had similar heritages and cultures (dissimilar to the United States), and yet he also states that Newfoundland possessed a very distinct culture from Canada. Some essays interesting, some trivial, a few pointless.

Subtitled "Essays On Newfoundland Society In Crisis". Ten essays by ten authors, all either academics or government types. Heavy on hot air, and generally boring.

Subtitled "Growing Up In St. John's". A mixture of remembrances of family, friends and childhood life, and of larger events around St. John's that have also been documented elsewhere (such as the Second World War). A decidely mixed bag.

Subtitled "A Social History of a Paper Town". Very readable for this type of civic biography. Has quite a lot of the history of the Bowater companies too. Includes a photo section.

A novel. The lives of three people - three generations - of a star-crossed family. Set in a small outport, primarily in the 20th century. Gritty without being crude. Richly textured and absorbing.

Subtitled "The Medical Life Of Dr. Noel Murphy 1945-1954". A mixture of information about the Bonne Bay area (the hospital was at Norris Point) and the author's experiences while working there. History, geography, people, family, and of course medicine, including travels to outlying communities. Told in episodes, so jumps around quite a bit, but generally entertaining.

Non-fiction. Agricultural life in and around St. John's. Very detailed - too detailed!

Subtitled "Interpersonal relations in a Newfoundland fishing community". A slim work derived from the author's Masters thesis researched in 1962-1964 in a south coast town given the fictional name Deep Harbour (actually Francois - the town in the photo after page 9 that is identified as Deep Harbour is Francois). A survey of the locale followed by an analysis of fourteen "contracts" to produce items that were entered into by the six craftsmen residing in the settlement. Academic, of course, but not as boring as one might assume!

A collection of the author's short stories, including a seemingly obligatory "adult" one. Some about Newfoundland, some not. A decidedly mixed bag.

Subtitled "a story of Newfoundland". A novel for boys. In the early 1500s the ship Water Wagtail arrives in Newfoundland, and following a mutiny, two men and a boy have many adventures involving a Viking descendant and local Indians. The narrator frequently breaks in from his current time to show what has changed in three centuries or to skip the story ahead, and there is a good deal of Christian missionary type of moralizing. No real point to it, other than for the highly unlikely set of adventures.

Subtitled "The Life and Times of Captain Sir Richard Whitbourne 1561-1635 of Exmouth in Devonshire". Purports to be centered in Newfoundland, but much more in Britain. And more "times" than "life", with many events and people of the era, that may or may not have had any close connection with Whitbourne.

Subtitled "Memories of Pre-Confederation Newfoundland, at the Intersection of American, British and Canadian Connections". A compendium of edited versions of the author's 28 favorites from among 100 interviews with non-randomly selected people. And all done working from a script of leading questions! I selected a few and read them. Academic publishing at it's worst.

Subtitled "Newfoundland outport life told in 24 humorous stories". A series of short tales of people and happenings in a fictitious outport named Roaring Cove.

A novel centering on the relationship between a teenage orphan and his unofficial stepfather, an old seafarer who knew his father. Set in a small outport and in St. John's. Lots of mysteries, but mostly long, wordy and uninteresting. A disappointment.

Subtitled "Volume 1 of the Canadian Numismatic History Series". [8-7/8x11-3/8 format] The history of money in Newfoundland - paper and coin, of both private and public issue, plus medals for special occasions. Highly detailed, including issuance dates and quantities, plus extensive photos including illustrations of varieties in coins. Also includes the history of banking. Larger photos in color would make this book even better! A must for any serious collector of Newfoundland money!

Well, at least now I know what a Red Cross Ring is! But other than that, I really can't recommend this one. I kind of skimmed the last quarter of it just to see how it turned out! Locale was the Northern Peninsula, around the Quirpon area.