[11x9 format] A very slim (28 pages, alternating text and color illustrations] story for children, about an encounter between a slow teenaged boy and the new magistrate in a small outport.

A novel about a midwife in a remote outport settlement.

[7-1/4x9-3/4 format] Less about the title community than about the commercial activities that took place there, in particular a photo tour of operations at the crab plant.

A novel set in St. John's in 2004, chronicling a year or so in the life of Gerry, a fairly ordinary older middle-aged man, and his interactions with those around him. Good writing style, but not a very interesting main character.

A Harlequin Romance novel, starring Nicola, a twenty-something spending her summer in an artists' colony in rural Newfoundland, somewhere in the vicinity of Gros Morne. Decent local detail at times, but could have been set in any rustic environment.

Purports to be about the title character, an outport Newfoundlander, and his homespun philosophies about various things, but really just a series of religious platitudes in poor disguise. And boring.

A novel consisting of nine loosely related stories strung together as chapters. Each tale takes place in a remote north coast Newfoundland fishing settlement, with lots of offbeat characters and lots of talk. The author seems to be taken with using the crossing of treacherous ice as a plot device. Some tales fairly interesting, some less so.

Subtitled "A History of Open Hall, Red Cliff and Tickle Cove, Bonavista Bay". A history of the three named communities. Academic in style, including extensive footnotes, but entertaining and appearing to be well researched. Likely to be of limited interest to those without ties to the communities.

A fairly slim account of a 1965 expedition to locate a German submarine beached and presumably abandoned in Labrador in 1944. Interesting at times, but also contains a lot of filler.

Retelling his father's (and others') stories as short stories and poems.

According to the back cover "... a comic novel of intrigue on Newfoundland's oil patch where the spies trip on their cloaks ...", but contains little humour, a weak comic book plot, and no ending.

Subtitled "Writing Newfoundland". A posthumous collection of twenty of Pierson's essays, primarily reviews (or more accurately - lengthy deconstructions) of books (mostly by Newfoundland authors), and reviews mostly previously published in periodicals such as "The Newfoundland Quarterly". Do these essays offer concise or coherent synopses of the books they claim to review? No. Instead, they look to be examples more of a bloated ego than attempts to provide useful information.

The script from a stage play about the Newfoundland sealing disaster of 1914. Maybe enjoyable when viewed in performance, but as a read it's just pages of back and forth conversations. Get Cassie Brown's "Death on the Ice" for an excellent read on this topic.

A talky and tedious series of stories about a Newfoundland banker and her fleet of dories, as they fish on the Banks in the 1930s. Claims to be based partially on real people.

Subtitled "Newfoundland elders: their lifestyles and values". To quote "an explanation of changing health care beliefs in Newfoundland during the first half of the twentieth century". Assumptions largely based on anecdotal evidence and supported by quotes from various of the 30 old timers interviewed for this study. All interviewee names disguised.

A sort of travel diary. Fine when actually describing places seen, but uses a lot of pages relating fragmented bits of Newfoundland history. Written by a mainland visitor, and unfortunately at times shows mainland biases.

[11-1/4x8-3/4 format] A color photo book of scenes around Newfoundland, including sparse commentary. Although some of the photos are excellent, most are of vacation snapshot quality.

Subtitled "Newfoundland, New York and the Distance Home". A memoir of sorts by a Newfoundland born and raised, New York City resident, centered on trips back to Newfoundland to a mythical town on the Southern Shore in the vicinity of Renews. Mixes remembrances of growing up with observations of the present day, with side trips to Toronto, Moscow and Spain. Not exactly a memoir, nor exactly a novel.

Subtitled "New Fiction from the Burning Rock". Sixteen short stories, most set in Newfoundland, by eleven authors, most with Newfoundland ties. The Burning Rock is a writers collective of sorts. A decidely mixed bag, and not all set in Newfoundland.

Subtitled "The Man, His Work, His Words". Russell was General Manager of the Newfoundland Railway from 1923 until his untimely death in 1949, just weeks before Confederation. This book is pretty much a tribute to him, and includes the texts of numerous speeches that he made to various groups, mostly in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Although not entirely factual - the railroad is presented as an example of a 1st class operation - the book is always interesting and contains numerous useful black&white photos.

Selections from Pratt's many poems. I am not a poetry buff, but this is better than most that I've seen of this type of book.

[11x8-3/4 format] A slim tale for the young reader, fully illustrated in color. Based on a true story from 1832 when a family and their Newfoundland dog rescued people from a shipwreck in a storm. An uninspiring telling with uninspiring illustrations.

A black&white illustrated children's tale. An odd story, and not noticeably set in Newfoundland.

[8-3/4x11-1/4 format] More promotion than history, with numerous full page ads from companies involved in the project. Slim text, but many high-quality photos, most uncaptioned.

A novel set in pre World War II Newfoundland. The central character is 18 year old Mageila, the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter, whose life in the small outport community of Feather-the-Nest has been shattered by a tidal wave that wiped out much of the community - and her entire family. She leaves the community and travels around before settling in St. John's and taking a position as a governess in a troubled household. Throw in a recurring romantic involvement with a married Englishman, and you have a well crafted work that demands a careful reading!

[8-3/4 x 10-3/4 format] An assemblage of seemingly random short vignettes (each no more than 1/2 page) of various places, customs, events, folklore and people, each accompanied by a more or less relevant color photo.

Later reprints titled "Historic Newfoundland and Labrador". Presented by the Department of Tourism. A booklet with coverage of a broad range of topics, including history, culture, languages, folklore, songs, place names and more. Quite entertaining!

A directory of what newspapers were published, when and where, and where copies still exist and are available to researchers.

Subtitled "Newfoundland" (this volume is entirely about Newfoundland). Takes an unusual slant on Newfoundland's history, both by being presented from a British viewpoint, and for including the areas outside the Avalon as being something more than just unimportant land that is neither St. John's nor Conception Bay, as many histories tend to do. And not about famous people either - you won't find much of Carson or Shea or Bond here - but instead about the settling of the country in specific locales for specific reasons (fishing, mining, trade, etc), and problems encountered (such as weather, isolation, and French and American claims). A 2007 reprint of photocopied pages from the original, and would benefit from somewhat larger and clearer print. By no means a light read, but very worthwhile nonetheless! Includes footnotes, sidebars and appendices.

To quote "This is the first large-scale history of Newfoundland and Labrador to be published in almost ninety years." A fairly weighty volume covering a wide scope. Generally appears to be fairly neutral in treating events and personalities, but in two brief chapters covers the post-confederation years with a very "rose colored glasses" view (resettlement in particular), the same years in which the author himself was in Government inner circles.

A slim (61 pages) book, as much about the surrounding area as about Quidi Vidi. Scattered events and people from over the years, plus some interesting black&white and color photos and drawings. Not a history of the people who lived there.

A posthumous re-publication in a single volume of the author's like titled two volume work, with brief appendices added. A history of the railroad - the planning and construction, the strengths and weaknesses, the railroad and government people involved. Numerous photos. None of the usual anecdotal stories. Very readable.

A history of the railroad - the planning and construction, the strengths and weaknesses, the railroad and government people involved. A slim volume with numerous photos. None of the usual anecdotal stories. Very readable.

Part two of the history of the railroad. Another slim volume with numerous photos. Again without the usual anecdotal stories. Very readable.

A very readable and detailed story, somewhat diminished by appearing to be an unofficially 'authorized' version, therefore tending to overstate the positive and achievements while reporting nothing at all negative.

Two hundred years of the parish - including priests, some marriages and deaths, and other details. Only if one has a deep interest in the subject and locale.

Subtitled "The Unsolved Murder of Dana Bradley". The tragic story of the disappearance and murder of a fourteen year old St. John's girl just before Christmas in 1981, still unsolved, and related some twenty years after the event. Told mostly from information appearing in newspapers and from interviews with the girl's friends and family. Seems to contain a lot of filler to make the story book length.

A slice of life, centering on a teenage boy and girl in and around Portugal Cove in the present day. Mystery, adventure, an ailing beloved relative, and the legend of a giant squid, adding up to a very good read for the intended teenaged audience.

A collection of fourteen unrelated stories, all by the author, twelve of which have been previously published. Leaning toward the dark or otherwise unsatisfied outlooks on life.

Subtitled "Stories from the Maritimes & Newfoundland". Thirty short stories from almost as many authors. Most of the stories are about family life around the holiday times. Mixed quality. The majority of the stories are not set in Newfoundland.

A slim (49 pages) work, covering topics including lawns, insects, trees and shrubs, and flowers. Sparsely illustrated with small drawings. To quote from the book "The subject of this guide is the growing of plants ...".

A coming of age novel. Michael, just turned 14, has lost both his parents in a car crash. He and his younger brother are then separated - parcelled out to relatives, with Michael having to move hundreds of miles within Newfoundland from his outport home to an urban center. The story details his rebellion to his new environment, and his attempts to adapt, to survive, and finally to escape.

A novel, the second in the author's four part "Honour" series. A young west coast Newfoundland girl is kidnapped by an older local man, who appears to the outside world to be a harmless loner. Again, as in the first book in the series, not a complicated plot, and at times stilted in style, but it moved right along. A quick and generally interesting read.

A young mainland woman and her young son arrive on the supply boat at a tiny remote NF south coast settlement in 1951. Why are they there? Where did they come from? Who are they? Although a bit stiff and stilted at times - due to both a lack of variety in sentence structure and somewhat limited vocabulary, and 'seriously' needing a copy editor for the many typos, the book was engrossing. Not a complicated plot - more akin to a Hardy Boys adventure than to Angels & Demons, but it moved right along. A good quick read, but did lose a bit with a sappy ending to wrap everything up neatly with a smile!

Subtitled "Merchant - Settler Relations in Newfoundland 1785-1855". Investigates the failure of the economy to diversify, primarily into agriculture. As is usual in these histories, lots of quotes from court cases, usually involving fishermen and planters vs merchants. Sometimes dry, but interesting, and has extensive notes and bibliography.

Oddly enough, the incessant carping at and blaming of the "old man" for everything wrong ends up making him out to be a good deal less of a monster than what the author attempts to portray. Weakened a bit at the end, but still a good read. Glad I didn't run into any of 'that' crowd!

The first part of a multi-part 'growing up' memoir, covering the author's early childhood in Harbour Grace and Bell Island. Certainly told with sly humour at times, but more often embellished, self-centered and self-indulgent. The author doesn't just reveal his supposed faults - he revels in them.

Subtitled "Newfoundland Nudes". [11-5/8x11-1/4 format] Black&white photos of rugged Newfoundland scenes, each including a nude man or woman or both, with minimal captions - often just a single word. Would be better as scenics without the nudes.

Subtitled "When Treasure Hunting Becomes a Spiritual Odyssey". A memoir of a professional wreck diver's years working in Newfoundland waters, mostly on the east coast, from the mid 1960s through the early 1980s. The "spiritual odyssey" is the author claiming to identify with a ship wrecked in 1867. The rest is essentially chapter after chapter of find a wreck, dynamite it, strip out any sellable metals, and mouth some platitude about history.