Subtitled "The Secret Mission 1944-1945". A crewmember's story of a voyage back and forth from St. John's to Antarctica toward the end of the war. Much more mission than secret, but well written.

A slim volume of humorous tales centered around the outport of Pilley's Island. A little of this stuff goes a long way.

[8-1/2x10-7/8 format] A very slim (32 pages) illustrated tale of Sailor, the Newfoundland dog, who does not like to go into the water, until his owner's young son Ike falls into the icy harbour. For a young reader.

Subtitled "A History Of The Jews in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1770", and apparently trying to mention every single one of them. Some interesting and probably little known details of history, but a working knowledge of the yiddish terms that pepper the book would be helpful.

A novel for young readers. It's 1992, and the cod moratorium has hit 9-year old Katie Johnson's community hard. As most of the people that she knows move away, Katie and her mother and grandmother struggle to find a means to enable them to stay in their rural community.

[8-1/2x11 format] A slim book consisting of a couple of dreary Christmas season tales, accompanied by equally dreary black&white illustrations.

Subtitled "Refugees from the Third Reich and Newfoundland immigration policy 1906-1949". Well written, very detailed without being overly academic. Not flattering to Newfoundland.

Subtitled "The Slaughter of the Baby Seals". Essentially a mixture of adventure and travelog, as the author tells the tales of his anti seal hunt crusade. Lots of detail, with little convincing evidence against sealing, but plenty of half-truths, opinions and hearsay. Ascribes human characteristics to seals, and then plays this false image to the emotions of the public. Mostly a justification of the author's self appointed status as seal protector. [He co-founded the IFAW in 1969, making his living from that source for the next 30 years, and receiving a 1.7 million dollar (US $) payout when he left that organization. And this is the man who portrayed the sealers as being greedy!]

Subtitled "An Anthology of Writing From Newfoundland and Labrador". Stories and poems (many poems) meant to be used in 'adult basic education' and 'adult literacy' programs. Lots of Newfoundland content, but of decidely mixed quality.

A novel for boys, providing glimpses into the life in a small outport of a boy named Billy, from about the ages of 11 through 16 (1919 to 1923), including school, fishing on the Labrador, and various other activities and minor adventures.

Subtitled "Bringing the Three R's to Newfoundland's Remote Railway Settlements (1936-1942)". Everything you'd want to know about this subject, from the facilities to the towns to the people encountered.

Sixteen sea stories by fourteen authors, varying greatly in both length and quality. From the back cover "... sixteen tales of salty heroism and tragedy ...".

Subtitled "An Extraordinary Account of a Newfoundland Fishing Voyage". Seven weeks aboard a 65-foot trawler after turbot one hundred or so miles off northern Labrador in the summer of 1998. Well written, often gripping, and generally interesting other than for the occasional environmental moralizing and a brief Farley Mowat polemic as a "Foreword".

Subtitled "Sea Stories from Atlantic Canada". A hodge-podge of mostly previously published stories, mostly brief, and mostly mediocre, from a variety of writers, including the authors.

[11x8-3/8 format] Subtitled "Changing Lives and Times in the Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries". Six edited transcriptions of taped interviews with six Newfoundland fishermen, each relating his own reminiscences, anecdotes and opinions on life in general and the fishery in particular. Each interview stands on its own - there is no attempt to tie the stories together, other than that they are on the same general topic. Fortunately, a couple of the stories are quite good.

Eighteen short stories about heroism and tragedy at sea, all involving Newfoundland. While the stories may have more-or-less true origins, they are related more in the manner of folk tales than history. Includes a few black&white line drawings.

Subtitled "Twenty-five Years on the Front Lines with the Harp Seals". Essentially the author's loud horn-blowing tales of himself cast as the supreme ecological hero. More his boastful accounts of his supposed antics as a self-righteous anti-sealing crusader than about the seals. To quote "... something we had realized years ago. The media are not interested in facts." Other published sources use terms such as "pirate", "greedy", "extremist", "con man", and "misguided zealot" - and worse - when referring to him.

Apparently well researched, and attempts to present both "for" and "against" views of the hunt without employing the rigidness generally exhibited by both sides on this issue. Shows that while the hunt may not be for the weak of stomach, it is also no more brutal than many other sources of food production. Also reveals the emotional, and often deceitful, tactics employed by the better-known anti-sealing groups. Includes photos of some of the anti-sealing literature.

A history of twenty of the steamships that prosecuted the seal fishery. The individual ship histories vary somewhat in both length and quality, but the first chapter, a capsule history of sealing, and the last chapter, a requiem for the industry including a wonderful paragraph identifying the several factors contributing to its demise, make this a very worthwhile read!

Subtitled "A Pictorial History of the Newfoundland Seal Fishery". [11x9 format] An introductory history followed by photos of seals, sealers, ships and captains. All photos captioned.

A slim (64 pages) guide to the seashells to be found from Labrador to Florida. Profusely illustrated with color photos, with informative, although somewhat dry and technical, text. Although the majority of the shells are not found as far north as Newfoundland, still a worthwhile reference work.

Subtitled "The International Storm Over Canada's Seal Hunt". The seal hunt, starting with a history and quickly working up to the years of anti-sealing protests, and pro-sealing counter protests, through 1978. The author closely followed the action, and the book tends to be very detailed - at times reading almost like excerpts from newspapers pasted together. Although claiming to be neutral, the book actually tilts toward the seal hunt, while still remaining reasonably objective.

A history of the community of Bay Bulls on the Southern Shore area of Newfoundland. Includes a survey of various aspects of the history of the area, including settlement, military, political and religious, plus lots of names of inhabitants. Some black&white photos. Probably mostly of interest to someone with ties to the area.

Novel. Lots of local flavor (more in language than customs). A murder mystery, but doesn't hit its stride until around 2/3 of the way in, and even then the plot could just as well have featured the Hardy Boys!

A nature writer's visit to various small islands off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, including the Funks and those near Witless Bay. Very colorful, often dreamlike (and apparently often embellished), tales of encounters with local people and with the countless birds that inhabit these remote rocks.

A mystery novel "for readers 9 to 13". Several youngsters living in the Battery community at St. John's harbour have their suspicions aroused that a foreign trawler crewman who has been lurking around may be a dangerous spy!

Subtitled "A Roaring Cove Christmas Story". 33 pages. A stranger appears in the fictional community of Roaring Cove at Christmas time. Half story and half poems accompanying paintings of scenes from the story.

A romance novel from the "Heart's Desire - Romances of Newfoundland" line, which, according to an advert in the book, has two more titles. Conor McLowrie is from a poor background in a small cove near St. Anthony's, but, while living in St. John's, falls in love with Devon, a wealthy man from a snobbish St. John's family. She returns to her small town life, but by coincidence Devon later appears there and the romance is rekindled. Lots of local color and the expected upbeat ending.

A memoir of the settlement of the same name through the lives of one family. Not a novel, but assuming that the author isn't 120+ years old, I doubt that it's 100% a history either! Well written. Excellent local color.

A slim book containing a series of a dozen essays, most previously published in magazines, and all loosely connected by varying amounts of a Christmas theme.

Subtitled "A Portrait of Newfoundland after the Great Cod Collapse". A seven week circumnavigation of Newfoundland in a 50' sailboat in 1998, including stopovers at several coastal communities. Lots of musings on what has happened to the cod and how the communities have been affected by the moratorium - and how they survive, but no solutions. Well written (leaning toward an environmentalist point of view) and entertaining.

Subtitled "The Story of Nine Schooners Driven Out To Sea in the Fall of 1929". Starts with an informative introduction to Newfoundland in 1929, and follows with dramatized detailed accounts of nine schooners caught in a series of storms while sailing to their home ports from St. John's. Includes varying amounts of details about the vessels and crews, and some interesting black&white photos.

A novel loosely paralleling the life and times of the founder of a union identical to the FPU. Got a bit stiff and preachy toward the end.

A novel for young adults, set in a remote outport outside Corner Brook around the summer of 1960, when the first road to the rest of the world is still being built. The central characters are a 15-year old girl and two of her female cousins, and we follow them, their adventures, friendships, and loves, and the unearthing of a family secret. A fine read!

Subtitled "The Cutland Junction Stories". A novel consisting of 10 previously published short stories, loosely connected by all being set in the same small outport. Offbeat characters. At times dreamy, at times gritty, at times just strange!

A collection of 13 unrelated stories, ranging in length from 5 to about 50 pages, and on various topics portraying mostly unhappy and downbeat slices from the various fictional characters' lives. Much of it, including the one long story, is not about Newfoundland.

Large type, small pages, and many illustrations make this book appear to have more substance than it does. Seemingly written for a young audience.

Subtitled "The Archeology of the Beothuks". [10-1/2x8-3/4 format] A slim volume, with lots of modern archeology, lots of photos of relics, and lots of conjecture about the Beothuk.

Subtitled "An Exciting Story Of Rumrunning". An entertaining tale of a northern peninsula Newfoundland fidherman who gets involved with smuggling rum from St. Pierre during the time of American prohibition. An odd story, in that it tends to lionize a man who appears to be less a hero and more a dishonest violence prone thug, smuggler, and perpetrator of insurance fraud. Although the story is supposed to be true, it contains jarring anachronisms, such as references to Newfoundland $100 and $20 bills, which didn't exist (although such Canadian bills existed when the story was written), and many references to the 12-mile offshore coastal limit (which was a 3-mile limit until 1971).

Novel. A man's return to his Newfoundland heritage, where he attempts to start life anew, living in the abandoned outport house of his ancestors, working for a small local newspaper. Richly realized characters and excellent local texture.

A slim volume recounting in brief fashion the stories of a dozen shipwrecks in the waters around Newfoundland.

A second slim volume, this one recounting briefly the stories of fifteen more shipwrecks in the waters around Newfoundland.

A third volume, this one recounting briefly the stories of nineteen more shipwrecks in the waters around Newfoundland.

A fourth volume, this one recounting briefly the stories of twenty more shipwrecks in the waters around Newfoundland.

A condensed history presented as five chapters by six authors. The 3rd, 4th and 5th chapters, covering from around 1700 through the present, are the strength of the book. Stays generally neutral on controversial issues, such as the 'truck system' and Confederation, by presenting the conflicting views. No topic is covered in depth, but a lot is included in a relatively slim book.

[11x8-1/2 format] A very slim (32 pages) Christmas Eve tale told as young Barnaby Doyle's dream. Father Christmas leads the Christmas mummers, including Sir George and a Turkish knight. Color illustrations on every page.

[8-1/2x7 format] A very slim (47 pages) but profusely illustrated and informative book, with a general survey of Newfoundland history and more details about the area of St. John's near Signal Hill.

Subtitled "Newfoundland Women Artists And Writers". To quote "Ten prominent Newfoundland women writers to produce new literary works in response to the visual art of a Newfoundland woman artist of their choice". Each writer provides new work, mostly poetry, that is supposed to connect with the pictured art by the selected artist. Sixty-eight pages, including brief biographies of each writer and artist. Mediocre pretty well describes it.

Subtitled "Women of Newfoundland and Their Ships". From the back cover "This book illustrates women's involvement in fishing as sole owners and 'co-partners in trade' for more than three centuries in Newfoundland." Unfortunately, the task is accomplished largely by gathering and presenting seemingly every reference to a woman from various public records. Lots of information, but not much more interesting than reading a phone book.

A novel. From the back cover "family griefs and political chicanery along Newfoundland's Cape Shore in the early 1900s", centering around a woman who has suffered great personal losses and her only surviving child, a deaf daughter. The education of the deaf girl, inspired by the experiences of the author's mother, is the main theme, along with a teasing mystery concerning Newfoundland postage stamps that is spread throughout the book. An absorbing read!

A commentary written in 1583 by Edward Hayes, commander of the ship Golden Hind, about Gilbert's final voyage to Newfoundland. Slim, and more concerned with political and religious bowing and scraping than details of the events, but still interesting as a contemporary commentary.

A novel about a young woman from a Conception Bay outport near St. John's who goes off to college in America, becomes a nurse, and ends up serving in France with the Newfoundland regiment in World War I. Basically a romance novel, with a trio of persistent suitors providing for her education and living through most of it, but also contains a fairly vivid view of the war.

A slim undated booklet of two dozen colored sketches of various locales in Newfoundland and Labrador, claiming to have been drawn in the summer of 1857.

[9x6-1/4 format] A slim book (or booklet - 24 pages) of watercolor renderings of various buildings and scenes around St. John's. Includes scanty narration.

[8-3/4x8-3/4 format] A very slim book (only 32 pages), consisting of mostly color illustrations and a poem. A tale of a fishing trawler crewed by "skippers" (dogs), the rescue of seven elves (mice), and an encounter with vikings (cats).

Novel. A murder tale set in present day St. John's. A bit short on vocabulary and breadth of style, but a very quick read. Not really a great mystery, and other than for a lot of detail about the streets of St. John's (for which a city map comes in handy at times) could really have been set in almost any city.

A slim collection of fourteen of the author's short stories, set in various times and locales, most in Newfoundland. Generally interesting, although with a tendency to just tail off without any real endings.

A well crafted biography of Smallwood 1949-1971, but the author, who was in government with Smallwood, leans more toward apology and approval than to even-handed reporting.

A seemingly authorized biography (from the Author's Note page "Premier J. R. Smallwood made this book possible by granting me his full co-operation.") written while Smallwood was still Premier, but actually offering a blend of criticism, as exemplified by the following quote "Like most populists, who love the mass rather than the individual, it was always in Smallwood's nature to become a dictator. That he had won Confederation all but single-handed confirmed his conviction that he alone knew what was best for Newfoundland.", and praise. Covers the subject from birth to the present day (1968). Even when disapproving, always affectionate. An excellent read.

Subtitled "Memoirs of a Frontier Newfoundland Doctor 1937-1948". Actually only covers the time period 1937 to 1941. Mostly taken pretty much verbatim from Ecke's daily diaries. Interesting for the peeks at the day to day life of a young rural doctor, including his triumphs and frustrations, while providing care to people in isolated communities scattered around Notre Dame Bay. Provides less heroic and more gritty views of both himself and the local people than is typical for this type of memoir, but being based on a day to day journal, even edited, the story is often repetitive and at times tedious.

Purports to be the inside story of what it is 'really' like to start up and run a fishing camp in remote Labrador, but is more a memoir of his particular camp, of details and people involved with it, and of his ongoing belief that access to nearby fishing waters should be reserved primarily for his business use and restricted from the general populace.

Subtitled "Origins of English Settlement in Newfoundland". Where they came from, and where they settled. Lots of detail, references, statistics, tables, charts and graphs, but also a stiff writing style. Often dull, with the story tending to get buried under the details.

Subtitled "Padre Thomas Nangle: Chaplain to the Newfoundland Regiment WWI". A mix of biography, fragments of WWI Newfoundland history, and details about the creation of Newfoundland war memorials in Europe and St. John's. Uneven, with numerous often trivial details in some places, but only sketchy facts laden with conjecture in other places, and tending to be repetitious. Includes a photo section. For more rounded and in-depth coverage of Newfoundland's participation in the first World War, read "The Fighting Newfoundlander", "Pilgrimage", "The Trail of the Caribou", and "Trenching at Gallipolli".

A slim volume of brief descriptions of about three dozen edible plants and fruits, each accompanied by a black&white line drawing and information for preparation and cooking. A section of general recipes, such as for making jellies and wine, are also provided. While quite informative and entertaining, would be much better with color photos.

Purports to be autobiographical sketches of the author growing up in several outports, but reads more as entertainment based on embellishing some events and contriving others.

A slim (67 pages) and small [4x5-7/8 format] book describing 65 species of birds. Illustrated with black&white drawings.

A very thin (30+ pages) bit of finger pointing, blaming all problems in the fisheries entirely on what the author fancies as greedy private companies, and advocating some kind of government supported collectives to provide both fish and secure good paying employment to every person in every remote settlement. An anti capitalism diatribe when written and, as time and government intervention have long since demonstrated, proposals that have not been a solution for anything.

From the "Battleground Europe" series. Despite the title, the book is about the entire Battle of the Somme, not just about the Newfoundland Regiment's participation, nor only about Beaumont Hamel. That said, the book is a very readable telling of the actions, including the Newfoundland Regiment's participation, and includes excellent photos and diagrams. The rating is based on the relatively low amount of Newfoundland content - the overall quality of the book is excellent.

A novel of thirty related chapters, purporting to humorously explore problems of life on an Indian reservation in Newfoundland. Stating once that the reservation is in Newfoundland is the only Newfoundland content.

Subtitled "A Voyage to the Ice". Based on the author's master's thesis in anthropology. The author crewed on a 57-meter sealer on a month-long trip in the spring of 1979, and provides an interesting view of the hunt and the men who participate in it.

[10-3/4x8-1/4 format] A very slim (26 pages) novel for young readers, nicely illustrated by Shawn Steffler. The title character, a young girl, has an adventure.

Subtitled "Wilfred Grenfell's Labrador Volunteers". The author spent the summer of 1941 as a WOP (volunteer worker "with out pay") in Grenfell's missions, and then revisited the area many years later. The story of the mission and its volunteers, including brief biographies of several who later became famous. Very entertaining, with lots of interesting stories of the lives and work of these young volunteers.

Subtitled "150 years in the growth of St. Patrick's Parish Burin, Newfoundland 1833-1983". A very slim volume. Mostly early history accompanied by more recent photos.

A very slim undated booklet of about two dozen black&white photos, printed one or two per page, and each accompanied by a brief caption. Various places around Newfoundland are included, although mostly in the St. John's area. Includes an introduction extolling Newfoundland as a vacation destination and travel information. The front cover features an engraving of the head of a Newfoundland dog.

A slim undated booklet of about four dozen black&white photos, printed one, two, three or four per page, and each accompanied by a brief caption. Mostly of the St. John's area, but includes some from other nearby communities and a few from the west coast. The inclusion of photos of the Florizel while looking new dates this to around 1910. Includes an introduction extolling Newfoundland as a vacation destination and travel information. The front cover features an engraving of a view of St. John's harbour looking out toward the narrows.

A slim undated book of two dozen or so pages of black&white photos, one per page, each accompanied by a brief caption. The photos are all of St. John's and vicinity. Several of the photos are identified as being taken in 1909.

A slim undated book of two dozen or so pages of black&white photos, one per page, each accompanied by a brief caption. The photos are mostly of south coast settlements, from Burin west to Channel. A guess as to the era would be circa 1900.

A slim memoir of St. Jacques and nearby communities on Newfoundland's south coast. Topics include the bank fishery, the author growing up, and a few people known to the author. Includes some black&white photos. Looks to be mostly of interest to someone familiar with the area.

A memoir of living - and surviving - the depression years in Harbour Buffett.

A "MacFadden Romance" novel, with Benita, a prairie raised mainlander, who, more or less on a dare, leaves her big city office to spend the winter living alone in a large cabin on the shores of Grand Lake in Newfoundland. Alone, except for lots of wildlife and two handsome men who share a nearby winter cabin. Quite a lot of interesting details of winter living conditions.

[8-3/4x10-3/4 format] A slim volume of color photos. Includes a "List of Plates", with a brief description, often generic and mostly uninformative, for each photo.

[12-1/8x9-3/8 format] A volume of color photos taken throughout St. John's, including seemingly any and every topic, accompanied by narration that leans toward being a tourist souvenir.

[11x8-1/2 format] A photo history with captions, mostly 1890s-1930s. Some of the old photos are wonderful, but all suffer greatly from poor print quality.

St. John's history as seen through the great fires of the 19th century. Not a lot to it, being mostly a rehash of Newspaper articles and previously published work, including photographs.

Titled on the inside "City of St. John's, The Capital of Newfoundland - Illustrated Photogravures from Original Photographs by Newfoundland's Leading Artists". A slim undated book of two dozen or so pages of black&white photos, mostly one per page, of buildings and scenes around St. John's. Includes brief captions for each photo. Probably 1920s or earlier.

Primarily a brief autobiography, but contains interesting comments about the Pollux & Truxton disaster and the fluorspar mines. Includes a useful photo section.

Subtitled "Literature of Newfoundland and Labrador Book 2". An anthology of poems and short stories for junior high school students. Organized into four broad themes, with each story preceeded by an introduction and followed by questions or suggestions for further reading. All stories are about Newfoundland. ["Openings" and "Passages" are the companion volumes]

Subtitled "The Wrecking of the U.S.S. Pollux and the U.S.S. Truxton in the North Atlantic". A superior telling of the two American ships running aground in 1942 at Lawn Head and Chamber's Cove. Takes the reader aboard the ships with the crews.

A novel for young people, set in an outport in the early 1900s, starring 12 year old Maggie, who, fearing that a newly passed law will cause her beloved Newfoundland dog to be taken away from her, hides the dog. But then a bad storm arises, a steamer crashes on the rocks, and lives will be lost unless her dog can swim to the ship.

A novel set in outport Newfoundland, where the Starrigans, small forest dwellers (think furry "little people" or leprechauns without the magic) that normally avoid any contact with humans, decide to help find a very young child who has wandered off. Looks to be for middle grade schoolers.

An adventure novel for juvenile readers (ages around 9 to 12), starring Keira, a kidnapped Irish girl who is a well-treated slave of Viking settlers in northern Newfoundland, escapes, and is rescued by Beothuks. She then joins up with the Beothuks. A couple of handy, but highly unlikely, plot devices are then introduced - first that the Beothuk can easily converse with her in ancient Celtic, and second that she can learn the Beothuk tongue quickly and easily. The dialogues between the characters are presented in pretty much modern colloquial English, and Keira is presented as an almost all-knowing heroine, but the action moves along at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, the book is seriously marred by the addition of an "Author's Note" at the back - a brief diatribe that is opinion presented as if fact.

A slim volume consisting of a half-dozen stories of events in the general area of Newfoundland's northeast coast, including two plane wrecks, a ship wreck, and a forest fire. An easy read.

Subtitled "The Best of Ted Russell, No. 2". The second of three volumes of short stories, each volume edited by Russell's daughter. About two dozen tales, the majority previously unpublished, starring Uncle Mose, Grampa, Aunt Sophy and other inhabitants of the fictitious settlement of Pigeon Inlet. Generally enjoyable tales, though often a bit "tall".

A slight book written for the tourist trade. Historical items. Some of the stories are interesting, but there's no real depth.

An adventure novel that claims to be "for both young and old", but is mostly for the young. Told in the style of an autobiographical reminiscence by the central character, an inexperienced outport teenager who, upon the death of his father, takes to sea to fish as the skipper of his father's schooner, whereupon he instantly seems to have acquired vast experience about all subjects! The story tends to lapse into extraneous detail, and also into lengthy florid descriptions, but overall is a decent, but by no means compelling, read. Appears to take place just after confederation.

A mixture of thirty-one poems and short stories, with many of the stories having as a theme one of the fires that occurred in St. John's. The style appears to be for grade schoolers, but the topics appear to be for a somewhat older audience. Includes a section of crudely reproduced photos of scenes from St. John's.

A novel - a growing up story seen through the eyes of the title character from around ages 8 through 17. Takes place just outside St. John's in "Kellies", and centers around houses, schools and relatives. Gets better as it goes along, but never really held my attention.

A textbook for 7th and 8th graders. Presents Newfoundland's history as a series of topics rather than in a strict chronological sequence. Covers most every topic other than politics (although mining and farming are given only brief attention), but in avoiding politics many notable people, including Shea and Carson, are not mentioned. The fairly recent Commission of Government is also barely mentioned.

A survey of Newfoundland, written for school children. In 49 brief chapters covers topics from early history through confederation, including native peoples, settlement by Europeans, nature, the fisheries, mining, forestry and the paper mills, farming, aviation, and wartime.

Subtitled "Editorial Photos By Paul Daly". [12-1/4x8-1/4 format] A bevy of black&white newspaper photos from the 1990s through 2005, with descriptions. Maybe more impact when the events being covered were current.

Many very brief (most less than a page) stories, often odd, but all allegedly true. Uneven, but readable.

A collection of 14 short stories, most set in present day St. John's, and some previously published in various periodicals. A sampling of the main characters, all of whom are girls or women, includes (from the inside cover) "a six-year-old girl struggling to understand the destructive undercurrents of her family" and "a woman in night school trying to find a lost daughter through a series of writing exercises". Finely detailed. A worthwhile read.

Subtitled "A Photo History". [11x8-1/2 format] A history of the street cars, 1897-1948. Brief reprints of newspaper articles accompanied by captioned photos. Many excellent views of various parts of St. John's.

Subtitled "Women's Work in the Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries". [11x8-1/2 format] Ten women tell their stories, mostly in fairly current times.

A collection of 16 essays, with more emphasis on the process of the research than on the research itself. Assumedly of more interest to an academic in this field.

Purports to reveal all sorts of secret goings on involving the American military base. From the epilogue "How much .. is factual and how much is fiction?". Well, without footnotes or bibliography, or any proof of any of its assertions, it's fiction. And adding contrived scenes with clumsy conversations and a gossipy style only makes it uninteresting.

Subtitled "An Autobiography of a Foster Child". A story of a tough growing up, including lack of love and emotional and physical abuse (includes several years at Mt. Cashel). Also whiney. Lots of blame is ascribed, but never to himself, even for actions taken when approaching adulthood.

A slim collection of twelve of the author's short stories, set in various locales, mostly around Newfoundland. Generally interesting.

Subtitled "Tales from our Ocean Heritage". Tales of ships and shipwrecks in the seas around Newfoundland. The author's fifth book on this theme.

Subtitled "A Revised and Extended Version of 'Newfoundland in Canada'". The central theme is the good and bad (mostly bad) effects of confederation on Newfoundland, with the federal government almost entirely to blame for the bad. Often interesting, but also often preachy, pompous, tedious and tendentious. Tends to ramble and thereby dilute the arguments. If you're looking for balance - look elsewhere; this is essentially all about a single point of view. Chapters 1,2 and 8, three of the new chapters added to the original work, are also the weakest. No bibliography.

A fairly detailed story of what led to commission government, but suffers from a style crammed with quotes and ‘so and so said’ type references, without ever weaving the pieces into an entirely coherent whole.

Subtitled "Stories from St. John's and Beyond". Fifty-plus short stories about life in Newfoundland. Well done.

The title is the name of the main male character. Although it got a glowing two-page review in the Downhomer, I still liked it a good deal less than Kit's Law and Downhill Chance. Morrissey is quite the wordsmith, and certainly paints vivid mental images, but I just found both of the main characters to be lacking in depth.