THE INVENTION OF THE WORLD By Jack Hodgins, Ronsdale, 354 pages, $18.95
A blend of high farce and epic tragedy, Invention tells the story of Vancouver Island's Revelations Colony of Truth, founded 80 years before by Donal Keneally, who persuaded an entire Irish village to emigrate to Canada to be his slaves.
THE GIN & TONIC GARDENER: Confessions of a Reformed Compulsive Gardener By Janice Wells, Key Porter, 180 pages, $17.95
It's spring, and if you're compulsive about your gardening, you've already started. But if you'd rather enjoy your garden than work on it, this lively and funny (and surprisingly informative) book is just the thing.
THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE By B. Traven, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 308 pages, $18.95
The best known work of the mysterious B. Traven, in which three Americans search for gold in the mountains - and find it, with tragic results - was first published in 1935, and later made into the classic film by John Huston.
THE BEST OF TIMES By Penny Vincenzi, Headline, 880 pages, $11.99
British writer Vincenzi's opus could be the beach novel for this summer. Several characters come together in a horrific crash on a large motorway, changing all their lives in unforeseeable ways.
MADE FOR EACH OTHER: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond By Meg Daley Olmert, Da Capo, 291 pages, $20
Olmert ranges through history, behavioural psychology, neuro-science, zoology and anthropology to examine the relationship between humans and the animals who share their space.