Here’s a sample of the writing I loved last week:

Ship Spotting, by Claudia Goodine, is a Walrus Magazine article about oil tanker traffic in Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. I knew this was a concern, but I didn’t understand quite how big a concern until now. A minimum clearance of 1.35 metres between tanker bottoms and the ocean floor? Seriously? After reading this article, I couldn’t understand why we weren’t all climbing into boats and blockading the harbour.

On a more sentimental note, this Ian Brown article on the meaning of fatherhood was thoughtful and wise. I dare you to read it without crying.

And, if you have a secret love of early chapter books like I do (or, okay, if you have a six-year-old in the house), Jacquie Pearce’s Flood Warning is great. It’s the story of the 1948 Fraser River flood, from the point of view of a resourceful boy who must help his mother find a way to save their small herd of dairy cows from the encroaching water. Jacquie’s writing is always lovely, and this is a page-turner of a mini-book. You’ll have to read it all in one sitting.

Happy reading!