Russell Books November Newsletter
Remembrance Day, Halloween photos and more!
“But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods . . .” That’s a quote by L.M. Montgomery, from Anne of the Windy Poplars, and I felt like it was an apt way to describe November. It has a liminal quality, as if it’s right on the cusp of change, major transition . . . It’s quiet, almost solemn, a slowly lightening room in the early hours of the morning. Right? Sorry. Maybe no one gets what I mean. Anyway. Whatever November is to you, please don’t let it keep you from intruding on OUR woods (i.e. the bookstore). We hope to see you soon.
And now, on to a Remembrance Day piece written by a far more accomplished writer than I (Jack Knox, guys!!!! Local celeb!)
Remembrance Day
Victoria’s Gordon Quan died the other day – the last, it is believed, of the 61 local Chinese-Canadians who enlisted in the Second World War. You can find their names on a Fisgard Street plaque.
More names – 176 men, three women – are etched in the Lost Airmen of the Empire memorial at the northern edge of Victoria’s airport. They died while training there at what, in the 1940s, was Canada’s third-largest airfield.
Not a lot of other clues to Canada’s wartime past remain in Victoria, though. Not a lot of links to all the personal stories, the human stories of loss, of sorrow, of mundane life. There’s no trace of the Yates Street plant where hundreds of civilian workers, most of them women, churned out parts for B-29 Superfortress bombers. No reminder of the time the air force accidentally rained practice bombs on houses in Cordova Bay. No sense of the anguish of worried families as a battalion of Vancouver Island’s Canadian Scottish Regiment waded ashore on D-Day; within four days, one third of those soldiers would be casualties.
As we approach Remembrance Day, books can connect us to that past. From Victoria historian Mark Zuehlke’s acclaimed Canadian Battlefield Series to The Spitfire Luck of Skeets Ogilvie, in which North Saanich’s Keith Ogilvie tells his parents’ story, they can convey time, place and context. Pierre Berton’s Vimy draws on personal accounts of the First World War battle that, to some, marked Canada’s transition from colony to country. Romeo Dallaire’s Shake Hands With The Devil delves into the flawed UN peacekeeping mission he led during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. From Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, to Farley Mowat’s memoir And No Birds Sang, to Ken Bell’s The Way We Were, a collection of Second World War photos, they remind us of Canadians worth remembering. ~Jack Knox
New Russell Books Stickers
You may recognize the sweet, canine face featured on our brand-new stickers — but in case you don’t, it’s our store mascot, Duke. We have always prided ourselves on being a dog-loving store, and this new sticker represents this philosophy. Is your laptop looking empty? Or perhaps your Owala is missing a nod to a local Victoria business? Either way, you probably need one of these.
New from our Vintage & Collectable Department
We have added quite a few treasures to our Vintage & Collectable cases and sections recently (including these gorgeous limited edition’s editions from The Folio Society). Curious about what else is in our Vintage & Collectable areas? You can browse some highlights from our cases here and find out more about the rest of the collection here. Our regular collection of clothbound editions by The Folio Society can be found here.
This very large and detailed edition of Gulliver’s Travels is a limited edition which includes an original etching signed by the illustrator. It comes in the original clamshell case and is hand-bound in vellum blocked in 22-carat gold, with vellum tips and oxford paper sides.
This gorgeous edition of The Temple of Flora is also a very large format limited edition which includes 2 loose prints with spine bound in Nigerian Goatskin. Also included in a commentary volume by Stephen Harris bound in buckram. Both volumes and prints are housed in a dark green cloth Solander clamshell box.
Staff Halloween
Look, our staff never goes halfway for Halloween. And nor should they. It’s a very literary day, when you think about the sheer number of gothic tales that have been celebrated over the years. Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca (my personal favourite), Twilight . . . What’s that? Should I not have lumped that one in with Emily Brontë? Hey. Don’t be a snob. Anyway, here is our talented staff looking even more adorable than usual in their costumes!
Costumes pictured above from left to right: Minions, Mouse and Cookie from If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Cowboy, Flynn Rider from Tangled, Steampunk, Emily Carr, A Lost Boy from Peter Pan, Skeleton and Emo band member.
Meet the Author Event
Stop by the store Saturday November 1st from 12-3 for a signing with author and hockey player George Pesut! Further details are above — you won’t want to miss this.
Thanks for Reading!
November can be a tough month — it’s getting darker earlier, your feet may perpetually feel cold (that could just be me), and rain becomes a daily occurrence. BUT. There are books, guys. There are always books. Before Wi-Fi, before AI, before Alexa, there were cows to be milked, wheat to be harvested (?) and BOOKS to be read. Go back to the basics this November, everyone. It’s the pastoral, country ideal that we all are craving, deep down. Chaucer! Thomas Hardy! James Herriott!! Come discover them at our store.
We’re here waiting for you :)
Want to follow us throughout the month for updates, new additions and more? You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and BlueSky You can also browse our stock and find more about upcoming events on our website.