Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Lakeland

Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada by Allan Casey 2009

Within Canada's borders are found 60% of the world's lakes, but until Lakeland, few books had been written about them. Nature writer Allan Casey visits 10 lakes, to meet the people who live and work on them, and assess how the lakes have changed over time. The result of this tour is a book both passionate about what is being done to the environment and entertaining in its observations about our Canadian society. He describes how local economies have moved from fishing and lumbering to servicing cottagers and tourists. One year-round resident wonders "How there got to be so many people who can afford million dollar vacation homes to sleep in 20 nights a year." The theme that binds these visits is that our love of our lakes also endangers them. They are being destroyed by rampant over-development and our ever-increasing standard of affluence. One local is quoted saying, "Newcomers think it's beautiful here. They don't know how beautiful it used to be".

Winner of 2010 Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction