25 B.C. Books to Read in the Bathtub

Every year, February 9 marks Read in the Bathtub Day (yes, really). What books should you have on hand, ready to devour on this relaxing day? Don’t worry, we have lots and lots (and lots) of suggestions. We present more than two dozen B.C. books for every taste.

Fiction

1. The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens

Nanaimo author Chevy Stevens has set her latest psychological thriller, The Hitchhikers (St. Martin’s Press), in 1976 and filled it with tiny details that bring the time period vividly to life. In this suspenseful novel, a Seattle couple reeling from multiple miscarriages and a stillborn baby embark on a road trip through Canada. They offer a ride to a young Canadian couple who, they eventually discover, are on the run from B.C. law enforcement. This thrilling survival story will keep you turning pages until your bathwater goes cold.

2. Adrift by Lisa Brideau

Set in the Pacific Northwest of 2038, Adrift (Sourcebooks) tells the story of one woman struggling to regain her memory and to survive in a world ravaged by climate change. Vancouver-based Lisa Brideau clearly drew upon her work as a sustainability specialist, along with her master’s degree in urban planning from UBC, to craft a genre-bending tale of climate fiction that interweaves elements of speculative mystery and psychological suspense.

3. Bonded by Thorns by Elizabeth Helen

Bonded by Thorns (Sourcebooks) is a spicy retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale, but with four beasts instead of one. This “why choose” romantasy novel is the first in the bestselling Beasts of the Briar series—a viral sensation on BookTok—by Elizabeth Helen, which is the combined pen name of two sisters from Vancouver Island.

4. Pools by Martin West

Set in the hedonistic party culture of 1980s Vancouver, Pools (Anvil Press) is a darkly funny novel about one man grappling with both estrangement from his wife and the aftermath of a drowning. Born in Victoria, author Martin West now lives in Calgary.

5. The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer

A hockey coach finds himself falling for the newest member of his staff in The Wild Card (Dell), the latest book in the Vancouver Storm series about a fictional hockey team. This steamy romance was penned by Vancouver author Stephanie Archer, whose previous spicy novels have gone viral on BookTok.

6. The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee

Set in contemporary Vancouver, The Hunger We Pass Down (McClelland & Stewart) is a horror-tinged story of intergenerational trauma in a Chinese Canadian family. Burnaby resident Jen Sookfong Lee’s taut tale—which was longlisted for Canada Reads 2026—will resonate with anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by the everyday demands of modern life.

7. Maybe This Once by Sophie Sullivan

Opposites attract in Maybe This Once (St. Martin’s Griffin), a cozy small-town romance with dual points of view. Chilliwack author Sophie Sullivan has crafted a sweet story that’s guaranteed to deliver a happily ever after.

Non-Fiction

8. Pillow Talk edited by Angelina Jimenez and Heather Hendrie

Eighteen writers share their most revealing first-person stories about masturbation, asexuality, polyamory and other intimate topics in Pillow Talk: Real People. Real Stories. Real Awkward. (Tidewater Press). One of the editors and several of the contributors to this hilarious anthology hail from British Columbia.

9. The Sea Captain’s Wife by Tilar J. Mazzeo

The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World (St. Martin’s Press) by Vancouver Island resident Tilar J. Mazzeo tells the true story of Mary Ann Patten, the first woman to captain a merchant ship. It was in 1856 that 19-year-old Mary Ann and her husband, Joshua, set sail from New York along the coast of South America. After Joshua became deathly ill, and the ship’s first mate got tossed in the brig for encouraging mutiny, Mary Ann took charge and sailed the vessel through the treacherous Drake’s Passage. Mazzeo’s carefully researched account of this remarkable trip is non-fiction that reads like page-turning fiction.

10. Cheapskate in Lotusland by Steve Burgess

Mixing funny memoir-style confessions with economic philosophy, Cheapskate in Lotusland: The Philosophy and Practice of Living Well on a Small Budget (Douglas & McIntyre) explores how Steve Burgess has managed to survive for decades in Vancouver—one of the most expensive cities on the planet—despite earning a modest income. This entertaining tome reveals how to embrace living frugally while avoiding feeling deprived or despondent.

11. Curling Rocks! by John Cullen

John Cullen’s experience as a stand-up comic, a former elite curler and the host of the CBC’s six-episode podcast Broomgate: A Curling Scandal all made him uniquely qualified to write Curling Rocks! Chronicles of the Roaring Game (Douglas & McIntyre). The book offers a lighthearted but detailed history of the beloved winter sport played with stones and brooms. Originally from White Rock, Cullen now lives in Calgary.

12. Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives by Margot Fedoruk

Margot Fedoruk moved from Winnipeg to British Columbia in 1989 at age 23. Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives (Heritage House) documents her years spent working on the northern coastline of the province, settling on Gabriola Island with her partner and two daughters, and being a modern-day fishwife. Scattered throughout her offbeat memoir are recipes, some from the Eastern European fare of her Slavic-Jewish childhood and some from the cuisine of B.C.’s coast.

13. Of Floating Isles by Kawika Guillermo

As a queer, mixed-race individual, Kawika Guillermo sought a sense of belonging and community within the imaginative worlds of video games. Guillermo’s collection of personal essays, Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games (Arsenal Pulp Press), looks at the role of video games in our lives in general and the author’s life in particular. Guillermo teaches game studies at UBC.

14. Journeys to the Nearby by Elspeth Bradbury

Over the course of a year, West Vancouver resident Elspeth Bradbury studied her own garden with a sense of curiosity and wonder usually reserved for travel writers describing exotic locations. Filled with gentle humour, Journeys to the Nearby: A Gardener Discovers the Gentle Art of Untravelling (Ronsdale Press) will inspire you to look at the familiar in a whole new way, and perhaps embark on a backyard journey of your own.

15. This and That by Emily Carr

The revised and updated edition of This and That: The Lost Stories of Emily Carr (TouchWood) features the Victoria artist’s final writings, including five never-before-published autobiographical stories, along with 20 of her illustrations and art pieces.

16. Searching for Serafim by Ruby Smith Diaz

Most Vancouverites are familiar with the name Joe Fortes, which is emblazoned on a popular seafood restaurant, a branch of the Vancouver Public Library and a Canada Post stamp, but not everyone knows who Fortes actually was. Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes (Arsenal Pulp Press) tells the true story of Vancouver’s first lifeguard, a Black man who arrived in Canada from Trinidad in 1885 and went on to save countless people from drowning. Ruby Smith Diaz examines Fortes’s life against the backdrop of settler colonialism and anti-Black racism prevalent at the time.

17. Seventy-Two Seasons by M.A.C. Farrant

Victoria resident M.A.C. Farrant felt inspired by the Japanese practice of dividing the calendar into 72 kō (microseasons), a new one every five days. In Seventy-Two Seasons: A Memoir About Noticing (Ronsdale Press), she spends a year documenting the small seasonal changes around her in short essays, weaving in literary references and arcane facts.

18. The Codfish Dream by David Giblin

Anyone who fishes knows that (mostly) true fish tales just get better with age and retelling. Author David Giblin spent 15 years working as a West Coast fishing guide, coping with eccentric small-town workers and difficult wealthy guests. The 47 interconnected narratives in The Codfish Dream: Chronicles of a West Coast Fishing Guide (Heritage House) describe one eventful summer on Stuart Island.

19. Bloom by Nicole Breit and Claire Sicherman

For more than two years, Claire Sicherman and Nicole Breit exchanged letters about what it was like to come of age in the suburbs of Vancouver during the late 1980s. Bloom: Letters on Girlhood (Caitlin Press) captures how awkward and tumultuous female adolescence is, with the confusing and often-unwelcome appearance of periods and body hair. This raw and insightful memoir-in-letters also delves into identity, shame and how patriarchy and misogyny have affected the lives of Sicherman, who is Jewish and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and Breit, who is queer and neurodivergent.

20. Instead by Maria Coffey

When Maria Coffey was in her 20s, she almost drowned in Morocco, and then her boyfriend died on Mount Everest. These two traumatic events spurred Coffey to prioritize freedom and avoid loss, filling her life with adventures instead of babies. Part memoir, part travelogue, Instead: Navigating the Adventures of a Childfree Life (Rocky Mountain Books) examines the effects that deciding never to become a parent has had on Coffey, especially after she partnered with a man who wanted offspring. Coffey splits her time between British Columbia and Spain.

21. A Perfect Day for a Walk by the Water by Bill Arnott

From riding a SeaBus to going scuba diving near West Vancouver, Bill Arnott travels around West Coast waterways and coastlines in A Perfect Day for a Walk by the Water: Exploring Vancouver’s Shores (Arsenal Pulp Press). This eclectic guide overflows with maps and photographs.

22. Room at the Inn by Glen A. Mofford

Filled with entertaining anecdotes, careful research and an abundance of archival photography, Room at the Inn: Historic Hotels of British Columbia’s Southern Interior (Heritage House) profiles 40 hotels from the 1890s to the 1950s. But Glen A. Mofford has done more than just describe long-forgotten hotels, inns, resorts and roadhouses—he’s crafted a social history that brings to life B.C.’s mining towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which welcomed prospectors, settlers and tourists.

23. Always On Call by Marion McKinnon Crook

In the sequel to Always Pack a Candle, Marion McKinnon Crook has been living and working as a nurse in the Cariboo for more than a decade. She and her husband have a ranch, three children and several farm animals. Always On Call: Adventures in Nursing, Ranching, and Rural Living (Heritage House) shows the hectic reality of being a wife, mother and public health nurse in the 1970s in rural British Columbia.

24. The Great Canadian Bucket List by Robin Esrock

The latest edition of The Great Canadian Bucket List: One-of-a-Kind Travel Experiences (Dundurn Press) is filled with unique adventures in the Great White North, from encountering polar bears to sipping the world’s most memorable cocktail. Vancouver writer Robin Esrock has travelled to all seven continents, visiting more than 120 countries along the way, and he’ll inspire you to explore every province and territory in Canada, even if only from the comfort of your bathtub.

Comics

25. The Canada Handbook by Adrian Raeside

Vancouver Island cartoonist Adrian Raeside touches on universal healthcare, strong beer, short election cycles, wild landscapes and other national points of pride in The Canada Handbook (Harbour Publishing), a collection of tongue-in-cheek cartoons about life in the True North Strong and Free.