After I finished High School in 1972, I decided to take a gap year and went for a quick backpack trip to New Zealland. Four years later I returned home to Canada with thousands of slides and many more memories. I spent two years in the Ausralian Outback, mostly in western Australia and Queensland. Motorcycle adventure became part of my life. I left Australia and headed up to Southeast Asia visiting Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos. I then spent some time in Burma before heading into ...

"surprisingly funny and insightful" - The BookLife Prize"Vern digs deep into the brooding and insightful Haee, a feline with few expectations for his modest life—and who longs to be both invisible and seen." - BookLife Review"witty and deeply philosophical… We will never look at felines the same way again after reading this moving novel." - rated 5 stars by Readers’ FavoriteIn an age of co...

An all-out drug war explodes in 1970s Detroit when a young Vietnam veteran decides to rip off heroin kingpin Willis McDaniel. In the chaos, rival outfits, the Mafia, and even junkies themselves try to step in to fill the void while one lone assassin tries to hunt them all down—and one determined cop tries to stop it all.Vern E. Smith formerly served as the Atlanta Bureau chief and as a national correspondent for Newsweek. As a principal reporter with Newsweek's Special Projects Uni...

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves German professor Otto Lidenbrock who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the centre of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans descend into the Icelandic volcano Snæfellsjökull, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy, at the Stromboli volcano. The genre of subterrane...

France, 1917. Four wounded Canadian soldiers recover in a field hospital in the wake of the battle for Vimy Ridge, waiting to find out where they’ll be sent next: back home or back to the front. Along with a young nurse from Nova Scotia, they share their stories, reasons for fighting, and treasured memories. In Vimy, Governor General’s Literary Award–winner Vern Thiessen brings us a classic play that is not about war, but a reflection of the everyday lives of soldiers—their hopes and their...

What happens when hate and misinformation start to shape the beliefs of voters and the policies of governments? Can our democracy survive if each political party’s base is driven by an alternative view of reality? This scenario is playing out before our eyes. Most of us know that the Canadian political landscape is different than it was even ten years ago, but we don’t know why. Worse, we’re caught up in the noise of social media, “alternative facts,” and conspiracy theories that skew our ...

What if following God was never meant to be complicated, only surrendered?In Following God Is Easy: So Why Do We Make It So Hard?, Vern Kaska III invites readers into a deeply personal and thought-provoking journey through faith, doubt, and the everyday struggles of walking with God. Written with raw honesty and relatable vulnerability, this Christian living book speaks to both lifelong believers and those still searching for truth.Vern does not wr...

From Animal Sacrifices to Kings: How Mediators in the Bible Point to Final Redemption Through JesusHow can immoral people approach a holy and just God? Humanity's only hope of overcoming the barrier of sin is through Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men" (1 Timothy 2:5). This theme of mediation is at the core of the Old Testament. From animal sacrifices and altars to prophets, kings, and priests, each symbol conveys the authority, power, and presence of God...

It is quite an assertion to claim that one is filled with the Spirit of God. What does a person offer as proof that this is actually true? Pentecostals at the turn of the twentieth century read the Bible, debated the issue, and then proposed an evidence they thought the scriptures indicated was the primary verification of Spirit-baptism. It was determined that the evidence to prove one had been baptized with the Holy Spirit was that the person had spoken in an unknown language as prompted ...

An in-depth study of the world's only aikido instructor turned movie star/director/writer/blues guitarist/energy drink inventor, the ass-kicking auteur Steven Seagal. The hilarious "instant cult classic", hailed by the New York Post, Entertainment Weekly and even Time magazine, is back, updated and extended with 10 new chapters! Brand new material includes Vern's hilarious deconstruction of Seagal's appearance in the Robert Rodriguez movie Machete, and coverage of Seagal's own hit reality ...

An Apostolic Vision for Reaching the NationsThis book is a compelling biography of Donald A. McGavran, the founder of the Church Growth Movement. Drawing from primary sources and personal interviews, Middleton presents a deeply researched account of McGavran’s formative years, missionary service in India, and the development of his missiological insights. Born to missionary parents in India, McGavran’s early experiences shaped his lifelong passion for evangelism an...

This in-depth study of two black neighborhoods in the wake of Hurricane Katrina vividly captures the struggle and uncertainty in the process of rebuilding.Hurricane Katrina was the worst urban flood in American history, a disaster that destroyed nearly the entire physical landscape of a city, as well as the mental and emotional maps that people use to navigate their everyday lives. Left to Chance takes us into two African American neighborhoods—working-cla...