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Urgent Appeal (July 2024)

We need books in the following languages: Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, Russian. All books must be soft covered.

Update June 2022: We are only accepting books on our wish list below. Please do not drop off other books as we cannot accept them at this time. Thank you.

Books we can’t accept

Unfortunately, there are many restrictions on what we can send to prisons. These are some of the most common things we can’t accept. These restrictions are subject to change at any time, and can differ from prison to prison.

  • Damaged books. Books should be in relatively good condition. No missing covers/pages, no highlighting/underlining, and the binding should be in good condition as well. If not, the prison officials will not accept them.
  • Hardcover books. Most prisons in Canada do not accept hardcover books so we prefer that you do not donate them. Also, hardcovers do weigh more and cost more for shipping.
  • Spiral-bound books.
  • Books on pornography.
  • Books on how to immobilize a person.
  • Canadian true crime books, if the subject(s) of the book(s) are presently in prison or on parole in Canada.
  • Books that critique Canadian police forces and carceral institutions. These are not officially banned, but most, if not all, Canadian prisons do not accept these. Sometimes this “ban” extends to critiques on USA’s prisons and police forces as well.
  • Other books can be banned as well but we have not been informed of the subject/titles at this time.

Books that are allowed

Just about anything else is allowed, including memoirs by prisoners.

Wishlist

What we are currently seeking is in constant flux. We post frequent updates on our Instagram account, including about new book requests. This is a short list of authors, titles, subjects, and genres that we are currently looking for.

Items in bold and highlighted are in high demand.

Genres/Subjects
  • Colouring books
  • English dictionaries
    • Thesauruses
    • Scrabble dictionaries
    • Rhyming dictionaries
  • Art Instruction
    • Drawing
    • Tattoo designs
    • Lettering and/or calligraphy
    • Northwest Coast Indigenous Art
    • Musical composition
    • Drawing with pencil or ink pens
    • Watercolour
    • Acrylics
    • Shading
  • Graphic novels and comic books
    • Superhero comics
    • Manga
  • True stories
    • Travel
    • Survival
  • DIY, basic fixing skills, housekeeping
  • Physics
    • Aerodynamics
  • Calculus
  • Mathematics
  • Geometry
  • History books
    • Black history (especially Canadian)
    • Vietnam War
    • Korean war
    • Wars in the middle east (Iraq, including Desert Storm, Afghanistan)
    • Ancient Greece (including Bosporan Kingdom)
    • Ancient Rome
    • Military
    • Military aviation
    • Atilla the Hun
  • Music and musicians (particularly rap and hip hop)
  • Writing/Composing music
  • First Nations
  • BC law books (old or new)
  • Philosophy (by or about)
    • Fredriche Nietzsche
    • Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    • Spinoza
    • Byung-Chul Han
    • and others
  • Psychology
    • Carl Jung (or books on tJungian psychology)
    • Gabor Maté
    • Self-harm
    • ADHD/Autism
  • Wellness
  • Relationships (couples and families)
  • Religion
    • Sikhism
    • Sikh history & religion
  • Mythology (Greek and/or Egyptian)
  • Astrology
  • Paganism
  • Wicca
  • Dream interpretation
  • Tai Chi
  • Hobbies
    • Origami
    • Gold panning
    • Musical instruments
    • Chess
  • Trades such as:
    • Small engine repair
    • Building small sheds
    • Construction
    • Masonry
    • Welding
    • Wiring
    • Electricity
    • Plumbing
    • Woodworking
    • Home repair
    • Framing
    • Roofing
    • Boat building
    • General contracting
    • Tiling
    • Blacksmithing (esp for beginners)
    • Cars/Automotive repair and mechanics
    • Bicycle repair
    • And books on women in trades
  • Sports books, including how-to books, Yoga instruction
  • Books about athletes
  • Writing and/or publishing
  • Building small cabins
  • Permaculture
  • Goat farming
  • Landscaping
  • Medicine
    • Cancer
    • Women’s health
  • Planes
  • Trains
  • Gems and geology
  • Geology in BC
  • Business (especially Canadian content)
  • Joke books
  • Guinness Book of World Records
  • Nature and animals (with photos)
  • Autobiographies on artists and musicians
  • Art
    • Street art
    • General art history
    • Mexican
    • Baroque
    • Salvador Dali
  • Fashion
  • Card tricks
Books in/about Other Languages
  • Tsilhqot’in
  • Nlaka’pamux
  • Any other Indigenous languages
  • Russian
  • Russian/English dictionary
  • Ukranian
  • Ukranian/English dictionary
  • Chinese/English dictionary
  • Hungarian
  • Hungarian/English dictionary
  • Latin
  • Vietnamese (novels, non-fiction)
  • Tamil
  • Punjabi
  • Arabic
  • Italian
  • Romanian
  • Hindi
  • Urdu
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese
Special Formats
  • Large print books
Language Learning
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Hebrew
  • Japanese
  • Chinese
  • Croatian
  • Armenian
  • Polish
  • Punjabi
Authors/Titles/Series
  • Star Wars
  • Star Trek
  • Romance books by Black Authors
  • Japanese novelists in general
  • Grimm’s Fairy Tales
  • Graphic novels by BIPOC authors
  • Manga, Naruto, One Piece
  • For Dummies series
  • The Walking Dead (series)
  • Anne Appelbaum
  • Dante Alighieri
  • Margaret Atwood – Oryx and Crake Trilogy
  • Fiona Barton
  • Brene Brown
  • Pierce Brown
  • Stuart Brown
  • Christian Cameron
  • Noam Chomsky – Manufacturing Consent
  • Cassandra Clare – The Infernal Devices (Trilogy)
  • James Clavell
  • Suzanne Collins – A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Hunger Games (Trilogy)
  • Bernard Cornwell
  • Patricia Cornwell
  • Robert Crais
  • James Dashner
  • Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Christo
  • Ken Follett – The Evening and the Morning, A Column of Fire, The Armour of Light
  • Namina Forna – The Gilded Ones
  • Candice Fox
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Kami Garcia – Caster Chronicle (series), Beautiful Creatures (series), other series
  • David Gemmell
  • Andrew Gross – The Blue Zone
  • Joe Halderman
  • Peter F. Hamilton – Pandoras Star & Judas Unchained
  • Thich Nhat Hanh (any books)
  • Kim Harrison – The Hollow (series)
  • Max Hastings
  • Chris Hedges
  • Frank Herbert
  • Helen Hoang
  • Colleen Hoover
  • Hugh Howey
  • Conn Iggulden
  • Lisa Jewell
  • Leah Johnson – You Should See Me In A Crown
  • William W. Johnstone
  • Rupi Kaur
  • Caroline Kepnes (series includes You, Hidden Bodies, You Love Me, For You and Only You)
  • Alex Kershaw
  • Naomi Klein
  • Michael Mammay
  • George Man
  • Alexa Martin
  • George R. R. Martin – Game of Thrones (Series) or other books
  • Steve Martini
  • Robert K. Massie
  • Gabor Mate
  • Graham McNeill – Gods of Mars & Lords of Mars
  • Richelle Mean – Vampire Academy (1-6)
  • Herman Melville – Moby Dick
  • Marissa Meyer
  • Madeline Miller
  • Haruki Murakami – 1Q84 (and other books)
  • Miyamoto Musashi
  • Huey P. Newton – To Die for the People
  • Friedrich Nietzsche
  • Nnedi Okorafor
  • Christopher Paolini
  • Mario Puzo
  • Ayn Rand – Atlas Shrugged (and other books)
  • Doublas Rees
  • Erich Maria Remarque – All Quiet on the Western Front
  • Rick Riordan
  • Rebecca Roanhorse
  • Kim Stanley Robinson – 2140 (and other books)
  • James Rollins
  • J. K . Rowling – Harry Potter
  • Simon Scarrow
  • Sista Souljah
  • Brandon Sanderson
  • Eckhard Tolle
  • Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching (any English translation)
  • Leon Uris – Trinity (or other books by this author)
  • Andy Weir
  • Martha Wells
  • Peter Wohlleben – The Inner Life of Trees
  • Xiran Jay Zhao

Drop off books

Please email us to donate books or drop off items at the following location:

  • Spartacus Books at 1983 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Shipping is our biggest expense. If you wish to donate money you can make out a cheque to Books to Prisoners and send it to us by mail:

Books to Prisoners
P.O. Box 78005
1755 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC  V5N 5W1