This is a bit of a long shot, but I'm not having much luck on Amazon. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good books that would fit any of the following vague categories:

Emigration to Canada (historical)
History of Nova Scotia
Emigration from Scotland (historical)

or even a good fiction book on a historical emigration/pioneer type topic??

the "further reading" section in Wikipedia can be a good source for book titles. The article on immigration to Canada has these suggestions:

• Kelley, Ninette; Michael J. Trebilcock (2010), The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy (2nd ed.), University of Toronto Press, ISBN 9780802095367, http://books.google.ca/books?id=3IHy...epage&q&f=true
• DeRocco, John F. Chabot. (2008) From Sea to Sea to Sea: A Newcomer's Guide to Canada Full Blast Productions, ISBN 9780978473846
• Driedger, Leo; Shivalingappa S. Halli (1999), Immigrant Canada: demographic, economic, and social challenges, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0802042767, http://books.google.ca/books?id=6WlP...epage&q&f=true
• Moens, Alexander; Martin Collacott (2008), Immigration policy and the terrorist threat in Canada and the United States, Fraser Institute, ISBN 9780889752351, http://books.google.ca/books?id=Hmiq...epage&q&f=true
• Powell, John (2005), Encyclopedia of North American immigration, Facts On File, ISBN 0816046581, http://books.google.ca/books?id=VNCX...epage&q&f=true
• Walker, Barrington (2008), The History of Immigration and Racism in Canada: Essential Readings, anadian Scholars' Press, ISBN 9781551303406

There's a whole article on books about the history of Nova Scotia

Happy hunting!

A little OT but you might enjoy No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod.

http://books.google.com/books/about/...d=6OXJqpfgCX8C

thanks for the suggestions - I wouldn't have thought to look at wikipedia! I did manage to track down one book 'Scotland Farewell' which is about the voyage of the Hector, the first ship from Scotland to Nova Scotia in the 1770s, but I'll definitely have a look at the others. The Alistair McLeod one looks interesting as well, thanks!