April Random CAT: Earth Day

For April, read a book that points out our differences are small in light of the fact we all are from this one small blue ball, our only home in a wide unknown sea of stars.

I'm thinking of books that show that a healthy environment and peace between all peoples are what we have to strive for. But certainly dystopias showing the harm done by religious or nationalistic wars and the destruction of our planet.

Clear as mud?

Don't forget to update the wiki: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2016CC_RandomCAT#April

I'm planning on reading Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer for this CAT.

Right now I'm planning on reading The Death and Life of Monterey Bay which is about the revival of Monterey Bay and how various groups had to work together to ensure the survival of the local wildlife.

This is a thought-provoking theme! Hmm, I think I might have a couple of dystopias that would fit this.

I'm not sure I have anything in the TBR that fits. Would Tracy Kidder's Strength in What Remains work? Or is it too far off track?

I'm planning to read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which has been on my TBR shelves for quite some time. I should have read it years ago soon after it was first published.

Does anyone here have any recommendations from your previously read books that would work for April? I usually tagmash my way through the LT-scape of potentials, but am not having as much luck for this one.

My library has this book, so unless I can get some good ideas from the group, I’ll probably go with:
I shall not hate: A Gaza doctor’s journey, Izzeldin Abuelaish

In exchange, here are some titles that I think would fit this CAT from my list of books read:
The day the world came to town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland –local hospitality to citizens of many countries
Silent night: the story of World War I Christmas truce, Stanley Weintraub - nonfiction, 1914
Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet, Jamie Ford – friendship of a Chinese and a Japanese child in 1940s Seattle
Major Pettigrew’s last stand, Helen Simonson – prejudice, relationships

And maybe some of these might fit:
Pomegranate soup, Marsha Mehran - Iranian immigrant restaurant in Ireland
People of the Book,Geraldine Brooks – saving the Haggadah through the centuries
Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand – POW’s working together to survive
An elephant in the garden, Michael Morpurgo – escaping Dresden 1945, kindnesses of strangers
Random passage aka Cape Random, Bernice Morgan – outcast immigrants band together to survive
The story of beautiful girl, Rachel Simon – 2 differently-abled people escape from a mental institution and help each other
A faraway island, Annika Thor – Jewish children from Austria evacuated to live with Swedish families
The sandcastle girls, Chris Bohjalian – Americans trying to intervene in the Armenian genocide 1910s
Hiding places, Erin M. Healy – hiding Japanese-Americans , 1940s; homelessness
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali – women’s rights – Kenya, Somalia, Holland, Saudi Arabie
The midwife, Jennifer Worth – nurses living & working in low-income sections
Caleb’s crossing, Geraldine Brooks – puritans and Wampanoags co-existing
The orchardist, Amanda Coplin – created families
Mrs. Mike, Benedict Feedman – Irish American in Alberta Canada
The horse boy, Rupert Isaacson – Texan learning from Mongolians
Inside out & back again, Thanhha Lai – Vietnam immigrants in Alabama
Hana’s suitcase, Karen Levine – holocaust victim remembered, teaching later generations
Consumption, Kevin Patterson – mainland doctors helping inuits at Rankin Inlet, Canada
Great son, Edna Ferber – settling of Seattle by many immigrants
The arrival, Shaun Tan –graphic novel depicting immigrant to another planet being helped and in turn, helping

>7 countrylife: Thanks for that list, Cindy. I think I have some of those books on my shelves. I think this is a theme that is wide open for interpretation. Since I love dystopias, I am off to go through my books and see what I come up with.

I'm tentatively planning to read Earth by David Brin.

I think I've found a couple of books in my library at work that will fit. I'm considering either The Reenchantment of Nature by Alister McGrath or Pollution and the Death of Man by Francis A. Schaeffer.

>5 cbl_tn: Sure. I can't see why that wouldn't fit.

>7 countrylife: Great list.

Let's not overthink this. Anything that ties in with caring (or the horror of not doing that) for the planet and people and animals and flora or whatever, works.

>9 mathgirl40: Earth looks really good. Another book to add to the wishlist!

I am going to go the dystopian route for this theme. I have both Wool and Annihilation lined up for next month.

I think I'll read Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, because Earth getting invaded by Daleks is a pretty sharp reminder that we're all in this together.

I think I'm going to go with the Schaeffer book since I need a book about the environment for my Bingo card. I may also listen to Strength in What Remains if it's available at the right time.

I just picked up Last Chance to See: In the Footsteps of Douglas Adams, the follow-up volume to Last Chance to See, which is about animal conservation. I already know it will be interesting, scary, and funny; there's a reason Mark Carwardine and Douglas Adams became friends instantly - they have a very similar sense of humor.

Oh. So it IS about THE Earth Day. I misunderstood your challenge description, majkia. Sorry!

healthy environment and peace between all peoples

This would be nice to find a book about, but I'm not quite sure what's out there to cover it! I'm certain I have plenty of dystopia on my tbr, though. We'll see what I can find!

>7 countrylife: Are you "Cindy", too!? :-)

Hmmm, I hadn't thought of The Day the World Came to Town, but that's on my tbr! Good idea!

I will probably also see what's on my tbr tagged "environment" and see what else I can come up with.

Anything that ties in with caring (or the horror of not doing that) for the planet and people and animals and flora or whatever, works.

Thanks, this helps! I'm sure I've got plenty tagged "environment" that would work, as well, then!

>17 -Eva-: Ooh, I'll be interested to hear what the updated version is like!

I've got The Last Rhinos: My Battle to Save One of the World's Greatest Creatures by Lawrence Anthony on my "to read" list and I think it would work well. Lawrence had to negotiate with both the Resistance Army and the government of Uganda to make changes necessary to save the white rhinos.

Thinking about Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Great theme and so many options. My first idea was The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (dystopia), but I think my first choice will be Karkloof Blue (no touchstone) by Charlotte Otter, a crime novel set in South Africa. The protagonist is caught in the crossfire bewteen a paper manufacturer and an environmentalist group who wants to protect the nature of the area to be sold. (I think the English version ist not published yet, at least I can't find it anywhere.)

I love the theme, though I have no idea what I'm going to read--I have so much that fits, I'll have to take some time to look and think about it :) Those of you who read the Last Chance to See books are in for a treat, though :) My personal challenge may end up being to make sure I read something from my TBR instead of reading those, now that I've been reminded of them!

So excited to find The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant is available from my local library!

Excerpt from a review by Christopher McDougall: "Vaillant introduces us to characters like Jakob von Uexkull, a Victorian-era baron-turned-physiologist who specialized in umwelt: the lost art of immersing yourself in another creature’s psyche. You crouch to the height of the animal you’re seeking, learning to see the world through its eyes, inhale scents through its nostrils, feel cool earth and crushed leaves beneath its padded paws. There are hunters in Siberia, Vaillant tells us, who can sniff the woods and identify animals by smell. These maestros believe killing a tiger without cause is as vile as murder, and such a violation of natural order that calamity is destined to follow. They feel such kinship with the big cats that they’ll even share their meals by leaving hunks of meat in the woods, convinced the tigers will re-pay them in kind with a deer haunch when times are lean. They see themselves as blood brothers of the Amurs--but as Vaillant shows us, no one fights more fiercely than relatives."

Thanks for the good suggestions!

I have The Day the World Came to Town
Silent Spring
Oryx and Crake and
The Windup Girl on the TBR shelves.

I think I'm going to take one of Cindy's suggestions in post #7 and read Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks which is already in my TBR.

Haven't decided yet but so far I have found these on the shelf:

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World by Wade Davis

>12 majkia: Thanks for explaining a little more.

I am going to listen to Never Cry Wolf which should fit in about caring for animals. I'm going to look at what else I have that I own that would fit with this theme. Love to knock out those ROOTs.

I found a bunch on my shelves that can fit:
Wool
Annihilation
The Windup Girl
Earth in the Balance
Hot, Flat, and Crowded
The Road
Watership Down
Galapagos

Turns out Hot, Flat and Crowded would meet the RandomCAT, the AlphaKIT and the DeweyCAT, so that'll have to be one of them. Galapagos will fit here and also the GeoCAT, so that one's high on the list as well.

I love Watership Down, good read.

I've finished my first for this month's challenge: The Big Thicket: A Challenge for Conservation. It's a 1972 book trying to convince readers that the Big Thicket, an environmentally significant longleaf pine forest in southeastern Texas, needed to be saved from being completely destroyed by logging. It must have worked because the Big Thicket National Preserve was established two years later. I grabbed it at the library because it fit DeweyCAT, but it turned out to fit RandomCAT too.

For this CAT, I read The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy, set 150 years in the future in an America environmentally devastated by nuclear catastrophe. Strong message of needing to unite and rebuild, with a heavy-handed patriotic undertone. This book was somewhat of a disappointment to me, as it reminded me of much better post-apocalyptic epics but really failed to engage me as a reader.

Living Like Ed / Ed Begley, Jr.
4 stars

Ed Begley, Jr. has been living eco-consciously since the 1970s. In this book, he brings lots of ideas and suggestions at various levels (marked by images for cost) to help other people try some of the green things he already does. Chapters include Home, Transportation, Recycling, Energy, In the Gardens and Kitchen, and Clothing and Hair and Skin Care.

I thought this was really good. Even with all the things I have read and already do, I still learned other things. I have just purchased my first home, so there are some ideas that I might be able to use there. This is one book that is probably worth buying so that you can look back on it later (I got this one from the library). There was a running line at the bottom of each page that took the ideas from that page and made it into one sentence. There were also little anecdotes by Ed's wife, who was leery of many of Ed's ideas at first, and had to be convinced of some things; she is quite conscious of style and aesthetics, so it was sometimes harder to get her on board. I think her comments are helpful for some people who are reluctant to try some of these things.

Karl I: The Emperor of Peace by Marcel Uderzo & Marc Bourgne is a French graphic novel about the life of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria. Great emphasis is placed on his pacifism and attempts to end World War I. He was a bit naïve, but if more leaders were like him, I imagine the world would be a better place.

I'm in the middle of Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran about three sisters from Iran who start a restaurant in Ireland. It is fun and well-written. Mehran is Iranian, so this also fits the Women's BingoPUP: author is from the Middle East.

I finished The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. It's a dystopian story set in 23rd century Thailand, with global warming, risen sea levels and lots of genetical engineering. It was a complex (and rather violent) book, but a good one with amazing world building. Thanks for the BB, Paruline!

The May thread is up.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/221241#

>40 LittleTaiko: thanks!

I finished Last Chance to See: In the Footsteps of Douglas Adams, which doesn't add a huge amount to the TV series, but Carwardine and Fry are always great to spend time with, the topic (animal conservation) is very dear to my heart, and - should the TV series not be available to you - it's as decent a version of the show as one could wish for.

I finished The Road yesterday - a very bleak post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son trudging through the world during what I'm guessing is a nuclear winter (the exact nature of the end is not described in detail). I then started in on Hot, Flat and Crowded - very well written so far.

I have completed The Tree by John Fowles, a 91 page essay on the connection between nature and creativity where he passionately argues that nature was not meant to be controlled.

I finished Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat. I'm also reading World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters. It's the final in the Last Policeman trilogy. Let's see if that asteroid Maia really does destroy the Earth.

Just finished Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer, which fitted the challenge far better than I'd expected. Interesting take on alternate worlds.

Finished End of the Earth: Voyages to Antarctica by Peter Matthiessen

I've finished reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

I just finished the post-apocalyptic, sci-fi story of Wool by Hugh Howey. I found this an excellent read.

Finished Death & Life of Monterey Bay which was an interesting look at how almost everything disappeared due to overfishing but eventually came back once the ecosystem was allowed to function the way it's supposed to. Bonus points for having a sea otter on the cover!

I've decided to count my Dewey book for this month for this challenge too. I read Glass, Paper, Beans: Revelations on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things by Leah Hager Cohen and the sections on paper and coffee do talk about the environmental nature of those things.

I don't know what this says about me, but both books I read for the Earth Day RandomCat were dystopian, "what not-to-do with our planet" books. I finished Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer earlier today and that along with Wool completes my RandomCat month.

The Botany of Desire / Michael Pollan
3.5 stars

In this book, Michael Pollan looks at four different plants – their history and their impact on society (and society's impact on them): apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes.

Up until the last chapter (on potatoes), I was going to rate this at only 3 stars, or “ok”. The potato chapter really bumped up the rating for me, as Pollan was comparing a new Monsanto genetically-engineered potato with the usual potatoes he grows in his farm. By far, I thought this was the most interesting chapter. I did also enjoy the chapter on apples and the tidbits I learned about John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed). I didn't find the tulips or the marijuana as interesting, but overall, I'm rating this “good” at 3.5 stars.

Is there currently a problem with the wikis? I am trying to save this one to 3 different wikis and none are working! Hopefully I'll remember to come back to try again on the weekend.

>54 LibraryCin: I had trouble with the wikis a few days ago also but they seem to be okay now.

>55 leslie.98: Oh, yes! I reported it to the Bugs group and they got it fixed shortly after that! I couldn't remember which thread over here I'd mentioned it it. Thanks!

My RandomCat reads this month:

The Quality of Silence, Rosamund Lupton - fracking.
A Sudden Light, Garth Stein - forestry.
Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver - nature.

I'm a bit late with my update, but I did read 3 books that fit the RandomCAT theme last month:

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer features a weird, dystopian version of the Southern US.

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke shows a seemingly utopian version of the Earth after it is invaded by supposedly benign aliens

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson is, as the title suggests, about Mars. However, the Martian settlers' attempt to transform Mars so it is habitable to humans really reflects all the environmental issues that arose on Earth.

>58 mathgirl40: I'd hoped to read the Mars series, but got bored with Red Mars and abandoned it. Too much politics for my tastes, especially this year. What did you think of Green Mars?

>59 majkia: I thought Green Mars had even more politics than Red Mars, so I wouldn't recommend carrying on with the series if you didn't like that aspect. I enjoyed both books, but I did have to force myself to get through some of the lengthy descriptive sections.

>60 mathgirl40: Yes, I read both of those but could never work up the enthusiasm to finish the trilogy with Blue Mars.

>60 mathgirl40: and >61 sturlington: Thanks. I will happily forget about that series.

I read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I had originally planned on reading Silent Spring, which I may do eventually, but this was the selection for my book club this month.

This book was better than I expected. Knowing that it was written by a Protestant missionary, I had my doubts, but for its time (1931) the book is realistic, sensitive and frank. It is the story of a poor Chinese farmer, Wang Lung, whose greatest joy is in the land, but who loses that joy over time as he becomes successful and more removed from farming. The style of writing is simple, but not patronizing. I thought Wang Lung's story as a story about the love of the land seemed to fit in with the RandomCAT Earth day idea for April.