The 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge Part VI: Natural History/the Environment in June

We're almost in June, and at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere, that means a lot more time spent outdoors. So it seemed like the logical time for a challenge about the natural world -- gardening, animals, climate change, weather science, botany, farming, land use policies and the politics surrounding them, environmentalism, oceanography, the shrinking polar ice caps (I just read somewhere that polar bears are starting to mate with black bears??), wildlife preservation -- whatever strikes your fancy. Even a memoir that's about hiking in the wilderness, as long as a big chunk of the memoir is about the wilderness.

As always, feel free to interpret this as broadly as possible, but don't run amok. It's non-fiction (d'uh) and it should have some kind of connection to this theme. (There's no law saying that you can't read another non-fiction book instead or as well as something you read for this challenge, after all!)

Drop by, tell us all what you want to read and why and then please tell us whether it's living up to your hopes. Book bullets are VERY welcome; that's half the fun.

What we're reading:









July: Current Affairs

August: Science and Technology/Healthcare

September: Philosophy/History of Ideas

October: Politics/Economics & Business/Commentary

November: Essays

December: Quirky/Who Knew?

If you've got any more questions, about this month's challenge or about what lies ahead, just post them below, or shoot me a PM (this may be fastest) and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Happy reading!!

I have 6 lined up but could easily have a ton more as this is a favourite area of reading for me. But I am not a fast reader plus, I tend to spend more time outside in this weather so that might mean less time reading. In any case, these are the ones I will attempt to get through in June:

I Love Dirt - by Jennifer Ward. I want to get through this one so I can pass it on to my cousin who works with kids when I visit her in Montreal in July

Cultivating Delight by Diane Ackerman

Four Wings and a Prayer by Sue Halpern

Silence of the Songbirds by Bridget Stutchbury

Bug Music by David Rothenberg

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

I have a library hold on Two in the Bush by Gerald Durrell.

A bit stuck on this one at present... Natural history puts me in mind of biology and that's the one subject I consciously tried to fail at school (so I could drop it like a hot stone).

I have a few gardening books, but they tend to be dip in reference books rather than books you'd read. I'm sure I can find something, just not entirely sure what!

>2 jessibud2: >4 Helenliz: Love this; first hand evidence that one man's meat is another man's poison! (so to speak...)

I'm going to add The Morville Year to my list. I had read its predecessor a few years ago and loved it. It's essentially a chronicle of a garden over the course of a year -- a historic garden in England. It's been sitting here unread for a shamefully long time.

Used the illustration of the copy of Two in the Bush that I used to have -- the Pan edition -- for the display up top. I love it!

For anybody what wanted to read H is for Hawk and hadn't done so -- this would be another opportunity to squeeze in that read. Or you could read Anna Pavord's chronicle of Dutch Tulipmania...

>7 charl08: I was wondering about H is for Hawk - I thought I might look for the T H White book The Goshawk that McDonald refers to in her book.

>7 charl08: I ordered The Goshawk shortly after finishing H is for Hawk, which I found brilliant, so will try to squeeze it in for this challenge.

I am thinking I should dig out Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food or United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation. I think both of those would fit in.

But I could also do Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl. I think Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir, or Dirty Life would also work. It will probably depend on what I can unearth out of a box the easiest since it is to hot in my house to look for books.

>9 benitastrnad: I have to say I love the title of the United States of Arugula....

Last night I pulled United States of Arugula off the shelf and looked at it. Nah, I said to myself. Instead I grabbed the bright read Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook. I will take it with me on another of my cross country road trips. It appears that this book is not just about the natural history of the tomato. It is about tomatoes and how they are grown and gets into lots of social issues as well. The genesis for it was in an article by Estabrook that Ruth Riechl published in "Gourmet" magazine when she was editor. I should get a good start on it later today so will know if it strays off the topic by then.

I will read Collapse How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond- the book has been in my book pile for a while! and maybe Granta 61 The Sea
This challenge has me going through my unread book piles- and that is good!

For anyone who is interested in this stuff, Simon Winchester has written good books on the history of earth science and geology, including a book about Krakatoa and The Map That Changed The World. Both are quasi-history, quasi-natural history.

>11 benitastrnad: I was able to grab an e-book from the library and will try to join you in reading Tomatoland. At least, it is now on my Kindle!

The National Outdoor Book Awards would be a good source for finding books for this topic. Nature & environment is one of the awards categories, but at least some books in other categories would fit here, too.

I read both Collapse and Guns Germs and Steel and liked both of them. Guns, particularly prompted lots of discussion with my dinner group because several of us read it around the same time. We all found the ideas in there very provocative.

Oh dear...this is going to be very hard for me. One of my major book collections revolves around environmentalism and farming! For now, I pulled Guns, Germs and Steel off the shelf as it has been lurking around for awhile. And I thought it might work nicely with The Social Conquest of Earth also on the shelf. But I also have several memoirs of farming as well as lots of Wendell Berry's essays on land use. Maybe I'll just make a big pile and work through them in June. I just checked the Kindle, too, since I'll be traveling and found It's a Long Road to a Tomato, The STOP: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement, and The Art of the Commonplace.

One of the best things about this challenge has been discovering the interesting books that lurk in areas of the non-fiction world that I don't normally prowl that much, such as this. I'm interested in gardens and botany, and oceanography, but beyond that, my non-fiction reading tends to gravitate more toward history, current affairs, politics, biographies, travel, etc. To some extent, environmental issues will crop up in connection with this (eg, I've read jared Diamond and Simon Winchester), but I wouldn't normally seek out or even discover many of these other titles. Hopefully there will be as many serendipitous discoveries for other folks in this and other months.

I am reading The Sand County Almanac; started it last night. I can't believe I haven't read this before... it's been on the shelves forever, belonging to Mrs. Banjo.

“There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. These essays are the delights and dilemmas of one who cannot.” - Aldo Leopold

I'm reading This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate.

>15 cbl_tn: Thanks for the link to those awards--looks like a great resource.

I just finished Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart and am now in the market for a giant plastic bubble in which to live.

I've found Atlantic by Simon Winchester lurking on the bookshelf (can't find the right work to touchstone though!) I'm going to try and read that & hope it fits.

>19 banjo123: - I've always wanted to read that one.

Another book I have on my shelf that follows a farm through 4 seasons (I won't get to it this time, though because I have already selected 6 books and that's pushing it for me), is called Great Possessions - An Amish Farmer's Journal by David Kline.

>23 Helenliz: - I recently read Winchester's Pacific and really enjoyed it. I listened to him read it to me on audiobook. He is a great reader, by the way

I am planning on reading Pox Americana for my June read. It is about a large smallpox epidemic in the United States during the Revolutionary War and how the epidemic impacted the war.

>23 Helenliz: I think much of it would. A lot is devoted to geology and oceanography. I've been wondering whether his counterpart about the Pacific would; I have it, and should take a look.

>19 banjo123: I also plan to read The Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold. I love the way he has chapters divided into months.

There are some other really good suggestions here.

>24 jessibud2: I just found An Amish Farmer's Journal--looks great!

This month's free ebook from the University of Chicago Press would fit this theme - Coast Lines: How Mapmakers Frame the World and Chart Environmental Change.

Granta 61 The Sea This issue seemed to be on topic. Unfortunately the only article that really talked about environmental concerns was one by Neal Ascherson on " The Case for Butterfish" describing the pollution of the Black Sea. Now this book was published in 1998. I think that today there is a greater understanding of how the environment has been changing. The majority of the articles and stories were about the power of the sea as well as works on ships and fishing. There was a poignant description of the effects of a tsunami in "The Seventh Man" by Haruki Murakami I think that this issue of Granta is also interesting in thinking about how different this topic would have been handled today.
I am reading another book for this challenge later this month

I'm reading The Bedside Book of Beasts: A Wildlife Miscellany by Graeme Gibson. It's an anthology featuring nature writings from many sources, and is labeled as both fiction AND nonfiction. I checked and see our municipal library system has labeled it as nonfiction. What say you, Suzanne?

I am thinking I will read Monkeys are Made of Chocolate. Trying to get some OTS or OTK books read this month.

>30 Smiler69: Sure, that works for me. I'll be finicky, and suggest that more than half of the writing should be non-fiction?

>32 Chatterbox: Sounds fair to me. I should mention that my first completed book in June was Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal, which definitely fits into this challenge. I wish it had been written and edited with more skill, but the information it contained was very interesting for those interested in animal cognition and how our research is seeking to understand and define animal intelligence.

Would Winchester's The Crack at the Edge of the World fit the challenge?

>34 Familyhistorian: I would think so, just based on my reading of Winchester's other books. He tends to focus very heavily on geology in many of his books, and then branches out into what it means for people and places, which I think is in the spirit of this challenge! Enjoy it...

I'm doin' some stalling on what to read. I've read part of Collapse. Borrowed it from my son, got to the last chapter, as I recall, and then, rather than imbibing hemlock or tossing myself off a tall building, I bagged the reading. Later found out my son couldn't finish it either. Just depressing.

But I might retry it.

Guns, Germs, and Steel isn't available to me. I tried to locate a copy earlier this week, and I couldn't.

Winchester's The Crack at the Edge of the World is on (one of) my TBR shelves. I've a favorable impression of him, having read his book on Krakatoa and his book on mapping the geology of England. So that's a possible.

I also have (from the library) Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wallace Stegner's history of John Wesley Powell's surveys of the American West. But, sheesh, I've got several middling doorstops on my month's reading list already (including Stegner's novel, The Big Rock Candy Mountain).

So many wonderful possibilities; kid in a candy shop.

Reading The Gilded Dinosaur for this month. I think it fits in.

>37 Fourpawz2: Oooh, yes, looks intriguing!

>36 weird_O: An embarrassment of riches...

I haven't done so well with any reading challenges of late, but have just finished the last two books of Durrell's Corfu trilogy which would have fitted here like a glove.
I'll try for H is for Hawk or Last chance to see by Douglas Adams.

I finished my Early Reviewer book this evening: Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild by James Campbell. I enjoyed reading it, but felt it could have used some editing.

I have Toms River on the virtual shelf, about the environmental pollution of a small town's water supply. I can't decide whether to read it here or hold it for the science-themed month.

I finished I Love Dirt! by Jennifer Ward. This was a very quick read and enjoyable. It's a season by season guide to exploring and enjoying nature with kids, aimed at parents and/or teachers. I am not a parent but was a primary school teacher for 26 years and it's affirming to see that my instincts were so *right*. Although I taught physically and developmentally disabled kids, I always wrapped my curriculum around nature-based activities, and ensured that the outdoors were part of it as often as the weather permitted. I am proud to see that so many of the activities in this book were part of our daily classroom life and I know that my students were very engaged in all of it. I really worry for the next generation of kids who are so glued to electronic devices; *nature* will be lost to them and that is a tragedy. A very preventable one, if the will is there.

>24 jessibud2: I'm currently reading Great Possessions An Amish Farmer's Journal, by David Kline. It's wonderful. I'm not very far along, but I'm so happy to have heard of this book in this group.

You heard it from me, lol! I have the book on my shelf and mentioned it but since I committed to 6 books (an unlikely goal for me as I'm a slow reader), I thought I'd mention it anyhow. But who knows, maybe I will get to it since you are giving it high marks!

>44 jessibud2: Yes. And thank you so much for mentioning that book.

Tinkering With Eden: A Natural History of Exotic Species in America by Kim Todd
Each chapter is a short story featuring the history and consequences of a different introduced species. Some of those included are: birds (starlings, monk parakeets), fish (brown trout), insects (gypsy moths), animals (nutrias, mountain goats) and plants (spotted knapweed). The author's engaging writing style made this a fascinating book. Highly recommended.


The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men by William F. Longgood
I loved this book! It combines the natural history of the honeybee and reflections on human society.

>46 GerrysBookshelf: Those both sound great!

Serendipity

On Wednesday night I started my next book for this challenge, Diane Ackerman's Cultivating Delight. I love this woman's writing, and she is a prime example of why I am such a slow reader; I just find myself soaking up her words, rereading them, allowing myself to be transported to her side, to see what she sees, through her eyes and senses. She has a way of doing that to a reader. I could have read more before turning off the light but I decided to stop and allow those lovely images to be my last before sleep.

Anyhow, yesterday I had an appointment in the morning, to which I had to go by subway. Rather than lugging a heavy hardcover book (Ackerman's), I chose instead to grab another off my pile of nature-related books for this challenge (and sigh, not one of the 6 I initially chose...). It is a collection of essays about nature, gardening, environment, etc, called When the Wild Comes Leaping Up - Personal Encounters with Nature edited by David Suzuki. It includes essays by Canadian, American, British and Australian writers, with a long intro by Suzuki himself. As I glanced through the table of contents, I was delighted to see Diane Ackerman's name among the contributors. Because this is a collection and not a chronological story, I quickly flipped to her essay, near the back of the book. I was delighted and surprised - yet, oddly, NOT surprised) to find her essay: The Deer in Springtime. The very piece that so enchanted me the night before. Of all the essays that this prolific writer could have offered up, this was the one that appears in this book.

I love when that happens! :-)

The book I've actually started reading is The Genius of Birds. Opens with some intriguing comments about what birds can do (including counting, for some).

>49 charl08: - Another one to add to the wishlist! Sounds right up my alley, thanks!

>49 charl08: I have my eye on that one!

I think my book from May could stretch a point and fit for June as well. Bit of an odd combination, I grant you, the arts and nature.
Walking Away is by Simon Armitage. He's a poet from the north of England. In an earlier book, Walking Home he walked the Penine Way from North to South, as his home town is at the south of the long distance path. He took no money, and instead gave poetry readings each night, and put the hat out for donations of what he was worth. For accommodation and meals he relied on the comforts of strangers, very much in the style of the troubadours of old.

This is a follow up, where he does the same thing, but walks the South coast path, walking to Land's End. There's a reasonable amount of descriptions of the sea, the path, the landscape, the wildlife and the weather as well as the people he meets, sees, stays with and reads to. It's possibly less good than the previous book, but then it's lost that spark of originality, having done it before, just a different walk. Still a pretty good read though, I like his turn of phrase.

I am reading Wolves and Honey by Susan Brind Morrow. It is absolutely brilliant, and belongs on the shelf with Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and High Tide in Tucson and everything John McPhee and Stephen Jay Gould wrote.

I am plugging away at Tomatoland. It is an interesting book with many shades of Erin Brokovitch. If I would stay home I would get more of it read, but the rest of the month is looking like it is going to have more home time.

Finished A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester.   

Notice that the subtitle on the cover is: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. I think I didn't fully grasp Winchester's focus here, even though I have read his previous books Krakatoa and The Map that Changed the World, both of which centered around geology. What I expected was more focus on the mayhem of the earthquake and fire. But you have to read almost half-way through before he buckles down to the actual event of 1906. The first half of the book explains plate tectonics, faults, geologic time and other aspects of New Geology, so you more completely understand what happened in San Francisco. Winchester articulated as simply and clearly as possible this (to me anyway) arcane science.

In an epilogue, Winchester puts other earthquakes (including the 1989 SF 'quake and two Alaskan 'quakes) into the story, as well as connecting variations in seismic activities in Yellowstone to activities along the San Andreas Fault.

Not what I expected, but nevertheless an interesting and informative read. I'll give it a thumb up.

 

>55 weird_O: - I have this one on my shelf though I haven't read it yet. I have read several other of his books, though and I do enjoy his writing. I find that even when he goes off on various tangents, he always manages to bring it all back and tie it all together. He is also a very good reader of his own work in audiobook format. My most recent audiobook by him was Pacific.

I'm really enjoying The Bedside Book of Beasts: A Wildlife Miscellany. Such a treat, with fascinating short texts and plenty of gorgeous artwork. My only trouble is that since it deals with predators, there's plenty of commentary on hunting (i.e. humans hunting beasts), which is something that makes me deeply uncomfortable. I was thinking probably The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany, which is the first book Graeme Gibson put together of the two, might feature less killing of animals by humans, but then it probably features a lot of descriptions of bird hunting... all the same, well worth it, I'm sure.

>41 rosalita: Did you decide on reading Toms River? I read it as an ER book and thought it was extremely well done. (I gave it 4 1/2 stars.)

I just finished This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. The author Naomi Klein (and her research assistants) spent 5 years working on this book, and it covers a lot of territory. It takes climate change as a given, and examines such issues as Big Oil's power via governments and other means, the difficulty that trade agreements are causing for local green energy, the role of Big Oil funding for the climate denial campaign, the crucial role that Indigenous peoples are playing in blocking new fracking/drilling, the history, successes, and errors of the environmental movement, and some of the environmental effects from oil spills and fracking. Towards the end, Klein calls for the people to rise up to demand action on climate change, and she compares it to other populist movements such as the abolition of slavery, civil rights, women's rights, etc.

I learned a lot from reading this book. For example, Klein reports that preliminary studies reveal that fracking releases five times the amount of carbon compared to normal natural gas extraction, making fracked natural gas as bad as coal for carbon emissions. However, I couldn't get fully on board with the author's stumping for populist uprisings on a broad range of social issues, and plans for massive wealth redistribution. That doesn't seem applicable to me or most readers. This book was also not an easy read, although it seemed to be very well researched. So, recommended only if you are strongly interested in the issue of climate change and have already done some reading on the topic. For readers looking for a good introduction to the topic of climate change, I'd recommend Hertsgaard's Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth.

What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World by Jon Young

-a wonderful book for novice or experienced birders or anyone who just enjoys observing nature.
This book is all about "bird language" -songs, alarm calls and patterns of behavior. The E-book includes lots of audio clips.

>60 GerrysBookshelf: - Sounds like something I"d enjoy. I've made a note.... thanks

>60 GerrysBookshelf: Amusingly, on the radio today, there was a story that included clips of various birdsongs, including the lyrebird and its imitations of a weird and wonderful array of things, including chainsaws.

>58 tymfos: I've definitely decided to read it for one or the other months, Terri, so I'm glad to hear you think it's well done. Having read it yourself, would you say it fits this month's natural history/environment theme?

>60 GerrysBookshelf: book bullet!!!

>63 rosalita: It definitely fits "environment." Not "natural history." More "unnatural history?" -- the damage people do to the environment, (and then people trying to make it right). It would fit science, too, which I think you said was an option for a month to read it. A lot of science -- and made accessible for readers who are not experts.

>61 jessibud2: >64 fuzzi: I think you'll really like the book. I learned a lot and am already putting it to use just watching the birds in my backyard.

>62 Chatterbox: The author of the book talks about how some birds scare away other birds from a crowded bird feeder by mimicking their cries of distress or alarm. Everyone flies away and the first bird gets all the food. Clever!
He also states that Stellar's jays have been known to mimic eagles, flickers, some hawks, woodpeckers, grackles, chickens, cats, dogs, water sprinklers, telephones and RV alarms!

>66 GerrysBookshelf: - Have you ever seen the dvd by David Attenborough about birds and their behaviours? It mentions some of those strategies. I love stuff like that!

>65 tymfos: all of that definitely works -- how humans interact with their environment is part of what I had in mind when I came up with this month's challenge (even if it wasn't worded quite as clearly as it might have been...)

I am about half done with Tomatoland and learning lots about how the fruit is harvested. I think this is going to end up a title that I will suggest to the Tuscaloosa Peace Project. This a book group that reads books about social issues. Turns out tomatoes have an impact on lots of areas outside the vines and the fruit. Things like human trafficking and other crimes.

I plan to listen to The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, which won a Pulitzer last year.

Amazon's description: "Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human."

One other thing about Toms River: I understand that it won a Pulitzer Prize (2014 for general non-fiction), so if anyone here is doing the Pulitzer challenge, it can fit that challenge, too.

ETA: I confirmed that via Pulitzer Prize official website

>71 tymfos: Yes, my copy has a Pulitzer burst on the cover, so that is another incentive to work it in!

i just got started on The Invention of Nature on audio last night. I wasn't at all familiar with Alexander von Humboldt before picking up this book, and learning how influential he was in his time, it seems incredible that he's fallen into obscurity.

>73 Smiler69: I had the Kindle version, but added the audiobook; I think I'll be listening to it too as I'm just about to finish my current audiobook.

The Genius of Birds

I got this as an ARC through Netgalley, which meant the formatting of chapters was a bit off. I'll be very tempted when the paperback comes out to get my own copy, as it looks Iovely.

I thought this was a very readable look into research into the Iives of birds around the world, including the more bizarre (like the Bower Bird above) and the everyday sparrow. She includes all sorts of mad anecdotes about bird behaviour (such as the homing pigeon that turned up five years late) along with a sense of humour. She considers the role intelligence may have in different kinds of birds, how birds are dealing with environmental change, as well as considering how some species manage such significant migration pattern (maybe even by their sense of smell). By the end of the book, where she was describing how researchers cut olfactory nerves in birds, and may have caused birds to abandon nests due to early tagging, I did begin to wonder how permission was approved for some of these experiments. Some if the material overlapped with Attenborough documentaries I've seen, which meant I had a picture in my head to go with her more detailed discussion.

I guess I should read something focused on this subject - anyone able to recommend something on the ethics of animal science? (Not sure that's the right term)

>75 charl08: Thanks for the comments on The Genius of Birds, Charlotte. This book has been on my radar since shortly before it was released, and I will add you as a recommender. In response to your query, I recently read Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are. While it doesn't focus on the ethics of animal research per se, the author inevitably talks about that aspect of ethology. While I wasn't impressed with the writing, the material itself is very interesting.

Thanks! Sounds like I need to take a look around for a few reads in the area. Just seemed like some of ghe science didn't have any sense of aiming for minimal intrusion.

OK. I read a little more than half of Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate and I'm abandoning it. There are glimpses of what it could have been, but mostly it's a collection of articles that are thinly disguised environmental guilt trips. Sort of makes me feel contrary and annoyed and disgruntled in general.

So, I picked up Becoming Odyssa instead, which was about hiking the Appalachian trail. I liked that one quite a lot. An additional bonus is that it's been on my shelf for quite a long time. It got mixed reviews, probably because she was totally honest and open about her imperfections. :) I found it mostly entertaining and it made me want to hike the trail (but not straight through).

I'm reading Nature, Powers and Spells: Landscape change John Clare and Me a lovely book by printmaker Carry Akroyd inspired by the poet John Clare.



Gorgeous images

I am almost finished with Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook and have found it to very informative about many subjects besides tomatoes. Organic farming, farmer's markets, agronomy, horticulture, low income housing, child care, and weather are among its many subjects. It turned out to be a great choice for this category.

>79 charl08: oh, I like that one with the swallows (or Chimney Swifts)!

I finished and really loved The Invention of Nature this week, which taught me a lot. I look forward to seeing Suz's take on it.

>62 Chatterbox: And I just read about lyrebirds in Gerald Durrell's Two in the Bush! The New Zealand section of the book was almost entirely about birds. Other types of wildlife are making an appearance in the Australia section.

>84 Chatterbox: One of my favorite words, and concepts, is serendipity... (for a very good reason...)

OK folks, time to start aiming for the magical 150 post level so that I can think about setting up the thread for July's challenge (current affairs) by the middle of next week...

For my part, I need to get reading in this category, which will be tough as I have a lot of work to do and a lot of looming fiction reviews for Amazon Vine, none of which fit this category. Ho hum.

Aiming for 150, yes ma'am!

Here's one. :)

How about a butterfly picture to move it along?

Taken this week, amongst the Canna lilies, a "Sleepy Orange" butterfly:

>84 Chatterbox: how current would current affairs be? A book within the last year?

Or a book that is appropriate about current events in 2016?

I think that it might be good time to read Evicted. But I also have a book by Louisa Lim. People's Republic of Amnesia. I know it is also world affairs but it is current as well. I also have A Deadly Wandering.

The Sixth Extinction is proving to be an excellent listen - very informative without being dry and overly academic. Truly fascinating. I can see why it won the Pulitzer...

I was also wondering about the parameters for "current events" - I assume something on, say, the Arab Spring would be acceptable since its ramifications are still being felt? But one could say that about the Civil War, too, I guess... I think I might go in the direction of current social issues - race, inequality, crime, something like that.

>87 fuzzi: >90 katiekrug: My thinking re "current events" would be a book about anything that is topical. So, it could be about terrorism, about US politics, about European politics, about climate change, about the history of the Olympics and/or doping in sports (given all those controversies and the fact that we're heading into the Rio Olympics...) The global wealth gap and economic injustice and anything related to that? Prince died of an overdose of opiates -- so Methland might be a topical read. The Arab Spring and its fallout, or ISIS, yes -- that would work. I've got a book about race, Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, that I might read. Following the Orlando shootings, anything about gun issues or LGBT topics would work. (I can recommend Gun Guys by Dan Baum. Any topic that has made the news of late -- and some will be perennial. I don't know whether or not I'll read it, but I have Timothy Garton Ash's new book about free speech on my kindle. I may read The French Intifada by Andrew Hussey, relating it to the Paris terrorist attacks. I probably will read Emmanuel Todd's book on the same subject.

I am still reading Diane Ackerman's Cultivating Delight and truly loving it. I have been very slow with my reading this month because I have not been in the house as much and have been busy with other stuff, but this doesn't surprise me. In any case, I will most certainly finish it this weekend and will probably get one more in for this theme before the month is done. Not sure which one of the remaining 4 on my list I will choose.

These are relatively new linked to the European refugee crisis

The New Odyssey and Cast Away: Stories of survival reviewed by Maya Jasanoff
"...yanks away the anonymous screen of numbers and brings you face to face with real people - people you can recognise in situations you can't?
(From www.guardian.co.uk/books )

And another one (based on 2012 though? )

The Morning They Came For Us by Janine di Giovanni reviewed by Robin Yassin-Kassab
"Her Syrian visits fell between March and December 2012. During the first, she describes an uneasy silence in central Damascus even as the suburbs burned. Class in this society is a more significant divider than religion, and the bi-national elite are in denial, spinning conspiracy theories and attending pool parties"
(Again from The Guardian)

I'm also interested in reading Missoula or
I Will Find You by Joanna Connors
The second one was reviewed by Alice O'Keefe
"...although it is common knowledge that rape trials can be traumatic for the victim, it is still jaw-dropping to read about the process. At one point she is required by law to attend a parole hearing, which involves going into the prison where Francis is held and being cross‑questioned in front of him and dozens of other prisoners who drop by to watch. Her husband is not allowed to accompany her. This hearing, she writes, “breaks me into a million pieces I’m not sure I can put back together”."
www.guardian.co.uk/books

More on jihadis...


Salafi-Jihadism: the history of an idea
Crusade and Jihad: origins, history, aftermath reviewed by Patrick French
"...Islamism is a constant presence in our societies. What do its practitioners and ideologues believe?"

I'm glad others have asked what kind of books fit under the 'current affairs' label. I guess it's not a category I delve into very much. I went through the books in your collection that were labeled that way, Suz, to see if I had any of them on the tbr, and... a few... I'll have to run titles by you when I'm not entirely sure. For instance, I saw Ryszard Kapuscinski was often labeled under 'current affairs' and wondering if any of his books (more or less) would fit? I adored Travels with Herodotus and promised myself I'd read a lot more by him, and have reserved The Shadow of the Sun from the library, so hopefully that works. I've had Quiet on the tbr for a while, and would The Bookseller of Kabul still be relevant? Trying to find something already on the tbr, as much as possible.

And the Orwell prize list (for political writing) - some familiar titles here

The New Threat from Islamic Militancy by Jason Burke (Bodley Head)

How the French Think by Sudhir Hazareesingh (Allen Lane)
More Human by Steve Hilton (WH Allen)

Other People’s Money by John Kay (Profile Books)

The Invention of Russia by Arkady Ostrovsky (Atlantic Books)

The Unravelling: high hopes and missed opportunities in Iraq by Emma Sky (Atlantic Books)

Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter (Oneworld Publications)

Circling the Square by Wendell Steavenson (Granta Books)

The Silo Effect by Gillian Tett (Little, Brown)

The Crossing by Samar Yazbek (Rider)

I lhave Unfinished Business out from the library, so hoping that it meets the criteria.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/07/orwell-prize-longlist-for-2016-domi...

Hope that helps to get a bit closer to the magic number. I started out thinking I wasn't sure what to read that would fit the category and now I'm not sure if I can limit myself to just one.

I'm just about to finish my second book for this challenge. I'll have updates to post for both of my books as soon as I've reviewed them. Writing reviews helps me to collect my thoughts about a book.

For next month's current affairs theme, I'm thinking I'll read The Bloomsbury Reader on Islam in the West, which I had planned for the religion month but didn't finish. I'll be reviewing this one for publication and I have an August 1 deadline for that. I've also placed a hold on The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, but I'm #3 in line with only two copies in the system. I may not get a copy in time to finish it in July.

>97 Smiler69: Kapuscinzki would be less likely to fit now than when I labeled his books -- but for instance, if you found a book about Egypt's political upheavals, past or present, that would relate to what has been happening there in the very recent past, and would fit.

As Charlotte notes, the Orwell Prize website is an excellent source not just for specific books, for ideas for the type of books that would fit into this category.

Others have noted that Evicted would be a good book for this category; I agree. So would Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Anything about education or education reform. Blood Ransom, a book about Somali piracy. Or The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science, given the debate over climate change. Or Big Weed, in light of the issues surrounding legalization of marijuana. So You've Been Publicly Shamed raises interesting issues about privacy (or lack of same) in the Internet era, while Dragnet Nation does the same, from a different perspective. Ghettoside by Jill Leovy deals with race, class and crime. Factory Man is interesting in light of the constant debates about where the economy is going (and Trump's campaign rhetoric...) Anything about North Korea or Syria, given their constant presence in the geopolitical debate. You could read a book by a friend of mine, Ayn Rand Nation, for insight into the roots of the libertarians, given that this shapes the views of some of politicians this campaign season. Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else by Chrystia Freeland deals with the wealth gap, and is interesting also because Chrystia is now a member of Justin Trudeau's cabinet. If you're on the left, politically, you might read something by Chris Hedges or Matt Taibbi (though War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning likely would be of interest to anyone from anywhere across the political spectrum.

Just look at what is in the headlines -- from wars to debates over scientific developments or social trends -- and if there's a book you can link to that kind of headline, great. For instance, in Congo, there is tremendous political tension surrounding looming elections; pro-democracy activists have been arrested. (A friend of mine runs a non-profit organization that is involved here: http://pragmora.com/takeaction/drcongo/freefred/aboutfred/quote/) So, if you wanted to read anything about Congo, past or present, there's a link to something that is timely/current (even if it isn't dominating the headlines.) Congo by David van Reybrouck would qualify, so would Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost.

And of course if you really WANT to read a non-fiction book about the European Union, and Brexit, God bless you. It certainly qualifies...

I've chalked up another three titles for this month's theme:

1. The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart

A fun look at plants that have been used to make or flavor alcoholic beverages. The last third or so kind of drags, as it is little more than a bunch of lists, but I still enjoyed this one.

2. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid by Wendy Williams

Not bad, but I thought the parts that dealt most directly with cephalopods were more interesting than the tangents about how they've inspired research in other fields of study.

3. Astonishing animals : extraordinary creatures and the fantastic worlds they inhabit by Tim Flannery, illustrated by Peter Schouten

Really cool! Flannery's text is sophisticated enough for adults to enjoy but still simple enough for younger readers. However, the real draw is Schouten's stunning full-color illustrations. My favorite entry was the dingiso, a species of tree kangaroo from Western New Guinea that looks kind of like a cross between a wallaby and a panda.


A dingiso

Just doing my bit to help move the thread along...

>102 amanda4242: - I love books like this!

I'm reading Atlantic by Simon Winchester. 2 chapters in, so still a bit of a way to go.
No idea why that pops up with Cold Mountain as a touchstone?!

Current affairs will be challenging, methinks. I'm a tad depressed about the latest news, the world seems to be heading to hell in a handcart and people seem to be doing all they can to speed the journey. *grump*

I may skip the Current Affairs altogether as I don't have anything on my shelves that would qualify. I have a lot of history on the non-fiction front but nothing that would be *current*. I may just continue with this month's theme, as I have quite a few related books, or catch up on previous month's theme books. We'll see

I think that I've neglected to say anything about my Natural History read - The Gilded Dinosaur before now. The so-called Dinosaur Wars took place in the 19th century and pitted American Paleontologists, O.C. Marsh of Yale and Edward Cope of Philadelphia (kind of a free lance paleontologist for the most part) against one another. Marsh was fixated on his passion for naming the most dinos and was kind of a miserable human being while Cope was always so eager to get to print that he often released suspect info. At one time the two scientists were friendly, but that all went to hell when Cope attached the head of a newly uncovered Elasmosaurus to the tail instead of the neck. Marsh gloated over this mistake for the rest of his life. Personally I really disliked Marsh - a man so fixated on bettering his rival in the discovery of new creatures that he once ordered his fossil hunters to to destroy the bones of dinosaurs in the field just to keep them out of Cope's hands. Despicable!

Equally despicable was the apparent failure of Crown Publishing to hire a single editor/proof reader prior to the publishing of The Gilded Dinosaur. It is just loaded with error. An example of a typical error - "Congress eventually voted to accept the gift, but vacillated on what do to with the money." I'm guessing that I found similar mistakes on about every fifth page. Probably the most mistake-ridden book I've ever read.

Overall, though, it was an interesting story.

Current events ... I can think of at least a couple of wishlisted books to read for this theme. One of them is the recent Ta-Nehisi Coates book that Suzanne mentioned up thread. I also have Jeanne Marie Laskas' Concussion that I've been meaning to get to.

For anyone considering Missoula, I can heartily recommend it. A difficult read in terms of subject matter but very well-written.

And one more recommendation that I think fits the theme: Just Mercy about the broken US criminal justice system.

>108 rosalita: - Julia, I see that Just Mercy is on sale for Kindle (US) today. My library has it, so I probably won't purchase it, but I remember you raving about it, so maybe someone will jump on the deal.

I've reserved Missoula - not sure if will come in time.

>109 katiekrug: Thanks for that tip, Katie! Just Mercy is a bargain at $3.99. It's such a great book.

>102 amanda4242: Wow, you've been busy!

>106 jessibud2: Absolutely understand; not all themes will be lend themselves as readily to everyone's tastes. I've tried to make this as flexible as possible, though, so if there's a topical issue in sports, or autism research, or law and order, and that is dealt with in the book, feel free to add it. Or of course, just keep reading along in this month's theme, which will remain open. It's intended to be very much a "reader's choice"....

>107 Fourpawz2: Sounds like a fascinating book; shameful about the errors. Crown usually does hire copy editors (I survived a copy editing bout with them...) so who knows what happened...

>112 Chatterbox: I have been thinking about reading Trump: the Art of the Deal, and since it is written about/by a current candidate for POTUS, it could be considered "current". Right?

I'm hoping to find something for July, but since whatever books I own that fit in the category have been read already, and what I was hoping to read and willing to borrow from the library (Kapuscinzki) is sadly now well in the past... I may have to skip that month's theme. However, I'm more on a roll than ever as far as reading NF, which really is the main reason I joined this challenge. I haven't read my BAC selection for this month, so might just read Marie-Antoinette by Antonia Fraser and post on the Biography thread as need be. Again, the fact that I'm reading NF on a monthly basis is already quite amazing for me.

I'm only posting all this verbiage to move the thread along, btw.

Just one more. Because.

>113 fuzzi: Absolutely!

I've been looking through my news feed for current events topics and the only topic that didn't bore me, depress me, or leave me a smoldering mountain of rage was space exploration so I guess that's what I'll be reading about next month. Any recommendations?

>106 jessibud2: I can't think of any time in the last 30 years that the environment hasn't been a current interest/news topic. Most of what you would come up with for this month's topic might actually qualify as current affairs.

>117 amanda4242: There's a new book about the space station that I've seen discussed. I'll find the title.

International Space Station by David Nixon
There's a review here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/27/international-space-station-book-r...

>118 cbl_tn: - Possibly. I will check again. It's not so much that I couldn't find a relevant title as much as it is that I am trying to read through what I already have on my shelves, and not purchase or borrow from the library. Actually, one of the titles I had designated for this month, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, might work. It's about how kids today are losing touch with nature, in favour of technology as entertainment. Not sure that is strictly *current affairs* but it is certainly topical. We'll see. I am travelling to Montreal in a couple of weeks, by train, and I will get some good hours in there, for reading. I tend to try to read fiction when I travel so I can leave those with my mom and cousin. They are not as into NF as I am. But we'll see

>121 jessibud2: I would call that "current affairs", since there are constantly news stories about the impact of screens on childhood development.

And I'm sure there has been some space-related news out there...

>116 Chatterbox: thanks! My brother, who is living with us, has a copy, and recommended it as a good read, no matter what one's political persuasion. On my list for July it goes!

Oh, and adding another post, just because.

Want to see another butterfly?


Probably a Spicebush butterfly, hard to tell due to the tattered condition of its wings.

Twenty-five posts to go!

twenty-four.

LOL, you guys...

Though that is a GORGEOUS picture.

I am trying hard to finish at least ONE book about nature and the environment. I ended up with The Landscape of Home, an anthology of writing about life in the Rocky Mountains. It arose from a series of author forums held at the Tattered Covered Book Store in Denver along with an amazing collection of books called the Rocky Mountain Land Library. This private collection includes 32,000 volumes and was housed in the home of the collectors. But, in 2012, they learned the rental would be sold and they had to move. Thanks to lots of support and good fortune, the couple is now realizing the dream of not just a library but a place with studios and cottages. This article from The New York Times gives some background and the Land Library website updates the progress of the ranch.

I know what I am reading for current events: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption and Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. Both books have been part of the One Book, One Richmond project at the University of Richmond, the former for 2015-2016 and the latter for this coming year. As a professor, I am encouraged to integrate themes from the book into my courses. And, July is amazingly free this summer!

I still don't have reviews written, but I'll go ahead and comment on the two books I read that fit this month's topic. Two in the Bush is the book I had planned to read for this challenge. In the mid-1960s, Gerald Durrell, his wife, and two BBC cameramen (one was also a producer) traveled through New Zealand, Australia, and what was then Malaya to film a television documentary. The documentary's focus was the conservation of endangered species in each of these countries. Most of the conservation programs were just getting started.

I didn't Google every species, but I did Google several of them. Most of the projects I checked seem to have been successful except for the leathery turtle in Malaysia, which seems to be nearly extinct there now, although it may still be found in other parts of the world.

New Zealand's royal albatross is one success story. It was first spotted at Taiaroa Head in Dunedin in 1914. The first royal albatross egg was found there in 1919. The first chick hatched there in 1938. When Durrell's party was there in the mid-1960s, a sanctuary had been established, but it was going to be years before the albatross population reached a stage to allow public access. Thanks to Google, I discovered the Royal Albatross Centre in Dunedin. The website history says that an albatross observatory opened in 1983, nearly 20 years after Durrell's visit, and Princess Anne opened the Royal Albatross Centre in 1989.

The last chapter of the book is an appeal for readers to donate to Durrell's Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. It exists today as the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, with the Princess Royal as a patron. I see that we missed a teddy bear picnic today at the wildlife park. Maybe they'll post photos.

Ooh, look, fewer than 20 posts to go!

The other book I read for this theme was a surprise. I received an Early Reviewers copy of The Lively Place: Mount Auburn, America's First Garden Cemetery and Its Revolutionary and Literary Residents. The author spent a lot of time at Mount Auburn as he researched this book, and he interviewed those responsible for landscaping and planning. There is a vernal pool in Consecration Dell at the center of the cemetery, and this area is being restored to its original appearance. Native species of trees and shrubs have been reintroduced, as well as salamanders and toads. The cemetery is also a popular spot for bird watching. The author also devotes a chapter to green burial options that are newly available in this cemetery. Although I've never been to Mount Auburn, I found this book informative and fascinating. I'd love to visit this cemetery in person one day.

Ok, I just went through some of my shelves again and found a book that could not be more current and topical: The Myth of the Muslim Tide - Do Immigrants Threaten the West? by Doug Saunders. I will slot this one in as my NF for July, as I think I will take a break and squeeze in a few fiction books next month

Let me do my part to edge the thread one more notch toward the Big 150.

Yak yak yak yak. Also yahda yahda yahda. That's it! All I can think of.

By the way, I just finished a reread of Garrison Keillor's Homegrown Democrat, which I think fits into "current events." So I'm ahead on the July topic. When that thread goes up, I'll post a report on the book.

I don't have anything to add to the conversation about the theme, but thought I would do my part to push this thread along. I am enjoying the American Library Association conference and will probably get something about current events in the next few days.

Fifteen to go...or is it now fourteen with this post?

A red panda to help us along.

I got hit by a BB, Charlotte I think, and I've picked up The Genius of Birds. I will probably finish it this month. It's already hard to put down.

For next month I am thinking Syria Burning. It's on my shelf and needs to be read. I agree with >117 amanda4242:, current events is a crapshoot lately.

It made me think that I should read more books about nature Jenn. Fascinating stuff about migration and the impact of changes in temperatures on birds. And smart crows...

I've been reading (listening to) The World without Us for this month's theme. So far it's made me never want to use anything plastic again, given me a slight terror of the tenuous nature of many of our large systems of transportation (if there were no people to control water influx, etc, many would fail essentially immediately). Also, there's a lot of geology and hydrology in the book, so I've recommended it to my daughter as well.

Grandbaby pic!



Nine more posts...

Aw! Gorgeous.

Trump and me by Mark Singer I'm almost tempted by this - 100 pages about Trump sounds bearable...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/trump--me-by-mark-singer-review-an...

Also tempted by this - really like how John Berger writes

From the publisher

Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance
by John Berger
"A powerful meditation on political resistance from one of the most original and influential thinkers of our times
From the War on Terror to resistance in Ramallah and traumatic dislocation in the Middle East, Berger explores the uses of art as an instrument of political resistance. Visceral and passionate, Hold Everything Dear is a profound meditation on the far extremes of human behaviour, and the underlying despair. Looking at Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq, he makes an impassioned attack on the poverty and loss of freedom at the heart of such unnecessary suffering. These essays offer reflections on the political at the core of artistic expression and even at the center of human existence itself."

If we're including nature and the environment in this, can someone find me a book that explains exactly what evolutionary value a slug has? And how I can stop the little f*****s form eating my produce? Cucumbers with trails on them (mind you, I manage to grow bent cucumbers, which are tasty, but don;t fit int he fridge too well), strawberries with holes gouged out of them and only 1 surviving asparagus plant out of 6 planted is the total slug destruction to date.

I know that some people believe that a creator, in their wisdom, created heaven & earth and all the things in it. To my mind, the slug is all the evidence required that there was no grand plan, what grand plan would need a slug?

*grump*

Totally unrelated, but my excuse for posting something: I've started listening to The Power of Habit, because I've been struggling to drop a few bad ones and start a few good ones. Interesting stuff. I don't think it fits into any of the NF monthly categories (do we REALLY want a Self-Help category?? I think not), but it's nonfiction, and therefore is helping me build up a habit of reading more NF!

Just four more to go!

Kind of ambivalent on the self help category (pretty sure poetry would come under my definition of it!) but did think the book about the 'nudge' theory (minor changes making massive differences to society) looked interesting - Inside the Nudge Unit.

Two more...

>144 Helenliz: Maybe this one? https://www.librarything.com/work/15223878

>147 charl08: Ah! Never thought of poetry as self-help. Probably another habit I should pick up.

I think this is it!

>149 amanda4242: Oh I like the look of that.

Looks like we've passed the cutoff for Suzanne to start the new thread, but I thought I'd chime in to say that I am thoroughly absorbed by Toms River. I'll have a fuller review once I'm finished but I want to thank tymfos for giving me the boost to choose this one for the monthly theme.

I hope my read fits Natural History / The Environment.
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
Subtitled: the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world. Very well told story about solving the cholera mystery in London in the 1800s. I'm fitting it in The Environment because a lot of the background to this story is waste disposal to and water intake from London's rivers.

>144 Helenliz: - Oh, this made me laugh out loud! Sorry the little buggers are giving you so much trouble...

I didn't start my first choice of a book to read for the environment Collapse in June -but will start now and maybe it will be relevant for the July read?

>140 ursula: Great book, Ursula. I read it several years ago. The existence of that great forest preserve Bialowieza Puszcza knocked my socks off. Required reading for my class.

>144 Helenliz: I do believe in a Creator. However, I think a bit of doggerel would assist us here:

God, in His wisdom made the fly,
And then He did not tell us why...

I hate slugs, too. Beer traps don't work well for me, but I have heard that diatomaceous earth is great at reducing slug populations.

>153 countrylife: That should count and it is a fantastic book. One of my favorites.

>144 Helenliz: I don't know about evolutionary value, but on a related subject - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating was fascinating and memorable :)

>159 brenpike: Oh, I loved that one! Good call.

Thanks, all, for your valiant efforts! The new thread is up...

I finished listening to Simon Winchester read his The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology. Although my mind wandered a bit during the technical geological stuff, I appreciate the way Winchester puts scientific discovery into the context of history and, in this book, within the context of the life of William Smith and early 19th century England. And I just like listening to him read!

Pox Americana by Elizabeth Fenn

This book is about the smallpox epidemic in America during the Revolutionary War and the impact that the disease had on the war and the continent as a whole. Fenn's argument is that smallpox played a large and poorly understood role in the American Revolution. She does an impressive job of detailing the various aspects of the conflict affected by smallpox. However, it is not clear to me that smallpox proved to be a difference maker in the course of the war. Fenn establishes that smallpox was largely responsible for the failure of the Americans attack on Quebec as well as the decimation of the Ethiopian Brigade, a small army of slaves fighting for the British based upon promises of freedom. However, it appears to me that Washington's decision to allow inoculation of his troops negated smallpox as a major force in the Revolutionary War.

Of greater interest to me was the descriptions of the impact of smallpox on the native tribes. The strain of smallpox (apparently more virulent than later versions) inflicted mortality rates of anywhere from 50% to 90% on Native American tribes. There are terrifying accounts of early European explorers visiting the Pacific Northwest only to encounter a depopulated country with abandoned villages filled with human bones. There is also evidence that smallpox resulted in massive changes for the Plains Indians as the more agrarian were more greatly affected by smallpox than more nomadic tribes like the Lakota (Sioux).

The book was a bit of a slog in parts but it was an eye opening look at the impact of disease on the course of history.

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

It's easy to see why this won a Pulitzer last year. It's informative without being dry, well-researched without being overly academic, and includes fascinating details and convincing arguments. Kolbert combines history, archaeology, anthropology, and science (as well as her own anecdotes and observations) to argue that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction event, this one caused by humans themselves. It never becomes polemical or political, and Kolbert seems like the kind of person it would be fun to hang out with - smart, funny, and inquisitive. I may end up bumping this one to 4.5 stars - we'll see...

4 stars (for now)

>163 Oberon: 1491 talks a lot about the influence of western diseases on the indigenous peoples of the Americas, too, and it was very interesting.

Reading Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook will make you do all your tomato shopping at farmer's markets in August and leave those perfect red spheres on the table in the grocery store in January. At least, I think that was the intent of the author - and he succeeded in convincing me.

The book is well written, but reads more like a long article than a book. That might be because a good portion of the book was made up of chapters that appeared as articles in some well known food magazines. (A large part of it came from an expose article written for Gourmet. This was not the usual fare for that magazine but it resulted in a great deal of interest in just how this most popular fruit is grown and harvested.) I thought this was going to be a biography, or natural history of the tomato, but it turned out to be more social commentary and expose than biography. Most of the chapters in the book were about how the pursuit of the perfect red sphere for year-round purchase in the grocery store resulted in fruit with no taste and a system in which the farm workers were exploited and in many cases reduced to states of slavery. There were portions of the book that touched on genetics of the fruit and the history of the fruit, but most of the book was about current social and cultural issues ranging from the use of chemical pesticides to affordable housing.

At the end of the book the author tells the reader that some of the worst conditions for workers are now, finally, being addressed, and that because of the popularity of farmer's markets the good tasting fruit is making a comeback. This book is well worth reading, just don't expect it to be about the tomato or how it is grown. Only a small portion of the story is a natural history biography the rest is social, political, and cultural. Maybe that would make it a great read for next month's social issues topic. It is fully documented with footnotes and endnotes, so the total number of pages is around 230. Reading pages are only about 200.

Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly by Sue Halpern

-Fascinating book about the migration of Monarch butterflies.
Monarch populations have decreased since this book was published in 2001, mostly due to habitat loss, pesticide use and natural disasters (although they seem to be doing better this year). I've been checking out some of the websites mentioned in the book and now I want to plant milkweed all over my yard!

I also read A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 for this month's topic. >55 weird_O: Also a thumbs up from me on this one, Bill.

Before discussing the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake, Winchester gives the reader a comprehensive lesson about the North American plates, the forces at work beneath our feet and the forces that created the rugged geography of the North American West Coast. The information about the San Fransisco earthquake is used as an illustration of the human cost of earthquakes and survivors' methods of coping. Then Winchester is off again exploring more of the earthquake zones along the coast.

It is a great overview of the earthquake prone West Coast – maybe the interconnected faults are “a crack at the edge of the world?”

>167 GerrysBookshelf: - I have this book on my list as well and had hoped to get to it in June. But clearly, that won't be happening so maybe I can squeeze it in this month. A great companion piece, I think, would be the excellent film I saw a few years ago at out local IMAX theatre, called "Flight of the Butterflies". It is the story of the Canadian scientist who first tagged butterflies and discovered their Mexican wintering spot. I saw it as part of a free teacher's preview at the Science Centre but I would happily pay to see it again. It was excellent. And for those Canucks among you, the voice of the narrator was none other than the inimitable Gordon Pinsent. Here is a link:

http://www.flightofthebutterflies.com/home/

Rightful Heritage; Franklin D Roosevelt and the Land of America by Douglas Brinkley

This is the third in Brinkley's National Park's series, and concentrates on conservation and environmental history during FDR's administration. I like this series, because you read about historical events (such as Yalta) from a different prospective; that of the role of politics in protecting, or destroying, our natural resources. In the case of FDR, there was some of both. He loved the outdoors, was very informed, especially about forestry, and really wanted to protect the environment for future generations. Thank you, FDR, for the Olympics. And he established the CCC, which did a lot of good. Some of what he did expanded access to wild areas for Americans, and that is a double edge sword -- good for people, and probably increases people's commitment to saving wild places,m but not always so good for plants and animals. And then, FDR's administration was big on dams. And the CCC planted Kudzu in Georgia.

I enjoy Brinkley's writing. He does tend to give a lot of facts, which sometimes is at odds with a directed narrative. I am OK with that, especially as the facts tend to be interesting, and his prose easy to read.

Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

This is a classic book about environmentalism. It was interesting for me to read at the same time as Rightful Heritage, since Leopold was a character in the FDR administration, and often (rightfully) critical of some of the administrations conservation policies. I suspect that this book would not be as interesting to read without historical context; he is a good writer, but not a great writer, and his prose sometimes has a bit of a self-important feel to it. But he is a detailed observer of the natural world, and an important figure in the environmental movement, so I am glad that I read this book.

Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx

Proulx is a character and she can definitely write. I enjoyed most of this book, which describes Proulx's experiences building a dream house in Wyoming. She starts out with a family history, which was interesting, but did not seem to relate directly to the topic. However, as I read further, I saw that Proulx had inherited her father's tendency to always be looking for the bigger and better, leading to frequent moves and a dissatisfaction with any home she lived in. It was kind of amazing that in her 70's she decided to build a dream home in a remote, and somewhat desolate area; and was able to hike and cross country ski all around it.

The best part of the book to me, was the chapter where she describes the wild life in the area, especially the birds. She is a very interested observer of the natural world, and the place sounds astounding. The book really helps with the realization that humans are part and parcel of the natural environment:

"Whenever strangers came to the house the bald eagles took turns flying over and scrutinizing them. Anything new --lawn chair, garden hose, shrubs -- piqued their curiosity and they flew over, low and slow, examining the object. In fact they were nosy. It was quite fair. I peered at them through binoculars, they peered back."

>169 jessibud2: Thank you so much for the link to "Flight of the Butterflies". I just checked and it looks like the DVD will be released on July 12. I am definitely going to get it!

I finished Cultivating Delight by Diane Ackerman a couple of days ago. I really loved this book. I am rushing out soon to our LT meetup downtown so will edit in my review later on today when I get home. I want to add some excerpts as well as her writing is really so beautiful.

I'm still reading The Invention of Nature; just past the halfway point and enjoying it very much.

And... I have finished reading The Invention of Nature. Excellent. I'll get around to reviewing it on my page in a day or two; let's just say it's a great book advocating a return to a holistic approach to science, and a reminder of how early on people began sounding warnings about man's impact on the environment. 4.5 stars.

I finished Atlantic. It was OK, but it wasn't a riveting read. For an ocean that apparently stirs the soul, it was a remarkably flat book. I found it a bit preachy at the end, discussing man's impact on the ocean. However it was also trying very hard not to be definitive and attribute anything to climate change, which made it read quite oddly. It read as "here's all the evidence, but I'm not coming down of the fence".