Perfect book for those who are curious about the birdwatching world. Birdwatching as a hobby entails patience and time, waiting for the sounds of rustling leaves and whisper songs. And though it’s already a mindful hobby, Joan argues that we can be slower when it comes to observing birds, either from your backyard or walking in your neighborhood. She dedicates a chapter per bird, giving us insight and information from the bird expert themselves. Then comes the ‘slow birding’ itself, with reflection questions and activities to hone in on your observational skills when watching birds and how they behave. It’s been my favorite companion while I birdwatch from my balcony or at my local park.
What a wonderful novel. After a bad break up, lonely, heartbroken, middle-aged Gil moves to Arizona to begin again. His new neighbors live in a glass walled house and Gil studies them as he studies the local flora and fauna, eventually becoming much more than a mere spectator. In this look and ordinary life, Millet somehow delivers a novel that is at once foreboding and comforting.
And Gil. Gil will restore your faith (or at least begin to) in humanity and maybe even straight, white men.
In a word, captivating.
This book is a must read for your Pacific Northwest history shelf. Its an amazing and complex adventure story that dives deep into the hidden histories of logging and its disruptive intersection with indigenous cultures in our region.
I've been a huge fan of this authors The Tiger for some time and am so glad I finally made time for this incredible book.
Timefulness includes a feeling for distances and proximities in the geography of deep time. Focusing simply on the age of the Earth is like describing a symphony in terms of its total measure count. Without time, a symphony is a heap of sounds; the duration of notes and re-occurrence of themes gives it shape. Similarly, the grandeur of Earth’s story lies in the gradually unfolding, interwoven, rhythms of its many movements, with short motifs scampering over tones that resonate across the entire span of the planet’s history.' (Marcia Bjornerud)
This is the book that solidified my obsessive interest in geology. Marcia Bjornerud's book is a gift to the amateur, a blessing for anyone in the philosophical and scientific study of our 4.6 billion year old planet. Existential, accessible, and framed within deep time and climate change, this book changed my life and opened my days to a new preoccupation (rocks).
Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson calls his time in the mountains 'hours stolen from the gods.' For me, this book was a touchstone for what I suspect will be a lifetime's interest in geology. Robinson turns out to be an enthusiastic amateur-expert on psychogeology, alpenglow, and traversing tallus and scree. A gold mine for any hiker, mountaineer, or reader of John Muir or Gary Snyder—and if you're at the intersection of any of those things, this book is a no-brainer. Buy in hardcover. Appreciate the stunning color photographs.
This deceptive, beautiful tome is a captivating Geology 101 course disguised as a coffee table decoration. Stalwart PNW highlights include: the Olympic Peninsula, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Saint Helens, Crater Lake, and Hells Canyon (where my grandmother famously developed pancreatitis in the middle of a rafting trip).
It's been over 20 years since Weidensaul's previous work on migration,and it's hard to think much more can be added. Well, he does, and he does it in that evocative and immersive way that us bird lovers know Weidensaul for. The past two decades of technology have deepened our understanding of migration and, even moreso, how our species' impact on the planet puts the avian world in peril.
This beautiful book is full of cool and useful information about some of our favorite fruits, herbs, veggies, fungi, and flowers! Whether you want to grow your own kale or learn about the history of the pineapple, this is the book for you.
An alcoholic hermit discovers the truth of power in the world: the flies are actually in control. Bizarre, thrilling, and fast paced, this newly translated novel is worth a read.
Feral Creatures--a stupendous sophomore novel for Buxton, and a more sentimental sequel to my favorite adventure story of 2019-- cannot be missed! It's a colorful education in climate change, ecology, and zoology; a tender acknowledgement of the unavoidable "dark tides" we all sink into--especially during disastrous times; a genuine display of the hopeful, hilarious, and often fearful process of building a family; a true odyssey.
Oh, and there are *chilling* new animal/human/zombie hybrids to war against your favorite profane crow, a wild child, and their quirky cast of comrades...so again I say YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!!
