Nature Books
Birdsong by the Seasons: A Year Listening to Birds
Donald Kroodsma
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2009, 366 pages
ISBN: 9780618753369
For those who enjoy birds and their songs there is Birdsong by the Seasons: A Year of Listening
to Birds by Donald Kroodsma which contains 24 stories of birds and their
songs throughout the year. Kroodsma begins with a Pileated Woodpecker on New
Year’s Day and ends with various birds just before Christmas. Kroodsma’s
observations and experiences are complemented with two CDs of birdsongs which
are included with the book.
A Reenchanted World: The Quest For a New Kinship With Nature
James William Gibson
Metropolitan Books
2009, 306 pages
ISBN: 9780805078350
While there is no denying that our species’ assault on the
natural world has become ruthless and extensive damaging the Earth and the
species that live on the planet, author and sociologist James William Gibson claims
that our attitude towards nature is changing. Not only are we reconnecting with
nature and animals, we’re doing more to protect the planet.
Gibson looks at forms of enchantment including animals who speak to us, holy lands and eco-warriors. He also looks at problems with the environment including a chapter entitled "Loving It to Death" where he illustrates how our affection for nature is destroying it. One example he points to is the number of cruise ships that journey up the Alaskan coast to Glacier Bay National Park. In 1970 only four ships made this regular trip while in the mid 1990s closer to 200 boats were making this same trek and with a significant impact.
"And every day at sea, each big cruise ship discharged an average of 17,000 gallons of human waste into the ocean, plus an additional 170,000 gallons of 'gray water.'"
Another startling impact on nature cited by Gibson is with snowmobiles and jet skis. Besides the damage that these cause to the natural habitat, they are also major sources of pollution.
"Environmental Protection Agency studies calculate that just one snowmobile can create as much pollution as one hundred cars."
A Reenchanted World is an interesting and important read.
Night: A Literary Companion
edited by Merilyn Simonds
Greystone Books
2009, 175 pages
ISBN: 9781553653967
If you like reading a collection of stories by different
authors then Night: A Literary Companion
may be for you. Containing 25 stories by such authors as Henry Beston, Loren
Eisley and Grey Owl, the entertaining essays pertain to that time of day after
the sun sets and includes such topics as alligators, bats and experiences in
the dark of night! The Sea: A Literary Companion
edited by Wayne Grady
GreyStone Books
2009, 175 pages
ISBN: 9781553653950
Another nice compilation of stories is The Sea: A Literary Companion edited by Wayne Grady. This book about the oceans contains 23 stories by various authors including Charles Darwin, Herman Melville, Jack London and Rachel Carson. Darwin's "Phosphorescence of the Sea" describes a spectacle of the sea that he observed while sailing south of Cape Horn aboard the Beagle.
Herman Melville wrote "The Pacific" which describes the Pacific Ocean and was excerpted from Moby Dick.
Jack London, who wrote The Call of the Wild, also has a chapter in the book - "A Pacific Traverse" which describes "a sixty-day calm in 'the variables' above the equator" and is taken from The Cruise of the Snark.
"The Enduring Sea" is Rachel Carson's contribution to the book and is taken from her book The Edge of the Sea.
Those interested in nature, especially the sea, will enjoy this collection of stories.