Nature Literature discussion

Hello everyone,

I'm taking nominations for the May Book of the Month between now and next Saturday. The poll will go up on Sunday, Apr. 17th. Please try to provide a link to your recommended book in this thread, as well.

Thanks,
Becky

Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback
Amazon says it's a classic. I have it but have not read it yet.

Robyn Davidson's opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company with the following words: “I experienced that sinking feeling you get when you know you have conned yourself into doing something difficult and there's no going back."

Enduring sweltering heat, fending off poisonous snakes and lecherous men, chasing her camels when they get skittish and nursing them when they are injured, Davidson emerges as an extraordinarily courageous heroine driven by a love of Australia's landscape, an empathy for its indigenous people, and a willingness to cast away the trappings of her former identity. Tracks is the compelling, candid story of her odyssey of discovery and transformation.

“An unforgettably powerful book.”—Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild

Now with a new postscript by Robyn Davidson.

The Devil's Cormorant: A Natural History

It is a good book Andree.

Can I nominate The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers who Sought to see the Future by Peter Moore

Sher wrote: "The Devil's Cormorant: A Natural History"
Behold the cormorant: silent, still, cruciform, and brooding; flashing, soaring, quick as a snake. Evolution has crafted the only creature on Earth that can migrate the length of a continent, dive and hunt deep underwater, perch comfortably on a branch or a wire, walk on land, climb up cliff faces, feed on thousands of different species, and live beside both fresh and salt water in a vast global range of temperatures and altitudes, often in close proximity to man. Long a symbol of gluttony, greed, bad luck, and evil, the cormorant has led a troubled existence in human history, myth, and literature. The birds have been prized as a source of mineral wealth in Peru, hunted to extinction in the Arctic, trained by the Japanese to catch fish, demonized by Milton in Paradise Lost, and reviled, despised, and exterminated by sport and commercial fishermen from Israel to Indianapolis, Toronto to Tierra del Fuego. In The Devil’s Cormorant, Richard King takes us back in time and around the world to show us the history, nature, ecology, and economy of the world’s most misunderstood waterfowl.

they are all awesome books. this is going to be a hard choice.

Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest

I'm new to the group and glad to find it. I would like to recommend, sight unseen, Julie Zickefoose's newest book. This self-confessed "science chimp" is an artist, gardener, birder, and general nature nerd. Her confiding prose blends beautifully with her art. She is always worth reading.

Me, too! Just bought it today, sight unseen. I seldom get newly published books by any author, except for Julie Zickefoose or Bernd Heinrich. They are worth the expense.

But I think it's too late for May. Next month!

Yes, this thread has been closed, but stay tuned - I'll be taking nominations for June in the next couple of weeks! (I'll start a new thread for that.)

Andree wrote: "Me, too! Just bought it today, sight unseen. I seldom get newly published books by any author, except for Julie Zickefoose or Bernd Heinrich. They are worth the expe..."

Thanks for catching that! I'll nominate it for May. And I agree, Bernd Heinrich is always worth reading.