Play Book Tag discussion

High Tide in Tucson is a collection of twenty-five essays that highlight themes of family, community, and ecology. The book is titled after the first essay, in which Kingsolver realizes that a hermit crab she accidentally brought home from a beach vacation still times its activity to the rise and fall of the tides, even in an aquarium in Tucson, Arizona.

I always find her work to be particularly ineresting especially since I lived in Tucson for forty years. I remember visiting the Titan Missile Museum (Belly of the Beast) and listening to the Sonoran Desert toads that crawl out of their burrows, swell out their throats, and scream for sex while the monsoon puddles last ( Creation Stories). One of my favorites was Confessions of a Reluctant Rock Goddess, that made the point that it's important to push the boundaries of what a person is capable of doing, even at the risk of failing or feeling silly.

There is some new material but most of essays have been previously published, so those may feel a bit dated. The themes of environment, personal responsibility, child raising, and feminism are still important today and Kingsolver's beautiful, descriotive writing often Illuminating.

This is a great book to leave on your bedside table, to read and enjoy one or two of the essays before falling asleep. Each one carries a deeper meaning and it's nice to mull them over. I enjoyed it very much.

Great review. I think I'll pick this up. I really admire her, and I like having books that I can read one chapter at a time.

NancyJ wrote: "Great review. I think I'll pick this up. I really admire her, and I like having books that I can read one chapter at a time."

It was a perfect way to fit in a few chapters when you didn't have time for a full book. Hope you enjoy it.