Book Review
How to Order the Universe
In this intimate, intense novel about a child’s perception of a vanishing way of life, seven-year-old M, thirsty for a way of learning about the world that her classroom cannot offer, convinces her traveling salesman father to take her...
Book Review
Cathedral
Ben Hopkins’s epic historical novel, "Cathedral", is the riveting story of the lives and motivations of cathedral builders: of humble serfs turned quarry workers; of visionary artists; of those who collected the harsh taxes and...
Book Review
Your Story, My Story
Connie Palmen’s "Your Story, My Story" reimagines the volatile relationship between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, two gifted poets whose coming together was like the collision of asteroids, at once luminous and destructive. Written in...
Book Review
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
With a blend of truth and fiction, Marie Benedict’s novel "The Mystery of Mrs. Christie" tackles the revered mystery writer’s most unsolvable mystery. In early December of 1926, a massive search was underway for Agatha Christie. Her...
Book Review
Finding Our Niche
"Finding Our Niche" is a thoughtful environmental proposal that circles ideas of reconciliation and reintegration with nature. Philip A. Loring’s thought-provoking environmental history text, "Finding Our Niche", considers the myths...
Book Review
The Nature of Desert Nature
Some consider deserts vast expanses of barren wasteland; a politician once called them “kitty litter.” If anything can transform such opinions toward respect and appreciation, this multicultural collection of essays by desert-loving...
Book Review
Thirty-Three Ways of Looking at an Elephant
Collection editor Dale Peterson calls his experiences with elephants in Asia and Africa “among the most transformative” of his life. The heartwarming, heartrending essays of "Thirty-Three Ways of Looking at an Elephant" reveal the...
Book Review
Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder
Julia Zarankin’s memoir is a moving, and often hilarious, account of how she—a type A, perfectionistic, and nature-avoidant novice—became a bona fide “bird nerd,” transforming her life in the process. Zarankin’s story begins...
