Month: January 2021

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants 

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

     The author of this beautiful book has Native American roots, and scientific training in botany and ecology. She deftly weaves science with knowledge rooted in her indigenous culture, expounding on how if we care for the land and treat nature with respect, the earth will shower us with abundance. How the land itself can teach us, can heal us, can lift us up. That simply leaving nature alone to do its own thing isn\’t enough, if we work together in harmony with it, respecting other (non-human) lives (non-human), all will thrive. I tend to think our earth is better left alone after all the harm we\’ve done to it; Kimmerer gently encourages me to see otherwise. Even details a study she did with a graduate student to prove that sweetgrass is more prolific when it is regularly harvested, then when left alone. There is so much in this book about native cultures, social ills, and intricate details on plant life I just don\’t know how to phrase it all. Things about migrating salamanders and the balance of nutrients in a pond. About cedar trees, black ash, and maples known so deeply by the indigenous people who used them well. Strawberries, wild leeks, corn, witch hazel, lichens (most fascinating), blackberries, cattails, pecans, salmon, wild rice . . . The individual and distinctive beauty of raindrops. The cleansing sweep of controlled fire. Personal stories about gardening, harvesting, replanting forests, mothering children, learning the nearly-forgotten language of her people and teaching students to see and feel the land again. Or at least to know it by plant names. Painful stories from of native american history. Wise stories from cultural myths, hopeful stories looking into the future, hopeful to heal the earth together with humankind. I can\’t name all the things. Others have share their impressions, linked below. Now wanting to read her book Gathering Moss

My father gave this book to me, I am grateful.

Rating: 5/5               390 pages, 2013
More opinions:

the Great Smoky Mountains

Natural and Human History 

by Edward Abbey and Eliot Porter

     I liked this book, but was initially confused about it. The photographer\’s name (Porter) is the only one on the spine and prominent on the cover, so naturally I assumed most of the text was by him- especially as some excerpts noted to be by Edward Abbey are in italics at the ends of pages indicating they pair with photos on the following spread. It wasn\’t until I was nearly halfway through that I realized the words I read echoed sentiments of Edward Abbey I\’d read in The Journey Home. So then I thought well, this chapter at least must be by Abbey- however it wasn\’t distinguished from any other chapter as to the author. Not until I was looking at details of the book on LibraryThing did I at last realize that all the main text is Edward Abbey, and Elliot Porter the photographer. There are also many quotes in here by Ivan Turgenev, John Hay, Frank Russell and others, plus several poems by E.E. Cummings.

So it is in turns a picturesque description of the region especially the immensely diverse plant life, a rant against development (Abbey went on for pages at one point on his stance that only foot traffic- no cars- should be allowed into the Great Smoky Moutains National Park- even though he himself visited there in a vehicle), the history in particular of how Cherokee were forced out of their homes, the way hillside farmers make a living and their distinctive local culture and pride- and how it\’s been degraded by strip mining which ruins the land. Maybe it sounds a jumble but really it is very well presented together and my mind moved seamlessly from one aspect to the next. The photographs are beautiful (if a bit aged in appearance after all this book as an object is almost fifty years old) featuring waterfalls, brilliant fall leaves and bright forest floor wildflowers from the region. 
I read this book as an interlude during Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. That one is very much about how native american mindset and living is in close partnership with the land- and there\’s a chapter where the author takes a group of students to survey plant biomes in a patch of the Great Smoky Moutains- and I remembered I had this Appalachian Wilderness on a shelf somewhere, and wanted to see the pictures. It was a perfect pairing.
Rating: 3/5                118 pages, 1973

Night Angel Trilogy 

by Brent Weeks

I feel I ought to apologize to my youngest- that I didn’t care for this book. It was a gift from her to me (a year or two ago, so she was eight or nine). She picked it out for me “because it looked exciting!” she said. I am sure it is- but it’s just not my kind of read. I gave it a good try- got to page 106 and then argh, sorry, I just couldn’t continue. I failed to care enough about any of the characters and the complexity of this made-up world and its politics just lost me. Similar to Jhereg I suppose, it\’s about an assassin. Young man who lives rough and half-starving on the streets, wants something better but mostly just wants to not be afraid anymore so convinces the most skilled and deadly assassin in the city to take him on as apprentice. He has to learn to blend in with people of much higher status, to learn stealth and swordplay and the arts of poisoning and there’s also magic. I didn’t get to the magic. Alternating chapters tell the story from other viewpoints- including of some leading factions and rulers in this city or neighboring realms- I didn’t really keep track of what was going on with all the different ruling parties, varying cultures of the many countries and how they related to each other, even though the author dropped plenty of details and hints at such. Did kind of like the main character, at least his perspective starting out was somewhat sympathetic. I just couldn’t focus on it.

 Abandoned                     677 pages, 2008

Total books read: 122

Fiction: 71
Non-Fiction: 46
fiction breakdown:
YA- 7
Juvenile Fiction- 41
Fantasy/Sci-Fi- 34
Animal stories- 42
Historical Fiction- 3
Westerns- 4
Classics- 2
nonfiction breakdown:
Gardening/Food- 5
Memoirs- 10
Nature- 10
Animals- 28
Medical- 5
Travel/Aventure- 3
other formats:
Short Stories- 4
Graphic Novels- 5
E-Books- 25
sources:
Owned- 98
Borrowed from public library- 20
Borrowed from a relative- 3
re-reads- 8
abandoned books- 3
Places visited in the pages: Cambodia, France, England, China, North Devon, North and South Korea, Lamu Island, Tuin Island, the Comoros Islands, Mars, several fantasy worlds, outer space (in sci-fi) and one unnamed Balkan country.
It was such a different year- reading has definitely been my escape with more juvenile fiction, fantasy and sci-fi than usual. Needed some light stuff. There was also an entire month when I couldn’t focus well and just read magazine articles. Finishing the Animorph books felt like an accomplishment- I started that series in 2018! Reading so many more books off my own shelves should feel like an accomplishment- but really it means I got tired of the stress going out to places and just stayed home. I did use my library’s curbside pickup a few times and even went in the building once after they re-opened but it felt so strangely still and quiet- normally I’d like to be in a library that’s so silent, but this felt eerie. Fewer people working at the desks, nobody using the computer stations, nobody else in the stacks . . . Definitely spent a lot of time with my own library at home. Re-read eight books, which isn’t a lot but most years it’s zero, maybe one or two so that’s quite a difference! It was satisfying, too.
Just a note that, like usual, my stat numbers are a bit off- the total count and fiction / nonfiction numbers are accurate, but breaking it down into genres and other categories I get a lot of crossover and never bother sorting that out. For example, many of the books I tagged as Animals Fiction are the same as Fantasy / Sci-Fi and Juvenile Fic this year due to all the Animorphs titles!
Favorites? This is the hard part, although I’m surprised to say I only gave one book five stars this year: The Silent Miaow, and that one was a re-read so it doesn’t seem fair. Am I getting more and more stingy with my stars? or was the year so glum I just never felt any full joy in a book? Well, there are plenty that were great regardless:
The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins- On evolution and genetics. This one was dense, and amazing. Made me think so hard.
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal- Exactly what the title says. No, it turns out, we’re probably not!
Argen the Gull by Franklin Russell- Immerses you in the natural world- very much a book about environment, you really feel surrounded by the weather. Harsh survival from gull’s-eye view.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande- Sobering book, about tough end-of-life choices and how different aspects of care for the elderly became a thing and why they are maybe problematic.
Castaway by Lucy Irvine- This couple who hardly knew each other decided to live alone on a remote island in the early 80’s. At some points they barely survived. It’s hard to put down.
Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn- I was just enthralled with the unique idea of an alien/dragon creature that bonds with a boy who’s a reformed thief on the run. Couldn’t put this one down either.

Encyclopedia of the Cat by Bruce Fogle- If you want to just dive into a ton of details about your favorite animal, and look at some gorgeous photos, this is it. (Your favorite animal isn’t a cat? what??)

Grip: A Dog Story by Helen Griffiths- Sometimes I like J Fiction that’s gritty. This one is about a lonely morose boy with a pet bull terrier dog. His father wants to train the dog to fight, the boy doesn’t. Very good.

Gull Number 737 by Jean Craighead George- Great juvenile fiction showing what scientific field work is actually like. About seagulls, but a lot is also about the family dynamics and how the son wants the research to follow a different direction than his father’s goal.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot- One to make you angry and astonished. Really opens your eyes to how poorly black people have been treated by medical professionals in history (and still are disadvantaged today).

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren- This wasn’t so much about plants as I assumed from the cover, it’s more about the author’s personal journey as a scientist. Also hard to put down.

Saving Jemimah by Julie Zickefoose- Lovely book about the author’s rehabilitation work with one particular blue jay, raising it from a young abandoned chick and later some extensive care when it was injured. Fascinating details.
Secret Go the Wolves by R.D Lawrence- A very well-told story about an unwise venture: raising baby wolves in the home. (He had a house in a remote area of Canada). Vivid read. (I must qualify that: it turned out well. But I don’t think anybody would recommend raising orphaned wolves in this manner nowadays).
Spineless by Julie Berwald- There is so much I don’t know about jellyfish – they are so strange and beautiful in an alien way. This book was kind of mind-boggling.
Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson- Another book that makes you sink into nature in a specific place- this time through the life of an otter roaming around the riverside and moors of North Devon.

The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton- Novel about a cattleman in Texas during a six year drought. Got me into reading a few westerns, which in turn made me create a genre tag for them.

The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson- All kinds of fascinating stuff about seeds.

Honorable mentions: The Cats of Lamu by Jack Couffer, Village Horse Doctor by Ben K. Green, Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem and Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
Yeah it’s more than ten. Who says I have to only pick ten. There’s more, feel free to browse all my 4/5 book posts! Well, I hope you all had a good reading year, in spite of what’s going on in the world. Books will keep us sane especially if we need to hunker down more. I don’t know about you, but I’m expecting four, five, six more months or longer before I can feel at-ease going on just normal errands again. It sure would be nice to see some friends in person too, but at least there is this wonderful thing called the internet that keeps us in touch.

DISCLAIMER:

All books reviewed on this site are owned by me, or borrowed from the public library. Exceptions are a very occasional review copy sent to me by a publisher or author, as noted. Receiving a book does not influence my opinion or evaluation of it

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