Have you ever found a freshwater mussel in the shallows of a New England lake or pond? They seem so secretive, pressed closed in their dark shells, their soft bodies hidden from view –…
Wood Lit
Theodore Roosevelt in the Field
Michael R. Canfield’s Theodore Roosevelt in the Field is not so much about Roosevelt’s conservation policies or his presidency as it is about the growth and evolution of…
Native Species
When I venture into the woods – chainsaw on shoulders or skis strapped to boots – I assume that once I enter the natural world, my scattered brain will empty. I expect that worries…
The Overstory: A Novel
Richard Power’s new novel, The Overstory, a work of fiction that prominently features trees, was released last year to a great deal of fanfare and critical acclaim. It not only made the…
American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West
Wolves, like gun control and the border wall, polarize political opinion, which is why Nate Blakeslee wrote American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West. I own eight other…
Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees
A couple of months ago I heard Thor Hanson interviewed on the radio and he said – maybe not exactly, but close – that “Keeping honey bees does little or nothing for bee…
White Pine: American History and the Tree That Made a Nation
I have an old farm field that seems to want to be a white pine nursery. If I didn’t brushhog it once a year, the trees would take over in no time. As it is, the seedlings are so dense in…
Camera Trapping Guide: Tracks, Sign, and Behavior of Eastern Wildlife
It used to be that in order to see or photograph wildlife, you’d have to be either incredibly lucky or spend hours crouched behind a blind. But now, thanks to the wide availability of…
Coyote America: A Natural & Supernatural History
For the past 150 years, various federal, state, and county agencies have done their best to erase coyotes from the American landscape. We have attacked them with guns, dynamite, and poison…
On the Trail: A History of American Hiking
In this fascinating and well-researched history, scholar Silas Chamberlain traces the evolution of hiking in America from the early 1800s to today. He describes how romantic and transcendental…
Oak: The Frame of Civilization
Long an admirer of oaks, I was pleased to receive a copy of arborist William Bryant Logan’s book for Christmas last year. In its 300 pages about acorns and the people who ate them, about…
The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia
In 2017, spring peepers appeared in my neighborhood wetlands, on April 16, with trademark enthusiasm, broadcasting sexual exuberance across our narrow, wooded valley … a full-throated,…
A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast
The same thought came up frequently as I read Mark Mikolas’s A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast: I wish I had had this book when I was first learning to…
A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast
With so many good tracking books already available, you might think that all has been said on the topic. But Linda Spielman’s new addition to the field, A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals…
Karl, Get Out of the Garden!: Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything
Being fond of plants, I expected to like Anita Sanchez’s new book about Carolus (Karl) Linnaeus. What I hadn’t expected was my emotional reaction – I found myself a bit…
Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cat’s Walk Across America
I hope to live long enough to see catamounts come home to the Northeast. Not just one or two mountain lions, mind you, but viable breeding populations that haunt deer, ratcheting their…
Pond
Adventure begins with Matt’s late-spring visit to “the Pit,” a vacant lot at the edge of his neighborhood. Matt notices something he’s never seen before: water is…
Water is Water
With catchy rhymes and colorful artwork, author Miranda Paul skillfully weaves the seasonal play of children with water to introduce the water cycle. Water is Water, an award-winning…
Barkskins
You may well remember Annie Proulx’s first book, The Shipping News – a bestseller adapted to film, or her story “Brokeback Mountain,” which became an Oscar-winning…
The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird’s Egg
I was a bit swamped by new, amazing bird information a couple of years ago when I read Bird Sense, an earlier Tim Birkhead book. This new book, The Most Perfect Thing, is just as good, and…