Honoring Creativity · Pondering Possibilities · Sharing Knowledge · Valuing Usefulness
We humans tend to think our intelligence makes us superior, but we still have a lot to learn from the animal world, especially when it comes to patience, persistence, and adaptability…
Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer, entrepreneur and science … Read more...
Timely. Terrifying. Heartbreaking. Yes, THE WILDLANDS by Abby Geni with its examination of human impact on the natural world is timely. The wildlife and environmental realities it highlights are terrifying. And the characters – a family of orphans – suffer … Read more...
As a nature lover, watching wildlife in action can be enthralling, relaxing, educational, compelling, exhilarating, and magical… right up to the point you realize that life or death may be playing out before your eyes. In that moment you face … Read more...
For starters: that cover! It spoke to me immediately. But what is beneath the beautiful artwork is equally delightful. While I have enjoyed all of Sonja Yoerg’s novels, TRUE PLACES has to be my favorite, with its juxtaposition of nature … Read more...
I was fascinated by WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING when I first learned about author Delia Owens’s background studying wildlife in Africa, and her awards as a nature writer. I was in the mood for a book lush in setting and … Read more...
This mother mule deer in Arizona, doting and attentive just a week before, warns her young buck away. Why?
It turns out she is pregnant with a new fawn, and that she’s taught the year-old buck all she can about … Read more...
Wow. I could probably stop there, honestly, because that’s about all you need to know. But… I can’t do that because I loved this book too much not to talk about it.
THE REMOVES by Tatjana Soli is an intense… Read more...
Wow! What a fascinating book written with absolutely gorgeous, transporting prose.
I tend to enjoy dual-period books, but THE RIVER OF KINGS by Taylor Brown actually is a rare treat in that it weaves a third period into the storyline, … Read more...
In honor of Valentine’s Day, National Spay/Neuter Awareness Month (February), and World Spay Day (the last Thursday in February) — A letter from DOMESTIC ANIMAL COMPANIONS (PETS) UNITED FOR A BETTER FUTURE:
… Read more...Dear Humans:
This may seem like a strange
We listen to music for a variety of reasons — to relax, to distract, to celebrate, to evoke a memory, to capture a moment, to alter our mood, to reflect our emotions, to enhance our brain functions…
But, have you … Read more...
The idea of a male cat birthing coach seems to go against everything we think we know or have been taught to think about the nature of human vs animal behavior.
… Read more...Humanity — 1) compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or
What I’ve come to learn about myself as a reader is that I am patient enough (who knew?) to enjoy epic novels that span generations (This one was 545 pages). And I’m nerdy enough to enjoy puzzling out long, beautiful … Read more...
The Mayor of Sidney, Canada has proclaimed Sunday August 6th, 2017 as Bald Eagle-Hawklet Day in recognition and celebration of the incredible events that took place this summer in an eagles’ nest high above Roberts Bay … Read more...
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that I found much to love about THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF LOVE by Elizabeth J. Church. 1) Crows! 2) Science! 3) Southwestern setting – I so enjoyed the references to … Read more...
Dinosaur webs?
When we think of what is possible…
we tend to be limited —
by our knowledge
by our perspective
by our experiences
by our curiosity
and by our imagination.
So why ponder dinosaur webs? It was something I … Read more...
Lost: Carl Sagan’s Billions; Earth’s Little Blue Orb
Found: The Universe Has Two Trillion Galaxies
Back in the 1980’s, Carl Sagan captured the publics imagination with his talk of the Universe’s Billions. Now, based on images collected over 20 years … Read more...
I love to read around the internet and frequently come across engaging, funny or insightful news and superb storytelling that are “must shares.” Since I often find them through twitter (sorry, not a facebooker) I just automatically “tweet” or “retweet” … Read more...
For starters – knowing that Sonja Yoerg (whom I am honored to call a friend) has hiked the same John Muir Trail as her character, Liz, I am ready to lace up my … Read more...
"big-in-heart debut novel... poetic and evocative"
If you appreciate a sense of place and lush descriptions of the natural world (and, in this case, its devastating destruction by men in battle), FALLEN LAND by Taylor Brown is for you. I … Read more...
It’s hard to imagine anyone can watch Ringo, a Southern White Rhinoceros calf who oozes personality from the top of his expressive Shrek-like ears and adorably plaintive whine down to his non-conformist Rhino attitude towards mud — and still claim … Read more...
"...a necessary read. For all of mankind."
I want to extend the same courtesy that so many other reviewers extended to me by NOT exposing a key point of this story that, some 70 to 80 pages in, changes everything … Read more...
2015 went by like a speed bump.
Is it that I just turned 57, so every year races by faster than the one before it? Is it the dense time suck of social media and the phone addiction I share … Read more...