My mother just mailed another obituary to me—the second this week. Death has become an expected topic in her letters and in our weekly phone conversations.
At first, the deceased were the age of my grandparents and parents. Now they’re my age, too.
It’s sobering news. Reminds me to take nothing for granted. And reminds me of these lines from Billy Collins’ poem, “Obituaries”:
And all the survivors huddle at the end under the roof of a paragraph as if they had sidestepped the flame of death.
I opened my new reading year with Grayson—a sweet, short memoir by competitive open-water swimmer Lynne Cox. In it, she details a single morning of her daily three-hour training in the Pacific Ocean—a morning that began like any other until…the water shuddered. This occurs in the sixth paragraph; then the morning (and every subsequent graf) gets stranger.
Cox is only 17 and has already broken numerous long-distance swimming records at this point in her life. She’s schooled in visualization techniques, resilience, and discipline. Where others cower from fear (like me, whom you’d never find in a dark, 55-degree ocean at 5 a.m.), Cox confronts and controls. Better still, especially for those of us who are armchair travelers, she remains aware and in awe of the marine life she encounters. She introduces readers to aloof sea turtles, chatty dolphins, a manic stingray colony, and flying tuna. We learn tidbits about each of these creatures and how oddly they’re behaving that morning. We get drawn in to Cox’s fear-induced urge to finish her workout ASAP and high-tail it home until…we meet “old” Steve near shore.
Steve owns a bait shop and has long been a source of wisdom and friendship to Cox. Today he’s not in his usual spot and Cox worries. She heads closer inland yet he waves her away. He explains that a baby gray whale has been following her like a puppy for about a mile. She can’t go closer to shore—it’ll beach the little guy—and she can’t stop swimming now. She must help the infant find his mother, his only food source at his tender age (baby grays drink about 50 gallons of milk per day), or he’ll die.
An already exhausted Cox rallies to save the 18-foot youngster. She takes her mission quite selflessly and compassionately, in spite of how the cold is affecting her, in spite of having no idea how to find one particular female whale in the Pacific. Though the baby—whom she dubs Grayson (a gray’s son)—acts healthy and playful, Cox knows every minute counts to reunite him with his mother. Especially considering the 5,000+-mile migration to the Arctic the whales have ahead of them.
As Grayson’s rescue grows longer and more complicated, Cox takes the advice of another old seaman who keeps an eye on her during her morning workouts. “Sometimes answers come out of time and struggle, and learning. Sometimes you just have to try again in a different way.”
Cox experiments with new dives, new ways of holding her breath longer, new ideas about what little Grayson is thinking and how he might have slipped away from his mother. And in all of this, Cox continues sending positive thoughts/energy into the Universe, hoping it will help the cause, and Grayson continues following her around the Pacific.
Don’t let Grayson’s slim dimensions fool you. At first glance, it’s a stirring rescue tale. But at closer read, it’s a love song to the ocean—and an instruction manual on what’s possible when we open our hearts and minds to the unknown. [Gray whale mother and calf: photographer unknown.]
When I was asked which instrument I wanted to play in my grade school’s newly formed band, I said, “Drums!”
“Girls don’t play drums,” snapped the teacher.
So I turned my musical aspirations to the orchestra, for which I saw myself playing string bass.
“Your hands are too small,” another teacher told me.
“Then how about cello?” I chirped.
“Same thing. Why don’t you play the violin?”
Because I didn’t want to play a high-pitched instrument, nor did I want to play an instrument that gobs of other kids were already struggling with. But somehow I got roped into the flute. And all the years I played it, I harbored aspirations to push the instrument into unusual territories—new genres, new sounds—rather than conforming to the Mozart and Debussy available to me. But I never mustered the confidence required to improvise and branch away from the norm.
Enter my husband, who introduced me to PROJECT Trio this week—a combo of two instruments I always longed to play and the one I ended up with. The trio explores the territories I had hoped to pioneer decades ago—even holds a camp to teach young people how to play their instruments “in any musical situation and in multiple different styles.” What a dream! (Do you think I’m too old to go to camp?)
I wrote to the Nevada Mining Association this week. I’d never even heard of the Nevada Mining Association until I read my new issue of Audubon magazine.
On my ever-growing list of things I never knew (I’ve a friend who sends me news stories nearly every day to which I reply, too frequently and embarrassingly, “I had no idea!”), I can now add “mining markers”—hollow PVC pipes used to indicate a mining claim and operation on public lands in the West.
Sounds innocuous, right? Perhaps an aesthetic blight to some, but otherwise not a problem.
But this is not the case. Birds and lizards are drawn to these markers as potential nesting and roosting sites—or simply places to rest and conserve energy/heat for a bit. Trouble is that once they go in, they can’t get back out. The markers become the animals’ final resting place: death by dehydration or starvation.
Environmentalists have been trying to fix this since 1983. Finally, several years ago, miners were given two years to change the materials they used for these markers; now, after 30 years, it’s legal for anyone to remove the markers. Nevada state wildlife officials jumped into action with conservation groups and started pulling the markers in November 2012, when the new legislation permitted them to do so. Audubon magazine was celebratory over the change and reported that 8,000+ markers have already been pulled. Only 2,992,000+ to go.
“Once, with binoculars, I watched a male American kestrel perched on a post, staring down inside over and over. I avoided him for a while and came back to the post about a half hour later. The male was gone and his recently deceased mate was in the bottom of the post. Given how long it takes for a bird to die of dehydration, I imagine this male had kept vigil for some days, if not weeks.” —Pete Bradley, Bristlecone Audubon Society conservation chairman
Not every pulled pipe held a dead bird, but some revealed as many as 15—my adopted Mountain Bluebird’s kin among them (this was part of the outcry—the Mountain Bluebird is Nevada’s state bird). With 2,992,000+ more markers to remove, that’s a lot of birds.
Hence my letter to the Nevada Mining Association, whose members include 3M and Halliburton. Obviously, the new legislation isn’t requiring the mining companies to remove their own markers. So I wondered which companies were assuming social responsibility and sending their own crews out to remove markers. Seems like a great PR opportunity, doesn’t it?
I haven’t heard squat from the NMA, but I’ll let you know if I do.
[Photo of marker by Christy Klinger; photo of Kestrel by James Ownby.]
The folks had stopped their International Scout along the road out of curiosity. They’d spotted the bear in a field, where it had just been released by wildlife manager Mary McConnell. The bear had been drugged in order to transport her to this habitat and she was still a bit groggy.
“Will it bite?” asked one of the International Scout folks.
“If you corner her,” McConnell replied. She paused, and added, “A mouse will bite if you corner it. Of course, the bear has a bigger bite.”
This little scene is from John McPhee’s “A Textbook Place for Bears” and it makes me want to hug Mary McConnell. “Will it bite?” is the most frequent question I hear when I’m accompanying an animal of any kind. It’s exasperating. Could there be a more foolish question? I will bite you if I think it’s the only way to get you to leave me alone!
Any animal (humans included) with teeth may bite. Even animals without teeth (like geese) may clamp down on you hard enough to hurt. Does that make the animal “bad”?
Yes, if we’re to believe Kevin Renfro, a local personal-injury lawyer.
I’ve nothing against personal-injury lawyers—we all have to make a living. However, I do have a problem when said p-i lawyer goes on television while holding his two adorable dachshunds (they’re GOOD, he says) and tries to reel in new customers: “If you’ve been bitten by a BAD dog, you may need help getting your fair compensation from the insurance company…”
A bite is not a character flaw, Mr. Renfro. A bite is a SIGN—an indication of a health problem, a misinterpretation of circumstances, a territorial act of protection. A bite doesn’t make an animal bad. I would hope that you (and those lawyers who specialize in dog-bite litigation) have some basic knowledge of canine behavior so you’re not perpetuating myths and disseminating misinformation on television and in courts.
Every bite tells a story, Mr. Renfro, and without “hearing” (i.e., understanding) the dog’s point of view, you’re missing the most important element of the tale. If you don’t feel the need to delve deeper into canine behavior for your work, I urge you to do it for those cutie-pie dachshunds of yours. “Good” dogs shouldn’t have to settle for “bad” guardians.
[Photo of bear by Lil Polley; photo of Mr. Renfro from his TV ad.]
We have a spider in our living room. Don’t know what kind. He (she?) stays in one place, yet we know s/he’s alive.
What is s/he doing? Do you know anything about spiders? Is s/he just trying to stay out of the cold (which means our usual way of dealing with spiders—taking them outside—won’t work)? Is s/he dying (in which case I need to drum up a eulogy)?
I don’t know what kind of spider we’re dealing with yet. Guess I need to get out the binoculars if I really want to solve this mystery.
What I DON’T want—as much as I like critters—is a nursery of baby spiders! But I don’t want to kill our little guest either. Any ideas from you would be much appreciated.
The other day my husband brought home a glossy, four-color, eight-paged publication he’d found on the sidewalk in our neighborhood. He intended to toss it into a recycling bin, but when he realized what it was, he knew he had to share it with me first.
I pawed through it—picture after captioned picture of one senior couple’s 2012 activities: celebrating milestones with grandchildren and former exchange students; vacationing with friends and family in Italy, Monaco, and China; learning to surf in Hawaii; hosting Union Rags and the Wyeths at the Kentucky Derby; acting as professional photographers for a wedding, building custom furniture, and so on. And so on…
Was it a self-published booklet to commemorate these events?
NO! It was their Christmas Letter to friends and extended family!
It’s exactly why people have come to hate such correspondence. It was so over-the-top it could have been a parody of the genre. But it wasn’t. It was a chirpy report of all the stellar 2012 moments one family experienced. And they sent it to someone in MY neighborhood, which can only mean (or I HOPE it means) that the recipients lead similar lives and didn’t take said Christmas Letter as the disturbing show of pretentiousness I did. Once again, I felt quite removed from my neighbors.
I had just been reading about Cabal, a dog rescued from a roadside by author Neil Gaiman. I learned that Cabal suffered from the same condition my pooch did (degenerative myelopathy), that British-born Gaiman now lives in the Midwest, that his relationship with Cabal was of the unexpected and nonpareil variety… Heck! I have more in common with Neil Gaiman than I do with these Christmas Letter–sending neighbors.
Hmmm. Maybe I can work Gaiman into my own Christmas Letter this year. Maybe I, too, can incite envy and head-shaking during the holidays.
This is part of an ongoing series regarding my transition from the Land of Lincoln to the Bluegrass State. For a list of previous articles in the series, just select Stranger in a Strange Land from the right of Lull, under “Choose a topic that interests you.”
[Photo of Cabal and Neil Gaiman by Kimberly Butler and titled Unconditional Love.]
Oklahoman Larry Flick was in his garden when he heard a splash. He turned to investigate and photographed this in his birdbath:
What a find! I can’t entice so much as a sparrow into my artful birdbath, much less a spotted pooch.
Turns out the dog was homeless as well as overheated. Until, of course, he paired up with a birdbath—a cute-as-a-button PR strategy that quickly got him adopted by Mr. Flick.
I received an e-mail earlier this month from GoodReads, a social network for book enthusiasts. (I became a member merely to access an interview with a favorite author.) How many books do I aim to read in 2013? GoodReads wanted to know. Don’t I want to read more? GoodReads would help me do that with a kind of Weight-Watchers community approach.
First of all, as my mother would attest, no one needs to encourage me to read more. (As a child, I was encouraged to play more.) Second, if you’re a member of GoodReads, aren’t you already an avid reader? This goal-setting activity seems a sham to me—seems participants are really just showing off the number of books they’ve read. Third, and most important, quantity shouldn’t matter to people who read with ease (reminds me of Adler’s observation about reading). As long as your nose is stuck in some kind of printed/digital matter, why be concerned about the tally?
In reviewing my blog list, I counted 83 books read last year plus magazine articles, short works, and blogs. The number means nothing. Some books were slim and full of poetry; a few were written for a young audience, while others were of a how-to nature. Most were animal- or nature-related.
Why do I keep the list? 1. It helps me choose the next read and prevents me from rereading books. 2. It’s a kind of diary for me. I can gauge from the list my emotional temperature and mindset over the course of the year. And you can, too, if you’ve read any of these books. 3. If I want to direct someone to specific animal-welfare information, the list helps jog my memory as to which book to recommend.
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” —Oscar Wilde
It’s not a contest. I’m not trying to read more books than some other schmo. I can’t/won’t compete: The field is FULL of folks who read at least a book a day. I need more time to ponder what I read. Sometimes one book prompts me to read another book at the same time because they complement one another or they reference one another. I once read an article profiling different kinds of readers based on…well, I can’t remember now. All I recall is being hopping mad that I fell into the “Promiscuous” category simply because I read several books at the same time. Promiscuous readers apparently are unable or unwilling to commit.
At any rate, I will continue my list-keeping—without the aid of GoodReads—of books I’ve read and books I want to read and think about next. (I maintain this second, much longer list in a journal.)
Call me promiscuous if you want, but I’m opening my mind, learning new things, considering and developing new ideas, shaping and solidifying my beliefs, and seeing the world differently. That’s what books do for me—what I wish they could do for everyone.
The first headline I read this morning announced a new target-practice app for four-year-olds from the NRA. Then my husband shared a Stephen Colbert video, “Double Barrel Blam-O-Rama,” with me (which I can’t embed here for some reason—you’ll have to follow the link above).
Colbert notes that the first-ever national Gun Appreciation Day is coming up this Saturday, sharing the week with another holiday, Martin Luther King Day. The originator of Gun Appreciation Day believes MLK would have been pro-gun (the same way Jesus would have been pro-nail, quips Colbert).
Tsk. My dream of a nation instilled with kindness and compassion is quickly being dashed by a fear that there’s not even hope for sanity and common sense.
Today is MLK’s birthday. I’ll leave you with a bit of his wisdom:
“A nation or a civilization that continues to produce softminded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.” —from A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., edited by James M. Washington
Upon leaving my dentist appointment the other day, I could not get a break to access the frontage road that would lead me home.
So I tried a workaround: I took a back path behind a strip mall to reach a side street that would intersect my return route. And what did I spy?
Between the strip mall and the backside of a 1940s neighborhood development stood a small patch of grassy field and one bush. Foraging beneath the bush ambled three chickens—much like the one pictured, although sans accessories.
I stopped the car to fully experience the Wow moment—the juxtaposition of strip mall, manicured homes, and farm animals all within a few yards of one another.
Obviously another reminder for me that the workarounds of our lives often work out better than the plans.
Pictured is my neighbor’s cat, who fervently follows the first two commands of the slogan on the bag. “Eat Sleep Read” is pretty much what I’m doing today, though not necessarily in that order. I’m thinking of making Eat Sleep Read my goals list for 2013. Doable, right? Like breathing…
As a child I enjoyed reading The Happy Little Whale, a Golden Book starring a sperm whale, and I’ve harbored a soft spot for the ocean giants ever since.
Not surprisingly, when news hit the mainstream press last year of an underwater whale rescue, I paid close attention. Turns out it wasn’t a whale, but a whale shark. No matter, the creature was in trouble.
Off the coast of Mexico, a group of vacationers were diving and enjoying the playful antics of the indigenous sea life. However, getting up close and personal with ocean residents means seeing a dark side as well (the dark side of humans, that is). One whale shark showed scarred and grooved skin from a boat propeller; another was hampered by a tuna net that had wrapped like a rope around the shark and lodged into his/her skin and cut deeply into a fin. When professional divemaster Daniel Zapata noticed it, he knew he had to help.
With a knife, a little courage, and a lot of compassion, Zapata went to work on the net—swimming above the polka-dotted leviathan and cutting him/her free at the same time. Here’s a short version of the scene (Zapata’s company, Solmar V, offers a longer version of the dive; the whale shark appears around 4:24):
When searching for links to this rescue, I found another one—this time with a humpback whale. Michael Fishbach, cofounder of the Great Whale Conservancy, was monitoring whales in the Sea of Cortez on Valentine’s Day of 2011, accompanied by family and friends. Near their boat was a young, presumably dead humpback whale. Dead, that is, until she let go a distressed exhale.
Fishbach dove into the water for a closer look and found the whale entangled in nylon fishnets, like those used by the local fishers (doesn’t this make you think of all the plastic debris in our waters and how it affects wildlife, large or small?). Her fins were pinned to the sides of her body and her tail was weighted down about 15 feet. She was immobilized, frightened, and dying.
Fishbach radioed for help, but was told IF anyone could get there, it would be at least an hour before they arrived. Fishbach and his mates knew that would be too late, so they threw themselves into action—some worked in the water, others worked from the boat, all cut and pulled and disentangled. This rescue took a LOT of courage and the compassion of MANY people (watch to the end of the video and you’ll see the rescuers’ reward for their care), for one unexpected move from this huge patient could spell disaster for the humans:
I don’t know about you, but I am so-ooo-oo grateful there are folks like Fishbach and Zapata in the world—folks who have big hearts and the chutzpah to take action. I’m guessing that, on some level, those two ocean giants feel the same.
The jewelry exhibited is part of the personal costume collection of Deb Schneider and spans the decades from 1900 to the present. It can be searched by dog breed, manufacturer/artist, or jewelry type. But don’t get too attached to anything you see—Schneider isn’t parting with any of it.
Writing is slow right now and I’m way, way behind with all the information I’ve been wanting to share with you. Until I create some proper posts, please enjoy this Irish ditty about Loca, the pug who can’t run:
Loca’s running impairment is caused by a brain disorder. It’s operable yet risky. As a vet counseled, as long as Loca isn’t bothered or being hurt by his differentness, why imperil his life trying to make him “normal”? He has everything he needs—canine pals, exercise, medical care, general good health, love; why risk all that to change his gait?
And with the help of his clever humans, Loca—just as he is—provides the world with a lesson and a giggle.
It’s been puzzling to me that 2012 is already over. I’m not sure I was ready to say goodbye to it. Not that it was a particularly spectacular year for me (though I did find that four-leaf clover). On the contrary, pretty much NOTHING happened—no personal tragedy or loss, no personal monumental achievements or failures. It was a year of the Small and the Quiet. I can’t recall another year like it.
Sure, the world around me swirled with unrest and catastrophe, and it affected me emotionally. But for the first time in this millennium, I have no personal high or low points to report, no milestones, no markers that will forever chisel 2012 into memory.
Instead, I have moments with insects, trees, horses, and family to cherish. And then came this:
This is a Mountain Bluebird, “adopted” through the National Audubon Society for us as a Christmas gift. (You, too, may adopt one and become a member of Audubon.) We haven’t named him yet, but I like to think of him as our Little Bluebird of Happiness. And with the Bluebird of Happiness at my side, how can 2013 NOT be a splendid year?
May your 2013 be all you wish it to be. And if not that, may it at least be filled with the Small and the Quiet.
[Goodbye pic from V3; bird photo by David Speiser.]
BREATH: THE NEW SCIENCE OF A LOST ART by James Nestor
HOW THE PENGUINS SAVED VERONICA by Hazel Prior
LIVING ON THE WIND: ACROSS THE HEMISPHERE WITH MIGRATORY BIRDS by Scott Weidensaul
ORION magazine
SEEING VOICES: A JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF THE DEAF by Oliver Sacks
THE BARK magazine
THE MOST RADICAL THING YOU CAN DO: THE BEST POLITICAL ESSAYS FROM ORION MAGAZINE
THINKERS OF THE JUNGLE: THE ORANGUTAN REPORT by Gerd Schuster, Willie Smits, and Jay Ullal
Books and Short Works Read in 2021
THE LIVING FOREST: A VISUAL JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE WOODS by Joan Maloof
THE NINEMILE WOLVES by Rick Bass
POEMS: NEW AND SELECTED by Ron Rash
THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS by Danielle Evans
THIS IS THEN THAT WAS NOW by Vijay Seshadri
ORDINARY BEAST by Nicole Sealey
THE GENIUS OF BIRDS by Jennifer Ackerman
ESTHER THE WONDER PIG: CHANGING THE WORLD ONE HEART AT A TIME by Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter with Caprice Crane
AN AMERICAN SUNRISE by Joy Harjo
THE ROCK FROM THE SKY by Jon Klassen
HUMMINGBIRD SALAMANDER by Jeff Vandermeer*
WHY FISH DON’T EXIST: A STORY OF LOSS, LOVE, AND THE HIDDEN ORDER OF LIFE by Lulu Miller
POSTCOLONIAL LOVE POEM by Natalie Diaz
PEACES by Helen Oyeyemi*
BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: INDIGENOUS WISDOM, SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, AND THE TEACHINGS OF PLANTS by Robin Wall Kimmerer
FLOWERS OVER THE INFERNO by Ilaria Tuti*
HOW TO CATCH A MOLE: WISDOM FROM A LIFE LIVED IN NATURE by Marc Hamer
IN THE LATENESS OF THE WORLD by Carolyn Forché
SPRING by Ali Smith
WILD COMFORT: THE SOLACE OF NATURE by Kathleen Dean Moore
IMPOSSIBLE BOTTLE by Claudia Emerson
THE SEARCHER by Tana French*
LOVE CHILD’S HOTBED OF OCCASIONAL POETRY: POEMS & ARTIFACTS by Nikky Finney
ARCTIC DREAMS: IMAGINATION AND DESIRE IN A NORTHERN LANDSCAPE by Barry Lopez
THE LOST SPELLS by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
UNSOLACED: ALONG THE WAY TO ALL THAT IS by Gretel Ehrlich
BUDDY: HOW A ROOSTER MADE ME A FAMILY MAN by Brian McGrory*
OLIVE, AGAIN by Elizabeth Strout
HOW TO CARRY WATER by Lucille Clifton
NEW ADDRESSES by Kenneth Koch
ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong
ANIMAL POEMS by Valerie Worth
WHALE DAY by Billy Collins
WEATHER by Jenny Offill
NOCTURNES: FIVE STORIES OF MUSIC AND NIGHTFALL by Kazuo Ishiguro*
SILENT BITE by David Rosenfelt
WORLD OF WONDERS: IN PRAISE OF FIREFLIES, WHALE SHARKS, AND OTHER ASTONISHMENTS by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
WHAT ARE YOU GOING THROUGH by Sigrid Nunez
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE by Louise Penny
NOSE DIVE: A FIELD GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S SMELLS by Harold McGee*
Books and Short Works Read in 2020
THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL: A LOVE STORY...WITH WINGS by Mark Bittner
THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE by Charlie Mackesy
PERESTROIKA IN PARIS by Jane Smiley
THE POINT LESS TAKEN by Geoffrey Young
DESERT SOLITAIRE: A SEASON IN THE WILDERNESS by Edward Abbey
THE LION AND THE BIRD by Marianne Dubuc
DEVOTIONS by Mary Oliver
THE PLACE NO ONE KNEW: GLEN CANYON ON THE COLORADO by Eliot Porter
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame
DEARLY by Margaret Atwood
VESPER FLIGHTS by Helen Macdonald
SYNTHESIZING GRAVITY: SELECTED PROSE by Kay Ryan
HOW TO FLY (IN TEN THOUSAND EASY LESSONS) by Barbara Kingsolver
SOLUTIONS AND OTHER PROBLEMS by Allie Brosh
THE INNER LIFE OF ANIMALS: LOVE, GRIEF, AND COMPASSION—SURPRISING OBSERVATIONS OF A HIDDEN WORLD by Peter Wohlleben*
JACK by Marilynne Robinson
A FIRE STORY by Brian Fies
THE LIVING BIRD: 100 YEARS OF LISTENING TO NATURE from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
THE ESSENTIAL RUMI*
HARRY’S TREES by Jon Cohen*
SPELL OF THE TIGER: THE MAN-EATERS OF SUNDARBANS by Sy Montgomery
THE WONDER OF LOST CAUSES by Nick Trout
THE END OF NATURE by Bill McKibben
THE TEMPTATION OF FORGIVENESS by Donna Leon
OBLIVION BANJO by Charles Wright*
FASTEST THINGS ON WINGS: RESCUING HUMMINGBIRDS IN HOLLYWOOD by Terry Masear
SELECTED POEMS by Fanny Howe
MOO by Sharon Creech
MUZZLED by David Rosenfelt
ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by Timothy Snyder
OF MUTTS AND MEN by Spencer Quinn
CLOCK DANCE by Anne Tyler
HER BLUE BODY EVERYTHING WE KNOW: EARTHLING POEMS, 1965–1990 COMPLETE by Alice Walker
HORIZON by Barry Lopez
FLORA & ULYSSES: THE ILLUMINATED ADVENTURES by Kate DiCamillo
THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf
THE DOOR by Margaret Atwood
BABY BEAR by Kadir Nelson
HORSES MAKE A LANDSCAPE LOOK MORE BEAUTIFUL by Alice Walker
GOOD NIGHT, WILLIE LEE, I’LL SEE YOU IN THE MORNING by Alice Walker
BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
MITZ: THE MARMOSET OF BLOOMSBURY by Sigrid Nunez
THE WATERS OF ETERNAL YOUTH by Donna Leon
ACTRESS by Anne Enright*
THE GIVER OF STARS by Jojo Moyes
DONKEY-DONKEY by Roger Duvoisin
CREATURES by Crissy Van Meter
THE TURTLE OF OMAN by Naomi Shihab Nye
LEDGER by Jane Hirshfield
ALMOST EVERYTHING: NOTES ON HOPE by Anne Lamott
SEEING STARS by Simon Armitage
WAITING FOR APHRODITE: JOURNEYS INTO THE TIME BEFORE BONES by Sue Hubbell
LEAVING TIME by Jodi Picoult
LIFE IN THE GARDEN by Penelope Lively
ONE LONG RIVER OF SONG by Brian Doyle
THE HIDDEN WORLD OF THE FOX by Adele Brand
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens
PAWS VS. CLAWS by Spencer Quinn
ESSAYS: ONE by Lydia Davis
UNDERLAND: A DEEP TIME JOURNEY by Robert Macfarlane
THE BEAK OF THE FINCH: A STORY OF EVOLUTION IN OUR TIME by Jonathan Weiner
CHARLOTTE'S WEB by E. B. White
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN by Alison Hawthorne Deming
RING AROUND THE MOON: MOMMY GOOSE RHYMES by Mike Norris
HEATING & COOLING: 52 MICRO-MEMOIRS by Beth Ann Fennelly
JOY: 100 POEMS edited by Christian Wiman
THE ANIMALS IN MY LIFE: STORIES OF A COUNTRY VET by Grant Kendall
THE WAVE: IN PURSUIT OF THE ROGUES, FREAKS, AND GIANTS OF THE OCEAN by Susan Casey
DREAM WORK by Mary Oliver
EROSION: ESSAYS OF UNDOING by Terry Tempest Williams
HOLLOW KINGDOM by Kiri Jane Buxton
A SHORT PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS by Philippe J. Dubois and Elise Rousseau*
Books and Short Works Read in 2019
LITTLE ALF: THE TRUE STORY OF A PINT-SIZED PONY WHO FOUND HIS FOREVER HOME by Hannah Russell
COFFEE by Randy Burgess
THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE AND NATURE WRITING edited by Sy Montgomery
MORNING COFFEE by Glen G. Greenwalt
THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver*
ABOUT THIS LIFE: JOURNEYS ON THE THRESHOLD OF MEMORY by Barry Lopez
EAGER: THE SURPRISING, SECRET LIFE OF BEAVERS AND WHY THEY MATTER by Ben Goldfarb
DACHSHUND THROUGH THE SNOW by David Rosenfelt
AN UNNECESSARY WOMAN by Rabih Alameddine
HE HELD RADICAL LIGHT: THE ART OF FAITH, THE FAITH OF ART by Christian Wiman
MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN: ESSAYS by Leslie Jamison*
CINDERELLA LIBERATOR by Rebecca Solnit
A BETTER MAN by Louise Penny
SENIOR DOGS ACROSS AMERICA by Nancy LeVine
BIG SKY by Kate Atkinson
CREATURELY: AND OTHER ESSAYS by Devin Johnston
SAVING JEMIMA: LIFE AND LOVE WITH A HARD-LUCK JAY by Julie Zickefoose
WADE IN THE WATER: POEMS by Tracy K. Smith
CROWS: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE WISE GUYS by Candace Savage
RUFF VS. FLUFF by Spencer Quinn
ORANGE WORLD: AND OTHER STORIES by Karen Russell
BIRDING WITHOUT BORDERS: AN OBSESSION, A QUEST, AND THE BIGGEST YEAR IN THE WORLD by Noah Strycker
COME CLOSER AND LISTEN by Charles Simic
THE ROOTS OF THINGS: ESSAYS by Maxine Kumin
THE SONGS OF TREES: STORIES FROM NATURE'S GREAT CONNECTORS by David George Haskell
BARK OF NIGHT by David Rosenfelt
FINDING MY ELEGY: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Ursula K. Le Guin
BY ALL MEANS: A ZEN CAUTIONARY TALE by Edward Brown
HEART OF BARKNESS by Spencer Quinn
FIELD WORK: MODERN POEMS FROM EASTERN FORESTS edited by Erik Reece
THE LAST FLIGHT OF THE SCARLET MACAW: ONE WOMAN'S FIGHT TO SAVE THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL BIRD by Bruce Barcott
KINGDOM OF THE BLIND by Louise Penny
THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS: ESSAYS by Ross Gay
A MAP TO THE NEXT WORLD: POETRY AND TALES by Joy Harjo
THE MAGNIFICENT MIGRATION: ON SAFARI WITH AFRICA’S LAST GREAT HERDS by Sy Montgomery
THE RIVER by Peter Heller
ANGEL HORSES: DIVINE MESSENGERS OF HOPE by Allen and Linda Anderson
DAYS & DAYS by Michael Dickman*
THE GRAND ARRAY: WRITINGS ON NATURE, SCIENCE, AND SPIRIT by Pattiann Rogers
HERE: POEMS FOR THE PLANET edited by Elizabeth J. Coleman
THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein
LOWELL: THE TRUE STORY OF AN EXISTENTIAL PIG by Gay L. Balliet
INTO GREAT SILENCE: A MEMOIR OF DISCOVERY AND LOSS AMONG VANISHING ORCAS by Eva Saulitis
SAY GOODBYE TO THE CUCKOO: MIGRATORY BIRDS AND THE IMPENDING ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE by Michael McCarthy
TENTH OF DECEMBER by George Saunders
MANY WAYS TO SAY IT by Eva Saulitis
THE VIXEN by W. S. Merwin
THE WILD BRAID: A POET REFLECTS ON A CENTURY IN THE GARDEN by Stanley Kunitz
FURTHEST ECOLOGY by Adam Fagin
THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED by Jonas Jonasson
FALLING ILL: LAST POEMS by C. K. Williams
DOG LANGUAGE by Chase Twichell
BECOMING EARTH: ESSAYS by Eva Saulitis
THE SOURCE OF SELF-REGARD: SELECTED ESSAYS, SPEECHES, AND MEDITATIONS by Toni Morrison*
THE OCTOPUS MUSEUM by Brenda Shaughnessy
THE PENGUIN LESSONS: WHAT I LEARNED FROM A REMARKABLE BIRD by Tom Michell
BASIL OF BYWATER HOLLOW by Jill Baker
THE COUNTRY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE GOLD SHOES by DuBose Heyward
THIS IS A POEM THAT HEALS FISH by Jean-Pierre Siméon
FOREST UNDER STORY: CREATIVE INQUIRY IN AN OLD-GROWTH FOREST edited by Nathaniel Brodie, Charles Goodrich, and Frederick J. Swanson
HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP! OR THERE MUST BE MORE TO LIFE by Maurice Sendak
ODES by Sharon Olds
WHY RELIGION? A PERSONAL STORY by Elaine Pagels
GMORNING, GNIGHT!: LITTLE PEP TALKS FOR ME & YOU by Lin-Manuel Miranda
A SENSE OF WONDER: THE WORLD'S BEST WRITERS ON THE SACRED, THE PROFANE, & THE ORDINARY edited by Brian Doyle
DECK THE HOUNDS by David Rosenfelt
FALLING IN LOVE by Donna Leon
DEAR FRIEND, FROM MY LIFE I WRITE TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE by Yiyun Li
THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS by Oliver Sacks
THE ILLUMINATED RUMI
JUNIPER: THE HAPPIEST FOX by Jessika Coker
THE LOST WORDS by Robert Macfarlane
MINK RIVER by Brian Doyle
GRATITUDE by Oliver Sacks
THE WITCH ELM by Tana French
THE SWEET BREATHING OF PLANTS: WOMEN WRITING ON THE GREEN WORLD edited by Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson
RESCUED: SAVING ANIMALS FROM DISASTER—LIFE-CHANGING STORIES AND PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS by Allen and Linda Anderson
RED DOG by Jason Miller
FOX 8 by George Saunders
THE ART OF THE WASTED DAY by Patricia Hampl
EMILY DICKINSON: THE GORGEOUS NOTHINGS edited by Marta L. Werner and Jen Bervin
BOOKS AND SHORT WORKS READ IN 2018
A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC: AND SKETCHES HERE AND THERE by Aldo Leopold
CALYPSO by David Sedaris
TELL ME HOW IT ENDS: AN ESSAY IN 40 QUESTIONS by Valeria Luiselli
DOWN DON'T BOTHER ME by Jason Miller
THE PINE BARRENS by John McPhee
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? ESSAYS by Marilynne Robinson
PUBLIC LIBRARY: AND OTHER STORIES by Ali Smith
AMERICAN SONNETS FOR MY PAST AND FUTURE ASSASSIN by Terrance Hayes
UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver
JANE KENYON COLLECTED POEMS
THE FLAME: POEMS NOTEBOOKS LYRICS DRAWINGS by Leonard Cohen
CARRYING ALBERT HOME: THE SOMEWHAT TRUE STORY OF A MAN, HIS WIFE, AND HER ALLIGATOR by Homer Hickam*
SEA PRAYER by Khaled Hosseini
HOW TO BE A GOOD CREATURE: A MEMOIR IN THIRTEEN ANIMALS by Sy Montgomery
THE THIRD HOTEL by Laura Van den Berg
AUTUMN by Karl Ove Knausgaard
POSEIDON'S STEED: THE STORY OF SEAHORSES, FROM MYTH TO REALITY by Helen Scales
AUTUMN by Ali Smith
THE MASKED BOBWHITE RIDES AGAIN by John Alcock
THE CARRYING by Ada Limón
THE FRIEND by Sigrid Nunez
RESCUED by David Rosenfelt
BEING MORTAL: MEDICINE AND WHAT MATTERS IN THE END by Atul Gawande
THE MONARCHS: A POEM SEQUENCE by Alison Hawthorne Deming
THE WONDERFUL O by James Thurber
EVERYONE'S A ALIEBN WHEN UR A ALIEBN TOO by Jomny Sun
XO, OX: A LOVE STORY by Adam Rex
THE FINAL SOLUTION: A STORY OF DETECTION by Michael Chabon
THE BEST DAY THE WORST DAY: LIFE WITH JANE KENYON by Donald Hall
ARE WE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW SMART ANIMALS ARE? by Frans de Waal
THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD by Phillip Hoose
ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline
LAST STAND: AMERICA'S VIRGIN LANDS by Barbara Kingsolver
BILLY TWITTERS AND HIS BLUE WHALE PROBLEM by Mac Barnett
ADRIAN SIMCOX DOES NOT HAVE A HORSE by Marcy Campbell
A GREYHOUND A GROUNDHOG by Emily Jenkins
FOUR WINGS AND A PRAYER: CAUGHT IN THE MYSTERY OF THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY by Sue Halpern
BY ITS COVER by Donna Leon
THE SEVEN AGES by Louise Glück
THE LIFE LIST OF ADRIAN MANDRICK by Chris White
THE OVERSTORY by Richard Powers
THE BLACK RHINOS OF NAMIBIA: SEARCHING FOR SURVIVORS IN THE AFRICAN DESERT by Rick Bass
WITNESS TREE: SEASONS OF CHANGE WITH A CENTURY-OLD OAK by Lynda V. Mapes
THE GOLDEN EGG by Donna Leon
THE RESERVOIR: STORIES AND SKETCHES by Janet Frame
WILL & I: A MEMOIR by Clay Byars
THE WONDERLING: SONGCATCHER by Mira Bartók
VERNON IS ON HIS WAY: SMALL STORIES by Philip C. Stead
SALT by Wisława Szymborska
HALLELUJAH ANYWAY: REDISCOVERING MERCY by Anne Lamott
A HOME FOR BIRD by Philip C. Stead
CALLING OUT TO YETI by Wisława Szymborska
BEASTLY THINGS by Donna Leon
QUICKENING FIELDS by Pattiann Rogers
VINEGAR GIRL by Anne Tyler
SWAMPLANDIA! by Karen Russell
LOVE, LIFE, AND ELEPHANTS: AN AFRICAN LOVE STORY by Dame Daphne Sheldrick
BUFFALO GALS AND OTHER ANIMAL PRESENCES by Ursula K. Le Guin
LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech
INTIMATE NATURE: THE BOND BETWEEN WOMEN AND ANIMALS edited by Linda Hogan, Deena Metzger, and Brenda Peterson
MIDNIGHT AT THE BRIGHT IDEAS BOOKSTORE by Matthew Sullivan
THE ARMCHAIR BIRDER: DISCOVERING THE SECRET LIVES OF FAMILIAR BIRDS by John Yow
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE by Lucy Grealy
GARDEN TIME by W.S. Merwin
THE CHILD IN TIME by Ian McEwan
OUR WORLD by Mary Oliver
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS by Donna Leon
AFTER THE STROKE: A JOURNAL by May Sarton
XYLOTHEQUE: ESSAYS by Yelizaveta P. Renfro
ONE STATION AWAY by Olaf Olafsson*
VOICES IN THE AIR: POEMS FOR LISTENERS by Naomi Shihab Nye
CATNIP: A LOVE STORY by Michael Korda
A NEW PATH TO THE WATERFALL by Raymond Carver
THE STORY OF ARTHUR TRULUV by Elizabeth Berg
THE HOUSE ON MARSHLAND by Louise Glück
GLASS HOUSES by Louise Penny
POETRY OF PRESENCE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MINDFULNESS POEMS edited by Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R. Wilson
SWING TIME by Zadie Smith
THE DAILY COYOTE: A STORY OF LOVE, SURVIVAL, AND TRUST IN THE WILDS OF WYOMING by Shreve Stockton
LAST STAND OF THE TALLGRASS PRAIRIE by Aimée Larrabee and John Altman
ARCTIC AUTUMN: A JOURNEY TO SEASON'S EDGE by Pete Dunne
AFTERGLOW (A DOG MEMOIR) by Eileen Myles
THE KILLDEER AND OTHER STORIES FROM THE FARMING LIFE by Michael Cotter
THEFT BY FINDING: DIARIES 1977–2002 by David Sedaris
BARN DANCE—NICKERS, BRAYS, BLEATS, HOWLS, AND QUACKS: TALES FROM THE HERD by Anna Blake
WHAT I LOVED by Siri Hustvedt
STABLE RELATION: A MEMOIR OF ONE WOMAN'S SPIRITED JOURNEY HOME, BY WAY OF THE BARN by Anna Blake
BOOKS AND SHORT WORKS READ IN 2017
ONE HUNDRED NAMES FOR LOVE: A STROKE, A MARRIAGE, AND THE LANGUAGE OF HEALING by Diane Ackerman
SERIOUSLY...I'M KIDDING by Ellen Degeneres*
TIGERS IN RED WEATHER: A QUEST FOR THE LAST WILD TIGERS by Ruth Padel
TAMED AND UNTAMED: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ANIMAL KIND by Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
NERVE STORM by Amy Gerstler
WHY BE HAPPY WHEN YOU COULD BE NORMAL? by Jeanette Winterson
ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR HORSES: A MEMOIR OF FARM AND FAMILY, AFRICA AND EXILE by Mandy Retzlaff*
LISTENING TO WHALES: WHAT THE ORCAS HAVE TAUGHT US by Alexandra Morton
HERE AND NOW: LETTERS 2008-2011 by Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee
WISHTREE by Katherine Applegate
UNFORGETTABLE: THE BOLD FLAVORS OF PAULA WOLFERT'S RENEGADE LIFE by Emily Kaiser Thelin
A QUESTION OF BELIEF by Donna Leon
SEASONS OF THE WILD: A YEAR OF NATURE'S MAGIC AND MYSTERIES by Sy Montgomery
ENSLAVED BY DUCKS by Bob Tarte*
DOLPHIN SONG by Lauren St. John*
THE PRAIRIE KEEPERS: SECRETS OF THE GRASSLANDS by Marcy Cottrell Houle
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE by Elizabeth Strout
LETTERS TO HIS NEIGHBOR by Marcel Proust, translated by Lydia Davis
LIFE IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH: THE FIGHT TO SAVE TIGERS IN A LAND OF GUNS, GOLD, AND GREED by Alan Rabinowitz
THE WHITE GIRAFFE by Lauren St. John
BOW WOW by Spencer Quinn
MOBY-DUCK: THE TRUE STORY OF 28,000 BATH TOYS LOST AT SEA AND OF THE BEACHCOMBERS, OCEANOGRAPHERS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, AND FOOLS, INCLUDING THE AUTHOR, WHO WENT IN SEARCH OF THEM by Donovan Hohn
THE BIRD ARTIST by Howard Norman
TREE: A LIFE STORY by David Suzuki and Wayne Grady
WINGS FOR MY FLIGHT: THE PEREGRINE FALCONS OF CHIMNEY ROCK by Marcy Cottrell Houle
BROKEN WING by David Budbill
COLLARED by David Rosenfelt
ABOUT FACE by Donna Leon
THE SLOW WALTZ OF TURTLES by Katherine Pancol
THE OWL WHO LIKED SITTING ON CAESAR: LIVING WITH A TAWNY OWL by Martin Windrow
SCRIBBLED IN THE DARK by Charles Simic
OUTLINE by Rachel Cusk
REVOLUTIONARY PETUNIAS by Alice Walker
"Resurrection" by Rebeca Dunn-Krahn
ONCE by Alice Walker
COCKFOSTERS by Helen Simpson
LAST CHANCE TO SEE by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS by Donna Leon
GENERATIONS by Pattiann Rogers
THE BIOGRAPHY OF A SILVER FOX by Ernest Thomas Seton
THE SECRET OF EVIL by Roberto Bolaño*
THE LAST RHINOS: MY BATTLE TO SAVE ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST CREATURES by Lawrence Anthony
CELINE by Peter Heller
SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN by Donna Leon
THE GIFT OF BIRDS: TRUE ENCOUNTERS WITH AVIAN SPIRITS edited by Larry Habegger and Amy G. Carlson
THE RIGHT SIDE by Spencer Quinn
HOW TO BE HUMAN by Paula Cocozza
THE BEDSIDE BOOK OF BIRDS: AN AVIAN MISCELLANY by Graeme Gibson
SMITTEN BY GIRAFFE: MY LIFE AS A CITIZEN SCIENTIST by Anne Innis Dagg
SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNK by David Sedaris
A LINE MADE BY WALKING by Sara Baume
THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER: MY LIFE WITH THE HERD IN THE AFRICAN WILD by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence
AN OBSESSION WITH BUTTERFLIES: OUR LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH A SINGULAR INSECT by Sharman Apt Russell
THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY by Donna Leon
THE TENDER BAR by J.R. Moehringer
IN OTHER WORDS by May Swenson
TRACKING DESIRE: A JOURNEY AFTER SWALLOW-TAILED KITES by Susan Cerulean
THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP by Nina George*
WILL'S RED COAT: THE STORY OF ONE OLD DOG WHO CHOSE TO LIVE AGAIN by Tom Ryan
AND EVERY MORNING THE WAY HOME GETS LONGER AND LONGER by Fredrik Backman
FLOAT by Anne Carson
BETWEEN THEM: REMEMBERING MY PARENTS by Richard Ford
TEACHING THE TREES: LESSONS FROM THE FOREST by Joan Maloof
BLOOD FROM A STONE by Donna Leon
BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE by Fredrik Backman
AN UNSPOKEN HUNGER: STORIES FROM THE FIELD by Terry Tempest Williams
GYPSY: THE CAT WHO LIVED AT ASHLAND by Louisiana Wood Simpson
WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP: THE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF ANIMALS by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy
A KEEPER OF BEES: NOTES ON HIVE AND HOME by Allison Wallace
MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE'S SORRY by Fredrik Backman
ART & NATURE: AN ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY OF NATURE POETRY selected by Kate Farrell
A COUNTRY YEAR: LIVING THE QUESTIONS by Sue Hubbell
RAVENS IN WINTER by Bernd Heinrich
SUSPECT by Robert Crais
LAROSE by Louise Erdrich
BESTIARY by Donika Kelly
COMMONWEALTH by Ann Patchett
QUEEN VICTORIA'S SKETCHBOOK by Marina Warner
KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE by Mo Willems
AQUARIUM by David Vann
DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS by Mo Willems
DOCTORED EVIDENCE by Donna Leon
CONFESSIONS OF A TURTLE WIFE: A MAN, A WOMAN, AND THE TURTLES THAT THREATEN TO COME BETWEEN THEM by Anita Salzberg
ANIMALS & PEOPLE: A SELECTION OF ESSAYS FROM ORION MAGAZINE
UNIFORM JUSTICE by Donna Leon
THE BIRDS OF HEAVEN: TRAVELS WITH CRANES by Peter Matthiessen
FOR A LITTLE WHILE by Rick Bass*
ALL AT ONCE by C. K. Williams
POEMS OF NATURE edited by Gail Harvey
FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen
DEEP LANE by Mark Doty
Books and Short Works Read in 2016
THE RETURN OF THE SOLDIER by Rebecca West
UPSTREAM by Mary Oliver
THE TWELVE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS by David Rosenfelt
BABY BIRDS: AN ARTIST LOOKS INTO THE NEST by Julie Zickefoose
BIRDS, BEASTS, AND RELATIVES by Gerald Durrell
RIVER NOTES: THE DANCE OF HERONS by Barry Holstun Lopez
A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness
THE RIVER SOUND by W. S. Merwin
A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Backman
THE BLUEBIRD EFFECT: UNCOMMON BONDS WITH COMMON BIRDS by Julie Zickefoose
A HAIKU MENAGERIE: LIVING CREATURES IN POEMS AND PRINTS edited by Stephen Addiss with Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto
LOVE AT FIRST BARK: HOW SAVING A DOG CAN SOMETIMES HELP YOU SAVE YOURSELF by Julie Klam
LILY AND THE OCTOPUS by Steven Rowley
THE LAST WALK: REFLECTIONS ON OUR PETS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES* by Jessica Pierce
A GREAT RECKONING by Louise Penny
SONG FOR THE BLUE OCEAN: ENCOUNTERS ALONG THE WORLD'S COASTS AND BENEATH THE SEAS by Carl Safina
COLLECTED POEMS: 1930–1973 by May Sarton*
BESPOTTED: MY FAMILY'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH THIRTY-EIGHT DALMATIANS by Linda Gray Sexton*
THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES: WHAT THEY FEEL, HOW THEY COMMUNICATE by Peter Wohlleben
WILLFUL BEHAVIOR by Donna Leon
INNUMERACY: MATHEMATICAL LITERACY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES by John Allen Paulos
HOPE IN THE DARK: UNTOLD HISTORIES, WILD POSSIBILITIES by Rebecca Solnit
THE STORY OF A NEW NAME by Elena Ferrante
OUTFOXED by David Rosenfelt
OUR ONLY WORLD: TEN ESSAYS by Wendell Berry
A TED HUGHES BESTIARY edited by Alice Oswald*
THE HOUR OF LAND: A PERSONAL TOPOGRAPHY OF AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS by Terry Tempest Williams
MY BRILLIANT FRIEND by Elena Ferrante
EXCURSIONS IN THE REAL WORLD by William Trevor
THE GREAT PENGUIN RESCUE: 40,000 PENGUINS, A DEVASTATING OIL SPILL, AND THE INSPIRING STORY OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST ANIMAL RESCUE by Dyan deNapoli
THE SHARK AND THE ALBATROSS: A WILDLIFE FILMMAKER REVEALS WHY NATURE MATTERS TO US ALL by John Aitchison
A SEA OF TROUBLES by Donna Leon
BEAUTIFUL MINDS: THE PARALLEL LIVES OF GREAT APES AND DOLPHINS by Maddalena Bearzi and Craig B. Stanford
THE SPORT OF KINGS by C. E. Morgan*
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES by Donna Leon
THE WAY TO THE SALT MARSH: A JOHN HAY READER edited by Christopher Merrill
AMONG PENGUINS: A BIRD MAN IN ANTARCTICA by Noah Strycker
FATAL REMEDIES by Donna Leon
VOICES IN THE OCEAN: A JOURNEY INTO THE WILD AND HAUNTING WORLD OF DOLPHINS by Susan Casey
IN SEARCH OF SMALL GODS by Jim Harrison
BLUE HORSES by Mary Oliver
THE BOTANY OF DESIRE: A PLANT'S-EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD by Michael Pollan
A NOBLE RADIANCE by Donna Leon
SHALER'S FISH by Helen Macdonald
JUST LIFE by Neil Abramson
THE DEATH OF FAITH by Donna Leon
TO TOUCH A WILD DOLPHIN: A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY WITH THE SEA'S MOST INTELLIGENT CREATURES by Rachel Smolker
CHASING KANGAROOS: A CONTINENT, A SCIENTIST, AND A SEARCH FOR THE WORLD'S MOST EXTRAORDINARY CREATURE by Tim Flannery
WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi
HOW THE DEAD DREAM by Lydia Millet
FINDING YOURSELF IN THE KITCHEN: KITCHEN MEDITATIONS AND INSPIRED RECIPES FROM A MINDFUL COOK by Dana Velden
"Tail of Vengeance" by Spencer Quinn
THRIVE by Arianna Huffington*
GUITAR ZERO: THE NEW MUSICIAN AND THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING by Gary Marcus
ARF by Spencer Quinn
IMAGINE ME GONE by Adam Haslett
ACQUA ALTA by Donna Leon
THE OPPOSITE OF LIGHT by Kimberly Grey
TRAMPOLINE by Robert Gipe
WILD: FROM LOST TO FOUND ON THE PACIFIC COAST TRAIL by Cheryl Strayed
THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY by Rachel Joyce
ONE WILD BIRD AT A TIME: PORTRAITS OF INDIVIDUAL LIVES by Bernd Heinrich
HALLUCINATIONS by Oliver Sacks
SPEAKING OUT FOR ANIMALS: TRUE STORIES ABOUT REAL PEOPLE WHO RESCUE ANIMALS edited by Kim W. Stallwood
LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN by Colum McCann
SPILL SIMMER FALTER WITHER by Sara Baume
PAX by Sara Pennypacker
THE LOST GRIZZLIES: A SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS IN THE WILDERNESS OF COLORADO by Rick Bass
I MUST BE LIVING TWICE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Eileen Myles*
DEATH AND JUDGMENT by Donna Leon
LINDA MCCARTNEY: LIFE IN PHOTOGRAPHS
FLASH: THE HOMELESS DONKEY WHO TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE, FAITH, AND SECOND CHANCES by Rachel Anne Ridge*
BEAR: SPIRIT OF THE WILD by Paul Nicklen
DEAREST CREATURE by Amy Gerstler
WRITING DOWN THE BONES: FREEING THE WRITER WITHIN by Natalie Goldberg
LEAF by Daishu Ma
TALKING INTO THE EAR OF A DONKEY by Robert Bly
THE WILD IRIS by Louise Glück
ONE MAN'S OWL by Bernd Heinrich
DRESSED FOR DEATH by Donna Leon
SEPARATE LIFETIMES by Irving Townsend
DEATH IN A STRANGE COUNTRY by Donna Leon
THE SELECTED POEMS OF DONALD HALL by Donald Hall
MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout
THE AGE OF EMPATHY: NATURE'S LESSONS FOR A KINDER SOCIETY by Frans de Waal
PARTICULARLY CATS...AND RUFUS by Doris Lessing
BLUE NIGHTS by Joan Didion
HONEYDEW by Edith Pearlman
DEATH AT LA FENICE by Donna Leon
THE UNDERPAINTER by Jane Urquhart
THE DIVINE LIFE OF ANIMALS: ONE MAN'S QUEST TO DISCOVER WHETHER THE SOULS OF ANIMALS LIVE ON by Ptolemy Tompkins
TWO DOGS AND A PARROT: WHAT OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS CAN TEACH US ABOUT LIFE by Joan Chittister
MARTIN MARTEN by Brian Doyle
FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies
TWIGS & KNUCKLEBONES by Sarah Lindsay
THE INTIMATE APE: ORANGUTANS AND THE SECRET LIFE OF A VANISHING SPECIES by Shawn Thompson
THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE: THE UNIMAGINARY FRIEND by Dan Santat
Books and Short Works Read in 2015
LETTERS FROM EDEN: A YEAR AT HOME, IN THE WOODS by Julie Zickefoose
DON'T CRY by Mary Gaitskill*
CRENSHAW by Katherine Applegate
THE PARROT WHO OWNS ME: THE STORY OF A RELATIONSHIP by Joanna Burger
"Santa 365" by Spencer Quinn
THE LEMON TABLE by Julian Barnes
THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY by Gabrielle Zevin
THE GIVENNESS OF THINGS: ESSAYS by Marilynne Robinson
MISTER PENNY'S RACE HORSE by Marie Hall Ets
STUART LITTLE by E. B. White
MINDING ANIMALS: AWARENESS, EMOTIONS, AND HEART by Marc Bekoff
FELICITY by Mary Oliver
THE MAN WHO TALKS TO DOGS: THE STORY OF RANDY GRIM AND HIS FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICA'S ABANDONED DOGS by Melinda Roth
GEORGE THE DOG, JOHN THE ARTIST: A RESCUE STORY by John Dolan
THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA: FINDING THE ORIGINS OF MUSIC IN THE WORLD'S WILD PLACES by Bernie Krause
THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING by Colum McCann
SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: A JOURNAL OF MY SON'S FIRST SON by Anne Lamott with Sam Lamott
BLUE HORSES by Mary Oliver
THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2015 edited by Ariel Levy
WHEN THE HORSES WHISPER: THE WISDOM OF WISE AND SENTIENT BEINGS by Rosalyn W. Berne
CULTIVATING DELIGHT: A NATURAL HISTORY OF MY GARDEN by Diane Ackerman
MADNESS, RACK, AND HONEY: COLLECTED LECTURES by Mary Ruefle
BREEZEWAY by John Ashbery
FOOD RULES: AN EATER'S MANUAL by Michael Pollan
KIND by Gretchen Primack
ONLY THE ANIMALS by Ceridwen Dovey
BRIGHT DEAD THINGS by Ada Limón
LET'S TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME by Gail Caldwell
ERRATIC FACTS by Kay Ryan
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST by Louise Penny
MY FEELINGS by Nick Flynn
HOW TO BE A (BAD) BIRDWATCHER by Simon Barnes
(—) [my-ness] by Jane Hirshfield
ANY HUMAN HEART by William Boyd
TERRAPIN AND OTHER POEMS by Wendell Berry
THE SECRET LIFE OF DOG CATCHERS by Shirley Zindler
THE NAMES OF BIRDS by Tom Crawford
GIRL WAITS WITH GUN by Amy Stewart
WHY LOOK AT ANIMALS? by John Berger
H IS FOR HAWK by Helen Macdonald
AMERICAN PRIMITIVE by Mary Oliver
THAT QUAIL, ROBERT by Margaret A. Stanger
WHO LET THE DOG OUT? by David Rosenfelt
BEYOND WORDS: WHAT ANIMALS THINK AND FEEL by Carl Safina
ZOOLOGIES: ON ANIMALS AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT by Alison Hawthorne Deming
SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh*
OFF THE BEATEN PATH: STORIES OF PLACE from The Nature Conservancy
THE POET AND THE DONKEY by May Sarton
PLEASURABLE KINGDOM: ANIMALS AND THE NATURE OF FEELING GOOD by Jonathan Balcombe
SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY by Spencer Quinn
BEASTS: WHAT ANIMALS CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF GOOD AND EVIL by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
JOURNAL OF A SOLITUDE by May Sarton
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY by Elizabeth Kolbert
FIRST FLIGHT: A MOTHER HUMMINGBIRD'S STORY by Noriko and Don Carroll
FREE PLAY: IMPROVISATION IN LIFE AND ART by Stephen Nachmanovitch*
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr
THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt
THE LONG WAY HOME by Louise Penny
THE COWS by Lydia Davis
WHAT COMES NEXT AND HOW TO LIKE IT by Abigail Thomas
NAMING NATURE: THE CLASH BETWEEN INSTINCT AND SCIENCE by Carol Kaesuk Yoon
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny
THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny
TWO edited by Ann Patchett
WOOF by Spencer Quinn
THE PERFECT WRONG NOTE: LEARNING TO TRUST YOUR MUSICAL SELF by William Westney
WE MAMMALS IN HOSPITABLE TIMES by Jynne Dilling Martin
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny
THE WHEELING YEAR by Ted Kooser
BEAUTIFUL JIM KEY: THE LOST HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S SMARTEST HORSE by Mim Eichler Rivas
THIS PRESENT MOMENT by Gary Snyder
HOW THE BODY KNOWS ITS MIND by Sian Beilock
SMALL VICTORIES: SPOTTING IMPROBABLE MOMENTS OF GRACE by Anne Lamott
THE BEAUTY by Jane Hirshfield
BIRDS OF A LESSER PARADISE by Megan Mayhew Bergman
THE MOTH edited by Catherine Burns
UNCHOPPING A TREE by W. S. Merwin
TEN MILLION ALIENS: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ENTIRE ANIMAL KINGDOM by Simon Barnes
HERBACEOUS by Paul Evans
SAVING SIMON: HOW A RESCUE DONKEY TAUGHT ME THE MEANING OF COMPASSION by Jon Katz
ALL MY PUNY SORROWS by Miriam Toews
BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny
MAKING NICE by Matt Sumell
THE EMPATHY EXAMS by Leslie Jamison
A NEW SELECTED POEMS by Galway Kinnell
DISTANT NEIGHBORS: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF WENDELL BERRY AND GARY SNYDER edited by Chad Wriglesworth
GABRIEL: A POEM by Edward Hirsch
ALEX & ME: HOW A SCIENTIST AND A PARROT DISCOVERED A HIDDEN WORLD OF ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE—AND FORMED A DEEP BOND IN THE PROCESS by Irene Pepperberg
THE BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny
ARNIE & A HOUSE FULL OF COMPANY by Margarete Sigl Corbo and Diane Marie Barras
HOLY COW by David Duchovny
THE CRANE WIFE by Patrick Ness
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A WHITE PIG: POEMS by Jane Gentry
NOBODY HOME: WRITING, BUDDHISM, AND LIVING IN PLACES by Gary Snyder in conversation with Julia Martin
THE THIRD ELEVATOR by Aimee Bender
TIME AND THE TILTING EARTH by Miller Williams
WHY I CAME WEST by Rick Bass
CROSSING TO SAFETY by Wallace Stegner
ARNIE, THE DARLING STARLING by Margarete Sigl Corbo and Diane Marie Barras
WINTER BEES & OTHER POEMS OF THE COLD by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen
HARLOW & SAGE (AND INDIANA): A TRUE STORY ABOUT BEST FRIENDS by Brittni Vega
Books and Short Works Read in 2014
MUIR AMONG THE ANIMALS: THE WILDLIFE WRITINGS OF JOHN MUIR edited by Lisa Mighetto
NOBODY'S HORSES: THE DRAMATIC RESCUE OF THE WILD HERD OF WHITE SANDS by Don Höglund
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
THE BEST OF IT: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Kay Ryan
ANIMAL WISE: THE THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS OF OUR FELLOW CREATURES by Virginia Morell
ANIMAL HAPPINESS by Vicki Hearne
AMAZING PEACE: A CHRISTMAS POEM by Maya Angelou
LILA by Marilynne Robinson
GLITTER BOMB by Aaron Belz
JUST MERCY: A STORY OF JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION by Bryan Stevenson
THE FARAWAY NEARBY by Rebecca Solnit
ONCE IN THE WEST by Christian Wiman
THE SISTERS ANTIPODES by Jane Alison
AFTER by Jane Hirshfield
THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by Neil Gaiman
THE INFINITESIMALS by Laura Kasischke
A RULE AGAINST MURDER by Louise Penny
BRIGHT WINGS: AN ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY OF POEMS ABOUT BIRDS edited by Billy Collins
100 HEARTBEATS: THE RACE TO SAVE EARTH'S MOST ENDANGERED SPECIES by Jeff Corwin
SADDLED: HOW A SPIRITED HORSE REINED ME IN AND SET ME FREE by Susan Richards*
COLORLESS TSUKURU TAZAKI AND HIS YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE by Haruki Murakami
FINDING BEAUTY IN A BROKEN WORLD by Terry Tempest Williams
SELECTED POEMS by Robert Pinsky
EATING STONE: IMAGINATION AND THE LOSS OF THE WILD by Ellen Meloy
HOUNDED by David Rosenfelt
EVER BY MY SIDE: A MEMOIR IN EIGHT [ACTS] PETS by Nick Trout
THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny
TOTAL RECOVERY: SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF CHRONIC PAIN AND DEPRESSION by Gary Kaplan with Donna Beech
A FATAL GRACE by Louise Penny
SILENCE OF THE SONGBIRDS by Bridget Stutchbury
DOGS IN BOOKS: A CELEBRATION OF DOG ILLUSTRATION THROUGH THE AGES by Catherine Britton
JACK AND OTHER NEW POEMS by Maxine Kumin
SAVING GRACIE: HOW ONE DOG ESCAPED THE SHADOWY WORLD OF AMERICAN PUPPY MILLS by Carol Bradley
PAW AND ORDER by Spencer Quinn
THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT: A NATURAL YEAR IN AN UNNATURAL WORLD by Carl Safina
HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford
THE DELETED WORLD by Tomas Transtromer
THE MOUNTAINTOP SCHOOL FOR DOGS AND OTHER SECOND CHANCES by Ellen Cooney
DOG GONE, BACK SOON by Nick Trout
FACE by Sherman Alexie
THE SILENT WIFE by A. S. A. Harrison
DEBT TO THE BONE-EATING SNOTFLOWER by Sarah Lindsay
WESLEY THE OWL: THE REMARKABLE LOVE STORY OF AN OWL AND HIS GIRL by Stacey O'Brien
STILL LIFE by Louise Penny
THE THING WITH FEATHERS: THE SURPRISING LIVES OF BIRDS AND WHAT THEY REVEAL ABOUT BEING HUMAN by Noah Strycker
CLAIMING GROUND by Laura Bell
3 SELECTIONS by Vijay Seshadri
CAN'T AND WON'T by Lydia Davis
WONDER by R. J. Palacio
THE LIGHTKEEPERS' MENAGERIE: STORIES OF ANIMALS AT LIGHTHOUSES by Elinor De Wire
THE UNCOMMON APPEAL OF CLOUDS by Alexander McCall Smith
AND SHORT THE SEASON: POEMS by Maxine Kumin
BROKEN VESSELS by Andre Dubus
THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY 2013
ALL THE RAGE by A. L. Kennedy*
DOGTRIPPING: 25 RESCUES, 11 VOLUNTEERS, AND 3 RVS ON OUR CANINE CROSS-COUNTRY ADVENTURE by David Rosenfelt
ASK THE COW: A GENTLE GUIDE TO FINDING PEACE by Rita M. Reynolds
MORNINGS LIKE THIS: FOUND POEMS by Annie Dillard
HOPE ON EARTH: A CONVERSATION by Paul R. Ehrlich & Michael Charles Tobias
THE FORGOTTEN AFFAIRS OF YOUTH by Alexander McCall Smith
THE TAO OF EQUUS by Linda Kohanov
THE LIKENESS by Tana French
MY GENTLE BARN: CREATING A SANCTUARY WHERE ANIMALS HEAL AND CHILDREN LEARN TO HOPE by Ellie Laks
THE SECRETS OF LOST CATS: ONE WOMAN, TWENTY POSTERS, AND A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF LOVE by Nancy Davidson
"Dreaming Elands" by Peter Steinhart
THE CHARMING QUIRKS OF OTHERS by Alexander McCall Smith
"Rain and the Rhinoceros" by Thomas Merton
"Animal Rights and Beyond" by David Quammen
THE MOON BEFORE MORNING by W. S. Merwin
"A Slight Sound at Evening" by E. B. White
A DOG WALKS INTO A NURSING HOME: LESSONS IN THE GOOD LIFE FROM AN UNLIKELY TEACHER by Sue Halpern
SELECTED POEMS by Emily Dickinson
WHERE I LIVE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1990–2010 by Maxine Kumin
THE BOOKSTORE by Deborah Meyler
THE GHOST HORSE: A TRUE STORY OF LOVE, DEATH, AND REDEMPTION by Joe Layden
THE PLOVER by Brian Doyle
THE LOST ART OF GRATITUDE by Alexander McCall Smith
DUNCAN THE WONDER DOG by Adam Hines
THE GHOST WITH TREMBLING WINGS: SCIENCE, WISHFUL THINKING, AND THE SEARCH FOR LOST SPECIES by Scott Weidensaul
HAIKU: THIS OTHER WORLD by Richard Wright
THE COMFORTS OF A MUDDY SATURDAY by Alexander McCall Smith
DANGER ON PEAKS by Gary Snyder
WHITE PINE by Mary Oliver
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman
KEHUA! by Fay Weldon
AMAZING GRACIE: A DOG'S TALE by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff
WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES by Karen Joy Fowler
EVIDENCE by Mary Oliver
WEEKENDS WITH DAISY by Sharron Kahn Luttrell
ASUNDER by Chloe Aridjis
APPALACHIAN ELEGY: POETRY AND PLACE by bell hooks
UNLEASHED by David Rosenfelt
AMY FALLS DOWN by Jincy Willett
THE TENTH GOOD THING ABOUT BARNEY by Judith Viorst
JANE, THE FOX & ME by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault
FOUND DOGS: TALES OF STRAYS WHO LANDED ON THEIR FEET by Elise Lufkin
THE LOWLAND by Jhumpa Lahiri
THE CLASSIC TRADITION OF HAIKU: AN ANTHOLOGY edited by Faubion Bowers
THE LEADING LADY: DINAH'S STORY by Betty White and Tom Sullivan
KINDRED SPIRITS: HOW THE REMARKABLE BOND BETWEEN HUMANS AND ANIMALS CAN CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE by Allen M. Schoen
THIS IS THE STORY OF A HAPPY MARRIAGE by Ann Patchett
HAIKU IN ENGLISH: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS edited by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland, and Allan Burns
MONUMENT ROAD by Charlie Quimby
EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK by Diane Muldrow
HYPERBOLE AND A HALF: UNFORTUNATE SITUATIONS, FLAWED COPING MECHANISMS, MAYHEM, AND OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED by Allie Brosh
BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Dai Sijie
DOG SONGS by Mary Oliver
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate
Books and Short Works Read in 2013
THE STORYTELLER by Mario Vargas Llosa*
ELEPHAS MAXIMUS: A PORTRAIT OF THE INDIAN ELEPHANT by Stephen Alter
THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES: UNCOMMON ENCOUNTERS IN THE WILD by Craig Childs
THE CAREFUL USE OF COMPLIMENTS by Alexander McCall Smith
STITCHES: A HANDBOOK ON MEANING, HOPE AND REPAIR by Anne Lamott
THE DOG WHO CAME TO STAY by Hal Borland
"A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas
"A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote
LEADER OF THE PACK by David Rosenfelt
A SECRET GIFT: HOW ONE MAN'S KINDNESS—AND A TROVE OF LETTERS—REVEALED THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Ted Gup
PEACE OF MIND: BECOMING FULLY PRESENT by Thich Nhat Hanh
AIMLESS LOVE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Billy Collins
I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD: A LOVE STORY by Pete Nelson
URBAN NATURE: POEMS ABOUT WILDLIFE IN THE CITY edited by Laure-Anne Bosselaar
COME BACK, COMO: WINNING THE HEART OF A RELUCTANT DOG by Steven Winn
A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki
THE PARROT WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS A DOG by Nancy Ellis-Bell
JOURNEY OF THE PINK DOLPHINS: AN AMAZON QUEST by Sy Montgomery
THE LACUNA by Barbara Kingsolver
A DOG CALLED PERTH: THE TRUE STORY OF A BEAGLE by Peter Martin
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DOG by Joyce Sidman
SANCTUARY LINE by Jane Urquhart
MAN AND CAMEL by Mark Strand
TO THE RESCUE: FOUND DOGS WITH A MISSION by Elise Lufkin
DEWEY'S NINE LIVES: THE LEGACY OF THE SMALL-TOWN LIBRARY CAT WHO INSPIRED MILLIONS by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
GHOST DOGS OF THE SOUTH by Randy Russell and Janet Barnett
FOR BEA by Kristin von Kreisler
STRUTTERS & FRETTERS by William Steig
THE BURGESS BOYS by Elizabeth Strout
THE SOUND AND THE FURRY by Spencer Quinn
BIRDSONG: A NATURAL HISTORY by Don Stap
DOG TAGS by David Rosenfelt
"The Iggy Chronicles, Volume 1" by Spencer Quinn
BEST FRIENDS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST BELOVED ANIMAL SANCTUARY by Samantha Glen
AMPLITUDE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Tess Gallagher
THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO RAIN by Alexander McCall Smith
HORSE PEOPLE: WRITERS AND ARTISTS ON THE HORSES THEY LOVE edited by Michael J. Rosen
WHAT THE DOG DID: TALES FROM A FORMERLY RELUCTANT DOG OWNER by Emily Yoffe
DAWN LIGHT: DANCING WITH CRANES AND OTHER WAYS TO START THE DAY by Diane Ackerman
MR. PENUMBRA'S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan
HOOF PRINTS: MORE STORIES FROM PROUD SPIRIT by Melanie Sue Bowles
SAVED: RESCUED ANIMALS AND THE LIVES THEY TRANSFORM by Karen Winegar
LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
RESCUING SPRITE: A DOG LOVER'S STORY OF JOY AND ANGUISH by Mark Levin
GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
KISSED BY A FOX: AND OTHER STORIES OF FRIENDSHIP IN NATURE by Priscilla Stuckey
FRIENDS, LOVERS, CHOCOLATE by Alexander McCall Smith
THE PARROT'S LAMENT by Eugene Linden
OTHERWISE: NEW & SELECTED POEMS by Jane Kenyon
OCTOPUS: THE OCEAN'S INTELLIGENT INVERTEBRATE by Jennifer A. Mather, Roland C. Anderson, and James B. Wood
THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB by Alexander McCall Smith
GETTING LUCKY: HOW ONE SPECIAL DOG FOUND LOVE AND A SECOND CHANCE AT ANGEL'S GATE by Susan Marino with Denise Flaim
ANOTHER INSANE DEVOTION: ON THE LOVE OF CATS AND PERSONS by Peter Trachtenberg
SNAPPER by Brian Kimberling
TOLSTOY AND THE PURPLE CHAIR: MY YEAR OF MAGICAL READING by Nina Sankovitch
NEW TRICKS by David Rosenfelt
OF MOOSE AND MEN: A WILDLIFE VET'S PURSUIT OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST DEER by Jerry Haigh
PLAY DEAD by David Rosenfelt
SPILLVILLE by Patricia Hampl
DEAD CENTER by David Rosenfelt
NEVER HAVE YOUR DOG STUFFED AND OTHER THINGS I'VE LEARNED by Alan Alda
THE TRURO BEAR AND OTHER ADVENTURES by Mary Oliver
ON LOOKING: ELEVEN WALKS WITH EXPERT EYES by Alexandra Horowitz
THE LANGUAGE OF MIRACLES by Amelia Kinkade
FALLING FOR ELI: HOW I LOST HEART, THEN GAINED HOPE THROUGH THE LOVE OF A SINGULAR HORSE by Nancy Shulins
THE $60,000 DOG: MY LIFE WITH ANIMALS by Lauren Slater
THE DEATH OF BEES by Lisa O'Donnell
WHAT ANIMALS TELL ME by Monica Diedrich
A GAP IN NATURE: DISCOVERING THE WORLD’S EXTINCT ANIMALS by Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten
SUDDEN DEATH by David Rosenfelt
ECOPOETRY ANTHOLOGY edited by Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street
IF ONLY THEY COULD TALK: THE MIRACLES OF SPRING FARM by Bonnie Jones Reynolds and Dawn E. Hayman
THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS by Katrina Kittle
THE OCTOPUS AND THE ORANGUTAN: MORE TRUE TALES OF ANIMAL INTRIGUE, INTELLIGENCE, AND INGENUITY by Eugene Linden
GUARDIANS OF BEING by Eckhart Tolle and Patrick McDonnell
ANIMALS AS GUIDES FOR THE SOUL: STORIES OF LIFE-CHANGING ENCOUNTERS by Susan Chernak McElroy
ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes
SHOUTING WON’T HELP: WHY I—AND 50 MILLION OTHER AMERICANS—CAN’T HEAR YOU by Katherine Bouton
ALL MEN ARE LIARS by Alberto Manguel
THE PATRON SAINT OF LOST DOGS by Nick Trout
RED BIRD by Mary Oliver
BURY THE LEAD by David Rosenfelt
NEVER LOOK A POLAR BEAR IN THE EYE: A FAMILY FIELD TRIP TO THE ARCTIC'S EDGE IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE, TRUTH, AND MINI-MARSHMALLOWS by Zac Unger
"Deep Intellect: Inside the Mind of the Octopus" by Sy Montgomery
SANCTUARY: PORTRAITS OF RESCUED FARM ANIMALS by Sharon Lee Hart
ANIMALS AS TEACHERS AND HEALERS: TRUE STORIES AND REFLECTIONS by Susan Chernak McElroy
THE STILL POINT OF THE TURNING WORLD by Emily Rapp
THE BIG NEW YORKER BOOK OF DOGS
THE LEAF AND THE CLOUD by Mary Oliver
A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING by Bill Bryson
BABYLON'S ARK: THE INCREDIBLE WARTIME RESCUE OF THE BAGHDAD ZOO by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence
FLIGHT BEHAVIOR by Barbara Kingsolver
WHAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANIMALS by Jenny Diski
GOOD PROSE: THE ART OF NONFICTION by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd
HEART IN THE WILD: A JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY WITH ANIMALS OF THE WILDERNESS by Susan Chernak McElroy
THE HORSES OF PROUD SPIRIT by Melanie Sue Bowles
"A Textbook Place for Bears" by John McPhee
LITTLE BOY BLUE: A PUPPY'S RESCUE FROM DEATH ROW AND HIS OWNER'S JOURNEY FOR TRUTH by Kim Kavin
FIRST DEGREE by David Rosenfelt
BETHLEHEM IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by Mark Doty
HELP THANKS WOW: THE THREE ESSENTIAL PRAYERS by Anne Lamott
GRAYSON by Lynne Cox
Books and Short Works Read in 2012
A THOUSAND MORNINGS by Mary Oliver
TURTLE, SWAN by Mark Doty
THE CAT WHO CAME BACK FOR CHRISTMAS: HOW A CAT BROUGHT A FAMILY THE GIFT OF LOVE by Julia Romp
YOU HAD ME AT WOOF: HOW DOGS TAUGHT ME THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS by Julie Klam
A HUMMINGBIRD IN MY HOUSE: THE STORY OF SQUEAK by Arnette Heidcamp
HOMER'S ODYSSEY: A FEARLESS FELINE TALE, OR HOW I LEARNED ABOUT LOVE AND LIFE WITH A BLIND WONDER CAT by Gwen Cooper
ATTRACTING SONGBIRDS TO YOUR BACKYARD by Sally Roth
SHEPHERDS OF COYOTE ROCKS: PUBLIC LANDS, PRIVATE HERDS AND THE NATURAL WORLD by Cat Urbigkit
"Wild Things: Animal Nature, Human Racism, and the Future of Zoos" by David Samuels
DOGS HAVE THE STRANGEST FRIENDS & OTHER TRUE STORIES OF ANIMAL FEELINGS by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
"Under the Snow" by John McPhee
THE COMPASSION OF ANIMALS by Kristin von Kreisler
HOUSEKEEPING by Marilynne Robinson
MY EDITOR by M. B. Goffstein
MY BABY BLUE JAYS by John Berendt
A FISTFUL OF COLLARS by Spencer Quinn
TALKING WITH HORSES by Henry Blake
RABID: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST DIABOLICAL VIRUS by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
"True Short Story" by Ali Smith
ONE DOG NIGHT by David Rosenfelt
"The Child" by Ali Smith
"Present" by Ali Smith
FOLLOWING ATTICUS: FORTY-EIGHT HIGH PEAKS, ONE LITTLE DOG, AND AN EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIP by Tom Ryan
IN THE SKIN OF A LION by Michael Ondaatje
HOW TO THINK LIKE A HORSE: THE ESSENTIAL HANDBOOK FOR UNDERSTANDING WHY HORSES DO WHAT THEY DO by Cherry Hill
THE SECRET LIFE OF COWS by Rosamund Young
THE NOBODIES ALBUM by Carolyn Parkhurst
"A Cat Was Involved" by Spencer Quinn
A PRACTICAL FIELD GUIDE TO HORSE BEHAVIOR: THE EQUID ETHOGRAM by Sue McDonnell
BIRDOLOGY by Sy Montgomery
THE LIVES OF ANIMALS by J. M. Coetzee
GIVEN by Wendell Berry
"People and Animals" from MORAL QUESTIONS by Rush Rhees
ENTRIES by Wendell Berry
WILLFUL BEHAVIOR by Donna Leon
THE WHEEL by Wendell Berry
A PART by Wendell Berry
CLEARING by Wendell Berry
PILATES ON THE MAT by Karon Karter
THE COUNTRY OF MARRIAGE by Wendell Berry
THE INNER WORLD OF FARM ANIMALS: THEIR AMAZING SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND INTELLECTUAL CAPACITIES by Amy Hatkoff
FARMING: A HAND BOOK by Wendell Berry
THE NINE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF CATS: A JOURNEY INTO THE FELINE HEART by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
OPENINGS by Wendell Berry
THE PHILOSOPHER'S DOG: FRIENDSHIPS WITH ANIMALS by Raimond Gaita
FINDINGS by Wendell Berry
THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY: MURDER, MAGIC, AND THE MADNESS AT THE FAIR THAT CHANGED AMERICA by Erik Larson
THE BROKEN GROUND by Wendell Berry
ONE GOOD DOG by Susan Wilson
THE LIGHT IN HIGH PLACES: A NATURALIST LOOKS AT WYOMING WILDERNESS, ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP, COWBOYS, AND OTHER RARE SPECIES by Joe Hutto
GIFTS OF THE CROW: HOW PERCEPTION, EMOTION, AND THOUGHT ALLOW SMART BIRDS TO BEHAVE LIKE HUMANS by John Marzluff and Tony Angell
WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS: LESSONS AND LETTERS FROM DAUGHTERS AND SONS by Tim Russert
A WORLD OF LIGHT by Floyd Skloot
DEWEY: THE SMALL-TOWN CAT WHO TOUCHED THE WORLD by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
OPEN AND SHUT by David Rosenfelt
THE RESCUE OF BELLE & SUNDANCE: ONE TOWN'S INCREDIBLE RACE TO SAVE TWO ABANDONED HORSES by Birgit Stutz and Lawrence Scanlan
EMOTIONALLY WEIRD by Kate Atkinson
IN THE SHADOW OF MEMORY by Floyd Skloot
ANIMAL LOVERS' BEDTIME READER by Sue Greenall
THE DOG WHO LOVED TOO MUCH: TALES, TREATMENTS, AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOGS by Nicholas Dodman
CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE HORSE LOVER'S SOUL
DOG IS MY CO-PILOT: GREAT WRITERS ON THE WORLD'S OLDEST FRIENDSHIP from the Editors of The BARK
THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn
THE MIND'S EYE by Oliver Sacks
BULU: AFRICAN WONDER DOG by Dick Houston
THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
THE PUPPY DIARIES: RAISING A DOG NAMED SCOUT by Jill Abramson
ALL MY DOGS: A LIFE by Bill Henderson
TO FETCH A THIEF by Spencer Quinn
A YEAR AT THE RACES: REFLECTIONS ON HORSES, HUMANS, LOVE, MONEY, AND LUCK by Jane Smiley
WHAT THE ANIMALS TAUGHT ME by Stephanie Marohn
CAT WOMEN: FEMALE WRITERS ON THEIR FELINE FRIENDS edited by Megan Morris
DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn
420 CHARACTERS by Lou Beach
THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR:THE RUTHLESS VERSUS THE REST OF US by Martha Stout
THEREBY HANGS A TAIL by Spencer Quinn
WHY I WAKE EARLY by Mary Oliver
BARN BLIND by Jane Smiley
THE CALL by Yannick Murphy
WHOSE WORLD IS THIS? by Lee Montgomery
SECOND CHANCES: INSPIRING STORIES OF DOG ADOPTION by Joan Banks
THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
AN UNSPOKEN ART: PROFILES OF VETERINARY LIFE by Lee Gutkind
REASON FOR HOPE: A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY by Jane Goodall
MAKING ROUNDS WITH OSCAR: THE EXTRAORDINARY GIFT OF AN ORDINARY CAT by David Dosa
ANIMAL CAMP: LESSONS IN LOVE AND HOPE FROM RESCUED FARM ANIMALS by Kathy Stevens
THE LOST PET CHRONICLES: ADVENTURES OF A K-9 COP TURNED PET DETECTIVE by Kat Albrecht
HORSE PEOPLE: SCENES FROM THE RIDING LIFE by Michael Korda
HEAD OFF & SPLIT by Nikky Finney
THREE BAGS FULL: A SHEEP DETECTIVE STORY by Leonie Swann
Books and Short Works (since June) Read in 2011
"Nothing of Consequence" by Jane Delury
"Pole, Pole" by Susan Minot
"The Black Square" by Chris Adrian
A CIRCLE OF QUIET by Madeleine L'Engle
A SMALL FURRY PRAYER: DOG RESCUE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE by Steven Kotler
ABOUT GRIEF: INSIGHTS, SETBACKS, GRACE NOTES, TABOOS by Ron Marasco and Brian Shuff
ANIMAL SENSE by Diane Ackerman
ANIMALS MAKE US HUMAN: CREATING THE BEST LIFE FOR ANIMALS by Temple Grandin
BIRD CLOUD by Annie Proulx
BLOOD HORSES: NOTES OF A SPORTSWRITER'S SON by John Jeremiah Sullivan
BLOODLINES: A HORSE RACING ANTHOLOGY edited by Maggie Estep and Jason Starr
CHANGING MY MIND: OCCASIONAL ESSAYS by Zadie Smith
CHERISHED: 21 WRITERS ON ANIMALS THEY HAVE LOVED AND LOST
CHRISTMAS DOGS: A LITERARY COMPANION
DARKNESS INVISIBLE: A MEMOIR OF MADNESS by William Styron
DOG POEMS edited by Myra Cohn Livingston
DOGS I HAVE MET AND THE PEOPLE THEY FOUND by Ken Foster
DOGS OF DREAMTIME by Karen Shanley
EDGE OF TAOS DESERT: AN ESCAPE TO REALITY by Mabel Dodge Luhan
FETCHING DYLAN: A TRUE TALE OF CANINE DOMESTICATION IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS by Stephen Foster
HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger
HOOFPRINTS: HORSE POEMS by Jessie Haas
HORSE HEAVEN by Jane Smiley
HORSEPOWER: A MEMOIR by Annette Israel
HORSERADISH: BITTER TRUTHS YOU CAN'T AVOID by Lemony Snicket
HORSES NEVER LIE ABOUT LOVE by Jana Harris
HOW ROCKET LEARNED TO READ by Tad Hills
HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE AND HOW TO READ ONE by Stanley Fish
I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON BEING A WOMAN by Nora Ephron
ILLUMINATION IN THE FLATWOODS: A SEASON WITH THE WILD TURKEY by Joe Hutto
INSIDE OF A DOG: WHAT DOGS SEE, SMELL, AND KNOW by Alexandra Horowitz
ISAAC MURPHY: I DEDICATE THIS RIDE by Frank X Walker
JOURNAL OF KATHERINE MANSFIELD
JUSTIN MORGAN HAD A HORSE by Marguerite Henry
LEAVINGS by Wendell Berry
LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS by J. R. R. Tolkien
LIT by Mary Karr
LOST AND FOUND by Jacqueline Sheehan
NEWS FROM THE WORLD: STORIES AND ESSAYS by Paula Fox
NINE HORSES by Billy Collins
OLD POSSUM'S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS by T. S. Eliot
OOGY: THE DOG ONLY A FAMILY COULD LOVE by Larry Levin
OWLS AND OTHER FANTASIES: POEMS AND ESSAYS by Mary Oliver
SAVING AUDIE: A PIT BULL PUPPY GETS A SECOND CHANCE by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
SEEDS: ONE MAN'S SERENDIPITOUS JOURNEY TO FIND THE TREES THAT INSPIRED FAMOUS AMERICAN WRITERS by Richard Horan
SEEK MY FACE by John Updike
STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG by Kate Atkinson
SWAN: POEMS AND PROSE POEMS by Mary Oliver
THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides
THE ANIMAL RESCUE STORE by Elizabeth Swados
THE ANNOTATED ALICE: THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE by Lewis Carroll and edited by Martin Gardner
THE BOND: OUR KINSHIP WITH ANIMALS, OUR CALL TO DEFEND THEM by Wayne Pacelle
THE BOY IN THE MOON: A FATHER'S JOURNEY TO UNDERSTAND HIS EXTRAORDINARY SON by Ian Brown
THE CHILDREN'S BOOK by A. S. Byatt
THE DOG DEPARTMENT: JAMES THURBER ON HOUNDS, SCOTTIES, AND TALKING POODLES by James Thurber
THE DOGS OF BEDLAM FARM: AN ADVENTURE WITH SIXTEEN SHEEP, THREE DOGS, TWO DONKEYS, AND ME by Jon Katz
THE EIGHTY-DOLLAR CHAMPION: SNOWMAN, THE HORSE THAT INSPIRED A NATION by Elizabeth Letts
THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG by Muriel Barbery
THE GOOD GOOD PIG: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD by Sy Montgomery
THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES: A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS by Edmund de Waal
THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot
THE INEVITABLE: CONTEMPORARY WRITERS CONFRONT DEATH edited by David Shields and Bradford Morrow
THE PIG WHO SANG TO THE MOON: THE EMOTIONAL WORLD OF FARM ANIMALS by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
THE SUNNY SIDE by A. A. Milne
THE WRITING CLASS by Jincy Willett
THINKING ABOUT MEMOIR by Abigail Thomas
THIRST by Mary Oliver
UNLEASHED: POEMS BY WRITERS' DOGS edited by Amy Hempel and Jim Shepard
UNSAID by Neil Abramson
WALKING OLLIE: OR, WINNING THE LOVE OF A DIFFICULT DOG by Stephen Foster
WHAT THE DOG SAW by Malcolm Gladwell
WHY WE RIDE: WOMEN WRITERS ON THE HORSES IN THEIR LIVES edited by Verna Dreisbach
WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND: WOMEN WRITERS ON THE DOGS IN THEIR LIVES edited by Megan McMorris
WOOF! WRITERS ON DOGS edited by Lee Montgomery
WRITERS ON WRITING: COLLECTED ESSAYS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A Triumph of Preservation” by Randy Fertel
“Charging Lions” by Chester F. Phillips
“Dog at Midlife” by Jeff Oaks
“Dogs in the Dark” by Mike Land
“How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped,” by Katherine Mansfield
“Killing Starlings” by Kateri Kosek
“Natural Selection” by Kelly Herbinson
“New Dresses,” by Katherine Mansfield
“Of Mice and Women” by Susan Cheever
“Ole Underwood,” by Katherine Mansfield
“Taking the Veil,” by Katherine Mansfield
“The Butterfly Effect: Finding Sanctuary in Butterfly Town, USA” by Jennifer Lunden
“The Canary,” by Katherine Mansfield
“The Centaur” by Lauren Slater
“The Fly,” by Katherine Mansfield
“The Histories of Jacques Cousteau (A Fairytale of the Drowned)” by Tessa Fontaine
“The Woman at the Store,” by Katherine Mansfield
Books Read In 2010 (February through December)
A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
BLACK DOGS by Ian McEwan
BLIND HOPE: AN UNWANTED DOG & THE WOMAN SHE RESCUED by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher
BUFFALO FOR THE BROKEN HEART: RESTORING LIFE TO A BLACK HILLS RANCH by Dan O'Brien
CALLINGS: FINDING AND FOLLOWING AN AUTHENTIC LIFE by Gregg Levoy
CHOSEN BY A HORSE: A MEMOIR by Susan Richards
DARK HORSES AND BLACK BEAUTIES: ANIMALS, WOMEN, A PASSION by Melissa Holbrook Pierson
EPITAPH FOR A PEACH: FOUR SEASONS ON MY FAMILY FARM by David Mas Masumoto
HOME: A NOVEL by Marilynne Robinson
IRIS AND HER FRIENDS by John Bayley
JENNY & THE JAWS OF LIFE by Jincy Willett
LADDER OF YEARS by Anne Tyler
LIGHTHOUSEKEEPING by Jeanette Winterson
MERLE'S DOOR: LESSONS FROM A FREETHINKING DOG by Ted Kerasote
MOO by Jane Smiley
OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout
SPIRIT HORSES by Tony Stromberg
THE ANNOTATED ALICE: ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll and edited by Martin Gardner
THE BELL by Iris Murdoch
THE DOGS WHO FOUND ME: WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM PETS WHO WERE LEFT BEHIND by Ken Foster
THE GREATEST HORSE STORIES EVER TOLD edited by Steven D. Price
THE HIDDEN LIFE OF DOGS by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
THE LION'S SHARE by Kelly Tate and Jack Hanna
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE by Diane Ackerman
THINKING IN PICTURES by Temple Grandin
WHERE THE BLIND HORSE SINGS by Kathy Stevens
Reading Through The Lull
A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY by Kurt Vonnegut
BEFORE WE GET STARTED: A PRACTICAL MEMOIR OF THE WRITER'S LIFE by Bret Lott
DIVISADERO by Michael Ondaatje
DOUBLE FOLD by Nicholson Baker
EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert
EVERYTHING THAT RISES: A BOOK OF CONVERGENCES by Lawrence Weschler
FELICIA’S JOURNEY by William Trevor
HIM HER HIM AGAIN THE END OF HIM by Patricia Marx
INHERITANCE OF LOSS by Kiran Desai
I’M NOT THE NEW ME by Wendy McClure
JULIE & JULIA by Julie Powell
KINSHIP WITH ANIMALS edited by Kate Solisti and Michael Tobias
LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel
MOTHER TONGUE: AN AMERICAN LIFE IN ITALY by Wallis Wilde-Menozzi
MY NAME IS WILL by Jess Winfield
NASH, RAMBLER by Frank Sennett
ONE GOOD TURN by Kate Atkinson
OTHER PEOPLE’S DIRT by Louise Rafkin
OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell
PICASSO & LUMP: A DACHSHUND'S ODYSSEY by David Douglas Duncan
SALT: A WORLD HISTORY by Mark Kurlansky
SHAKESPEARE WROTE FOR MONEY by Nick Hornby
SILENT THUNDER by Katy Payne
SMALL WONDER by Barbara Kingsolver
THE CALLING by Inger Ash Wolfe
THE DALKEY ARCHIVE by Flann O'Brien
THE ISLAND OF LOST MAPS by Miles Harvey
THE KING'S ENGLISH by Betsy Burton
THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES OF LITTLE NO HORSE by Louise Erdrich
The first headline I read this morning announced a new target-practice app for four-year-olds from the NRA. Then my husband shared a Stephen Colbert video, “Double Barrel Blam-O-Rama,” with me (which I can’t embed here for some reason—you’ll have to follow the link above).
