The Body by Bill Bryson

Fascinating! I started this book, semi-interested because I have enjoyed other books by this author. I advanced slowly at first, musing that I was not all that interested in reading about my body functions. Then I developed a fascination with the information provided so clearly and at times with a dash of humor or sarcasm. Probably, most of us recognize that our bodies are truly remarkable machines. How many realize that it is incredibly amazing that with the complexity of necessary coordination of so many parts that our bodies can deal successfully with abundant threats to its survival. Bill Bryson is known for his delightful travelogues and this travelogue through the human body offers a great deal to ponder as it reveals engaging details about the human body.

The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz

This absorbing mystery novel is full of vim and vigor. So many mysteries follow a tried and true pattern. This book thankfully steps outside the typical mystery novel box. The author becomes a significant character who is accompanying the freelance detective, he is writing a book about, as the detective works to solve a murder mystery. Layers of intriguing details are tantalizingly revealed as both the author and the reader struggle alongside the detective to figure out "who done it". The detective often irritates the author with his smug close-mouthed pursuit of the murderer that at times leaves the author floundering as he encounters one suspect after another. Recommended. 

That Wild Country by Mark Kenyon

Wow! This is a wonderful book extolling the beauty of our public lands, and advocating passionately for all of us to protect our incredible heritage, so carefully preserved over more than a century. It is filled with detail about the evolution of the Public Lands preservation movement, and the current horrific assault by some rapacious corporations and politicians to privatize, exploit, and to sell to developers our incredible natural legacy. The author is an avid outdoorsman, a hunter of meat to feed his family, and also a hiker and backwoods camper who loves the serenity and beauty of wild habitat. Admittedly, I am uncomfortable with the occasional brief description of a hunt (I am a vegetarian, leaning toward vegan) yet I unquestionably have an admiration for this man who writes so beautifully about his forays into the wilderness, and advocates so eloquently for everyone to join together to protect our public lands. The author presents a clear case for people of all backgrounds and beliefs to join together to preserve our common heritage of public lands for future generations. Highly recommended!

Hid From Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming

I have enjoyed other titles in this series, and this was also very good. Three separate but definitely copycat or serial murders over a fifty-year period challenge the Millers Kill Police Department even as they in the present face a budgetary threat to their very existence. The narrative weaves back and forth from 1952, to 1972 and to the present, revealing the eerie identical circumstances of the murders of young women, the efforts to solve these cases and potential suspects. Russ Van Alstyne and his wife, the Reverand Clare Fergusson are great characters that draw the reader into their lives and community. Recommended.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

I really enjoy this series, featuring a nurse usually on the WW2 front lines in France trying to save lives. However, whenever a murder takes place she succumbs to her abundant compassion, curiosity, and sense of justice that drives her into solving the mystery. Much of the action takes place back in England, where her family lives so the historical context includes not just a war zone, but also the Homefront where ordinary citizens are struggling with the resource shortages of a war economy, but also the frightening consequences of enemy bombings. Recommended.

An Elephant In My Kitchen by Francoise Malby-Anthony

This is an incredible sequel to The Elephant Whisperer which I read less than a year ago and loved. Written by the widow of Lawrence Anthony it expands and updates on the unimaginable reality of running an animal reserve dedicated to providing a wild habitat for endangered African animals like elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippos, protecting them from relentless poaching, and more recently providing an orphanage for young animals whose mothers have often been brutally slaughtered for their horns. Delightful descriptions of the escapades of the young rescues are interspersed with frank details about the horrific daily struggle to keep these marvelous creatures safe from greedy, amoral poachers who will kill animals and their human protectors without compunction. It trumpets the devotion and commitment of the many wonderful people who staff the reserve, those who provide funds for its operation, and the growing effort to educate young Africans about the need to protect the marvelous creatures that inhabit their beautiful continent. I hope this book and its predecessor are widely read because they make it clear that wild animals not only deserve to exist, but also just how diminished our Earth will be if they are destroyed. This remarkable narrative reveals the majesty of wild creatures that display feelings and intelligence that we humans have too often denied they could possibly have, mostly I think to enable us to use and abuse them rather than embrace them as fellow travelers on our singular planet.

The Dutch House by Ann Pachett

I have enjoyed many of this author's books but found this one disappointing. The house is a character and drives much of the plot, however, the denouement was just mediocre. It just absolved the house of all its imports.

A Duty To The Dead by Charles Todd

Bess Crawford is a young nurse struggling to keep wounded soldiers alive during the horrific years of WW1. When tending a dying soldier, she promises him she will deliver a message to one of his brothers back in England. Keeping this promise proves to be an arduous task as she is embroiled in the secretive miasma of his very troubled family.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Really enjoyed this story. A love story set in a fascinating historical context. It is about a young woman who is a WPA packhorse librarian who brings books to isolated folks in Kentucky. She is also a blue-skinned person who endures a tremendous amount of racism. I immediately googled what a blue-skinned person is, and that story is captivating. The third issue comes up at the end of the book, and I will not spoil the tale by mentioning it. Bluet is a developed character who exhibits dedication, love, and compassion for her profession and the people she serves. Recommended.

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

The story begins in the early 1950's Iran when a fledgling Democracy vies against U.S. Sanctioned monarchy. A young woman raised by progressive parents visits weekly a stationery shop that also sells books. There she meets a young man whose life path has already been determined by his mother. Despite this, they fall in love and determine to marry.  Then a sad, eventful day in 1953 leads to their separation for multiple decades. It reveals the pain and anguish which can extrude from the past to manipulate and damage the future of a beloved child. It is a poignant story of enduring love that tugs at the heart and explores the capriciousness of fate and the implacable existence of the evil intent of a terribly damaged soul.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

What a wonderful story. I feel like I took up residence in an ordinary yet also extraordinary English village during the early years of WW2 that was left occupied by mostly women since so many of the men were off fighting the Nazis. A woman newly arrived to live in the Village urges the reconstitution of the village choir, now with only female voices and leads them to triumphant success. As this marvelous narrative unfolds in the various voices of the members of the choir, the remarkable lives of women left on the home front are revealed with poignancy and heart. Their resilience in the presence of daily struggles and periodic bombings is conveyed so well leading the reader to a new level of understanding of an oft unimaginable time in history. Savor!

Never Victorious, Never Defeated by Taylor Caldwell

This was a difficult book to read. I read an Ann Rand book in high school. This reminded me so much of that book. I felt despair because it encapsulated so much of what I fear. Corporate greed controlling our government, no longer a Democracy. Was it ever? The Robber Barons robbed our country of its Democracy. This book was published in 1954 and provides a story of the Gilded Age. And yet, as I watched a PBS documentary about the Gilded Age, I realized not much had changed. Still the 1%, the lobbyists, government for the wealthy, the working poor, an unfortunate majority supporting the rich in 2019.

Nectar In A Sieve by Kamala Markandaya

I visited India when I was eleven years old in 1962, and admired its beauty, but was totally emotionally destroyed by the poverty viewed everywhere. I just could not handle it. This book really conveys the horrendous situation many people in India face, incessant poverty and hardship. A young girl is married to a farmer who farms, the land he does not own. She struggles daily with her husband to feed their children and provide them a better future. I imagine the situation has only gotten worse with the huge increase in population and diminishing resources. This story was so poignant but it was also very illustrative of the fate many around the world face in 2019, and I think it is a valuable piece of literature for readers to absorb. 

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

A heartbreaking story about a young Canadian Indian, Saul Indian Horse who is "kidnapped" from his birthplace and his family and placed in a boarding school run by mostly cruel nuns and priests. One priest is kind and introduces hockey with the older boys at the school. Saul tends the ice because he is too young to be on the team so he teaches himself to play the game. He loves the game and plays with skill and great joy. Soon enough, he becomes a team member later moving on to a higher level traveling team. However, when he is recruited for a white team, he is continually exposed to the cruelty of the White World that taunts him and cheers the opposition players who attack him regularly on the ice. Tragically, with time, his joy in the game disappears. This particular story reveals in poignant detail, the horrific racism that Indians have endured from the European conquerors that populated Canada, but it is a tragedy that has occurred repeatedly all over the Americas and despite some talented authors describing the horrific treatment has largely been ignored. Young people could really benefit from reading this story, perhaps it would elicit some empathy. Powerful!

Bluethroat Morning by Jacqui Lofthouse

 This dark but fascinating story follows the main character as he six years after his famous wife committed suicide, makes a trip to the town where she died. Living alone in a cottage, she was investigating and writing a book about the life and eventual suicide of another woman whose photo she found in her husband's collection of family photos. Unfortunately, the unfinished manuscript was found burnt after her death, and Harry, her husband is held responsible both for that and even the presumed despair which led to his wife's suicide. Harry interviews an elderly man who proves instrumental in revealing much of the mystery behind the two suicides, especially when he returns to Harry his wife's journal which illuminated her thoughts during the last days of her life. This somber narrative is full of reflection as Harry ponders how "familial relationships" and "broken connections, even generations apart" are fraught with difficulty and despair. One quibble: A few swear words used.

The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

A very poignant narrative about three siblings who finally discuss the trauma the youngest claims she endured growing up with a mother who mistreated her. The two older children initially dismiss their younger sister's memories, after all, they were present and did not notice any abuse. Yet, it is this very conundrum of how children can have such different experiences growing up even though they are raised by the same parents and together in one home that expands this story into one of nuance and emotional resonance.

The Tenant by Katrine Engberg

 An excellent police detective mystery that takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The murder victim is a young woman. The lead detective, Jeppe Korner, and his team embark on an intense effort to find out who murdered her and mutilated her face. An interview with Esther de Laurentis, the victim's landlady and a budding author, reveals to the police that the murder is eerily like that portrayed in her only partially completed manuscript. Admittedly, Esther freely incorporated the story of her psychologically scared tenant who became pregnant some years ago at age 15 into her novel, but it was her imagination she claims that then made her tenant into a fictional murder victim. Who then carried out the details of an unpublished fictional murder for real? Recommended!

Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold

A very detailed narrative about one family's horrific exposure to fracking toxins, and their subsequent legal battle against the businesses that brought fracking into their community. Imagine being in a situation where the home you live and the water supply you depend on now sickens your children, yourself and your animals but you also can't sell it and leave. A single parent, you work three jobs to survive but you also have to spend a huge amount of time going to doctor appointments because of family illnesses due to fracking toxins. This is a very hard book to read because of the unfolding tragedy for this family and others yet it provides an informative microcosm of the impact fracking is having on communities around our country and the world.

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

Reading this informative, scientifically detailed book was arduous because I found it so sad and dispiriting but essential reading. So much loss of biodiversity of plants and animals to absorb and ponder. The majority of scientists believe and have collected evidence to prove that modern human behavior and actions and out of control population growth and spread have led to our current sixth extinction crisis. Five years on from the release of this book, daily news from a myriad of sources makes it clear that our species continues to largely ignore the blatant need to reverse the accelerating extinction rate on our planet. Earth will survive the sixth extinction as it did the first five although most current living creatures may go extinct. Then as evidenced historically by Earth's billions of years of geologic development and the slow development over many more millions of years of plants and animals, it is also likely that eventually, new species will repopulate a recovered planet. Perhaps there will be a new top primate with a true intelligence that recognizes a need to live within a balance of Nature.

The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg

After two previous wonderful books about this town and an evolving group of characters, ( The Story of Arthur Truluv and The Night of Miracles), I am glad to go back and visit again. The daily ordinariness of human lives shines through, and yet also strikes a poignant note that resonates.  This narrative is about a group of women who share some of their dark secrets with one another, and in so doing, as they reveal vulnerable details of their lives also illuminate the many difficulties, fears and concerns that so many ordinary lives hide behind a thin veneer of well being and sangfroid. To enjoy the full flavor of this book, read the first two in order. The town and community are important as are the previous characters that while physically gone nevertheless still exert a relevant context for the continuing story of life in Mason, Missouri. Recommended.

Saving Jemima by Julie Zickefoose

It was a delight reading this book, of course, I too love wild birds. The author has spent decades providing sanctuary for wild birds and taking care of rescued birds until they can be released safely back to the wild. Her love and dedication for birds shine through this narrative which focuses on her raising a rescued baby Blue Jay, nursing it through several serious health events, and then after releasing it back to the wild, nurturing it through to a full return to its wild heritage. She extolls the intelligence of this member of the corvid family, citing details, and describing her observations with enthusiasm and ends her story with essential information about how to care for these beautiful creatures. This was a pre-publication e-book so there were no photos, although she describes taking thousands as she developed her ability to identify individual birds. After finishing this book, I now look with even more enjoyment and amazement at the Stellar's Jays and Scrub Jays, Western relatives of Blue Jays, that visit my bird feeder daily. Recommended. Also, visit the author's blog at https://juliezickefoose.blogspot.com/

The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Delightful and poignant. A cat describes his life with the Japanese man who rescued him from the streets.

The Body In The Castle Well by Martin Walker

I enjoy this author's very cozy mysteries. Bruno is a wonderful character, caring, compassionate, intelligent, and delightfully diverse in his interests. The location and its unique culture are entertainingly described, becoming a major element of the story. The plot introduces the mystery but then expands into a narrative that provides a more substantial issue to consider as the story progresses. I am a vegetarian but the descriptions of meals full of meat-heavy ingredients are still mouth-watering. A young woman, a promising Ph.D. candidate is found drowned in a well. Is it an accident, a suicide, or a murder?

The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel

Enjoyed this historical fiction thoroughly although I did at times want to shake with some force some of the characters for being so stupidly caught up in their emotional intrigue. The narrative takes place in the Champagne region of  France during the Nazi occupation. Through flashbacks, a story emerges about the resistance activities of one champagne producer utilizing his extensive underground cellars and vineyard to secretly transport guns to his fellow resistance fighters and the secrets harbored by him and his wife that seventy years later are only just being revealed to a young woman named Olivia. A nice balance of history and fiction that is both interesting and compelling and is infused with a touching mixture of human frailty and romance.

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

 I am never disappointed by an Ann Cleeves book. She always provides an interesting main character and plot. Her writing flows, with the location and context for the plot, developed so smoothly that the narrative never stalls or slows. This is the first book about Detective Matthew Venn who lives with his life partner, Jonathan in a small village in Northern England. Detective Venn needs to solve a murder but before he and his team get very far in the process, a young mentally challenged woman disappears. Now, there is, unfortunately, a connection to Matthew's partner because the young woman attended the care center where Jonathan works. Will Detective Venn have to bow out of the investigation? Furthermore secrets and lies connected to an Evangelical community add depth and poignancy to the narrative. Recommended.

Becoming Dr. Seuss by Brian Jay Jones

Enjoyed very much this biography of Dr. Seuss. He is a complex individual with a myriad of positive and negative features that drive his illustrious career. Other biographies of this impressive author have been published but this is the first I have read. It is informative and interesting to read.

Mama's Last Hug by Frans De Waal

Fascinating and informative. The author delivers a wonderful and convincing document revealing the rich emotional life of animals, especially in the primates he has studied closely for over thirty years. He makes poignantly the point that for too long, it has been declared that animals do not have emotions: they do not experience pain, fear, disgust, joy etc. Now, fortunately, research into the emotions of animals is ongoing and expanding. He gives a voice to animals that makes it extremely difficult for any human to deny that they experience emotions, noting that it may perhaps only be the fact that they cannot speak for themselves that has enabled this denial for so long. Highly recommended.

Lady In The Lake by Laura Lippman

This was a very interesting story, incorporating a mystery, an intriguing main character, multiple voices to drive the narrative forward, and absorbing flavors of an occupation, a time and a place. A 37-year-old woman leaves her marriage and strikes out on her own, carving out an eventual career in journalism.  Curiosity and intrusive persistence enable her to pursue obtaining information about the mysterious death of a young woman. She is an early feminist who also very much deliberately manipulates men in her strong desire to develop her opportunities. Plot, character, and locale are very well developed. Recommended.

Close To Birds by Mats Ottosson and Asa Ottosson

This is a gorgeous book. The photographs of the birds are delightful and full of detail, and they exude a miraculous sense of life. The text is very anecdotal, quoting multiple bird lovers' personal impressions and experiences with certain birds who regularly visit Northern Europe. Plenty of guidebooks exist to identify birds but this book is designed to awaken an interest in these fabulous creatures in anyone who even just casually peruses its contents but also enchant hard-core bird lovers.

The Unwinding Of The Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams

A very difficult book to read and process as it details the life and then lengthy struggle of an incredible young woman who first seeks myriad treatments to deal with a diagnosis of stage four colon cancer, and then finally comes to terms with the relentless death sentence it remained from the initial diagnosis. Frank in her portrayal of the five-year ordeal for herself and her husband and two children, she shares her pain and suffering as a way to provide others with some illuminating insights into facing and working to overcome the hardships that life often unleashes upon people in the course of their lifetime.

Rez Life by David Treuer

An informative book which provides facts and details about contemporary Indian life on reservations, the history of the creation and development of reservations and many of the subsequent changes that have mired many reservations in continued poverty while enabling a few to become prosperous. A history and explanation of Sovereignty on reservations and the constant struggles to retain rights promised in historical treaties and in subsequent laws. The author poignantly explains the struggles to retain cultural identity despite the cruel and relentless efforts by the American government and its dominant European immigrants to wipe out all Indian cultures. An impressive mix of political and historical facts that inform as well as considered opinions that provoke thought and reflection. Recommended.

Mr. Lear: A Life Of Art And Nonsense by Jenny Uglow

An impressive biography that illuminates the complexity of a fascinating artist/poet/"traveloguer"/human being. I previously only knew Mr. Lear from his many witty limericks. The author reveals him vividly through his own writings and his many friendships with the aristocratic, artistic and movers and shakers" of the 19th century. Recommended!

The Last Year Of The War by Susan Meissner

Two twelve year old American born girls meet in an internment camp in Texas. One is a German American, the other is Japanese-American. From their brief time together under very difficult circumstances in Crystal City, the "Camp", they develop a friendship that lasts over sixty years. Unfortunately, that friendship is one enjoyed only through memories because they are soon separated, each to return against their will to the homeland of their parents. Before they part, they hatch a plan to reunite immediately at the end of the war. The focus of the story is Elsie/Elise the German American girl as her story unfolds through the end of the war and then as she attains adulthood. This is a poignant historical fiction.

A Year By The Sea by Joan Anderson

A contemplative narrative by a woman in her middle age who takes up residence in the family cottage on the Cape. Her two sons are launched and she chooses not to accompany her husband when he takes a new job. Instead, she spends a year living alone, absorbing the wild beauty of Nature as she takes stock of her life and the desires and changes she wants moving into her older age. Lyrical descriptions and thoughtful musings infuse this lovely memoir. Recommended.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

Excellent story that compassionately reveals the travails endured by young people interred in a boarding school for Native American Youth stolen from their parents to be indoctrinated in the "values" of the dominant White culture. A group of four children, three white orphans and one Native American escape the school and go on a journey. The time period is the early thirties and the horrific consequences of the Depression become a part of their story as they make their way South in a boat. The young narrator is an appealing character whose storytelling weaves its way into the heart of the reader, at least this reader. Recommended.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

A middle-aged couple loses their home, and the husband is newly diagnosed with a terminal illness but their kids are launched so they decide to walk the South West Coast Path in Great Britain. Descriptions of nature are often lyrical even as the narrative also describes the difficulties of wild camping along the trail, surviving on a low budget barely adequate to cover the cost of food, and enduring cold and wind buffeting their tent. Infused with thoughtful reflection on their experience of life, and their enduring love for one another, this is a poignant travelogue.

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor

Enjoyable historical fiction about a young woman who helped her father and brother keep an island lighthouse operational in the 1830s. One stormy night, she and her father go out in a small boat to try to rescue survivors of a sinking ship, and as a result, she becomes famous much to her dismay. This interesting story also introduces a fictional relative of one of the survivors who more than 100 years later ends up at a lighthouse in Newport, Rhode Island. Their stories in separate chapters offer a satisfying look at the largely unrecognized existence of women lighthouse keepers.

That Good Night by Sunita Puri

This is an important book to read. We all face death at some point. I know what I fear most is enduring pain. I do not want to suffer. This author, a doctor who has specialized in the care of patients who are facing the end of life issues of extraordinary care vs palliative care addresses this important life stage in a poignant and informative narrative that invites thought and discussion

Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

This is a fascinating book about a search for identity after a 54-year woman discovers that her biological father was not the man who raised her but instead a sperm donor. Looking into a mirror in a self-described obsessive manner while growing up, she sensed she was different from the others in her family. She knew that the face that stared back at her did not resemble anyone else in her family. Then a DNA test reveals that she is not related to her half-sister, therefore the father she loved deeply was not her father. Now her driving force becomes, "Who am I?" And further, this narrative also devels into the industry and ethics of anonymous sperm donations wherein millions of children never know their fathers or perhaps even their true origins. In an interview, a purveyor of sperm remarks unfeelingly to her, " Why is it traumatic? You're here, aren't you?" WOW! This is a book that many who have an anonymous parent, or a known parent who never had anything to do with them may find difficult to read because it addresses reality and pain we experience all our life. Perhaps it may also open up an awareness of a poignant "circumstance" that millions experience.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana DeRosnay

Yet another poignant story that illuminates the horrific conditions that Jewish people faced during the Hitler era. July 16. 1942 in France is a date that will live in infamy. French Jews were seized by French police from their homes and sent in waves, men first then women than their children to Auschwitz to be exterminated. In this fiction, a young girl escapes the physical extermination but suffers instead a unique internal anguish precipitated by the round-up. This story centers around a Journalist who gradually unravels the details of this fictional but eminently believable event.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Fascinating historical fiction. Considerable information interspersed amidst the fictional story and characters. This book describes a culture on a Korean Island Jeju in which women dive in cold water without oxygen and earn a difficult and sometimes deadly living harvesting fish and shellfish while their husbands stay at home and tend the children and cook meals for their family. In the aftermath of WW2 and the division of Korea into North and South, this story unfolds amid the horrific consequences of the resulting murderous discord. In concentric circles expanding outward, this is a story of two girls who develop a touching but problematic friendship which is subsequently torn asunder as a result of a heinous historical massacre of many of the residents of the island. Then their stories and that of their various family members continue to unfold over decades.

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Really enjoyed this story. The main character, Kya was so poignantly alive to me. Nature, her environment was also wonderfully characterized. The description of the life of the marshlands of the Carolina coast enabled me to feel like a visitor to this unique habitat. A story of a young child who survives abandonment and endures loneliness, the few important people in her life, and always the incredible presence of an environment both harsh and also beautiful and nurturing. I loved this book.

Lillian Boxfish takes a walk by Kathleen Rooney

 "The point of living in the world is just to stay interested" says Lillian Boxfish in this fictionalized journey through the life of a real woman who in the 1930s penetrated the world of advertising to become its most accomplished female voice at a time when clever, witty words had the power to manipulate consumers; and interested she remains over her long lifetime spent in a bustling, ever-changing New York City.  This delightful story works as a paean to both early feminism and the urban life of a remarkable city. Recommended.

This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein

Just finished this intense, depressing, and revealing narrative about Climate Change. Packed with information, data, and eye-opening descriptions of stakeholders in the battle between the toxic fossil fuel producers and the people concerned and struggling with the consequences of its horrific toxicity to our environment and all living creatures. The author also discusses Blockadia, the Environmental Movement newly blended with Social Justice issues. Blockadia spearheaded by Indigenous People who are fighting to protect their land and water from the Fossil Fuel Industry has grown into a powerful force as disparate groups like ranchers and Farmers have also joined their opposition to pipelines. Lots of food for thought!

Fastest Things On Wings by Terry Masear

"People feel so tightly bound to hummingbirds that the birds become miniature mirrors. In urban communities throughout Los Angeles, hummingbirds are the poster children for primal innocence, both theirs and ours. They symbolize the beauty of pristine nature before human civilization came tromping into paradise with its rough, heavy boots and mucked everything up. And despite our ongoing interference, these fearless spirits continue living alongside us, serving as a reminder of what once was, and what can be. This is why their deaths, as small and insignificant as they may seem, have the power to drive the hard truth of our own mortality straight home. Because in the end, as much as we work to deny it, our fundamental condition is not so different from theirs." The author with these words perhaps explains why so many people in LA choose to bring injured and orphaned hummingbirds to her for rehabilitation but her incredible descriptions and loving depictions of individual birds she has cared for, give her readers a wonderful appreciation for these tiny magical creatures. I have viewed these extraordinary creatures dart and hover in my front yard, and marveled at their lovely colors but never have I thought to exert the dedication, time and effort this author gives to her extraordinary patients, and her subsequent emotional strength then to release them back into the urban wild, never knowing what becomes of them. I admire her immensely but realize that I would not have the strength to undertake what she has for so many years. I read this book with awe and now hope that others will as well. Awesome book about awesome creatures, human and birds alike.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book. What would that be about? Written within a framework of detailing and exploring the facts about the 1986 fire that destroyed a significant portion of the LA Central Library, this book also touches on  the significance of public libraries, their typical clientele, the political machinations that control library buildings and services, the dedication of the librarians who provide and promote library services, and the future of libraries. The content is fascinating and endlessly engaging, and I enjoyed so much reading this book.

In Extremis: The Life and Death of The War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey Hilsum

Well-written revelatory description of this incredible person's life. In awe at the clear risks, she took to get her war stories, I also found myself questioning her sanity. Is this what journalists who wish to cover wars accurately need to do, and do readers really want to demand this level of selfless dedication that may lead to death? This book further exposes Marie Colvin's toxic often debilitating personal behaviors that appeared to derive in large part as a consequence of the death-defying life this journalist embraced with a mixture of understandable fear as well as the incredible courage she had to gather multiple times to enter war zones and do her job.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Wow! So enjoyed this well-written memoir by an awesome lady. In telling her story from childhood through the end of her eight years in the White House, Michelle Obama laces the facts of her life with heartfelt commentary about her experiences, concerns, fears, and optimism. She details her impressive accomplishments always within the context of the many people who supported her, believed in her, and assisted her along the way. Endlessly empathetic, she addresses the hardships that have marginalized people in our racist, unjust society but also energetically encourages and advocates for the transformation of our society through the Youth who need to believe in their own worth enough to overcome disadvantages. Poignantly, she reveals the difficulty she had in embracing the political life her husband relishes and in achieving a balance in her public life and her personal life during her years as First Lady. Already an admirer, I came away at the end of this book with my admiration enhanced by a more nuanced understanding of this impressive person.

Coyote America by Dan Flores

A detailed narrative about the American native canid, the coyote. With a relatively brief history of perhaps, 6-17,000 years of residence in North America, it has demonstrated an amazing resilience to survive concerted efforts to exterminate it. Coyotes have spread across the contiguous states of the United States and now reside in urban environments as well as their original rural locations. Embedded in Native American folklore and mythology, coyotes have long had an important relationship with the human species, too often negative but hopefully, now a respectful relationship. Really appreciated reading this book.

Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman by Miriam Horn

A fascinating narrative about individuals directly involved in ranching, farming, captaining barges up and down the Mississippi, and fishing the Gulf waters who all have had to adapt to a damaged environment to try to enable its recovery for the benefit of their immediate livelihoods and also its long-term survival for future generations. These individuals did not come out of the environmental movement but instead have developed a conservation mindset from the realization that their way of life is threatened. The author has performed a valuable service to her readers by presenting clearly with much detail the lives of her interviewees and their unique paths to conservation.

A Hole In The Wind: A Climate Scientist's Bicycle Journey Across the United States

A descriptive narrative that leaves the reader with an almost visceral experience of bicycling solo across America, quite a feat not accomplished by very many. The author peppers his travelogue with knowledgeable comments about climate change as informed by his life-long work in the field, and many direct observations while bicycling in this and other trips across the plains and mountains of America.