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.