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A combination of allergies and Monday brain has me staring at my computer screen with a rather blank expression on my face. Seriously, if you could see me you’d be concerned whether I’d gone zombie or something. But it came to me through the fog, that I have been thinking frequently about wanting to read some good nature books over the winter. I really like reading about nature when I am snuggled up indoors and it is bitterly cold and the world has turned to shades of black, white and gray. I’ve got lists of books too, but let me tell you, the lists have gotten so unwieldy I have no idea what to choose any longer. Proof that when there are too many choices a sort of paralysis sets in.
I don’t often ask for recommendations, but I am going to now in the hopes that your suggestions will help kick me out of my too many to choose from stupor. So here is your chance to make a recommendation and I know we all like to advocate for favorite books but are often hesitant to do it. But don’t hold back, lay it on me!
What I mean by nature book can be a broadly interpreted. It might be a science-y book on moss or a sociology/psychology/philosophy kind of book on coping with climate change or a travel through the jungle/desert/forest/arctic sort of book or it could be about a cabin on a pond and planting beans and watching ants or about a garden or a farm. You get the idea. Something to take my mind outdoors while my body is stuck indoors.
Winter might be a little way off yet, but it is never too early to start planning!
So, what’s your favorite nature book?
I’m not sure if I can pick a single favourite, but Cold by Bill Streever is a very strong contender. I read it over the Christmas holidays one year and I think it did exactly what you’re looking for. I hope your allergies get better soon!
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Ana, ooh, I like the sound of Cold! Reading it on a snowy afternoon while under a quilt drinking hot cocoa seems like a perfect time to me! Thank you! As for the allergies, thanks! I fear they will be hanging around in varying degrees of troublesome until October brings a hard frost.
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Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
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Jeanne, you know I have not read that one and I was thinking it should be on the list! Thanks!
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Any of DIane Ackerman, Rebecca Solnit, Robert McFarlane or John Muir. All of these writers transport me to a different place and that means “no winter.”
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Ellen, ooh, all good ones! Thank you!
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Song of the Dodo by David Quammen. It’s more of a science book than a nature book, but there’s a lot about nature in it. It’s all about what science has taught us about extinction.
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Teresa, that is a science book that works for me as being about nature! An important topic too given rising extinction rates. Thanks!
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Last winter I read Winter World by Bernd Heinrich and learned a lot about the strategies that animals use to survive the winter. It’s a bit of an odd book, in that he goes into details about things like how he took apart an old birds nest and then will list exactly how many twigs were in it. But I really enjoyed it. BiblioBoyfriend read and loved Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez, so I plan to read that this winter.
Also, I second the suggestion of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
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biblioglobal, Winter World sounds fascinating! It gets so bitterly cold here in winter I have often wondered how some animals make it through. Arctic Dreams sounds really interesting too. Thank you! And Pilgrim at Tinker Creek has been on my TBR for a very long time so with a couple suggesting it I think it’s about time I actually read it!
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Right away my mind went to Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. It’s a classic outdoorsy story.
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What’s She Reading, ooh a survival story! Not heard of that one. Thanks!
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No problem! It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I remember really liking it!
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I don’t know whether you would call this a nature book or not, but I really liked The Signature of all Things by Elizabeth Gilbert – historical fiction with a strong focus on botany. Have you read it?
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I was going to suggest this, too! Probably because you mention moss.
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Nish, ah yes, that one made a big splash when it came out. I have not read it. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Yes I was going to suggest this as well, absorbing, sweeping and botanical~
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Hmmm … this is a hard one. I’ve reviewed a few cli-fi books on my blog in the last few months which would all qualify as nature writing I suppose: Annabel Smith’s The ark (this is about a seed bank to save plants for the future so that is surely appropriate), Alice Robinson’s Anchor Point (about a farm failing largely because of climate), and Jane Rawson’s A wrong turn at the office of unmade lists (urban, but desolated landscape and lives due to climate change).
A lovely travel style book by an Aussie writer but about the US is Thomas Keneally’s The place were souls are born. Beautiful.
Tracey Chevalier’s Remarkable creatures about the Mary Anning, that late 17th-early 18th century English fossil collector is an enjoyable novel.
I think I’ll stop here, but I hope there’s something there of interest and that you can find.
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Whispering gums, winter is long here but your list of suggestions just might be longer! 😉 Thanks for the reminder of the cli fi books you’ve read recently. I saved those posts and should revisit them! The Keneally book does sound wonderful. And I forgot about Chevalier’s book. Thanks!
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My pleasure! I thought you were mad for asking because we ALL want our books read now, vindicating the wonderful quality of our recommendations. 😉
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Heh, I have never claimed to be sane 😉 Plus now I have even more books to choose from than I did before!
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Anything by Roger Deakin is good. My favourite is Waterlog http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/aug/02/waterlog-roger-deakin
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Diane, ah yes. I just read Deakin’s Notes from Walnut Tree Farm earlier this year and loved it. Thanks!
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The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.
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everydayhas, oh, I’ve not read that one yet, thanks!
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A Walk in the Woods, maybe? (It is our ONE-BOOK-One-CITY read right now and we have events all over town)
I have been wanting to read No One Gardens Alone by Emily Wilson about two gardeners in Charlotte NC. Here’s a website: http://www.winghavengardens.com/
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Care, Bill Bryson! Good one! Walk in the Woods is one I’ve wanted to read. Thanks! And thanks too for No One Gardens Alone. Have not heard of that one and it looks delightful!
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Also, I am reading H is for Hawk and it is ‘bloody marvelous’ (quoting a line just read about a book the narrator has read about hawks.)
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Care, I have heard lots of good things about H is for Hawk! At first I thought it was all hype but the more I’ve read about it the better it sounds. So thanks!
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If you want a cozy, naturish book or books, I’m going to go back a lot of years and recommend books by Gladys Taber. She and her friend Jill lived on a small farm in Connecticut for many years. She also lived on Cape Cod, where she died in 1980. She wrote columns for women’s magazines, telling of their life on the farm, their gardens, their dogs, cooking and canning and freezing. I find them comforting and charming.
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I own two of her books – the Stillmeadow books, I need to read them soon! They sound so lovely. 🙂
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Joan, I’ve not heard of Taber before but her books do sound cozy! And since you and Emily both mention them I think I will have to give one a go! Thanks!
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Oooh Nature Books! I’ve discovered a deep down passionate love for Nature Writing in the past year . I’ll recommend a few that I’ve read, and a few that are on my TBR list:
I’ve read:
– Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: you may have already read this, but if not it’s worth it. A classic, and full of beauty.
-The Journey Home by Edward Abbey – a travel book at heart, but mostly travel in search of nature and wildlife. In particular I love his journals from the summer he spent manning a fire tower in Glacier National Park.
– Phenomenal by Leigh Ann Henion – a woman who travels to seek incredible natural phenomena. I loved the unconventional style of her traveling and the descriptions of the amazing things she saw. (My full review if you want more details: http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2015/08/25/phenomenal-by-leigh-ann-henion/)
I need to read soon:
-The Moon by Whale Light by Diane Ackerman. I’m so excited about this one – I’m just waiting for the weather to turn fully to fall so I can curl up with a mug of hot tea and take delight in this lovely collection. (I’ve not read this one yet, but I adore Diane Ackerman.)
-Edwin Way Teale: his books are out of print, I believe, but can be easily found used online. He wrote 4 books, one per season, of traveling through the US in search of the seasons. I haven’t read them in full yet, but I’ve dabbled in them and they are treats.
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Emily, you almost make me wish the already long winters here were even longer so I could fit in all these books! I have not read Pilgrim and since you and several others have suggested it I think it will be going on the top of my list. I’ve have heard Abbey is good so will definitely investigate! And how did I miss your review of Phenomenal? Looks really interesting! I read Moon by Whale Light pre-blogging days and liked it and hope you like it too! Have never heard of Teale. Someone to investigate! Thanks!
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I was also thinking of Edwin Way Teale, but thought I’d given you enough of the older books. So, I second Emily’s recommendation. He wrote more than the four seasonal books, though, including a very nice one called Beyond Your Doorstep.
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Thanks Joan!
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Don’t know if you are into “sea stories” but I read two very good non-fiction books recently: In The Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides and In The Heart of The Sea: The Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. I own both of these and will definitely re-read them at some time. They were both gripping. Fact is very often more fascinating than fiction.
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Grad, I like a good ocean voyage! I have read In the Heart of the Sea, a marvelous book! I have not heard of The Kingdom of Ice, sounds chilly 😉
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Nature writing- ah, one of my favorite genres. But a lot of my favorites already got mentioned here! Anything Bernd Heinrich. I have so much more to read by him. Where Do Camels Belong? by Ken Thompson (not about camels!), Trout Reflections or Swampwalker’s Journal by David Carroll,Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez- I could keep going, but it looks like you have a lot of good books to pick from already!
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Jeane, you are a nature and animal book expert! Thanks for all the suggestions!
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I don’t know how you feel about “sea stories” or exploration, but I read two excellent non-fiction books recently. In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides (arctic exploration) and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (drama at sea). I own copies and will definitely re-read them. Both very gripping (but not what I’d considered light reading).
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I thought the computer ate my first comment. Sorry for being redundant.
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No worries Grad, your comments went in a moderation queue for some reason to wait for my approval before they appeared. 🙂
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I wonder how you will be able to choose, and there’s a list growing here I too get inspiration from.
Just to make choices even more difficult: John Lewis-Stempel, Meadowland. About life in a meadow the year round.
One I read in 2011 Weathering Winter, a Gardener’s Daybook by Carl Klaus (31 December- 15 March).
One I still have to read myself: Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild (essays and a combination of Buddhism, wildness, wildlife, the world).
Sue Halpern: Four Wings and a Prayer (essays about the Monarch Butterfly)
and David Abram: The Spell of the Sensuous ( combination of Nature and Philosphy.
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Cath, it is going to be very hard to choose with all these great suggestions. Some I own or have on my lists so had them in mind, many are completely new to me which is exciting! I suspected you had some good titles to offer and you did not disappoint me. Thank you!
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That’s a tough one. I can think only of Silent Spring but I expect you read that already.
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BookerTalk, would you believe I have not read Silent Spring? It has been on my meaning to read list forever. Perhaps it is time to finally fix that!
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You astound me; you’re so well read that I was sure you’d have ticked this one off years ago.
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Late to this, and I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite, but I’ve just finished reading Jonathan Weiner’s stupedous *The Beak of the Finch*. Highly recommended. Deserved the Pulitzer. http://resolutereader.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/jonathan-weiner-beak-of-finch-evolution.html
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Resolute Reader, thank you! Just read your review and it does sound really good!
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Can’t think of many nature reads but how about The Enchanted April. Four women escaping dreary London to sunny skies of Italy. Hope you feel better, Stefanie!
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Illiana, oh Enchanted April! A delightful book. The first Elizabeth Arnim book I ever read. The movie is really good too. Have you seen it?
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I have no favorite nature book! Strange, I thought I must have a favorite everything book. I bet you’ve already read it but I have heard (and have on my to-read shelf) that Annie Dilliard is the bomb with nature writing.
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Nikki, would you believe I have never read Annie Dillard? She is perpetually on my must read list but obviously must read means something different than I think it does! I think Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is going at the top of my list!
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I’m in the mood for a nature book myself, so I will have a good look at all your suggestions, too! My own favorite is Roger Deakin, but I know you just read him. I have a few books by Robert McFarlane as well who I might give a try sometime soon. Sort of peripherally related is Andrea Wulf who wrote about the Founding Father’s gardens–she has a new book out now as well. I like asking for suggestions, but then of course I want to read all of them, so it is a dangerous thing to do! Sorry to hear about the allergies–it’s bad right now, I know!
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Danielle, I thought my list was long before! It has gotten even longer. Though a few of the suggestions are on my list already so maybe I will go with some of those first. I didn’t know Wulf had a new book! I just looked it up and put myself on the hold list. Looks good! I’ve always wanted to know more about Humboldt. And thanks! After day and half of rain allergies have improved a bit. It won’t last but I will take what I can get!
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