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As Long as Grass Grows
$9.74 Add to cartThe story of Native peoples’ resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions, and a call for environmentalists to learn from the Indigenous community’s rich history of activism
Through the unique lens of “Indigenized environmental justice,” Indigenous researcher and activist Dina Gilio-Whitaker explores the fraught history of treaty violations, struggles for food and water security, and protection of sacred sites, while highlighting the important leadership of Indigenous women in this centuries-long struggle. As Long As Grass Grows gives readers an accessible history of Indigenous resistance to government and corporate incursions on their lands and offers new approaches to environmental justice activism and policy.
Throughout 2016, the Standing Rock protest put a national spotlight on Indigenous activists, but it also underscored how little Americans know about the longtime historical tensions between Native peoples and the mainstream environmental movement. Ultimately, she argues, modern environmentalists must look to the history of Indigenous resistance for wisdom and inspiration in our common fight for a just and sustainable future.
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Defending Animals
$13.49 Add to cartAn in-depth look at the urgent struggle to protect animals from harm, cruelty, injustice, extinction, and their greatest threat—us.
Beloved dogs and cats. Magnificent horses and mountain gorillas. Curious chickens. What do we actually do to protect animals from harm—and is it enough? This engaging book provides a unique and eye-opening exploration of the world of animal protection as people defend diverse animals from injustice and cruelty. From the streets of major US cities to remote farms and tropical forests, Defending Animals is a gritty and moving portrait of the real work of animal protection that takes place in communities, courtrooms, and boardrooms.
Globally recognized expert Kendra Coulter takes readers across the different landscapes of animal protection to meet people and animals of all kinds, from cruelty investigators to forensic veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators and conservation leaders to animal lawyers and entrepreneurs, each working in their own ways to defend animals. Bringing unparalleled research and a distinct and nuanced analytical viewpoint, Defending Animals shows that animal protection is not only physical, intellectual, and emotional work but also a labor so rooted in empathy and care that it just might bridge the vast divide between polarized people and help create a more humane future for us all.
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Growing Grapes Might Be Fun
$9.37 Add to cartAn honest, very funny account of a couple’s move to the country for a fresh start. Bursting with optimism and a can-do attitude, they’re on a steep learning curve as they establish a vineyard and learn how things are done in the country.
I imagined lounging on a veranda overlooking folds of hills striped with vines. I’d be clothed in linen and surrounded by friends. On the table would be tumblers of wine we’d picked in last year’s harvest. Then we arrived at Cockatoo Hill and discovered a dump.
When Deirdre and her husband Roger decide to turn a sheep paddock into a vineyard, they are following the centuries-old tradition of family winemaking. Bit by bit they clean up the land, plant vines, protect them through storms and drought and turn a shack into a cottage. Slowly they start to read the landscape, appreciate the talents of locals and learn what to do when a snake passes by.
This is a humorous memoir with larger-than-life characters, hard slog and sweet triumph. It is also a story of a deepening awareness of our connection with the land and the rhythms of farming life.
‘Deirdre Macken’s memoir is more than a lively account of turning unpromising, trash-strewn hectares into a productive vineyard. It’s a reflection on family, community and the rewards of caring for the land that sustains us.’ — Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author
‘I simply adored reading this account of a life-change with a purpose, laden with honesty and Deirdre’s characteristic wit. Above all, I won’t forget the love on display or city-rural wisdom gained. All that’s left is to try the wine!’ — Geraldine Doogue, ABC presenter
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Still Hopeful
$8.24 Add to cart“Canada’s best-known voice of dissent.” — CBC “It’s time we listened to the Maude Barlows of the world.” — CNN In this timely book, Barlow counters the prevailing atmosphere of pessimism that surrounds us and offers lessons of hope that she has learned from a lifetime of activism. She has been a linchpin in three major movements in her life: second-wave feminism, the battle against free trade and globalization, and the global fight for water justice. From each of these she draws her lessons of hope, emphasizing that effective activism is not really about the goal, rather it is about building a movement and finding like-minded people to carry the load with you. Barlow knows firsthand how hard fighting for change can be. But she also knows that change does happen and that hope is the essential ingredient.
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In Search of the Old Ones
$11.24 Add to cartAn extraordinary journey to visit the oldest trees in the United States that beautifully reveals the connection between humans and natural history— a perfect read for nature lovers and fans of The Hidden Life of Trees.
Follow award-winning author Anthony D. Fredericks’s adventures across the United States to uncover the remarkable secrets and lives of ancient trees. He introduces some of the oldest trees in the country using up-to-date research, interviews with scientists, captivating storytelling, and a contagious wonder for the natural world. Fredericks’s visits to the trees turn readers into fellow travelers. Through firsthand accounts and scientific detail, these enduring trees come to life off the page.
Each chapter begins with a time-travel story that immerses readers in Earth’s past, as early as ~58,000 BCE, for a sweeping view of what was happening during human history when the ancient tree took root. It then zooms into present-day to investigate the tree in all its mature glory and the changed world around it.
Some of the featured trees include:
A 13,000-year-old Palmer’s oak in California that survives by cloning itself
The 1,200-year-old Seven Sisters Oak in Louisiana that has survived in the path of at least ten major hurricanes
2,000-year-old redwoods (the tallest trees in the world) on the California coast
The 2,628 year old bald cypress in the Black River of North CarolinaMarvelously detailed and deeply passionate, In Search of the Old Ones will transform your perspective of the trees and forests around you.
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The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023
$8.99 Add to cartAward-winning writer, columnist, and journalists Carl Zimmer selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in 2022.
“What’s most compelling about a scientific story is the way it challenges us to think about the concepts we take for granted,” writes guest editor Carl Zimmer in his introduction. The essays in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing probe at the ordinary and urge us to think more deeply about our place in the world around us. From a hopeful portrait of a future for people with Alzheimer’s disease, to a fascinating exploration of the rise of nearsightedness in children, to the heroic story of a herd of cows that evaded a hurricane, these selections reveal how science and nature shape our everyday lives. With tremendous intelligence, clarity, and insight, this anthology offers an expansive look at where we are and where we are headed.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 includes JESSICA CAMILLE AGUIRRE • VANESSA GREGORY • SABRINA IMBLER FERRIS JABR • MARION RENAULT • ELIZABETH SVOBODA NATALIE WOLCHOVER • SARAH ZHANG and others
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The Climate Book
$11.99 Add to cartNotes From Your Bookseller
Determined protester, author, now dominant world voice for environmental redress, Greta Thunberg provides us with a resource primer for change, bringing together, with her own commentary throughout, a remarkable congress of over 100 climate experts — scientists, philosophers, economists, and historians — true testament to her belief that knowledge is indeed powerful.
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What the Bears Know
$13.49 Add to cartThe incredible story of how one man went from a hired hunter to becoming one of America’s top champions for this iconic animal.
In this wonderous and eye-opening exploration, Steve Searles, the reknown and respected “Bear Whisperer” of Mammoth Lakes, takes the reader on a journey into the lives of these remarkable creatures and the world we share.
In the late 1990s, the town of Mammoth Lakes, California hired Steve Searles as a hunter to cull half its troublesome bear population. But as he began to prepare for the grim task, the bears soon won him over, and Searles realized there had to be a better way. He soon developed non-lethal tactics to control their behavior and overpopulation that heralded a landmark moment in the care and handling of the American black bear.
But change was not without its challenges. To some, his success was dismissed due to his lack of formal academic training. Yet Searles never wavered in his commitment, and eventually became not just local folk hero but a nationally recognized expert. This high school dropout saved not just the bears, but, in many ways, his community.
In a tradition that runs from John Muir to Bear Grylls, Searles finds a fellowship with nature and a deeper meaning in the world of bears. Do bears understand things we don’t? Are they dialed in to some greater natural force?
Unlike us, bears waste little time on unreasonable fears. Bears are fully in the moment. They have an inner peace that seems to offset their power and strength. That may explain why no other animal on the planet is as revered as the bear.
As Searles shares his remarkable knowledge and we become immersed in the ursine world, you’ll never look at bears or nature the same way again. Warm and poignant, and perfect for anyone who has been fascinated by the natural world, What the Bears Know shows that wisdom and fulfillment can come from unexpected places.
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The White Death
$3.74 Add to cartIn 1969, five young men from Montana set out to accomplish what no one had before: to scale the sheer north face of Mt. Cleveland, Glacier National Park’s tallest mountain, in winter. Two days later tragedy struck: they were buried in an avalanche so deep that their bodies would not be discovered until the following June. The White Death is the riveting account of that fated climb and of the breathtakingly heroic rescue attempt that ensued.In the spirit of Peter Matthiessen and John McPhee, McKay Jenkins interweaves a harrowing narrative with an astonishing expanse of relevant knowledge ranging from the history of mountain climbing to the science of snow. Evocative and moving, this fascinating book is a humbling account of man at his most intrepid and nature at its most indomitable.
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The Elephants of Thula Thula
$11.24 Add to cartFrançoise Malby-Anthony’s The Elephants of Thula Thula is a powerful, gripping story about an extraordinary herd of elephants and the woman dedicated to keeping them safe.
‘Somehow, the elephants got into my soul, and it became my life’s work to see them safe and happy. There was no giving up on that vision, no matter how hard the road was at times.’
Françoise Malby-Anthony is the owner of a game reserve in South Africa with a remarkable family of elephants whose adventures have touched hearts around the world. The herd’s feisty matriarch Frankie knows who’s in charge at Thula Thula, and it’s not Francoise. But when Frankie becomes ill, and the authorities threaten to remove or cull some of the herd if the reserve doesn’t expand, Françoise is in a race against time to save her beloved elephants . . .
The joys and challenges of a life dedicated to conservation are vividly described in The Elephants of Thula Thula. The search is on to get a girlfriend for orphaned rhino Thabo – and then, as his behaviour becomes increasingly boisterous, a big brother to teach him manners. Françoise realizes a dream with the arrival of Savannah the cheetah – an endangered species not seen in the area since the 1940s – and finds herself rescuing meerkats kept as pets. But will Thula Thula survive the pandemic, an invasion from poachers and the threat from a mining company wanting access to its land?
As Françoise faces her toughest years yet, she realizes once again that with their wisdom, resilience and communal bonds, the elephants have much to teach us.
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Birds, Beasts and Relatives
$2.24 Add to cartThe follow-up to My Family and Other Animals and the inspiration for The Durrells in Corfu: A naturalist’s memoir of his family’s time on a Greek island.
In the years before World War II, Gerald Durrell’s family left the gloomy shores of England for the sun-drenched island of Corfu. Against this picturesque backdrop, Durrell fondly recalls his family’s disorderly household and outrageous antics, including their interactions with locals of both human and animal varieties.
After a boyhood spent studying zoology and acquiring the island’s exotic insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, and sea creatures as pets, Durrell’s budding naturalism would later bloom into a passion for conservation that would last a lifetime.
Filled with clever observations, amusing anecdotes, and childlike wonder, Birds, Beasts and Relatives is half nature guide, half coming-of-age tale, and all charmingly funny memoir.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author’s estate.
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Secret Life of the City
$15.74 Add to cartCome along on an informative, whirlwind tour of urban species—from intelligent crows to backyard lichens—and discover that you are surrounded by wild nature, even in your own backyard.
When biologist Hanna Bjørgaas spots a fairy cup lichen in Antarctica, she is surprised to recognize it from her own backyard in Oslo. When she returns home, she embarks on a journey into urban nature, visiting city parks, cemeteries, and concrete rooftops to investigate the species that live in urban spaces. Along the way, she meets corvids, songbirds, ants, pigeons, bats, sparrows, fungi, and linden trees—and the experts who study their surprising abilities to survive, and thrive, in the city.
As Bjørgaas discovers, urban nature—and its unique mixture of species that have never lived together before in Earth’s history—is valuable. More than half of the world’s human population lives in densely populated areas—and plants and animals have followed us into cities. Secret Life of the City invites us to pay more attention to the sounds, sights, and smells of urban nature right outside our door.
A treasure trove of fascinating flora and fauna, this wonderful book offers a plea to save our city plants, animals, and fungi before we lose them, too.
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