Nature Minute Book Club

It’s January. The most wonderful time of the year is behind us and we have nothing to look forward to but cold and dark for the next few months. Here in the Northwest it’s colder and snowier than usual, which is good news for the mountain snowpack. Mountain trails are closed and the cold, rain, and snow make for miserable hiking conditions. Since we’ve no place to go, grab a book from the Nature Minute book shelf and cozy with some of these titles.

“A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold

Leopold was a Nature Guy like me, working for the US Forest Service where he germinated the idea for roadless and wilderness areas which culminated in the Wilderness Act of 1964. His “Sand County Almanac” is a poetic observation of the natural world through changing seasons plus arguments in favor conservation, responsible land use, and the role of ethics in ecology. It’s an easy read and might inspire you to go outside and do some journaling of your own.

Multiple titles by Rachel Carson

Carson began her writing career working on publications for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a biologist, at a time when few women worked in science. Her earliest books, including “Under the Sea-Wind” and “The Sea Around Us” established her reputation as a talented writer who could translate scientific studies into the language of the lay person. Her controversial “Silent Spring”, warning of the dangers of the overuse of pesticides and other chemicals and written as she was dying of cancer, helped ignite the environmental movement of the 1970s.

“Crow Planet” by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Seattle-based urban ecologist Haupt gives us a glimpse into the world of an otherwise overlooked piece of our landscape, the common crow. The American crow, an incredibly intelligent bird, is so conspicuous as to escape our attention but Haupt manages to transform this bird from a nuisance to fascinating subject.

“Wesley the Owl” by Stacey O’Brien

Wesley is an owl who breaks all the rules of what researchers thought it meant to be an owl. Born with a defective wing that prevented him from being able to survive in the wild, Wesley went to live with researcher O’Brien. The two spent nearly a decade together, teaching each other about life and love.

“The Secret Life of Bats” by Melvin Tuttle

Who likes bats? Tuttle does, and after reading this book you will too. A career of researching one the most misunderstood critters on the planet has led to a remarkable conservation success story. Discover how one conversation can save not just a species, but an entire order of mammals.