The Week’s Adventures
Our hike in a local woods reminded us to revisit
Katie Holten’s The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape,
Tin House Books, 2023, 320 pages.
We took a break last Sunday to visit a local forest, which prompted us to dig a terrific book out from one of the piles in the study. Katie Holten’s The Language of Trees now sits on our coffee table so we can pick it up to enjoy the sheer beauty of its prose and poetry, and genius of its many contributors. We featured this fine volume in our Winter 2023-2024 issue, which you can access via the Downloads tab.
The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape, Katie Holten, Tin House Books, 2023, 320 pages.
The Language of Trees is a collection of original writing from more than fifty contributors, including some of our favorite writers: Camille T. Dungy, Ross Gay, Susan Simard, Ada Limon, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Richard Powers, and Robin Wall Kimmerer.
In The Language of Trees, Katie Holten shares an alphabet she created using the silhouettes of trees.
A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them, Sue Hubbell, Mariner Books, 1998, 208 pages
We also featured A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell which was included in our Summer 2023 issue of Nature Book Guide:
“More than a book about bees or beekeeping, Hubbell writes about her own life as a beekeeper in rural Missouri. Yes, you’ll learn about bees. You’ll also get a portrait of life in the country, of living on one’s own, of building and keeping a business, and of caring for living things through the seasons. Partly a nature journal and personal memoir, Hubbell’s smooth narrative style is a pleasure to read.”
A previous New York Times Notable Book, you are likely to find this in your public library or used bookstore: A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them, Sue Hubbell, Mariner Books, 1998, 208 pages.
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, Camille T. Dungy,
Simon & Schuster, Hardback 2023/Paperback 2024, 352 pages.
We were thrilled to help celebrate Paperback Publication Day for Camille T. Dungy’s Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden. We wrote about Soil in our Summer 2023 issue:
“Published in May 2023, Camille Dungy’s Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden already seems destined to be a classic in nature writing, memoir, and environmental justice literature. Dungy chronicles the transformation of her ordinary suburban Fort Collins, Colorado, yard to a space for pollinators and prairie, filling it with intention, memory, and meaning. A brilliant tribute to motherhood, family, and one’s roots, Soil is thoughtful, wise, and one of the best memoirs to emerge from the pandemic.”
Soil is one of the finalists in the Reading the Best of the West Book Awards, and we encourage readers to vote for their favorites!
Congratulations to Ben Goldfarb, Shelley Read, and Camille Dungy, shortlisted authors in this year’s awards! All three books are featured in our Nature Book Guide. You can vote for your favorites through May 31!
Ben Goldfarb’s Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of our Planet will be featured in our upcoming Summer 2024 issue of Nature Book Guide, with an author interview!
Shelley Read’s Go As A River was featured in the Autumn 2023 issue of Nature Book Guide.
Camille T. Dungy’s Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden was featured in the Summer 2023 issue of Nature Book Guide.
To read the current and back issues of Nature Book Guide, just visit our Downloads tab! We’ll have to wait until the June 1 release of the Summer 2024 issue to read Ben Goldfarb’s interview!
More than 180 books were submitted for consideration in the 34th Annual Reading the West Book Awards. Independent booksellers across fourteen states read and reviewed all the books to choose their favorites in eight categories. Now they’re asking you to help select the best of the best!
Vote for your favorites at www.readingthewest.com by May 31st. Winners will be announced on June 13th!
Phlox we saw blooming on the forest trail during our hike this week.