Book Reviews
Take a look at the full catalog of our library’s collections.
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
By John McPhee
John McPhee wrote The Pine Barrens in 1967, when he went to explore the area of southern New Jersey because he “found it hard to believe that so much unbroken forest could still exist so near the big Eastern cities.” The Pine Barrens is an area rich in biodiversity as well as historical and cultural significance for New Jersey. It is home to a pygmy forest of miniature pine and oak trees, large scale cranberry harvesting, rare and interesting plants, and a unique history of industry, manufacturing, and becoming our country’s first National Reserve. McPhee wrote The Pine Barrens initially…
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Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
By Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan guides the reader through his own education as a gardener throughout the course of a year in his Housatonic Valley garden in Connecticut. Pollan tells some wonderful family stories, amusing anecdotes from his own garden, and offers the reader the opportunity to look at gardening in a new way. Pollan challenges the American viewpoint that nature and culture are inherently separate. He then attempts to show the reader something that most of us experienced gardeners already know deep down: that the garden is where people can participate in a direct and intimate relationship with nature. He…
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Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
By Richard Preston
Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring is a story of Northern California’s redwood forests and the exceptional people who have devoted their lives to their exploration. This book is rewarding as an information source about these magnificent trees, and the technical aspects of their exploration, but also as a narrative describing the characters who are so in love with them.
Preston gives us an in-depth look at the amazing individuals who pioneered the exploration of trees taller than 350 feet and who proved to be incredible athletes, risk-takers, scientists, and adventurers. The reader quickly realizes…
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