Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches? (Mike O’Connor)

Taking my cue from the title, I imagined Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches? [LibraryThing / WorldCat] to be on of those 1001 questions answered sorts of books. You know the type: modestly informative but sleep-inducing. Mike O’Connor’s book was nothing of the sort. It is a collection of questions and answers, but O’Connor’s informal personality [...]

Read Full Post »

Good Birders Don’t Wear White (Lisa White)

Editor Lisa White has compiled a decent collection of short essays by leading birders on a wide range of topics. These are articles that will overwhelm a casual birder with extreme detail. They are simple, often humorous takes on making the best of whatever birding experiences you choose to have, starting with the mix of [...]

Read Full Post »

Stradivari’s Genius (Toby Faber)

Let’s agree on something up front: No audio clip of me screeching a bow across a violin string will be attached to this blog. You’re welcome. Now, then… Some books pique your interest into exploring things further. Stradivari’s Genius [LibraryThing / WorldCat] by Toby Faber did that for me. The photos of the Messiah on [...]

Read Full Post »

All Fishermen Are Liars (Linda Greenlaw)

Reading this book is like eavesdropping on a crew of half-drunk commercial fishermen just back from two months at sea. Nothing more, nothing less. They’re anxious to tell about their recent ruinous adventure or remind you of the time they swam ten hours after losing their boat in a hurricane. Hearing their stories is pure [...]

Read Full Post »

The Children’s Blizzard (David Laskin)

History isn’t made only by politicians and generals. Often it’s a story of common people living through extraordinary situations and unlikely heroes suffering unexpected hardships. One such page in America’s history was retold in David Laskin’s book The Children’s Blizzard [LibraryThing / WorldCat]. One unseasonably warm January morning in 1888, children across the upper Midwest [...]

Read Full Post »

Freakonomics (Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner)

Back in my college days, economics was one of the careers I considered. I even graduated with a minor in the subject despite excelling in little more than the fundamental supply and demand graphs from my very first Macroeconomics 101 class.  But that’s okay. “Economics,” someone once said, “is the science that makes astrology look [...]

Read Full Post »

We Are the Cat (Terry Bain)

I haven’t had a cat since my divorce ten years ago. That cat died earlier this year at the age of twenty. Her name was Bugs. Her younger “sister” Rerun died a few years back. Before Bugs and Rerun, there was Arnie, Heather, and maybe a Kiki. Can’t remember. Lately, the only cats I encounter [...]

Read Full Post »

The Creation (E. O. Wilson)

Why not start this blog with creation?: The Creation [LibraryThing / WorldCat] by Harvard scientist Edward O. Wilson, one of the founders of the modern biodiversity movement. I picked it up last September, when Wilson spoke at the University of Puget Sound, my alma mater. In his mid-70s, he’s still sharp as a tack and [...]

Read Full Post »