The Loved Ones: Essays to Bury the Dead is a collection of essays about a series of deaths personal to the author.  Madison Davis writes about the tragic and unexpected deaths of her cousin and brother, a long illness resulting in the death of her father and an uncle killed in action.  The writing is cathartic and reflective with many thoughts on death, grief, processing emotions and being left behind. The first story, the double murder of the author's cousin and friend, was surprising, terrible and deeply absorbing, pulling my attention right away.  From there, the differences in how Madison and her family dealt with the deaths of other family members is observed with outcomes of tragedy, relief and humor. If you are someone who has ever lost a person close to you, you are sure to find something relatable and empathetic in Madison's contemplations.  Some thoughts that I felt were deeply comforting and worth contemplating include Madison's thoughts on an overgrown cemetery:

It's a place where the earth has gently, but powerfully, overwritten our sense of death and life as being experienced by an individual.  It's where human desire to memorialize the dead meets nature's ambivalence toward that need.

As well as overcoming intense grief: 
​
I tell her to remember that we move through it.  Sometimes with great effort- but remember that we do.
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​In 2015, Tom Mustill went on a kayak sightseeing adventure of a lifetime.  Off the coast of California in a two-person kayak, Tom was able to see a humpback whale breach- right on top of him.  Lucky to survive, Tom, a wildlife filmmaker, began to look deeper into his experience.  Several onlookers caught the breach on their phones.  After looking at grainy footage, Tom seemed to agree that the whale seemed to change course in the air.  This led him to a series of questions: did the whale change course on purpose?  Can whales communicate with humans?  and how?  From these questions, Tom dove into the science of language, animal communication and cetacean behavior and biology. 

Tom's journey into whale communication goes down many different paths, eventually converging into the many reasons we should protect these amazing mammals of the ocean.  Written with many personal stories and anecdotes sprinkled throughout with science, How To Speak Whale, is an easy and entertaining read for any whale lover. Beginning with human interaction with whales and answering the question of why we might want to study these amazing creatures. This leads to whale biology and the organs and methods that whales use to communicate with one another. I have always loved whale songs and I was amazed with the complexity of their vocal organs as well as how scientists get to study them. From there, Tom dives into the study of animal language and the amazing jumps in learning that we have taken to understand the other animal species around us. Technology and artificial intelligence have been a huge help in assisting humans to understand animal language and sound.  This technology has the ability to hear and recognize patterns and sounds that humans can't hear and is helping scientists as well as the average person learn and appreciate more about animals every day.  Overall, humans still don't know how to completely speak whale, but we have learned that whales may know more about communicating with us than we realize. 

​Our Tribal Future informs us about the human nature of forming groups and how this need influences our behavior.  The word tribalism often brings about a bad connotation.  However, tribalism is a successful survival mechanism that is part of human evolution.  Samson explains our instinct to band together in tribes has brought humans together in remarkable ways.  With a complicated subject, Samson has broken down this complex subject into simpler sections with plenty of examples.  I was very intrigued by the guiding question of " How do we trust people who aren't family?"  When we feel like we are in a group with a commonality, humans can accomplish amazing things, but what brings us together as a group can also make us feel differently about other groups and can lead to hatred of anyone perceived as an other or outsider.  With this revelation, Samson also gives us the tools to look into ourselves to see our affiliations and how they are affecting our perceptions.  I enjoyed the  information on building your own tribe and the benefits of living in a tribe.  

The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Well is a guide to begin bringing the practice of balance and healing into your life using Indigenous knowledge.  The authors, an Indigenous couple who bring together their mixed Indigenous heritages encourage you to change your mindset by using a template they devised, the interconnected Seven Circles of Wellness to guide your day.  The seven circles connect mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.  The categories are movement, land, community, ceremony, sacred space, sleep and food. Each chapter guides you through Indigenous knowledge and practices for the category, the author’s personal stories and journeys, the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual connections and how to learn, engage and optimize your own practice within the circle.
 
The Seven Circles is an amazing resource for improving your overall wellbeing.  I felt a strong tie to the themes of the book and was happy to learn I was already engaging in some of the practices.   I enjoyed that the practices were accessible and really getting back to basics, no special materials or equipment are needed, you don’t need to buy anything to incorporate the practices into your everyday life.  I was able to find simple ways to incorporate actions and practices into each circle.  Some things I already practice, but I am able to see their full worth and value in my life through the lens of the Seven Circles.  I enjoyed reading about the author’s personal struggles and victories within each circle and how they currently practice each circle as a family with two young children.
 

With amazing strength and elegant, truthful, and heartfelt execution,  Goldie Taylor recounts her tumultuous childhood through to her high school years. As a young black woman growing up in Missouri in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Goldie lives through neighborhood changes, racial changes and desegregation of schools.  Goldie’s personal life is full of many ups and downs.  Beginning with her father’s death, then being raped at a young age and dropped at her Aunt’s house, Goldie begins to self-destruct.  However, a teacher at her new school recognizes Goldie’s potential and intense emotion.  Goldie begins to excel academically and finds an outlet for the pain she has carried with her for so long. 
 
Written with amazing authenticity, Goldie reflects on her childhood.  The long-lasting effects of generational trauma and racism were palpable.  Even as Goldie is abused and begins to inflict pain upon herself, I could see the sparks of hope in what Goldie found joy in. It was very interesting to see Goldie’s thoughts on her family members and their dynamics, especially the Aunt and Uncle who raised her.  I was amazed at Goldie’s power to forgive and see that the adults were just as troubled as the children.  Goldie also gave a unique perspective on her community and the differences she saw in her community and predominantly white communities.  Though Goldie’s life was difficult, she is a survivor and found her strengths to persevere through extreme circumstances.  The Love You Save is an eye-opening memoir of childhood, race and hope. 
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

Dr. Christopher Normet reflects on three seasons of field work in the secluded area of Warden’s Grove in the Canadian Arctic region.  Here, he studied the breeding of Harris’s sparrows; one of the many small brown birds that often go unnoticed. While he describes his base camp and accomplishes his work of studying this little brown bird, Norment also tries to answer the question of what good is his science and attempts to connect science to humanity as he leaves his family behind, descends into solitude, finds home and knowledge in a desolate landscape and becomes intimate with life and death in Warden’s Grove. 
I was lucky enough to have Dr. Norment as my college advisor and professor for many of my classes.  This book wasn’t published until after I graduated, but I am glad I found it.  I was reminded of the holistic way of looking at nature and science that he often taught.  Return to Warden’s Grove is not only an intimate look into the biology of the Harris’s Sparrow, but also about how human’s connect to nature and the importance of this process.  Written non-linearly over three seasons of research, Dr. Norment makes connections in natural ways and is able to tell a story that is more than facts collected from research.    

Josephine W. Johnson gives an intimate and in depth look at nature and wildlife over the course of a year at her 37 acre farm in Ohio in The Island Island. Written where one chapter covers a month, we see the seasonal and phenological changes of a year in Ohio.  Johnson's writing makes everything seem beautiful, even when it is bleak.  She has a talent for making the everyday and mundane leap off the page.  I enjoyed her descriptions of the birds, toads, flowers and the weather.  Johnson focuses on more than just the big picture.  I loved when she got excited at new animal sightings.  More than just descriptive of the world around her, Johnson incorporates her feelings into her observations and at the time she wrote The Inland Island, her feelings of the Vietnam War are heavily on her mind and mixed into her observations of the natural world.  Reading The Inland Island felt like taking a walk through my backyard with a friend, enjoyable, eye-opening and peaceful.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest is a collection of seven essays on the natural history and human collections of seven native species in the Northwest United States.  The essays connect the land and the people who live there, often incorporating the Indigenous knowledge of the Kalapuys, Haida, Yakama and Makah people.  More than just providing information, the essays tell of how climate change and human interaction has affected these species and in return, affected us. 


Camas are a beautiful purple flower that grows in the grasslands of southern Oregon north to British Columbia.  The bulb of the flower is an important food for the native people.  David Harrelson, Kalapuyan says "Our identities are tied together.  To know yourself and to know a place, it becomes necessary to know both."  The Camas like disturbed areas, but are being pushed out by invasive species.  The Kalapuyan often did controlled burns to maintain a reciprocal relationship with the Camas, but were seen as irresponsible by settlers of the area.  Now the Camas flower needs more room, unfragmented habitat that the Kalapuyan are trying to get back.


Sandhill Cranes are a beautiful sight to see, a bird that has been around for at least 2.5 million years. Their vocalizations are unique and they are wonderous in flight.  They dance together.  The Crane's habitat, however, has drastically changed in a short period of time due to human involvement.  They've lost their winter homes, and less chicks survive.  Each spring might be the last spring that we see Sandhill Cranes. 


I loved the Hesquiaht story of the Yellow Cedar sisters.  As Alice Paul said, "The story is so moving because it tells you that the yellow cedars used to be people. That story sums up the relationship that people have had with these trees."  The people used the trees and in return made the environment around them better.  The Yellow Cedars are an ancient tree, slow growing in areas that most other trees don't want to grow in.  Their lineage is at least two hundred million years. These survivors are having a hard time adapting to our quickly warming world.  Hopefully, these ancient trees have a few more tricks up their sleeves. 

We all know the importance of bees. However, one of the native bees, the Western Bumble Bee, that enjoys frigid alpine, coastal forest, sagebrush and desert habitats and  pollinates the Camas flower is in decline.  Their decline is probably due to disease spread by commercially used European Honey Bees.  Native bees pollinate native flowers, without the bees, we might lose even more biodiversity.  

Coastal Tailed Frogs are unique to the Northwest streams of the Coast Range, Cascade Range, Columbia River Gorge, Olympic Mountains and Klamath Mountains.  These frogs likely evolved 10 to 28 million years ago.  Now, their homes are disappearing, the cold streams they need are warming. They have many special traits including their 'tail,' a unique way to move, they land in the water with a special belly flop.  Conservation efforts plus the Coastal Tailed Frogs own survival traits will hopefully be enough to ensure their survival. 

The Yakama people celebrate and thank the summer Huckleberry fruits together before heading to the mountains to pick a year's worth of berries. Huckleberries like a volcanic landscape, they are pollinated by native bees.  Huckleberries feed the people and animals of the region.  There are ancient berry drying sites hidden in the mountains that the Yakama people once used.  The berries and the landscape thrive with fire that the Yakama people maintained for them, but the Forest Service had put a stop to.  With most of their fields gone, the Yakama people are listening to their elders about the way the land was to be able to apply adaptive management plans. 

Olympic Marmot are built for their Olympic Mountain habitat, adapted for steep cliffs, surrounded by ice. They hibernate, safe from predators for the winter.  They have lived through many climate change events, but are struggling to keep up with climate change now.  Marmots are social and have personalities, they can live for 50 years and their high whistles pierce the landscape.  Olympic Marmots are important ecosystem engineers for the alpine meadows, they change the environment and affect the plant species around them.  However, drier, warmer summers are changing the growing cycle of the meadow plants that the marmots feed on and use. 


While I may not live in the Pacific Northwest, I have admired the land there, especially the diversity of habitats.  These seven profiles of species highlight what we may lose if we don't change our habits and behaviors towards climate change.  I admire the Native people's connection to the land and the knowledge they have for keeping everything in balance.  These stories show the beauty, diversity and importance of these plants and animals in our lives.  Written with a combination of facts, data, stories and anecdotes, these essays are easy to read, informative and enjoyable. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Searching Beyond the Stars profiles seven women within the field of astronomy from the mid 20th century through to present day.  The focus is not only on their accomplishments and contributions within their fields, but the hardships they faced due to gender discrimination and racism.  

Beginning with Katherine Johnson, who most people know from Hidden Figures,  her story details her perseverance in education for herself and the calculations she made for NASA.  Jill Tarter is another name I know as the cofounder of the SETI institute.  Jill made strides in listening to space through radio waves and cataloging star systems that could be habitable based on her research.  Emily Lakdawalla is a contemporary scientist whose focus is to bring space education to the masses in interesting and easy to understand ways.  Tanya Harrison helped to engineer the Mars Rovers and discovered many different geological aspects on the Mars surface.  Sara Seager focuses her work on finding exoplanets, especially exoplanets that  might support life.  Renée Hložek studies how the universe changes over time and ultimately how it will end.  Ashley Walker studies the chemistry of other atmospheres to see if life could exist elsewhere.  

Each woman's journey into their fields and what sparked their interest from chemistry, physics, geology, history or just the love of outer space, showing that there are many different routes into astronomy.  Their stories are accompanied by easy to read facts that break down the science of what they are studying with background information and vocabulary.  Written for middle grade readers, Searching Beyond the Stars encourages you to find your curiosity.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.