Earlier this year, I decided to try audiobooks more regularly - and thought short stories would be a good way to go. Julie Koh's Portable curiosities was my choice. It was, overall, a positive experience. Then I thought poetry might be worth trying given it's such an aural form. I chose Margaret Atwood's latest collection … Continue reading Margaret Atwood, Dearly (#BookReview)
Environmentalists
Gene Stratton-Porter, The last Passsenger Pigeon (#Review)
I have passed up reading and/or posting on so many Library of America (LOA) Story of the Week offerings over the last months - sadly, because there have been some excellent selections chosen for their political relevance. However, when I saw a sentimental favourite, Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924), pop up, I knew I had to break the drought. … Continue reading Gene Stratton-Porter, The last Passsenger Pigeon (#Review)
William T Hornaday, The bird tragedy of Laysan Island (Review)
William Temple Hornaday (1854-1937), whose article "The bird tragedy of Laysan Island" was a recent Library of America (LOA) Story of the Week offering, is a tricky man to write about. Originally a taxidermist, he became one of the pioneers of the wildlife conservation movement in America after he realised, around the 1880s, the dire situation regarding the country's … Continue reading William T Hornaday, The bird tragedy of Laysan Island (Review)
Cassie Flanagan Willanski, Here where we live (Review)
"Write what you know" is the advice commonly given to new authors - and it's something Cassie Flanagan Willanski, author of Here where we live, seems to accept. Set in South Australia, where Willanski lives, this debut collection of short stories reflects her two main interests, creative writing and the environment. The book won Wakefield Press's Unpublished Manuscript Award a couple … Continue reading Cassie Flanagan Willanski, Here where we live (Review)
John Muir, Save the redwoods (Review)
Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot defend themselves or run away. And few destroyers of trees ever plant any; nor can planting avail much toward restoring our grand aboriginal giants. It took more than three thousand years to make some of the oldest of the Sequoias, trees that are still standing in perfect strength … Continue reading John Muir, Save the redwoods (Review)
Bill McKibben, Oil and honey (Review)
It's coincidental, but nicely appropriate, that the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) published its Provisional Statement on the Status of the Climate in 2013 last week, just as I was finishing US environmental activist Bill McKibben's latest book, Oil and honey: The education of an unlikely activist. It's likewise coincidental that, three days before WMO's announcement, … Continue reading Bill McKibben, Oil and honey (Review)
Tim Flannery, After the future: Australia’s extinction crisis (Review)
Tim Flannery is an Australian palaeontologist-cum-environmentalist who has been on the public stage for a couple of decades now. He has published several books on environmental issues, some best-sellers, including The future eaters and The weather makers. He was Australian of the Year in 2007, has starred in three television documentary series with comedian John … Continue reading Tim Flannery, After the future: Australia’s extinction crisis (Review)
John Muir, A wind-storm in the forests
Being rather partial to trees, I could not resist reading "A wind-storm in the forests" by Scottish-born American naturalist/enviromentalist John Muir (1838-1914) when it lobbed in by email today as this week's Library of America story of the week. Anyone who has been to the stunning Yosemite - or visited the peaceful Muir Woods north of San … Continue reading John Muir, A wind-storm in the forests
Whispering Gums 