The Tree


John Fowles - 1979
    To a smaller yet no less passionate audience, Fowles is also known for having written The Tree, one of his few works of nonfiction. First published a generation ago, it is a provocative meditation on the connection between the natural world and human creativity, and a powerful argument against taming the wild. In it, Fowles recounts his own childhood in England and describes how he rebelled against his Edwardian father’s obsession with the “quantifiable yield” of well-pruned fruit trees and came to prize instead the messy, purposeless beauty of nature left to its wildest. The Tree is an inspiring, even life-changing book, like Lewis Hyde’s The Gift, one that reaffirms our connection to nature and reminds us of the pleasure of getting lost, the merits of having no plan, and the wisdom of following one’s nose wherever it may lead—in life as much as in art.

The China Bird


Bryony Doran - 2009
    Dubious but flattered, Edward sheds his clothing and emerges from years of apathy. This tale of secrecy, love and eventual understanding explores our perceptions of beauty and abnormality. Chosen by book groups in the UK to be the Hookline Novel Winner in 2008.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America


Thomas L. Friedman - 2008
    Friedman speaks to America's urgent need for national renewal and explains how a green revolution can bring about both a sustainable environment and a sustainable America. Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization have produced a dangerously unstable planet--one that is "hot, flat, and crowded."  In this Release 2.0 edition, he also shows how the very habits that led us to ravage the natural world led to the meltdown of the financial markets and the Great Recession.  The challenge of a sustainable way of life presents the United States with an opportunity not only to rebuild its economy, but to lead the world in radically innovating toward cleaner energy.  And it could inspire Americans to something we haven't seen in a long time--nation-building in America--by summoning the intelligence, creativity, and concern for the common good that are our greatest national resources. Hot, Flat, and Crowded is classic Thomas L. Friedman: fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the challenge--and the promise--of the future.

Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes


Dana Thomas - 2019
    More than ever, we are told it should be something new. Today, the clothing industry churns out 80 billion garments a year and employs every sixth person on Earth. Historically, the apparel trade has exploited labor, the environment, and intellectual property--and in the last three decades, with the simultaneous unfurling of fast fashion, globalization, and the tech revolution, those abuses have multiplied exponentially, primarily out of view. We are in dire need of an entirely new human-scale model. Bestselling journalist Dana Thomas has traveled the globe to discover the visionary designers and companies who are propelling the industry toward that more positive future by reclaiming traditional craft and launching cutting-edge sustainable technologies to produce better fashion.In Fashionopolis, Thomas sees renewal in a host of developments, including printing 3-D clothes, clean denim processing, smart manufacturing, hyperlocalism, fabric recycling--even lab-grown materials. From small-town makers and Silicon Valley whizzes to such household names as Stella McCartney, Levi's, and Rent the Runway, Thomas highlights the companies big and small that are leading the crusade.We all have been casual about our clothes. It's time to get dressed with intention. Fashionopolis is the first comprehensive look at how to start.

The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior


Stefano Mancuso - 2017
    Despite not having brains or central nervous systems, plants perceive their surroundings with an even greater sensitivity than animals. They efficiently explore and react promptly to potentially damaging external events thanks to their cooperative, shared systems; without any central command centers, they are able to remember prior catastrophic events and to actively adapt to new ones.Every page of Plant Revolution bubbles over with Stefano Mancuso’s infectious love for plants and for the eye-opening research that makes it more and more clear how remarkable our fellow inhabitants on this planet really are. In his hands, complicated science is wonderfully accessible, and he has loaded the book with gorgeous photographs that make for an unforgettable reading experience. Plant Revolution opens the doors to a new understanding of life on earth.

Last Flight of the Acheron


Rick Partlow - 2017
     She joined the Commonwealth Space Fleet to please her mother, a high-ranking military officer; he joined as an escape from the crushing poverty and crime of the Trans-Angeles Public Housing Blocks, and the unlikely friends envisioned boring, peacetime careers as shuttle pilots. The Tahni Imperium had other ideas… Caught in the desperate fury of the Battle for Mars, the two young pilots wind up the last defense against an alien armada, but their war is just beginning. Recruited to fly the Fleet’s newest weapon in this new war, they take the fight deep into the heart of the Imperium and battle not just against the enemy but against incompetent leadership and ineffectual tactics. Can the unconventional strategies of a pair of hotshot young pilots change the course of the war? And when the time comes that a choice has to be made between duty to command and loyalty to a friend, which of the two will be willing to make one last flight alone…

The Rime of the Modern Mariner


Nick Hayes - 2011
    But his moment's peace is shattered by a stranger - a seaman with a tale to tell...The Rime of the Modern Mariner is a recasting of Coleridge's famous poem - now, though, the fantastical voyage is one of environmental disaster. Stranded in the North Pacific Gyre - a vast, hypoxic maelstrom of plastic waste - the mariner comes face to face with the consequences of man's excessive consumption - in the form of wrathful gods, petroleum slicks and tsunamis, ghostly apparitions, and the great endangered creatures of the deep.Crackling with moral force, humour and pure craftsmanship, The Rime of the Modern Mariner is a beautiful book which confronts directly the burning issue of our time.

Love at Turtle Dove Inn: Sweet Small Town Romance


Susan Warner - 2021
    But when she arrives, the job has fallen through. Andthen nearly getting run over by a handsome bachelor? Hardly surprising at thispoint. She can’t refuse his offer for a job though, especially because it comeswith room and board.Conner Sanders bought the Turtle Dove Inn—a romantic notion to give hisparents a chance to relive their honeymoon. But the inn needs a lot of work,which is why Riley is the perfect answer. If only he could figure out why , thesmall-town residents don’t seem willing to help him. Or why he can’t stopthinking about kissing his beautiful new hotel manager.Riley isn’t looking for love and Conner doesn’t think love is in his skillset.Can two strangers learn to let go of their past mistakes and be healed byunconditional love?Start reading today and discover the small-town charm, irresistiblechemistry, and sweet storylines of the Inheritance Bay series.

A Story of Seven Summers


Hilary Burden - 2012
    It might not be the secret to life, but it is the secret to this life ... I'll tell you how that came to be and that will be the story of the Nuns' House.'On the outside, Hilary Burden was living a glamorous life -- she was a busy, high-flying, globetrotting magazine journalist based in London, who thought nothing of flying to New York for a weekend, interviewing movie stars in luxury hotels or jetting off to Italy on assignment to hunt truffles with Curtis Stone. But on the inside, something was missing in her life and she didn't know quite what it was.Deciding that she wanted to make her own life, Hilary returned to Tasmania. She bought a ramshackle old house - the Nuns' House - with a sprawling, neglected garden, and gave herself the time and space to begin again. There was no particular kind of plan, but things just somehow worked. Now, seven summers later, she has a home, a garden, two alpacas (named Jack and Kerouac), two chooks (called Marilyn and Monroe), a purpose and a passion.A beautiful, intimate and inspiring story of having the courage to step into the unknown.

A Working Girl Can't Win


Deborah Garrison - 1998
    Deborah Garrison, whose work as an editor and writer has enlivened the pages of The New Yorker for more than a decade, evokes the characters and events of her everyday life with intense feeling and, more important, conjures up the universal dilemmas and pleasures of a young woman trying to come to terms with love and work.

The Woody


Peter Lefcourt - 1998
    But when he is stricken with an ill-timed case of ED (Erectile Dysfunction), the desperate player faces his biggest campaign killer of all and goes to hilarious extremes to keep himself in the running. Peter Lefcourt holds a perfectly cracked mirror to the spin-filled world of Washington's sexual politics and asks a penetrating question: How hard does a politician have to be?

The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness


Rick Bass - 1997
    . . a man tracks his wife through a winter wilderness . . . an ancient ocean buried in the foothills of the Appalachians becomes a battleground for a young wildcat oilman and his aging mentor. Here is Bass at his magical, passionate, and lyrical best.

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses


Robin Wall Kimmerer - 2003
    Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses. Robin Wall Kimmerer's book is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods and rednecks. Kimmerer clearly and artfully explains the biology of mosses, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.Gathering Moss will appeal to a wide range of readers, from bryologists to those interested in natural history and the environment, Native Americans, and contemporary nature and science writing.

Waste Not Everyday


Erin Rhoads - 2019
    Split into four easy-to-follow parts, Waste Not Everyday features simple tips that will lead to a real shift in thinking and action and show you that a zero-waste lifestyle is actually achievable – for everyone, every budget and every schedule. With tips ranging from actions and inspiration to recipes and resources, Erin Rhoads, well-known zero-waste advocate and author of Waste Not, takes you on a gentle journey towards a life with less waste and more meaning.

Watercolor Words


Topher Kearby - 2016
    Enjoy modern poetry, scanned pieces of typed words on scraps, and full color original artwork.Open your mind and let your heart go on an adventure.