Marking the Sparrow's Fall: The Making of the American West


Wallace Stegner - 1998
    Henry Awards, the Commonwealth Gold Medal, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Kirsch Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement, Wallace Stegner was a literary giant. In Marking the Sparrow's Fall, the first collection of Stegner's work published since his death, Stegner's son Page has collected, annotated, and edited fifteen essays that have never before been published in any edition, as well as a little-known novella and several of Stegner's best-known essays on the American West. Seventy-five percent of the contents of this body of work is published here for the first time.

Yes, We Treat Aardvarks - Stories From an Extraordinary Veterinary Practice


Robert M. Miller - 2010
    Well-known veterinarian, cartoonist, writer, and one of the world's leading authorities on horse behavior - Dr. Robert M. Miller shares his memoirs of a life filled with all the joys and tragic moments that caring for, and loving, animals brings. Now the vet known for his hilarious cartoons brings the same delicious humor and warm compassion to a distinctly American book in the Herriot tradition: a story that will touch your heart, and remind you of why our bond with animals is so special."

Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter Alone in the Wilderness


Pete Fromm - 1993
    A gripping story of adventure and a modern-day Walden, this contemporary classic established Fromm as one of the West's premier voices.

The Golfer's Mind: Play to Play Great


Bob Rotella - 2004
    His books Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect, Golf Is a Game of Confidence, The Golf of Your Dreams, and Putting Out of Your Mind have all become classics for golfers everywhere. Weekend golfers and pros like Brad Faxon, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Tom Kite, and Davis Love III all read and listen to the man they call Doc because his teachings are simple and direct -- and in the end, what Doc says makes them play better golf. The Golfer's Mind was actually first suggested by Davis Love, Jr. -- Davis Love III's dad -- who encouraged Doc to write an instruction book on golf's mental challenges, organized by topic. Love thought that golfers could keep the book with them, or at least nearby, at all times. When they needed a refresher on a certain issue, they could consult the book, read for a few minutes, and take away solid guidance regarding their difficulties. Doc heard what Love said, and twenty years later, The Golfer's Mind is that book. From his Ten Commandments (Commandment I. Play to play great. Don't play not to play poorly) to just about any topic a golfer might imagine, this is the ideal way for players to get all of Rotella's teachings. Doc covers topics including:ButterfliesPracticing to Play GreatThe Rhythm of the GameRoutineSetbacksHow Winning HappensIn the perfect format for the busy golfer, The Golfer's Mind is the concise and convenient quick-reference tool to appeal to Rotella's millions of followers and is sure to become a golf classic.

Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs


Andrew Cotter - 2020
    Olive, Mabel and Me is the new book from broadcaster Andrew Cotter and his now internet famous canine companions, Olive and Mabel.Olive and Mabel went viral on social media with their sporting contests during the COVID-19 lockdown, with Andrew Cotter’s unique commentary propelling the videos to over 40 million views.Now Cotter shares stories of his adventures with his loveable (and occasionally exasperating) canine companions in this beautifully written, touching and laugh-out-loud funny new book.

John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail


Elizabeth Wenk - 2007
    Each year, thousands of backpackers traverse some or all of the trail, relying on Wilderness Press's John Muir Trail. The completely updated edition of this Sierra classic includes significant information found nowhere else. The new John Muir Trail meticulously describes the entire trail and is written for today's hikers. The book includes GPS coordinates, not only for every junction, but also for every established campsite, bear box, and mountain pass that the trail crosses. The guide has separate descriptions for northbound and southbound hikers; for each direction, a junction chart shows all the trail's ups and downs.

Wild Pitches


Dirk Hayhurst - 2013
    . .Turns out he's a starter and a closer."—Tim Kurkjian, ESPNAs a major and not-so-major league pitcher, Dirk Hayhurst has learned to master more than striking out batters. While waiting for his name to be called in the bullpen, he honed his gifts as a storyteller, one the New York Times calls the "best writer in a baseball uniform." In this often hilarious collection of adventures on and off the diamond, Dirk details the intricacies of pulling off an epic team prank, even if it's at his own expense; the art of creating the perfect professional baseball nickname; his comically ineffective attempts at writing romance novels; and the bizarre tale in which a bear gets punched in the face (yes, really). No matter how wild his story, Dirk proves once again he knows that it's all in the delivery."I find his writing both entertaining and thought provoking. . .unlike his fastball."—Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays All-Star "Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." —Bob Costas"Hayhurst delivers an entertaining story for more than just sports fans."—Jordan Bastian, MLB.com"Hayhurst explains life in the minors and the major leagues like you've never read it before."—J. J. Cooper, Baseball America"Insight and humor from the pitcher's mound."—Businessweek51,300 Words.

Riding Toward Everywhere


William T. Vollmann - 2008
    He's investigated the causes & symptoms of humanity's obsession with violence (Rising Up & Rising Down), taken a personal look into the hearts & minds of the world's poorest inhabitants (Poor People), & now turns his attentions to America itself, to our romanticizing of freedom & the ways in which we restrict the very freedoms we profess to admire. For "Riding Toward Everywhere," Vollmann himself takes to the rails. His main accomplice is Steve, a captivating fellow trainhopper who expertly accompanies him thru the secretive waters of this particular way of life. Vollmann describes the thrill & terror of lying in a trainyard in the dark, avoiding the flickering flashlights of railroad bulls; the gorgeously wild scenery of the American West as seen from a grainer platform; the complicated considerations involved in trying to hop a moving train. It's a dangerous, thrilling, evocative examination of this underground lifestyle, & it's one of Vollmann's most hauntingly beautiful narratives. Questioning anything & everything, subjecting both our national romance & our skepticism about hobo life to his finely tuned, analytical eye & the reality of what he actually sees, he carries on in the tradition of Huckleberry Finn, providing a moving portrait of this strikingly modern vision of the American dream.

The Windward Shore: A Winter on the Great Lakes


Jerry Dennis - 2011
    A conservationist with the soul of a poet whose beat is Wild Michigan, Dennis is a kindred spirit of Aldo Leopold and Sigurd Olson. The Windward Shore---his newest effort---is a beautifully written and elegiac memoir of outdoor discovery. Highly recommended!" ---Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America   "Come for a journey; stay for an awakening. Jerry Dennis loves the Great Lakes, the swell of every wave, the curve of every rock. He wants you to love them too before our collective trashing of them wipes out all traces of their original character. Through his eyes, you will treasure the hidden secrets that reveal themselves only to those who linger and long. Elegant and sad at the same time, The Windward Shore is a love song for the Great Lakes and a gentle call to action to save them." ---Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water"In prose as clear as the lines in a Dürer etching, Jerry Dennis maps his home ground, which ranges outward from the back door of his farmhouse to encompass the region of vast inland seas at the heart of our continent. Along the way, inspired by the company of water in all its guises---ice, snow, frost, clouds, rain, shore-lapping waves---he meditates on the ancient questions about mind and matter, time and attention, wildness and wonder. As in the best American nature writing---a tradition that Dennis knows well---here the place and the explorer come together in brilliant conversation." ---Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Conservationist Manifesto If you have been enchanted by Jerry Dennis’s earlier work on sailing the Great Lakes, canoeing, angling, and the natural wonders of water and sky—or you have not yet been lucky enough to enjoy his engaging prose—you will want to immerse yourself in his powerful and insightful new book on winter in Great Lakes country.Grounded by a knee injury, Dennis learns to live at a slower pace while staying in houses ranging from a log cabin on Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Peninsula to a $20 million mansion on the northern shore of Lake Michigan. While walking on beaches and exploring nearby woods and villages, he muses on the nature of time, weather, waves, agates, books, words for snow and ice, our complex relationship with nature, and much more.From the introduction: “I wanted to present a true picture of a complex region, part of my continuing project to learn at least one place on earth reasonably well, and trusted that it would appear gradually and accumulatively—and not as a conventional portrait, but as a mosaic that included the sounds and scents and textures of the place and some of the plants, animals, and its inhabitants. Bolstered by the notion that a book is a journey that author and reader walk together, I would search for promising trails and follow them as far as my reconstructed knee would allow.”

Darwin Slept Here: Discovery, Adventure, and Swimming Iguanas in Charles Darwin's South America


Eric Simons - 2009
    Simons had just hiked the mountains overlooking Beagle Channel, and he found himself engrossed in Darwin's account." "Like Simons, Darwin was in his mid-twenties when he traveled to the continent. Struck by the simularity, Simons found himslef compelled to journey further into South America - to explore the histories, legends and people that had fascinated Darwin himself two centuries before." 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species, Darwin Slept Here journeys in the footsteps of one of the fathers of modern science. In this fresh-eyed and innovative work of history and travel, Eric Simmons reclaims the past of South America and brings Charles Darwin into the future.

Three James Herriot Classics: All Creatures Great and Small / All Things Bright and Beautiful / All Things Wise and Wonderful


James Herriot - 1980
    Collected here are three of his masterpieces—All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful—which have been winning over animal lovers everywhere for almost fifty years. From his night visits to drafty barns during freezing northern England winters, to the beautiful vitality of rural life in the summertime, to the colorful menagerie of animals—and their owners—that pass through his office, Herriot vividly evokes the daily challenges and joys that come with being a veterinarian. Witty and heartwarming, these classic books also feature an original introduction from the author’s son, Jim Wight, and bonus archival photos courtesy of the Herriot estate.

Look to the Mountain


LeGrand Cannon Jr. - 1942
    The book's history testifies to the continuing appeal of the novel. It is an enthralling epic of the men and women who settled the New England wilderness.

Seriously Mum, How Many Cats?


Alan Parks - 2014
    When Lily the alpaca falls pregnant, they are in for an anxious few months as they battle against the odds to keep themselves afloat. 'In Seriously Mum, How Many Cats?' there is concern that the cats are going to take over the farm. There are cats in the barn, cats in the garden and even a cat invasion in the bedroom one night. Exploding tyres, flamenco dancing, religious parades and, of course, all your favourite animals return once again to entertain you in the latest story about these much-loved expats.

The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind and Almost Found Myself on the Pacific Crest Trail


Dan White - 2008
    When Dan White and his girlfriend announced their intention to hike it, Dan's parents—among others—thought they were nuts. How could two people who'd never even shared an apartment together survive six months in the desert with little more than a two-person tent and some trail mix? But when these addled adventurers, dubbed "the Lois and Clark Expedition" by their benevolent trail-guru, set out for the American wilderness, the hardships of the trail—and one delicious-looking cactus—test the limits of love and sanity.

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis


Tony Hawks - 2000
    And so it is, a pointless argument with a friend concludes in a bet - that Tony can't beat all eleven members of the Moldovan soccer team at tennis. And with the loser of the bet agreeing to strip naked on Balham High Road and sing the Moldovan national anthem, this one was just too good to resist.The ensuing unpredictable and often hilarious adventure sees him being taken in by Moldovan gypsies and narrowly avoid kidnap in Transnistria. It sees him smuggle his way on to the Moldovan National Team coach in Coleraine and witness (almost) divine intervention in the Holy Land.In this inspiring and exceptionally funny book, Tony Hawks has done it again, proving against all odds that there is no reason in the world why you can't do something a bit stupid and prove all of your doubters wrong. Or at least that was the idea....