January 2012
This book came with glowing reviews from my Uncle Pete ("If I had to choose one book to take with me to a deserted island, this would be it.") and it did not dissapoint. The most fabulous imagery and descriptions I have ever read, it made me look at the world with new eyes, and new appreciation. It's a BIG book, but so spellbinding that you wish it were bigger
Found this book at a local bookstore. It's written by a Massachusetts author who takes a canoe trip all the way down the Charles River, and in the process describes to us a new manifesto for the environment. I like that it is down to earth and practical. Gessner does not shy from swearing, and saying things like they are. 
Snippets of Thoreau's journals make wonderful bedtime reading... my favorite is that the top corner of each page has a key word from a journal entry on that page, so you flip trough and choose a page that says "Solitude in Cocord" or "Loss of friends" or "Damn Massachusetts!", whatever piques your curiosity or fits your mood. October 2011
I picked this up at the Waltham Library booksale... I went in not really intending to buy anything, but my eye landed on this book, and as I was just about to head out surfing, I thought this might be a good companion for the weekend. A riveting book about giant waves and the surfers who seek them out, this was a perfect combo of science, adventure, and history. Definitely recommended!
A classic that I somehow never read, not having gone to school in the states. Why this particular classic? No reason. Again, it caught my eye and I decided to pick it up.
September 2011:
My mom (I love you, Mom!!) gave me this book a few years ago. I flipped through it a number of times during college... but after feeling stuck in a rut in my job search after getting back from Glacier, I decided to give it a thorough reading... and boy has it changed me! It's really helped me jump-start my career search. No, I don't have a job yet, but I'm a heck-of-a-lot closer to getting one than I was a month ago, and I'm having fun in the process. Highly recommended!
I think Nina recommended I pick this up, or maybe it was Megan (in either case, two people whose opinions I value highly). I had actually been meaning to read this book for a while, so since I'm unemployed, I'm trying to make use of this free time to get through some books I've been interested in.
Half way through so far... it's a good book, but I have to say that it is overwhelmingly depressing, especially the first section. I can totally understand why so many people would prefer to just believe that global warming is a hoax, because the reality of it is just so..... scary. As McKibben says, we no longer live on Earth - the planet that humans have lived on for thousands of years. We live in this new Eaarth: a place of dwindling natural resources, increasing environmental catastrophes, toxins, extinctions, and changes that we just have never seen before... This is our home, though, so we've got to start changing too - and fast - if we want to stay here...
Let's see what McKibben has to say about how we can actually go about doing that....
Let's see what McKibben has to say about how we can actually go about doing that....
Based on reading this book, I now want to read a book called "The Swerve" which isn't even out yet, but seems to be in a similar vein... Oh books, what a wonderful thing...
