Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sweet and funny children's book about inclusion, friendship, environmentalism, and best of all- a busybody tree. Highly recommend.

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Unstoppable by Bill Nye

Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World by Bill Nye
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Had a very good start with larger climate and policy issues but then turned into a book about urban planning, and then fixing your house to be energy efficient. I got so bored with all the specific engineering.

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The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen

The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses by Peter Brannen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the sort of book the fictional Ross Geller would have deeply enjoyed. A lot of this was covered in The Sixth Extinction more briefly and more rivetingly but if you want the ins and outs of prehistoric life (not dinosaurs, all the other life) then this is the book for you.

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Green Metropolis by David Owen

Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability by David Owen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Full of good interesting points, not a lot of things we can apply outside a large policy-level scale. Also, he completely ignores how climate change is likely to wipe out large coastal cities like New York.

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The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really want everyone to stop whatever they're doing and read this book. After reading this book, climate change now overshadows all my other concerns. It is worse than I thought, and of course, I knew it was already currently happening but he compiles the data on current natural disasters in a way that clearly separates them from previous weather events.

I moved to Nebraska a year ago. Nebraska is not even mentioned in the book. And yet, we have what are apparently new permanent bodies of water since the flooding events that have occurred since I moved here a year ago. They look like lakes or little rivers and they've survived even our record-breaking hot summer. There were multiple floods in the Spring, and the flooding in March cost over a billion in damages, a lot of which I think has not actually been repaired. See: https://www.npr.org/2019/03/21/705408364/nebraska-faces-over-1-3-billion-in-flood-losses. The book was already out by then, but I bet we still wouldn't have made it into the book because so many more damaging weather events are occurring all the time now.



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A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! I've always thought I'd love to hike the Appalachian Trail (#bucketlist) but now I've been dissuaded. I actually appreciated that Bryson cheated quite a bit because I think that's what I'd prefer to do one day.

He went from Georgia to West Virginia, discussed Pennsylvania a bit, and then returned to the Northern part of the trail later. In general, I enjoyed the discussion of the Southern locations more, either because I am somewhat familiar with those locations, or because having actually hiked that part of the trail all at once, he gave it more color.

The book was very funny, especially some of his friend's jokes, but sometimes it was a little unnecessarily mean.

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Forest Bathing by Qing Li

Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Qing Li
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short book, but it's chockful of information. I couldn't tell how strictly scientific the advice is but it seems worth a shot to connect with nature and give it a try. Since the author discusses a number of Japanese forests I think this book is especially helpful for someone living in or visiting Japan. There are also many tips that can be applied even if you're not in Japan though.

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The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis

The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this audiobook for free as part of my $15/month Audible membership. (Free as in, it didn't use up a credit.) It's about 2.5 hours long.

There are a lot of really interesting things in this book regarding government data collection and weather data. I don't read enough books about data, especially considering how important it is to our society today. Especially now that I live in an area prone to tornados, I was especially interested in the tornado section.

I don't understand the people who seemed not to like this book because they claim there is an attack on Trump contained within. Either the information regarding the Trump administration and data dissemination and restriction is correct or incorrect. None of the reviewers claim it's incorrect (except one person, more on him later). Let's say you support Trump and you think the information is correct but negatively described, well, go ahead and explain why it's okay to take away data (paid for with public funds) from public use that would help the public. There was one reviewer that claimed he formerly worked for AccuWeather, and that Lewis was incorrect about AccuWeather. He wrote an entire blog post basically confirming exactly what Lewis said.

I took a star away because I really don't like the entire concept of audiobooks that are only available on Audible. I think you should be able to verify sources in print. An audiobook-only format, especially for a book this short, strikes me as a glorified podcast. Also, I really didn't like the ending.

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Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read an updated version. This was a pretty good pep talk to participate in and continue with social and political activism even when we are discouraged. There were some tips regarding activism and some history regarding the long-term success of activism. Overall, it felt kind of disjointed though, so I wasn't able to really sink my teeth in. But again, a happy, hopeful, and simultaneously realistic pep talk. We certainly need that right now.

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Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau

Cape Cod: Illustrated Edition of the American Classic by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some interesting parts but mostly really boring even for me, who really cares about and regularly visits Cape Cod. Highlights included the mentions of the sea animals, and everything and everyone who washes ashore- though I don't hear about treasure washing up anymore.

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The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession by Susan Orlean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The writing is great, especially for nonfiction. The people she writes about are fascinating, even when Orlean is writing about past people she hasn't met. She definitely manages to convey the excitement these people feel for orchids- all of the sudden I am super interested in orchids too and googling them. I really want a monkey orchid now, though I'm not good at keeping any plants alive so I probably shouldn't pursue that interest. Florida, in particular the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, is almost its own character in the book- wet, muddy, dangerous, and crowded with life.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending. I felt like Orleans led one way and then left us elsewhere. Relatedly, she suggests wanting to be personally transformed by her investigation of these people's passions but doesn't give us any indication that this has happened.

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NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman

NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is fundamentally a history book about autism and Aspergers and how it's been handled through time. There is also a lot about how adults on the spectrum have done well in their adult lives and lobbied on their own behalfs and on the behalf of children going through what they did. There were some particularly moving and terrifying parts- particularly the section on the holocaust. I feel like the book was helpful to understanding certain issues about disabilities in general and not just the autism spectrum specifically.

There is very little science, unfortunately. The title suggested to me that there would be at least some substantial section on neurobiology.

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Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I started reading this book I didn’t think I’d end up liking it as much as I do. It’s pretty unexpected. I enjoyed all the information about plants and plant research, and the struggle of being a research scientist, but more than that, this book is a friend-love story.

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The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some reason, I couldn't get through this at all the first time I picked it up, but it was no trouble this time and I flew through it. There is some belaboring in the examples of bird intelligence but overall pretty interesting.

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At Home by Bill Bryson

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was interesting and entertaining but wanders way off topic in every chapter. It's supposed to be an explanation of the wheres and whys of domestic things say, a room just for sleeping, or a dining table. The bulk of each chapter is just interesting history and sometimes really only trivia of the era. Towards the end, he doesn't even make a pretense at explaining domestic things anymore and simply titles a chapter on Darwin's revelation of evolution "The Attic." I couldn't find any connection.

Also, it wouldn't let me flee my other current read Moby Dick, as the lighting section of the book spent a fair bit of time describing spermaceti and a later chapter explained how the novel Moby Dick itself was a product of the scientifically descriptive era in which it was written.

There are so many interesting gems though. Here's a favorite quote:
“Over the course of his life, Harvard had acquired books at the rate of about twelve a year. Jefferson, over the course of his life, bought books at the rate of about twelve a month, accumulating a thousand every decade on average. Without his books, Thomas Jefferson could not have been Thomas Jefferson. For someone like him living on a frontier, remote from actual experience, books were vital guides to how life might be lived…”

Another gem [[[spoiler alert!!!]]] is that the buttons on the back of the sleeve of a jacket are useless and always have been!



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Collapse by Jared Diamond

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for the importance of the topic, three stars because it's so repetitive. I get it! We're all going to cannibalize each other. Well, maybe not us, personally, but likely our grandchildren or great-grandchildren.

Sigh.

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Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Walden by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this my sophomore year in high school, and then subsequently went on a field trip with my class to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. I'm not sure how much I appreciated it then, but I recently reread it and it's clear that I couldn't totally appreciate it as a child. I love it as an adult. Thoreau seeks and achieves real freedom. But, Thoreau is the original Konmari. He has no kids and lives alone... even in those circumstances it's pretty hard to live like this, but his points are still worth thinking about.

My friend and I in front of Walden Pond, May 1995

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A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It's a very entertaining history of scientific discoveries in physics, chemistry, geology, meteorology, biology, oceanography, anthropology, and evolution. Bryson attempts to familiarize the reader with the actual science as well, and not just the history. Most of the new things I learned were in the weather section- or if I'd learned them before I'd long ago forgotten them. I borrowed this from the library but I enjoyed it enough that I just bought my own copy.

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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Things seem pretty bad in the United States right now. Just last Wednesday a white American man shot two Indian men in a bar, yelling "Get out of my country." Women's rights, racial minority rights, GLBT rights are all on the chopping block, and when you add those people together, they're actually the majority of America. This novel isn't moving or frightening because it's a prediction of where the United States is headed so much as it reveals how too much power in the hands of a few degenerates into a situation that's awful for everyone. It's a continuum. Misplaced power is already hurting us. Letting the powerful grow more powerful will make the situation worse.

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The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution & Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was both very interesting and entertaining. It precedes Diamond's book Guns, Germs, and Steel. It ties in pretty well with some other books I've recently read including The Sixth Extinction and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and even Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History.

It's a little out-of-date. For example, our ancestor Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals co-existed approximately 100,000 years ago. New research shows that many modern humans contain a little Neanderthal DNA showing that there was interbreeding, whereas Diamond was pretty sure that there was basically no interbreeding.

The title of this book comes from the fact that chimpanzees and pygmy chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than to gorillas. Thus, especially from the perspective of chimps, humans are a third chimp.

Fun topics include the emergence of language in humans, male penis and testes size, sexual selection, adultery, racial variation due to sexual selection not natural selection, aging, menopause as an adaptive solution to childbirth, the arts, agriculture and animal domestication, drug use, the question of intelligent alien life, genocide, and extinction. Whoo. It didn't always feel like it was well-organized or related but it was all very interesting.

Personally, I don't think the menopause explanation makes a lot of sense. It seems like if you weren't well-suited to give birth to your partner's baby, a first or second birth would kill you. At the rate of a baby every 4 years from ages 16-40, you'd be up to 6 births before menopause. Instead, menopause seems to make grandmothers more available to tend to their grandchildren instead of having more babies of their own (think prehistoric Michelle Duggars).

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