Book Nook Cafe discussion

Use this thread to tell us about your book haul !

What interesting books did you pick up from the library, online or book store?

Did you get some good recommendations from one of these sources?

We'd like to hear all about it!

I finished The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben tonight. Reading after the holidays was so much easier, even if we did nothing special at all to celebrate them. So, i would like to retract my earlier objections to the writing.

German forester Wohlleben explained the science of trees on several levels. He began with some general facts and research evidence which supports what he shared. From there he moved on to forest workings, water, graces of various species, insects, fungi and more. He ended with several chapters about the way humans are attempting to change forestry to enhance the environment.

Frankly, i tired of all the research reports, even though i learned from them. I think i just had my quota of them. He wrote well, highlighting ground-breaking studies. When relating his stories about German forests, he tried to include those on other continents, as well, to illustrate the veracity of some findings.

I got Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. I usually read his books as soon as they come out, but this one got away from me. I think I'm going to like Never Let Me Go a little more, but both are terrific books.

madrano wrote: "I finished The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben tonight. Reading after the holidays was ..."

I'm glad to see you enjoyed the book overall, deb.

I can sympathize with you about reading time. I read daily. However, I just haven't been able to read more than a dozen pages of late. I think things have quieted down so I hope to dedicate more time to reading. I've been watching TV, which is something I seldom do. Yesterday I watched the Speaker of the House hearings all day. Don't ask me why. I guess it's like slowing down to see a car accident. I watched and enjoyed the Bookcase documentary. Then during the holidays they had re-runs of The Odd Couple, the Westminster dog show and other nonsense. Add in the holidays and family and I don't know what else but the days just fly by.

Anyway, enough of my grumbling. I do plan to read one of the two "Tree" books you've mentioned. Thank you for the titles and your reviews on them.

Kiki wrote: "I got Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. I usually read his books as soon as they come out, but this one got away from me. I think I'm going to like [book:Never Let ..."

I was less pleased with Never Let, although i still liked it. I do like his writing, though.

Alias, it is a relief to learn i haven't been struggling alone with making reading time. That yours is as silly as mine is a comfort, too. Sorry, but it is--i wondered what the heck my problem was!

Your post also reminded me that i missed the dog show. Once a year we indulge in that competition, deciding which (if any) we'll get when we settle down. It changes yearly, i'm sad to relate. We are nothing if not fickle. :-)

I am well into reading The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. When David McCullough died last year i was surprised to see how many of his books i didn't know existed & planned to rectify that fact. This was the first i chose and the first which was in (he still has quite a number of folks reading his books, i learned). And it fits the prompt, 13- A book with an index.

After i complete this, i think i'll move on to one from my DL list, The Pioneers, part of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales. It will be a neat contrast. Or not.

I'd forgotten how much i relish reading early US history. Events which were notorious or well known back then have lost their significance today. For instance, a makeshift military for the "Northwest Territory", as it was called were soundly defeated by a coalition of Native Americans. ( Over 600 whites were killed vs. 21 tribal members, with the US being the aggressors.) The event was called "St. Clair's Defeat" at the time and infuriated George Washington. Today, who even knows who St. Clair was, let alone this battle?

McCullough also manages to write with an in-time mind, by which i mean, those he quotes sees such events and people from that moment, not the longer, historic view we have. I like that, as it helps readers realize, if we have forgotten, how truly perilous moving beyond Pittsburgh was, fraught with famine, battles and hard, hard work.

madrano wrote: "I finished The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben tonight. Reading after the holidays was ..."

It's funny when someone mentions something, suddenly you see or hear that thing everywhere. In this case the topic of trees.

I was listening to the audiobook, Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr
In the book he mentions : Simon & Schuster's Guide to Trees
Simon & Schuster's Guide to Trees is the most useful book any gardener and tree enthusiast can own -- a field guide for beginners and experts alike. The 300 entries cover conifers, palms, broadleafs, fruits, flowering trees, and trees of economic importance.
Each entry supplies the botanical name with its etymology, the common name, and the family name of the tree, along with a full description of size, color, shape, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds. Concise information is given on habitat, propagation, and conditions for growth. Also included are a detailed introduction with valuable background information, a hardiness zone map for North America, a glossary, and an index for easy reference.

Whether you are interested in identifying the Staghorn sumac or in growing the tallest redwood, this handsome, comprehensive, and authoritative guide tells you everything you need to know about the wonderful and majestic world of trees.

I will have to check that out. In our "glove compartment" we keep a book on birds, one on trees and one on seashells. We've been most unhappy with the one about trees. We've gone through one which offered help by describing (there are drawings) the leaf, then deducing from there the species. Not helpful, nor easy to determine if a leaf is serrated enough, etc.

Another has chapters of "like" but that isn't easy, either, as their only drawing is of a fully blossoming tree & it's winter. It's our most useful (you can tell because we have placed the "proper" leaf in the appropriate page) but still there have been trees we are unable to identify.

ANYway, a person could spend a mini-fortune in smaller books of identification. I'll look for the S&S Guide next.

madrano wrote: "Kiki wrote: "I got Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. I usually read his books as soon as they come out, but this one got away from me. I think I'm going to like [bo..."

I love Ishiguro's writing, but I don't think he'll ever write anything I love as much as THE REMAINS OF THE DAY.

madrano wrote: "Another has chapters of "like" but that isn't easy, either, as their only drawing is of a fully blossoming tree & it's winter. It's our most useful (you can tell because we have placed the "proper" leaf in the appropriate page) but still there have been trees we are unable to identify. ..."

If you have a newer iPhone it will ID plants, buildings and structures.
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/iden...

There are also apps you can buy that do this.

I google and saw this:
My Tree ID helps identify tree species based on leaves, flowers, seed, bark or location using a key, and descriptions. Includes over 1500 images from 475 tree species.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-tree...

Wow, that's a winner. We are the sort of cell phone users who even forget there is a camera in there somewhere. Still, i like the idea and will broach the idea with my husband. He may feel ignorance is bliss on this front, although he is the first to ask me to look it up.

Thanks for the links.

You're welcome.

madrano wrote: "I am well into reading The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. When David McCullough died last year i was surprised to s..."

I do like David McCullough's books - I am sorry that we won't be able to read any new books by him.

I'm feeling the same way, Julie. With this book i have a bit of envy for the hours he spent in research, reading memoirs, letters and volumes of old newspapers from those late 1700-1800s founders. Once upon a time i could spend time doing that when we lived in small towns. It was a pleasure to jump back in time.

I finished The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West--David McCullough today. In his "Acknowledgements" he wrote about the very thing i mentioned in my last post, his research.

To begin, he mentioned a trilogy i have cherished for years, Conrad Richter's The Awakening Land: The Trees, The Fields, & The Town. I read it after watching a '70s made-for-tv film, which starred Elizabeth Montgomery and Hal Holbrook long ago, by the same name. For me, it evoked all i could hope for in depicting the pioneers who arrived on foot to the Northwest Territory. McCullough wrote, "I already had good feelings about pioneer times in Ohio, mainly because of the monumental trilogy by Conrad Richter, The Trees, The Fields, and The Town, among the finest ever works of American historical fiction."

Already a happy camper after that sentence, he doubly pleased me with the following note:

"In the diary I kept during my first visit to the Marietta College Library in September 2016, I wrote:

'These were two of the very best research days ever—the material beyond anything expected and the librarians and Marietta history specialists among the best and most good-spirited I’ve ever worked with. The time spent has expanded my feeling for the subject in a way nothing else could have.'"

Love! Love! Love! It's wonderful to know that he experienced an immense joy in his research. More about the book itself later.

Alias Reader wrote: "madrano wrote: "I finished The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben tonight. Reading after t..."

---------------------------
I don't want to hijack Kiki's thread, so I am copy/paste this post here.

*** Copied from Kiki's 100 Book challenge thread

Madrano wrote: The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben is a good one, now that i've finished reading it. The highlights of what's been discovered about the interconnectedness of tree species, fungi and insect life were informative.

Sadly, Alias, there were no photographs, which was disappointing, particularly as his descriptions of some insects were vivid. Periodically there were drawings of tree species but even they weren't particularly large or precise, just drawings.
--------------------

Deb, I was seeing if YouTube had the Elizabeth Montgomery movie you mentioned and was looking on Amazon for more info on the book. I stumbled upon this.

I see that there is an illustrated book !! However, it's abridged.
The Hidden Life of Trees: The Illustrated Edition by Peter Wohlleben

Here is the movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_xKh...


Back to the Montgomery movie . It was a 6 hour mini series.
There is a preview online
The Awakening Land (TV Miniseries) - Feature Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmWSy...

Katy Kurtzman - The Awakening Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0yTz...


Jumping back and forth between threads, I don't recall if you mentioned that The Secret Life of Trees is Book 1 of 3 in the Mysteries of Nature series.

Here is the series:
Peter Wohlleben Collection 3 Books Set

The Hidden Life of Trees - book 1
The Inner Life of Animals - Book 2
The Secret Network of Nature - Book 3
by Peter Wohlleben

Peter Wohlleben Collection 3 Books Set

What a wealth of information, Alias Reader! Thank you.

While i didn't realize Wohlleben's book was part of a series, i noticed he had a number of nature books. Good for him. I imagine they must be as informed and full of explanations as the first, so i may follow up on them. That there is an illustrated version of the book i read is good to know, as his descriptions could have used some photographs.

The preview was the way i remembered the series and what drew me to it. Watching the characters walking through the forests toward a new life caught my imagination. Richter's novels shared the change of thought as the decades passed, as illuminated by the titles. It was well accomplished.

Thanks for the links, Alias.

madrano wrote: "What a wealth of information, Alias Reader! Thank you.

While i didn't realize Wohlleben's book was part of a series, i noticed he had a number of nature books. Good for him. I imagine they must b..."

You're welcome deb. Thank you, for bringing this author to my attention !

Alias, i would love to take credit for the introduction. However, you drew mine to it a couple of years ago--
https://www.goodreads.com/group/comme...

Then, Petra mentioned it as one she began to read. So, i guess i'm just re-introducing the book to the group. And happily doing so!

I've begun reading Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis, Annie Proulx's look at these valued landscapes and how their elimination is awful for our environment. Bogs particularly have caught my attention since our visit to Ireland in 2017. We saw locals cutting peat for fires and mounds of cuttings drying. What we didn't realize is what's in this book.

Proulx began by sharing what the differences are between the 3 are and what they are. The frightening part is that they are being dug up faster now than ever. One study learned that in one year each hectare (2.471 acres) of drained and stripped peatland emits 2/1 TONS of carbon into our atmosphere!

From there, Proulx gives the history of these wetlands from around the world and how destroying them has been impacting our environment. It has been interesting material.

I have mixed feelings about a collection of essays, which is what this basically is. I learn much from them and find them informative. Most important, i like the discursive nature of them. However, that is also what frustrates me. Barry Lopez and others do the same thing, which, i presume means this is part of what such essays are meant to be--but what i find most intriguing are the tastes of something kinda outside the purview of the topics but which deserve a book of their own. And, in a further example of my frustration, these essayists have the audacity to actually tell me where they located those intriguing bits, so i can look them up myself.

HONESTLY, it's not as if i don't already have a mile long TBR without their help. Fortunately, several of them offer online looks at the material, thankfully. Still, i feel overwhelmed while also feeling quite disconcerted by my own mixed emotions.

I just felt i had to vent somewhere & this is where i landed. Love 'em AND Hate 'em!

As a big essay collection fan, I hear you. Are you thinking of using this towards the challenge?

I already had this on my hold list, so i haven't tried to fit it into a prompt yet. I see #95 - short story or essays &/or 71- related to science. Oh, i also see #62- book on a modern-day problem/issue? (ie global warming, gun violence, etc.) - Fiction or nonfiction. Goodness, i had no idea. Good choice, eh?

Thanks for asking, John.

I have Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis from the library and haven't gotten to it yet.

I hope you learn as much from it as i am, Shomeret. When reading NF with notes at the end, i appreciate the additional info shared. Proulx offers plenty in those notes & i'm highlighting almost as many of those as from the text itself. Good work.

I got The Trees today The posts about it really pulled me in, and I love books set in the South, especially Mississippi.

madrano wrote: "Alias, i would love to take credit for the introduction. However, you drew mine to it a couple of years ago--
https://www.goodreads.com/group/comme......"

:) I forgot I posted that.

madrano wrote: One study learned that in one year each hectare (2.471 acres) of drained and stripped peatland emits 2/1 TONS of carbon into our atmosphere!..."

:( We do seem hell bent on our own destruction one way or another.

Proulx makes that same point, Alias. This ties in neatly with last year's book Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. We seem willing to sacrifice our environment to get what we want, when we want it.

madrano wrote: "Proulx makes that same point, Alias. This ties in neatly with last year's book Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. We seem willing to sacrifice our environment to get what we want, ..."

Yes. I read that book a number of years ago. Unfortunately, little has changed.

This is why it was somewhat depressing to read it just last year.

I completed Annie Proulx's book of essays about Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis. It was quite a ride, as she is nothing if not thoughtfully discursive, even if i sometimes lose the thread. She doesn't.

As a result, readers learn about the enormous number of bodies of water-ish, which contribute to our environment by keeping carbon out of our atmosphere. Until, that is, "progress" (AKA humans) dig them up to add arable land to agricultural efforts. She shares many histories of destroying bogs, with the pursuant extinction of many birds, mammals and teeny critters. The sad part is that, for the most part, the "reclaimed" land is only productive for a relatively few years before it ceases to produce.

In one way we are fortunate that there are so very many such bodies--bottomlands, mires, gulf plains, marshes, mangroves & more. However, humans seem intent on turning them into something else with the end result of carbon and methane in the air.

Randomly Proulx gives a somewhat quick history of the British fens and their royal destruction, ancient Romans in what is now Germany, incidents of "minorities" finding fossils but receiving little to no credit, and many mini-biographies of scientists and enthusiasts of these wet bodies.

It's a ride but i have a much better sense of how them and how efforts today are attempting to remedy these problems. Mixed results.

The book, however, is not a mixed result at all. The author delivers and explains the science quite well.

madrano wrote: "The book, however, is not a mixed result at all. The author delivers and explains the science quite well.."

Can't ask for more than that !

I don't know if this is in the same category. However, when the the category 5 hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans back in 2005, it was noted that much of the protective wetlands had been removed for development. That caused the damage to be much greater. I think now they realize how important the wetlands are.

https://www.vanishingparadise.org/coa...

Proulx mentioned Katrina late in the book, while exploring wetlands but didn’t delve deeply into it. This was is a section about recovery efforts, which are too new to tell if they will stave off more disasters.

Thanks for that link.

madrano wrote: "I completed Annie Proulx's book of essays about Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis. It was quite a ride,..."

I like Annie Proulx's writing. I have her book Bird Cloud to read.

Kiki, it sounds good to me but the reviewers for the book at GoodReads did not much like it at all. Maybe one has to really like reading about making one's home.

I just finished reading a book a friend from North Dakota recommended to me--Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land--Taylor Brorby. My friend, who now lives in the Twin Cities, told me the book evoked all she felt about growing up in the state.

It is a good book and Brorby is a fine writer. His descriptions of the landscape, both in ND and elsewhere were vivid and colorful. He explores the way the land itself developed, then leads readers to the ways settlers have extracted from that land, both for personal lives and material wealth.

Good questions are considered, as Brorby also is an environmental activist. What about using the land in destructive ways? Yes, livlihoods are made but others (usually farmers & ranchers) are devastated. How to decide.

Yet, overall it is about growing up in a place where to be different is to be a target by those your age. Brorby doesn't shy away from this. His is somewhat estranged from his parents because he accepted himself, embracing the fact he is gay. He is aware they love him but they now seldom talk. Fortunately he has a sister who has been supportive his entire life. It seemed to me that he has kept the doors open for his folks, and readers will probably hope that happens.

I liked the book and the writing. While told in loose chronological order, there were a couple of times when i wondered why he skipped something, only to realize that he was approaching the next part in a different manner. Otherwise, it's a keeper for me.

madrano wrote: "I just finished reading a book a friend from North Dakota recommended to me--Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land--Taylor Brorby. My friend, who now li..."

Glad it was a keeper for you deb. You are on quite the reading roll !

madrano wrote: "Kiki, it sounds good to me but the reviewers for the book at GoodReads did not much like it at all. Maybe one has to really like reading about making one's home."

I don't think it has very good reviews anywhere, Madrano, but I felt kind of attracted to it anyway.

Same here, Kiki. I like learning why people select and create the homes they do.

I am now reading one of the books from my personal Determination List, The Pioneers—James Fenimore Cooper. It is my goal this year to complete the reading of his The Leatherstocking Tales, Vol. 1: The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie. The final is the comparatively short The Prairie.

Pioneers is different from the others, at least in the first hundred pages, because the action takes place near a small, growing town. There are detailed descriptions of the town and the largest home there, which is quite a contrast from his usual untamed forests, lakes and other outdoor settings. Who knew his writing could be just as fine indoors?

This novel is the first published of the lot but the fourth, as far as chronological timing. This was quite popular in its day. When reading Prairie Fever: British Aristocrats in the American West 1830-1890—Peter Pagnamenta last year, i learned that this & the next two significantly impressed British and Europeans to visit this new country.

I discovered a new trilogy I think I'll love. It starts with the book I'm reading now, Natchez Burning by Greg Iles. The second book is The Bone Tree and the trilogy concludes with Mississippi Blood. Reviews here seem to love the books, though some think they are too long. I do hope to read the entire trilogy. So far, the first book is stellar, and I'm glad. I love books set in the South, especially Mississippi.

madrano wrote: "I am now reading one of the books from my personal Determination List, The Pioneers—James Fenimore Cooper. It is my goal this year to complete the reading of his [book:Th..."

Nice start to your DL, deb !

Kiki (Formerly TheGirlByTheSeaOfCortez) wrote: "I discovered a new trilogy I think I'll love. It starts with the book I'm reading now, Natchez Burning by Greg Iles. The second book is The Bone Tree ..."

I'm not familiar with this series.

GoodReads lists Natches Burning as #4: Natchez Burning
(Penn Cage #4)

Amazon lists it as #4 of 7 books.

Alias Reader wrote: "Kiki (Formerly TheGirlByTheSeaOfCortez) wrote: "I discovered a new trilogy I think I'll love. It starts with the book I'm reading now, Natchez Burning by Greg Iles. T..."

Re Greg Iles books--It's a little bit complicated. Natchez Burning is the fourth book in the series of books dealing with protagonist Penn Cage, but the first in a trilogy dealing with a particular story line.

Thanks for the clarification, Shomeret. You are right. It's confusing !

Shomeret wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "Kiki (Formerly TheGirlByTheSeaOfCortez) wrote: "I discovered a new trilogy I think I'll love. It starts with the book I'm reading now, Natchez Burning by [autho..."

Thanks, Shomeret. :-)

It took me a while to figure it out. I didn't want to read more than three books to get the whole story right now, and people kept talking about "the trilogy" in their reviews. When I looked at the Iles books, I would see #6, etc., so confusing! I looked on Amazon, and found the trilogy was [book:Natchez Burning|18505832], The Bone Tree, and Mississippi Blood, so I decided to read all three. So far, I'm not regretting reading a trilogy, as I love Natchez Burning.

The last trilogy I read was Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Henry VIII and I really loved those. Wolf Hall will always be a favorite of mine.

Fascinating history of the Iles series. Sometimes these things can be confusing for those not familiar with the works/author. Thanks, Kiki & Shomeret.

"madrano wrote: "I finished The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben ton..."

Deb, it's funny how when someone mentions something, suddenly it seems that you hear about it everywhere.

I'm currently reading The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté

In the section I'm reading he is explaining how the brain is connected to the health of the whole body. How trauma, either with a big t or small t, can result in illness.

Now this is the last book I would think I would read about trees. Wrong !

"The interrelatedness of seemingly isolated organisms has now been discovered even in the lives of trees that form living networks, communicating through electrical impulses akin to animal and human nervous systems, hormones, chemical signals, and scents. An article in Smithsonian magazine reports, "trees of the same species are communal, and will often from alliances with trees of other species, Peter Wohlleben, the German forester who has become well know for popularizing such information, wittily calls it "the wood-wide web"*

* Richard Grant, Do Trees talk to Each Other?
Smithsonian, March 2018

Alias Reader wrote: ""madrano wrote: "I finished The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World--Peter Wohlleben ton..."

Deb, it's funn..."

That sounds interesting, Alias. I love trees. I once read a book titled The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man. Not sure the one I linked to is the one I read, but it as all about how plants communicate with one another. I was pretty young when I first read it, maybe fourteen or fifteen, and I thought it was bizarre, but I don't now.