The Book Nook By: The Garden Staff
“Heartbreak” Florence Williams
“The Complete Ecotopia” Ernest Callenbach
“Heartbreak” is a universal emotion. At some point, regardless of reason, everyone is struck by its magnitude. For science writer and author Florence Williams, it came at 50 when her 25-year marriage suddenly ended. Looking for answers, she turns to what she knows best – science and nature. Traveling the globe, Williams explores the science of heartbreak in “Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey.” She uncovers many fascinating truths like the stress of heartbreak and the resulting loneliness can lead to physiological problems at the cellular level. Williams decides to do a 13-day, 120-mile solo voyage down Utah’s Green River to explore how the brain responds to risk and to nature. Not surprisingly, she learns that finding a “sense of awe” is an essential ingredient for helping to heal. (For added fun, listen to the audiobook where there are clips from Williams’s audio journal and interviews with scientists and friends.)
Brought together for the first time, “The Complete Ecotopia” is a compilation of Ernest Callenbach’s two bestselling novels, “Ecotopia” and “Ecotopia Emerging.” In the nearly 50 years since Callenbach’s first utopian novel, “Ecotopia,” was first published in 1975, his fictional look at the future has since become more reality than fantasy. “Ecotopia” follows the secession of Washington, Oregon, and northern California to create a “stable-state” ecosystem where people live in balance with the environment, as told through the lens of a fictional New York Times-Post journalist, the first sanctioned visitor to the area in 19 years. With an assignment to report back to America, the journalist is skeptical but curious at first, and his experiences leave him with a tough decision in the end. Followed in 1981 by “Ecotopia Emerging,” Callenbach’s second book is a prequel offering a look at the rise of Ecotopia and the start of its “stable-state” movement to preserve the earth.
Recommended by Jaime Eschette, Director of Marketing and Communications O “Writing Wild” Kathryn Aalto In “Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World,” Kathryn Aalto celebrates the writings of 25 influential women. Two centuries span the births of the first and last authors, during which the world has grown less wild and warmer. But Western society has become more inclusive, and women’s voices are now plentiful in nature writing. Not so in 1850, when Susan Fenimore Cooper wrote the first book about American natural history (four years before “Walden”). She published it anonymously: “By a Lady.” Aalto is a gifted essayist and keen storyteller, weaving her subjects’ writings and poems with fascinating biographical facts and lyrical insights. She goes on location, canoeing in Otsego Lake, hiking in the Cairngorm Mountains, and feeding crows in Epping Forest with contemporary “cli-fi” (climate fiction) writer Saci Lloyd. The 25 women in this book are true trailblazers. May their stories inspire others to ramble and then write. Recommended by Julia McHugh, PR Consultant O
Recommended by Kaile Katsumoto, Assistant to the Garden Directors O “Canyon Voices: The Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon” Karen Telleen-Lawton One of Santa Barbara’s most popular hikes, Rattlesnake Canyon trail offers a gentle and beautiful journey with alternating spots of shade and sunlight as you wander along. In “Canyon Voices” we hear from those who understand it best. Chapter by chapter a geologist, a monk, a botanist, a historian, a hang glider, a stream ecologist, an artist, and others share their unique love of this natural space. This book explores the sometimes complex and competitive nature of humans and their relationship with nature in contrast to the competition existing within nature itself. Through these voices of the canyon you can almost see, smell, and hear the richness of life found there. If you’re looking to better understand the synergy between our actions and the wild, “Canyon Voices” is a great source of insight. Whether new to the area or a longtime resident, this book is a joy to read. Recommended by Matt Straka, Retail Manager O Ironwood
39
