Nancy Ironside, ONC member, has reviewed Jungle Peace by William Beebe.When Jungle Peace was published in 1918, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt wrote a Book Review, published in the New York Times.He advised all who love good books, very good books to get this book of Mr. Beebe. And so do I.Mr. Beebe, he says, was a…
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THE NATURE BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR JULY IS UNDERLAND BY ROBERT MACFARLAND
Underland: A deep time journey, by Robert Macfarlane, is one of those rare books that defies categorization. Naturalists will love it, as will history buffs, as will those of a more philosophical bent. It is about our relationship with that which lies beneath, the underland.Macfarlane ranges around the world and through time, pulling together the…
THE NATURE BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE IS UNDER A WHITE SKY:THE NATURE OF THE FUTURE BY ELIZABETH KOLBERT
The Army Corps of Engineers once boasted of the Mississippi River, “We harnessed it, straightened it, regularized it, shackled it.” This is the reason that southern Louisiana is disintegrating. If control is the problem, then by people’s reasoning, more control must be the solution.Elizabeth Kolbert, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Sixth Extinction,…
The Nature Book of the Month for May is The Entangled Life - How Fungi Make our worlds, change our minds, and shape our Future by Merlin Sheldrake
Sue Deadman recommends this book. She is one of Orillia Naturalists’ Club’s best all round Naturalist, and recently became interested in fungi, as well. Here is her review. ENTANGLED LIFE – How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futuresBy Merlin Sheldrake Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist with a PhD in tropical…
The Nature book of the Month for April is Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom and Knowledge by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Kyra Howes of the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority and a long time friend of the ONC and the Couchiching Conservancy sends us this report; Braiding Sweetgrass is very aptly named since this book interweaves stories of Indigenous culture, science and botany, and personal stories. The author, Robin Wall Kimmerer, is an excellent storyteller and each of…
THE MARCH NATURE BOOK OF THE MONTH IS NATURES BEST HOPE BY DOUGLAS THALLAMY
Sharon Hancock, a long time member of the Orillia Naturalists’ Club, noted for her dinners, and for her gardening , both at home and at the Hermitage, (a property near her home), has recommended this book to us. Worried about the planet? Change can start in your own back yard according to Douglas W. Tallamy.…
THE FEBRUARY NATURE BOOK OF THE MONTH IS SPILLOVER, ANIMAL INFECTIONS AND THE NEXT HUMAN PANDEMIC, BY DAVID QUAMMEN
He has been called “our best science writer”, which is probably true. Reviewed by Nancy Ironside.This may be the toughest, the most unpleasant and the most significant book I have ever read – all 710 pages of it.It is primarily about viruses that have an animal reservoir – zoonotic viruses. Veterinary science and human medicine…
THE DECEMBER NATURE BOOK OF THE MONTH IS THE NEW WILD BY FRED PEARCE
THE NEW WILD; WHY INVASIVE SPECIES WILL BE NATURE’S SALVATION.Nancy Ironside’s take:Ecologists are divided into 2 groups- those who fight the Invasives with all the time and money available, and those who accept the inevitable and think nature and mankind will cope. The second group consider the fight hopeless (Sisyphean), and I belong to the…
November Nature Books of the Month gives a selection of Children's Books -good for Xmas gifts
Kyra Howes, a mother of 3 and known to many of us as a former Couchiching Conservancy employee, now with the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority seemed like a great person to choose books that we might want to give to our young friends as Xmas presents. She has made great choices, as you can see.For the…
OCTOBER NATURE BOOK OF THE MONTH IS HOW TO CATCH A MOLE BY MARC HAMER
“I am a gardener. I have been catching moles in gardens and farms for years, and I have decided that I am not going to do it any more. Molecatching is a traditional skill that has given me a good life, but I am old now and tired of hunting, trapping and killing and it…
September Nature Book of the month is Backwoods of Canada by Catharine Parr Trail
BACKWOODS OF CANADA – by Catharine Parr Traill.(A book review) Dear Aunt Catharine, I read with delight your letters home describing your first two-and-a-half years in “the bush” of Upper Canada. I found the account of the trip in 1832, including your bout of cholera at Montreal, and especially the painful “road” trip to your…
August Nature Book of the Month is Thoreau's Walden
Nancy Ironside chose Thoreau’s Walden.Henry Davis Thoreau’s Walden is an American Classic, usually part of a college English course – revered but unread. At this time during the pandemic, many of us rely on nature to help us cope. I thought we could relate to Thoreau’s writings when he withdrew from the world. For this…