The Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Written by Robert Macfarlane with illustrations by Jackie Morris, The Book of Birds is the spiritual successor to their project The Lost Words.
Environment
Blue thinks itself within me by Kim Trainor
Full of a variety of works of art and poetry, slices of history, theories, and anecdotes of Trainor’s activism, all sections weave source material and personal experience back to the pulsing questions Trainor poses: what can artists do in the face of climate disaster, and more specifically how can activism be informed and impacted by ecopoetry?
The Future Belongs to Those Who Fight: Climate Revolution for Beginners by Todd Dufresne
It is the climate change book for our current moment, written with the force necessary to wake us from our collective slumber that has delayed action on climate change, deferring it to some unnamed later date, downloading the heavy lifting onto our children and grandchildren.
Horses by Jake Skeets
Here, Skeet’s invasion of white space picks up where Eyes Bottle Dark left off and begins with the haunting image of a herd of 191 free-roaming horses found dead, thigh and neck-deep at a stock pond on the Navajo Nation, evaporated through extreme drought caused by “decades-long aggression by the United States and the changing climate”.
Walking, Trailing Shadows — Walking the Bypass: Notes on Place from the Side of the Road by Ken Wilson
Ken Wilson’s Walking the Bypass is a redemptive journey through some of the least redeeming landscapes an urban walker might visit. Part of what makes the book compelling is how well its style matches its subject.
Include Everyone, Especially Yourself: The Chrome Chair by Danielle Devereaux
The title of Danielle Deveraux’s book The Chrome Chair comes from a quote the poet heard at the Newfoundland and Labrador Historical Society Symposium in 2003:
“We were promised a seat at the table of nations: what we got was a chrome chair” (5).
40 Days and 40 Hikes: Loving the Bruce Trail One Loop at a Time by Nicola Ross
This book gives hikers concise one-page summaries of each loop, including maps, technical information about trail requirements, entrances and exits, interesting plants and animals to look for along the way. The accompanying text offers a well-researched recounting of the history, present circumstances and possible futures of the snake spine of land that rises through South-Central Ontario and is the Niagara Escarpment and of the Bruce Trail that follows it.
Throwback: The Imperilled Ocean by Laura Trethewey
Laura Trethewey’s The Imperilled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea is the perfect blend of entertainment and education.
A Perfect Day for a Walk by Bill Arnott
When I arrived, a tourist in Vancouver twenty years ago, it was apparent almost immediately how incredibly walkable the city is.
Ice: Moments, Photographs by Klaus Hochheim
In this photo memoir, with Foreword by Klaus’ widow, Martha Hochheim, Sarah Hodges-Kolinsynyk and David Babb assemble a collection of photographs commemorating the life and career of Dr. Hochheim. It is a love letter to our planet’s north and south poles, and an homage to a man whose life ended tragically during his last excursion. Klaus died in a helicopter crash in 2013, working in his beloved Arctic — land of the ice.
The New Beachcomber’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest, Second Revised Edition
J. Duane Sept’s Beachcomber’s Guide provides a well-organized and comprehensive list which identifies many of the strange organisms I encountered that day. Those weird little black beatles crawling about as I lifted up rocks to unblock the sand to sea beeline of a juvenile Norther Kelp Crab? Oregon Pill Bug.
Throwback: Earthkeeping by Gary Saunders
Part poet, philosopher, scientist, and artist – Gary brings to mind the acronym STEAM.. when academia finally realized the importance of art to the scientific realm. He is definitely science and art in a wonderful blend.
Water Confidential by Susan Blacklin
Water is a basic human right. In 2024, in Canada, there are First Nations Communities that have been living under Boil Water Advisories for up to 28 years.
Signs of Life by Sarah Cox Spirits Us to Extinction’s Front Lines
An unswerving look at issues related to biodiversity in Canada.
Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas by Karen Pinchin
Author Karen Pinchin has given us a gift. It is her perfectly paced, exquisitely written work of creative nonfiction.
