In conjunction with the Kiawah Island Conservancy, this category will feature books about the natural world–flora, fauna and the environment.
Following the Wild Bees The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting Thomas D. Seeley Book review by Karen Madoff Karen is a full-time resident of Kiawah Island, a Certified naturalist in Ohio, an Old Master Gardener and a newbie beekeeper. If honeybees, the world’s most important pollinator of crops, could choose their own homes what and where would they be? Since the mid-1800s, thousands of
Please tell us what you think after you have read this book by clicking “Contact” on the menu, then posting your contact information and comments. Please give us your ideas and suggestions for books to read that concern nature, wildlife, or the environment! If you would like to contact the Kiawah Conservancy for information about the organization, please email us at webmaster@kiawahconservancy.org .
Weather by Jenny Offill “Voted, that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof;voted,that the earth is given to the Saints; voted that we are the Saints.” Weather, a novel by Jenny Offill, opens with the above quotation from a 1640 Connecticut town meeting. If indeed Earth “belongs” to us, are we compelled to protect (or salvage) our planet? This novel answers with a
Jennifer Doudna is the recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with her assistant Emmanuelle Charpentier, and their work helped lay the groundwork for the development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Just remember that, if your daughters or granddaughters aspire to be chemists. Doudna’s high school counselor told her that girls do not become chemists. Not an awful lot of girls become chemists, true,
BOOK 1 Bill Gates has been promoting his newest book entitled How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. You may have seen his appearance on “60 Minutes”, which aired February 14, 2020. On the TV program and in the book, Gates claims that the world needs to get to zero carbon emmissions by 2050 in order to avoid a climate disaster. To accomplish this goal, Gates
PBS provided a great deal of hype for it’s new adaptation of James Herriot’s books about his time as a veternarian in the Yorkshire countryside. Some viewers, however, do not appreciate the new version of All Creatures Great and Small. Have you watched the series? Did you read the books? What do you think? James Herriott, whose actual name was James Alfred Wight, was a
What It’s Like to be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing—What Birds are Doing, and Why Author: David Allen Sibley Reviewer: Cindy Perry If you’re a backyard birder or if you’re simply interested in learning more about the rich array of shorebirds, songbirds, vultures, waterbirds, or other interesting birds, consider David Allen Sibley’s artistic and research-driven book, What It’s Like to be
Water and the Complexity of Environmental Experience The Wonder of Water: Lived experience, policy and practice 247 pages Ingrid Leman Stefanovic, Editor In this slim volume, the editor has gathered twelve essays, framed by poems that explore the essential relationship we have with water. Contributors provide statistics, research data, analysis of current policies related to the containment and treatment of water and, perhaps most interestingly,
Vespers in Flight, by Helen MacDonald Carey Benham, Trustee, Kiawah Conservancy If you’re searching for a book to relish slowly and savor – like a piece of good chocolate – then read Vespers in Flight, by Helen MacDonald, a superb collection of forty-one essays which explore the author’s sense of awe, pathos, and wonder when encountering animals or exploring nature. MacDonald’s prose is poetry in
By Cindy Perry Are you looking for a holiday gift for a special child? As a former early childhood teacher, mother of three, and grandmother of two, I’ve become a collector of engaging children’s literature. Some books are on my favorite list because of the stunning artistic illustrations while others earned that recognition due to their captivating stories, interesting facts, or inspirational messages. However, one
