Earth Almanac by Ted Williams

We have all been put into a strange place during these days of pandemic isolation, and I feel like I have been blessed with having time to stop and smell the flowers.  In my reading, I have discovered a new book that will help everyone do the same.

Earth Almanac by Ted Williams was due to be published on April 28, but it is now being released on September 29.  I think that it is well worth the wait, but I have one solution to consider at the end of this review.

Earth Almanac is being published by a small independent press called Storey Publishing in Massachusetts.  They specialize in books on nature, gardening, and how-to subjects, including an excellent line of knitting books, like One Skein Wonders.  Postponing publication has been happening with many books during this pandemic, and when I reached out to this publisher about their decision, they said:  they decided to delay publishing several books “because, with so many sales channels and libraries closed, they don’t want to release books into a market that limits readers’ options for accessing them.”

The book is collection of mini essays arranged around the seasons, with a longer introductory essay for each season.  It’s not really a field guide, as such, but it could be used during walks to inspire you to look for the things that he so minutely observes or to make you recollect scenes from your past.

I highly recommend this book for readers of all ages for three reasons.

1. The first is that these are all very short essays, taking maybe 30 seconds to 2 minutes to read.  They are completely self-contained, do not need to be read in any order, and can be picked up at any point without losing any sense of meaning.  I can’t think of a better solution in this time of distraction.  It was difficult to choose one essay to share, but here is this one, called “Underdogs” (page 92):

    Remove the black-tailed prairie dog from its niche in our western plains and—as Americans have discovered over the past century—the whole biota collapses like the sides of stone arch.  This ground squirrel, whose “dog” name derives from its bark, is called a keystone species because it provides food and/or habitat for at least 59 vertebrate species—29 birds, 21 mammals, 5 reptiles, and 4 amphibians.
    The elaborate subterranean design of a prairie-dog town includes bedrooms, latrines, birthing and nursing chambers, pantries, even cemeteries.  In May look for youngsters as they stumble up into the sunlight for the first time in their six-week lives.  Soon they’ll be roughhousing, grooming each other, and greeting neighbors with chirps, hugs, and open-mouthed “kisses.”
    Because prairie dogs eat forbs and grasses, they have been widely poisoned and shot in the mistaken belief that they compete with livestock.  Studies, however, show that in aerating and turning over the soil they produce high-quality forage.

While this one focuses on the plains states, the majority deal with nature in our own Northeast region.

2.  The second reason to read this is that these are exquisite little pieces that Williams writes in a fun, descriptive way that is often poetic and literary.  When talking about the elusive river herring, for instance, he writes “Mostly they pass unseen, save by herons hunched over the pools like old men in ratty down jackets standing at a truckstop counter.”  (page 89)  He creates essay titles that reference classic poetry, “Ode to a Devil’s Urn” is one example, and he quotes from the children’s classic Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White to describe how many juvenile North American spiders disperse.

3.  The third reason is that Williams writes engaging pieces that combine natural observations and scientific research that draw readers in by making them exclaim over the startling facts—did you know that chipmunks can hold up to two heaping tablespoons of corn kernels in their cheeks?  He also gives how-to instructions on interacting with nature, such as finding and cooking wild leeks in the spring.   And, he talks about ways to involve kids (don’t go on a nature walk, say that you’re going on an expedition) and then suggests ways to get them fully involved.  Puff the Magic Fungus (page 194) is one essay that is a good example of this:
   

      Puffballs, those fungi that appear throughout most of North America after autumn rains, on rich humus and over buried stumps, seem made for kids.  The smoke that spews from the hole atop the dry, leathery husk when you tap it or step on it is spores from the already-dead fruit.  So fine are these spores that they can drift to elevations of five miles and travel between continents.  The giant puffball, which sometimes reaches four feet in diameter, may produce 7 trillion spores annually.
     But the magic doesn’t end there.  Depending on which of the 270 species you encounter, a puffball may grow from the size of a golf ball to the size of a baseball in a single night.  Moreover, the main part of the plant—the mycelium—lives underground and extends in all directions through the soil, sometimes creating a circle of puffballs above.  A much older—and, some would argue, better—explanation has it that these circular growth patterns are set by the feet of dancing fairies; hence the popular name “fairy rings.”  Since this theory cannot be disproved, why hasten its extinction when you are afield with young companions?

 These essays are magical and not to be missed.  It turns out that Earth Almanac is an updated version of Williams' earlier book called Wild Moments.  This is only available as an e-book and is on Hoopla, which is a library resource for ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and music. 

(This was used as a talk for the Richmond Memorial Library's "Lunch Time Book Chats" shared on Zoom on May 13.  Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy.)

The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler

Debut author Sarah Morgenthaler sets up a funny rom-com in the tiny Alaskan town of Moose Springs, where Graham Barnett, the owner of the Tourist Trap diner shows real disdain for his out-of-town clientele and where unconventional tourist Zoey Caldwell makes him set aside all his preconceived notions and rules about how to treat the "enemy." 

Zoey revels in being in Alaska, although it has come from personal budgetary sacrifice to get there.  She is enthusiastic about everything and wants to experience as much as possible, even when it means taking the cheaper and less impressive excursions or finding her own way through local forest trails.  And because of that, she is thrown together with Graham in some pretty spectacular ways, starting with interrupting his wood sculpting in full mask and chain saw.  What’s a girl to do?  Zoey’s instincts go into full survival mode, leaving Graham wondering whether he will ever be able to father children.

Included in the funny setups are the characters that the author introduces.  She has a great way of juxtaposing types of people with things that just don’t seem to match, like Graham’s having coordinating outfits and hats for his sheepdog Jake. 

One of the great things about the book is that anyone who has traveled or worked within the tourist industry knows that the portrayal of the guests at the high-end resort are pretty close to the truth, and the truth hurts.  People ARE often thoughtless and spoiled when traveling to other places, and they don’t come off in ways that play well for the locals.  It’s used very effectively here, and it provides a lot of humor as well as some suspense. 

Although readers will know where the ending is going (yes, it has to be a happily every after), the way that it is done is creative and fun and not as predictable as expected.  Interplay is flirty and sassy with lots of innuendoes, but the deed is behind closed doors.

Some of this does stretch credulity (a truck stop waitress is best friends with a wealthy entrepreneur? Ulysses the moose is in love with the fresh baked cinnamon rolls?), although the story of moneyed and inconsiderate tourists, the natural beauty and dangers of Alaska, the budget tours gone wrong, the hilarious conversations between Graham and his friends and Graham and Zoey all add up to diverting light reading. 

(Sourcebooks, 2020)  Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

(The pandemic has turned the publishing world upside down, but Beach Read by Emily Henry appears to be coming out as planned on May 19  from Penguin Random House). 

January Andrews writes women's fiction; Augustus Everett writes literary fiction. The two had a love/hate relationship in college when January knew him as Gus and when his seemingly arrogant attitude and critical commentary of her work cooled other feelings for this guy she and her friend nicknamed Sexy, Evil Gus (or SEG for short).  He sees her as the fairy princess of all sweetness and light, she views him as the angsty, brooding writer who sees only the dark side. 

Now, several years later, they are published authors, hitting the bestsellers list at the same time, although Gus is, disturbingly, three slots ahead of January.  They are also both having major writers' blocks, and when January runs short of funds as well as ideas, she heads out to the vacation town in Michigan to the house her late father left her...right next door to Sexy, Evil Gus.

Well, what could go wrong--or right?  Their "reunion" meeting at the local bookstore is anything but cordial, and their attendance at the evening's book discussion takes their relationship to new lows.  But, it does prompt them to place a bet that may restart their writing.  January challenges Gus to write a rom-com and he dares her to write literary fiction.  Going along with the bet are educational evenings for research and ideas on character and plot development, how romance is started and how to understand the bad things that happen to people.

Their conversations are snarky and flirty, and the first half of the book does read like a rom-com, but it changes about halfway through as serious and darker themes are explored as they relate to the lives of each of them, both personally and professionally.

This is an entertaining, page-turning and unusual story that has fun references to popular authors and some great secondary characters including a true eccentric who runs the local bookstore.  There literally IS a beach read here, but not in the way that they are generally understood. 

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy.