This morning Mindy and Jill were joined by Dennis Minsky, naturalist and a big reader! It is always fun for us when Dennis is able to find time to drive from Provincetown to Woods Hole to join us. We have previously talked with Dennis about
nature books,
maritime books,
whaling books, and
bird books. When we are done with the show, our books to read list is always longer than it was before we began, and we hope yours are as well! Dennis and I had both brought so many titles that we didn't have time for, that we are making an extra long list today of both books we mentioned and books that we did not have time to mention, but are terrific. Miss the show? You can
listen online!
I want to particularly thank our caller who suggested I read
Trees in a Winter Landscape by Alice Smith, and to let her know that I was able to request a copy of the book from off Cape, so I should be seeing a copy soon! (And thus she won't have to drive to Falmouth to deliver me a copy, but thanks so much for the offer!)
After we went off the air, I got an e-mail from a listener who wrote:
"I kicked myself for not remembering my decades old theory that looking at the sunset through winter trees was the inspiration for church stained glass." What a grand theory!
Dennis's Picks
"
Lost" a poem by David Wagoner
The Hidden Life of Trees: what they feel, how they communicate: discoveries from a secret world by Peter Wohlleben
Thoreau and the Language of Trees by Richard Higgins
Essays: a fully annotated edition by Henry David Thoreau, specifically the essays: "Wild Apples," "Walking," "Autumnal Tints" and "The Succession of Forest Trees"
At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Barkskins, a novel by Annie Proulx
American Canopy: trees, forests, and the making of a nation by Erick Rutkow
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Cape Cod Shore Whaling: America's first whalemen by John Braginton-Smith and Duncan Oliver
Not Enough Time For:
Remarkable Trees Of The World by Thomas Parkenham
Trees, Woodlands, and Western Civilization by Richard Hayman
A Natural History Of Trees by Donald Culross Peattie
Jill's Picks
Winter Trees by William Carlos Williams (and you can find lots more W.C. Williams in his
Collected Poems!)
The Long, Long Life of Trees by Fiona Stafford
From the Forest: a search for the hidden roots of our fairy tales by Sara Maitland
Nature Writings by John Muir (Particularly his essay
The American Forests.)
Trees by W. S. Merwin (and lots more tree poems can be found in
Collected Poems, 1952-1993.) You also need to watch
Even Though the Whole World is Burning, a documentary on W. S. Merwin and the trees he is trying to save.
The Tree by John Fowles
Novels in which trees play a role:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (and notice the tree on the book jacket!)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
East of Eden by John Steinbeck (as suggested by
Brian Engles)
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate (as suggested by
Brian Engles)
And, of course, Shakespeare!
Not enough time for:
The Book of Trees: visualizing branches of knowledge by Manuel Lima
Arboreal: a collection of new woodland writing edited by Adrian Cooper (Includes essays, photos, and stories by, among others Andy Goldworthy, Ali Smith, Philip Hoare, and Germaine Greer.)
Oak: the frame of civilization by William Bryant Logan
Be in a Treehouse by Pete Nelson (Includes the Hidden Hollow Treehouse at the Heritage Museum & Gardens in Sandwich)
The Songs of Trees: stories from nature's great connectors by David George Haskell
Maple on Tap: making your own maple syrup by Rich Finzer
Picture Books
Sugaring Time by Kathryn Lasky with photographs by Christopher G. Knight
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Poetrees by Douglas Florian
The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins, illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Patron Suggestions
American Canopy: trees, forests and the making of a nation by Eric Rutlow
Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wolfe
The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wolfe
Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
Trees in a Winter Landscape by Alice Smith
