Review: Costume Jewelry

This large format volume presents over 500 pieces of costume jewelry from more than a dozen distinctive periods in sharp color photos with descriptions and values.

"Costume jewelry is an art form unto itself," writes author Leigh Leshner. "Each piece is representative of not only the designer's imagination, but of the culture and customs of the times."

Costume Jewelry

Identification And Price Guide 

by Leigh Leshner 

Krause Publications, 2004

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Review: Crustacean Farming

Crustacean farming is one of the world's fastest growing forms of aquaculture. It is a high-risk industry with potential for both substantial profits and serious losses.

"Crustacean Farming," authored by John Wickins and Dan Lee, has been a principal reference for the commercial cultivation of shrimp, prawns, caryfish, lobsters, crabs and spiny lobsters.

This edition of Wickins and Lee's authoritative text, published by Blackwell Science, builds on the success of the 1992 edition with chapters on ranching and re-stocking operations as well as raising ornamental shrimp and small crustaceans for live food in fish and shellfish hatcheries.

Crustacean Farming 

Ranching and Culture  

by John F. Wickins and Daniel O'C. Lee  

Blackwell Science Inc., 2002.

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Review: Apothecary Cocktails

The first cocktails were concocted centuries ago by apothecaries, physicians, pharmacists, and anyone who specialized in healing ailments. They blended alcohol and liqueurs with herbs, fruit, flowers, spices and more to create  tinctures, bitters, elixirs, and tonics touted to cure tummy troubles, respiratory ailments, aches, pains, and more.

Not all of these potions were effective, any more than today's medicines cure all, and some were downright dangerous, but the better curatives prevailed and became the basis for many modern prescriptions and nightclub cocktails.

Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today

by Warren Bobrow.

Fair Winds Press, 2013

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Review: Jewelry Making

Beautiful jewelry does not have to be costly; homemade pieces can be crafted as finely anything store-bought and are often more unique and meaningful.

This how-to-do-it reference explains the basics of crafting rings, pendants, earrings, brooches and more from inexpensive materials like wire, acrylic, pewter and silver. Step-by-step instructions are provided for 35 beginner-level projects. More detailed techniques and instructions are provided for those who want to craft their own designs.

Jewelry Making: Tips and Tricks of the Trade
by Stephen O'Keeffe
Krause Publications, 2002

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Review: The Brand Called You

Your Personal Brand is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you. It's what you stand for -- the values, abilities and actions that others associate with you. It's a professional alter ego designed for the purpose of influencing how others perceive you, and turning that perception into opportunity."

Peter Montoya takes the concept of "branding" -- a marketing buzz word for creating an identity for a product in the minds of consumers -- and applies it to ambitious individuals or entrepreneurs who want to be known for their specific traits and abilities.

The Brand Called You 

The Ultimate Brand-Building and Business Development Handbook  

to Transform Anyone into an Indispensable Personal Brand 

by Peter Montoya with Tim Vandehey 

Personal Branding Press, 2003

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Now Reading "Ignoring Nature No More"

For far too long humans have been ignoring nature. As the most dominant, overproducing, overconsuming, big-brained, big-footed, arrogant, and invasive species ever known, we are wrecking the planet at an unprecedented rate. And while science is important to our understanding of the impact we have on our environment, it alone does not hold the answers to the current crisis, nor does it get people to act.

In Ignoring Nature No More, Marc Bekoff and a host of renowned contributors argue that we need a new mind-set about nature, one that centers on empathy, compassion, and being proactive.

Ignoring Nature No More

The Case for Compassionate Conservation

by Marc Bekoff

University Of Chicago Press, 2013

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Good Old Books: The Great Chain Of Life

How did it begin? What has gone before? Where will it lead?

These are questions which have fascinated man for thousands of years. Even after Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution men have continuedto question their origins.

Joseph Wood Krutch, America's renowned naturalist, looks at evolution with a fresh eye.

Applying the eloquence of a poet to the dispassionate eye of a scientist, he reveals many surprises and wonders in the natural world around us.

The Great Chain of Life is an important, delightful addition to man's
understanding of ecology -- the interrelation of living things -- and the biological world in which we live. It is a book that also restores joy to the contemplation of nature.

The Great Chain Of Life

by Joseph Wood Crutch

Pyramid Books, 1966

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Review: The Old Fashioned

With craft distilling surging in popularity, there has been a complementary growth in mixology books devoted to single spirits and even individual cocktails. This one is devoted to the Old Fashioned cocktail which, according to some, is more a style or category of mixed drink. The author, Albert W. A. Schmid, argues that the Old Fashioned is, in fact, the original cocktail.

Much of the book is devoted to exploring how the ‘Old Fashioned’ came to its name instead of lingering as just ‘cocktail’ or ‘bittered sling’ and how it came to include the muddled orange and cherry. Schmid debunks the legend that the cocktail was invented at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, as there is at least one published mention of the cocktail a year before the Pendennis Club was founded. He suggests that the cocktail as we know it today may well have originated in the venerable old club, but not the original Old Fashioned cocktail.

The Old Fashioned

An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail

by Albert W. A. Schmid

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Review: Rum

This spare tome covers considerable territory as it surveys the history of rum on a global scale. Beginning with its sketchy origins on the 16th century sugar cane plantations of Brazil and the Caribbean, the book traces the spirit's growing popularity and diversity up to the present day.

As the title suggests, this is a "global" story that ventures far beyond the Caribbean where many similar histories drop anchor. It covers rum smuggling, the triangle trade, rum runners and tiki bars.

While early descriptions of the molasses-based spirit refer to it as a "hot, hellish, and terrible liquor," today rum is best known as the base alcohol in tiki bar staples such as the mai tai, blue Hawaii, and piña colada.

Rum

A Global History

by Richard Foss

Reaktion Books, 2012

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Review: Home Sausage Making

Making sausage at home is easier than you might think. Peoples all around the world have been making sausage in all kinds of conditions with all kinds of meats for centuries. It's a dandy means of preserving meat and it uses up the scraps -- "everything from snout to tail except for the squeal" -- that might otherwise go to waste.

Both an instructional guide and a cookbook, this text covers the techniques and equipment required for making sausages and then delves into specific recipes for sausages make from pork, beef, lamb, venison, poultry, seafood and a combination of meats. There's even a selection of vegetarian recipes.

The third and final section of the book is dedicated to "Cooking with Sausage," providing recipes and serving suggestions for sausage dishes at almost any meal.

Home Sausage Making 

How-To Techniques for Making and Enjoying 100 Sausages at Home 

by Susan Mahnke Peery and Charles G. Reavis  

Storey Books, 2003

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Interfering with Vegetal Life

"We are not, strictly speaking, the others of plants, since we obviously do not fall under the category of the 'elementally inorganic,' nor are we the same as they are, though we do participate in many of the processes defining vegetal soul. 

"When humans interfere with the conditions of vegetal growth - for
instance, by altering the temperature of a hothouse - they come to mediate the unidirectional relation of plants to their other. Such interference may also be indirect and perhaps unintentional, as in the desertification of vast areas of the globe, partly attributable to human activity and in any event detrimental for vegetal life. Or it may be barely noticeable when we merely contemplate wildflowers during a walk in the woods. 

"To the extent that we practically engage with vegetal beings, we interpose ourselves in the place of what is other to them, the place that does not inherently belong to us. Human usurption not only of our place in the sun but also of the very place of the sun vis-a-vis plants is increasingly the source of our metaphysical domination over them today."

excerpted from:
Plant-Thinking
A Philosophy of Vegetal Life
by Michael Marder
Columbia University Press, 2013

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Reading the History: Food

Grow Food, Cook Food, Share Food is a practical food history lesson, an editorial on our use of packaged convenience foods, and a call to arms — of the kitchen variety. Mixing food writing and history, adding a dash of cookbook, author and scholar Ken Albala shares the story of what happened when he started taking food history seriously and embarked on a mission to grow, cook, and share food in the ways that people did in the past.

A rare form of historical activism, Grow Food, Cook Food, Share Food is written for anyone who likes to eat, loves to cook, and knows how to throw a great dinner party.

Grow Food, Cook Food, Share Food

Perspectives on Eating from the Past and a Preliminary Agenda for the Future

by Ken Albala

Oregon State University Press, 2013

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Reading the History: Gold

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the price of gold skyrocketed—in three years more than doubling from $800 an ounce to $1900. This massive spike drove an unprecedented global gold-mining and exploration boom, much bigger than the Gold Rush of the 1800s.

In Gold, author Matthew Hart makes a journey around the world and through history to tell the story of how gold became the world’s most precious commodity.

Gold

The Race for the World's Most Seductive Metal

by Matthew Hart

Simon & Schuster, 2013

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Review: Whole Foods Companion

This popular resource, first published in 1996, has been revised and expanded in a new edition that builds on its reputation as a definitive holistic foods reference. 


Divided into six sections -- Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Legumes, Nuts and Seeds and Oils, Herbs and Spices and Other Foods -- the book profiles hundreds of food items with background on their history, varieties, culinary uses, health benefits, and tips on buying, cooking and storing,

Both a guide for health-conscious consumers and a directory of natural foods, this book is used by chefs, shoppers and growers alike.

Whole Foods Companion: 

A Guide For Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers, and Lovers of Natural Foods 

by Dianne Onstad 

Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2004.

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Review: Cooking Slow

It may seem counter-intuitive, but cooking slowly can actually be less time-consuming than actively frying or grilling or even baking. A roast or casserole can be prepped in a few minutes in the morning, allowed to slow-cook for hours, and then served up for dinner in seconds with little fuss.

Because there are many cookbooks with recipes for slow cooker appliances, this one emphasizes other methods of slow cooking like stovetop or oven baking, simmering, grilling and roasting as well as cooking with sous vide machines recently manufactured for home kitchens.

"The biggest difference between slow cooking in a slow cooker and any other piece of cooking equipment is water," author Andrew Schloss points out. "There is much less evaporation from a slow cooker than there is from a saucepan or a skillet simmering on a stove top.

Cooking Slow

Recipes for Slowing Down and Cooking More

by Andrew Schloss

Chronicle Books, 2013

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Book Stall Review: Practical Botany for Gardeners

Explaining the science of gardening without being overly scientific, this botanical primer provides the kind of botanical schooling that every grower should possess.

Although the subtitle suggests a dictionary, the book is much more a textbook with articles  introducing the plant kingdom and its classification; explaining plant growth and reproduction; describing the inner workings of plant cells.

Others chapters cover soils, pests, pruning, and disorders. The text also includes brief biographies of prominent botanists.

Practical Botany for Gardeners

Over 3,000 Botanical Terms Explained and Explored

by Geoff Hodge

Oregon State University Press, 2013

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Review: Cowgirl Creamery Cooks

"We eat a lot of cheese in the United States. Per capita, each of us eats about a pound of cheese per week, most of it grated over fast-food pizza or melted over grilled ground beef in the form of a cheeseburger. This cheese comes mostly from post-World War II factories that churn out as much as one million pounds of cheese per day with the goal of producing food as cheaply as possible."

Cowgirl Creamery is an artisan cheesemaker that emerged in Point Reyes, California in the 1990s at a time when American consumers were starting to seek out alternatives to mass produced foods. This book tells the story of their struggles, achievements, and the rise of farmstead cheeses in this country.

Cowgirl Creamery Cooks

by Sue Conley and Peggy Smith

Chronicle Books, 2013

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Reading the History: Japan 1941

This history recounts the eight months leading up to Japan's decision to attack Pearl Harbor and engage the United States in all-out war. It was a fateful decision for the Japanese, initiating a conflict that was preventable and unwinnable. The only way to understand it is to approach it from the viewpoint of the Japanese people, as historian Eri Hotta has done here.

The Japanese leadership, including the military and Emperor Hirohito, was very much divided over questions of military expansion and engaging the U.S. in warfare. Hirohito frequently expressed his desire that diplomacy supercede any planning for war, but as supreme commander of the armed forces he had to ensure the survival of Japan and in the end it was a combination of dysfunctional politics and jingoistic advisors that pushed the acquiescent emperor to approve a war plan that a more assertive leader could have vetoed.

Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy

by Eri Hotta

Knopf, 2013

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New Guide to Whiskey

This smart guide to whiskey introduces a new generation of would-be connoisseurs to the hottest new-again spirit. And with upstart distillers reviving varieties like white dog (moonshine to prohibition-era folks), now is the best time to start learning about it.

Drink More Whiskey is the reference for those want to discover the provenance, styles, differences in quality, and ideal uses of whiskey in a fresh, fun-to-read format.

Drink More Whiskey

Everything You Need to Know About Your New Favorite Drink

by Daniel Yaffe

Chronicle Books, 2013

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Book Stall Review: The Kentucky Barbecue Book

Here's a guide to barbecuing Kentucky-style, describing the history and culture of barbecue in the state and profiling more than 100 of the state's restaurants, shacks, joints, festivals and even church picnics that are known for barbecue.

An English professor at Western Kentucky University as well as a small scale farmer, Wes Berry gave himself a sweet assignment: travel throughout the state of Kentucky, eat at every barbecue, talk to all the pitmasters, and write a book about what you see, learn and taste.

The Kentucky Barbecue Book

by Wes Berry

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Reading the History: On Paper

A consideration of all things paper—its invention that revolutionized human civilization; its thousand-fold uses (and misuses), proliferation, and sweeping influence on society; its makers, shapers, collectors, and pulpers.

Nicholas Basbanes writes about paper, from its invention in China two
thousand years ago to its ideal means, recording the thoughts of Islamic scholars and mathematicians that made the Middle East a center of intellectual energy; from Europe, by way of Spain in the twelfth century and Italy in the thirteenth at the time of the Renaissance, to North America and the rest of the inhabited world.

On Paper

The Everything of Its Two-Thousand-Year History

by Nicholas A. Basbanes

Knopf, 2013

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The Five Seasons

"Indian summer, the fifth season, is energetically important because it provides the hub or center of balance for the other four... This 'middle country' of the mind, the fifth season, is the driving force behind all purposeful living.

from The Five Seasons: Tap Into Nature's Secrets for Health, Happiness, and Harmony by Joseph Cardillo

Review: Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys

First published in 1991, the third edition of this comprehensive reference includes new material on heritage breeds, on-farm processing, pastured feeding methods, and humane raising practices as well as updated organic certification standards.

"A renaissance is underway," says the author, "a renewed interest in keeping poultry in backyards, homesteads, and small diversified farms. Fueling this movement are concerns about food safety and a craving for better flavor and nutrition."

The contents of the book cover the health, breeds, protection and processing of turkeys as well as the equipment and feeds needed for raising the birds effectively. Illustrations, charts and a glossary of terms are included.

Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys

Breeds * Care * Marketing

by Don Schrider 

Storey Publishing, 2013

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See the New Movie Books: William Wyler

In this book, Gabriel Miller explores the career of one of Hollywood's most unique and influential directors, examining the evolution of his cinematic style.

Wyler's films feature nuanced shots and multifaceted narratives that reflect his preoccupation with realism and story construction. The director's later works were deeply influenced by his time in the army air force during World War II, and the disconnect between the idealized version of the postwar experience and reality became a central theme of Wyler's masterpiece, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

William Wyler: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Most Celebrated Director

by Gabriel Miller

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Book Stall Review: Red Tractors 1958-2013

The story of International Harvester and its distinctively red tractors is very much the story of modern American agriculture, adapting to dramatic changes in markets and technology and surviving near-extinction before rising to new heights in the 21st century with a new generation of machines.

Led by Lee Klancher, publisher at Octane Press, a team of writers, researchers and photographers obsessed with IH tractors and their story compiled this detailed account of the tractor manufacturer and its products, from the Farmall 40 and 60 series tractors to the MXM Maxxums. With its lavish photography and original concept drawings of red tractors, the substantial volume is a loving testament "to the skill, dedication, and hard work invested by the people who created and built them," Klancher states.

Red Tractors 1958-2013

The Authoritative Guide to Farmall, International Harvester and Case IH Farm Tractors in the Modern Era by Lee Klancher, et al

Octane Press, 2013

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Review: Homegrown Honey Bees

This primer on beekeeping, composed by a man-and-wife team that kept close record of their own experiences, describes the first year of a beginner's beekeeping from planning, set-up and harvesting with loads of advice on what to expect and how to prepare.

"My husband, Mars, is a photographer and an obsessive documentarian," author Aletha Morrison explains. "During the first couple of years that we kept bees, he photographed how to install a new package of bees, light a smoker, inspect a hive, manage pests, harvest honey, and almost everything in between. We understood what beginners needed to know because we were learning ourselves at the same time."

Homegrown Honey Bees

An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping

by Alethea Morrison

Storey Publishing, 2013

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Farm and Garden Picks: Cereals and Pulses

Cereal and pulse crops are staple foods that provide essential nutrients to many populations of the world. Traditionally, whole grains were consumed but most current foods are derived from refined fractions of cereal and pulse crops. Consumption of processed or refined products may reduce the health benefits of food.

Cereals and Pulses: Nutraceutical Properties and Health Benefits provides a summary of current research findings related to phytochemical composition and properties of cereal and pulse crops.

Cereals and Pulses

Nutraceutical Properties and Health Benefits 

edited by Liangli L. Yu, et al.

Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

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New Guide to Healing Crystals

Bestselling author Judy Hall presents a comprehensive guide to more than 400 powerful healing crystals, plus information about 150 newly discovered stones in this new edition of The Encyclopedia of Crystals.

Beautifully illustrated and effortless to navigate, the 2nd Edition is organized by crystal color for easy reference, relates the colors of the crystals to the chakras, and lets you know how to cleanse and activate them.

The Encyclopedia of Crystals

by Judy Hall

Fair Winds Press, 2013

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Review: Charcuterie

Due to the unexpected success of the original edition of this book in 2005 and a surprising surge of interest in cooking heavily salted animal fats coupled with with authors' own continuing education in the subject, a revised and updated version of the text has been published eight years later.

Derived from French words for flesh and cooked, charcuterie - in the sense of salting, smoking, and cooking to preserve meats - has been around since the dawn of mankind, the authors point out. "It has been carried on in many forms through virtually every culture, and it has been one of the foundations of human survival in that it allowed societies to maintain a food surplus and therefor helped turn early peoples from nomads into clusters of homebodies...

"Historians have suggested that our ancestors first discovered cooked food in the form of animals that had perished in forest fires, and then began to cook food on purpose. Regardless of how they discovered cooking, they surely realized that cooking made food not only taste good but last longer as well."

Charcuterie

The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

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Reading the History of... A President in Yellowstone

For three weeks in August of 1883 the first sitting president to visit Yellowstone National Park, Chester Arthur, made an ambitious 330-mile overland trip from Green River, Wyoming, north to Mammoth Hot Springs with a 75-man military escort led by General Philip Sheridan.

It was the longest and most unusual vacation ever taken by a sitting President. The traveling party included Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of Abraham Lincoln, who commemorated the trip with a leather-bound album of photographs taken on the journey by a young photographer, F. Jay Haynes, along with the dispatches describing the President’s activities which were sent to the Associated Press.

This volume reprints much of that album, of which only six copies were ever made, and publishes more of Haynes' 130-year-old photographs of Yellowstone National Park and the President's party.

A President in Yellowstone

The F. Jay Haynes Photographic Album of Chester

Arthur's 1883 Expedition

by Frank H. Goodyear III

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Reading the History of... The Drunken Botanist

Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet?

In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.

The Drunken Botanist

The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks

by Amy Stewart 

Algonquin Books, 2013

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Farm and Garden Picks: Lobsters

This expanded and fully updated second edition of the most comprehensive and successful book on lobsters, comprises contributions from many of the world’s experts, each providing core information for all those working in lobster biology, fisheries research and management and lobster aquaculture.

The second edition of Lobsters: Biology, Management, Fisheries and Aquaculture delivers exhaustive coverage of these fascinating creatures, stretching from growth and development to management and conservation.

Lobsters

Biology, Management, Aquaculture and Fisheries

by Bruce Phillips

Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

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Reading the History of... Snake Country Expedition

Largely the story of fur traders Donald Mackenzie and Alexander Ross, who led the earliest fur trapping expeditions into the Snake River Country of present-day Idaho and Montana on behalf of the North West Company in the 1820s, this history also analyzes the legal, institutional, and commerce-related forces driving the North American fur trade of the early 19th century.

Details about the expeditions was provided primarily by Ross, a conscientious chronicler, who recorded Mackenzie's trailblazing expeditions of 1821-23 as well as the difficult 1824 expedition that he led.

"His journals provide the first account there is of daily happenings in the Snake country," historian John Phillip Reid points out. "The most compelling reason Ross and other leaders of the earliest Snake expedition kept journals was to furnish guidance to future trapping parties and inform them of problems, dangers, and places to avoid."

Forging a Fur Empire

Expeditions in the Snake River Country,

1809-1824

by John Phillip Reid

The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2011

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Review: Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z

The toys and games described in this watercolor-illustrated children's picture book are authentic 19th century pastimes enjoyed by youngsters growing up in America's Appalachia Mountains.

Ranging from apple dolls (a wrinkled toy molded from Rome apples) to whimmydiddles (a toy carved by young boys on a stick with a spinner), author Linda Hager Pack provides an alphabetical sampling of traditional games, toys, and songs depicting playtime in 19th century Appalachia. The book describes familiar toys like marbles, slingshots and pick-up-sticks along with lesser-known toys such as limberjacks, Tom Walkers, and buzz buttons.

A native Appalachian, Pack is a veteran educator who has taught college-level courses in children's literature. Her text is accompanied by the artwork of master watercolorist Pat Banks.

Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z

by Linda Hager Pack

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Review: Growing Camellias in Cold Climates

Based on the author's decades of research and breeding experience, this book details the cultural practices necessary for growing camellias in northern climates. It names and profiles cultivars that have proven themselves cold hardy across many seasons.

"The primary purpose of Growing Camellias in Cold Climates is to present the advantages (there are some) and the challenges encountered by the northern gardener," Ackerman explains. "These emphasize striking differences as compared to those followed by our southern friends."

Growing Camellias in Cold Climates

by William L. Ackerman

Noble House, 2003

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Review: Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

Here's a book to add some magic to your days with a chronological collection of spells, recipes, rituals, incantations and meditations. Each day of the year is marked with a brief essay or piece of advice along with suggested colors and incenses based on planetary influences.

April 4, for instance, is linked to the Festival of Cybele and the Roman mother goddess, Magna Mater, an arbiter of moral and ethical dilemmas.

Chandra Alexandre, Ph.D., a doctor of ministry, suggests the following Megalesian divination:

"Take a bowl of water and drop three leaves onto the surface, having formulated a question for which a yes/no response will be useful. Three leaves face us is a yes. Two leaves up and one down in a yes with qualifications.Three leaves face down is no. Two leaves down and one up is a no with qualifications.

"To ascertain the meaning or the nature of the qualifications, crumble the leaves into the water, let them settle, and drain the bowl. Look for your fullest answer in the images you find left in the remaining leaves."

Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

Holidays & Lore

by Llewellyn 

Llewellyn Publications, 2012

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Well Read Books: The Itch

"There are a thousand causes underlying a condition of itching. They can include anything from dandruff to diabetes.

"In medical discussion and articles the term pruritis is used to indicate itching. To show the low status of the word, a similar-sounding word, prurience, means lewdness in thought or desire. An "itch plant," which is found in tropical countries and which is used to make itching powder, is call mucuna pruriens.

"Why do people scratch? Some believe that the pain produced by the scratching is a mean of stopping the itching. The physiological explanation is that itching stops when pain supervenes. But the explanation lies deeper...

The Itch and what to do besides scratching

by J. I. Rodale

Rodale Books, 1971

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Now Exploring "Lake Effect"

This book offers an in-depth and personal look at a natural phenomenon shaped by geography and weather patterns and how it affects human history. A "lake-effect snow" occurs when narrow bands of clouds formed in cold, dry arctic air pass over a large, relatively warm inland lake, producing intense snowfalls lasting from a couple of minutes to two days. Such snowfalls occur famously along the Great Lakes, the Great Salt Lake, and Hudson Bay; this narrative focuses on the Great Lakes and the Buffalo area east of Lake Erie in particular.

continued in The Nature Pages

Lake Effect

Tales of Large Lakes, Arctic Winds, and Recurrent Snows

by Mark S. Monmonier

Syracuse University Press, 2012

Nature Writing and Natural Histories
Science Writing
The Nature Pages
Outrider Books

Reading the History: The Kentucky Derby

If the Super Bowl had been played in the same city each year, say a working class community like Green Bay, and still grew up to become a multi-billion-dollar spectacle attracting the world's rich and famous as well as the beer-swilling, tatooed commoners then it would be an event comparable to the Kentucky Derby, especially if you added an extra hundred years of tradition to its history.

An unabashed  thoroughbred horse enthusiast and Kentucky Derby fan, the author nevertheless provides a straightforward history and honest assessment of the event and its evolution.

The book follows the progress of the Derby through the decades as it broke away from a pack of other races to become America’s premier thoroughbred event.

The Kentucky Derby

How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event

by James C. Nicholson

The University Press of Kentucky, 2012

Kentucky Derby
Book Store
History and American West Titles
Outrider Reading Group

Denali National Park

The second edition of this guidebook updates and reorganizes a first edition published ten years ago by the defunct Alaska Northwest Books and now long out of print. It provides detailed information on the history of the region and advice on exploring by foot, train, car, bus, boat or even sled dog team.

Continued in The Nature Pages

Denali National Park

The Complete Visitors Guide to the Mountain, Wildlife, and Year-Round

Outdoor Activities

by Bill Sherwonit

Mountaineers Books, 2013

Outrider Books
Outrider Reading Group
The Nature Pages
Guidebooks
Artwork: Remote Ruth Gorge, Denali National Park, Alaska

Weird Life

As a consequence of space exploration and the realization that life on other planets might be very different from what we are used to, scientists in recent decades have improbably discovered bizarre life forms here at home in places previously deemed uninhabitable.

This book provides a bestiary of weird creatures, both real and imagined, and describes the science behind their existence.

Weird Life
The Search for Life That Is Very, Very Different from Our Own
by David M. Toomey
W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

Out There: Scouting the Frontiers of Science
Out There: Extreme Sucking Up
Artwork: O'opu Nopili
Science and Technology Books
The Nature Pages

Dark

Until that moment, Silas had thought he knew what dark was-the simple absence of light. He thought that he understood it. He even thought that he had experienced it before. But as he rounded the first riser of stairs and continued up, step by step, he and darkness were forced into new intimacy. He came to understand that darkness was not just a lack but a thing, that it possessed mass, that it can be felt on your skin, that it can be a burden you carry. 

He knew then, with a certainty he could feel in his bones, exactly what had motivated his ancient ancestors when they first gathered around that very thing that the rest of creation fled from. It hadn't been to cook, or to harden spear points. Those things had come later. Heat was just a collateral benefit. Man had mastered fire simply to push the darkness away.

The Games

by Ted Kosmatka

Del Rey, 2013

• Book Store
• Novels and Other Fiction
• Gamesmanship

New Stokes Birding Guide

Available in Eastern and Western volumes, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds features over 4,600 North American bird species with stunning color photographs.

Each guide includes:

* the newest scientific and common names and phylogenetic order
* special help for identifying birds in flight through important clues of behavior, plumage, and shape
* detailed descriptions of songs and calls
* important behavioral information and key habitat preferences
* the newest range maps, detailing species' winter, summer, year-round ranges, and migration routes

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

by Donald Stokes and Lillian Stokes

Little, Brown and Company, 2013

• Guidebooks and How-to Titles
• Birdfeeders, Birdhouses, Bat and Ladybug Houses 
• Outrider Reading Group
• The Nature Pages

New Guide to Kentucky BBQ

Kentucky's culinary fame may have been built on bourbon and fried chicken, but the Commonwealth has much to offer the barbecue enthusiast.

The Kentucky Barbecue Book is a feast for readers who are eager to sample the finest fare in the state.

From the banks of the Mississippi to the hidden hollows of the Appalachian Mountains, author and barbecue enthusiast Wes Berry hit the trail in search of the best smoke, the best flavor, and the best pitmasters he could find. This handy guide presents the most succulent menus and colorful personalities in Kentucky.

While other states are better known for their 'cue, the Kentucky style is distinct because of its use of mutton and traditional cooking methods. Many of the establishments featured in this book are dedicated to the time-honored craft of cooking over hot hardwood coals inside cinderblock pits. Time intensive and dangerous, these traditions are disappearing as methods requiring less manpower, less wood, and less skill gain ground. Pick up a copy of this book and hit the road before these great places are gone.

The Kentucky Barbecue Book
by Wes Berry
The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

Guidebooks and How-to Titles
Outdoor Cooking Supplies
Barbecue Sauce
Outrider Reading Group

Reading the History: The Age of Edison

University of Tennessee historian Ernest Freeberg recounts the story of Thomas Edison’s light bulb invention and how it revolutionized the world, illuminating cities and expanding workdays, invigorating new industries and changing the way people the world over live their lives.

It is also the story of how Edison single-handedly (and this may be his greatest invention) came up with a new style of inventing, using a coordinated program of scientific research and product development that systematically solves problems and pragmatically develops products to market.

While Edison is credited with inventing the incandescent light bulb, this book makes clear that it was a collective achievement. Edison and his fellow inventors created a technology with transformative applications far beyond their dreams, from billboards and night clubs and amusement parks to hospitals and highways and factories.

Freeberg's history helps us imagine a time, not so long ago, when "a light to hold the night at bay" was an awesome wonder, offering "liberation from one of the primordial limits imposed by nature on the human will."

The Age of Edison
Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America
by Ernest Freeberg
Penguin Press, 2013

Artwork: Thomas Edison with the first light bulbs

Out of the Past
History and American West Titles
Outrider Reading Group
Outrider Books