Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Big Read Catch-up: Books Read April 2014

Nonfiction

Audubon Nature Encyclopedia, volumes 7 and 8
The Golden Treasury of Knowledge, volumes 3 - 7

The Clockwork Universe (Edward Dolnick)
Science history focused on Isaac Newton et al; started well but dragged on a bit too long.

Crow Planet (Lyanda Lynn Haupt)
Excellent essays on human-nature interaction with an emphasis on birds.

Darwin’s Lost World (Martin Brasier)
Science history focused on fossils and the search for the earliest evidence of life on Earth.

Dawn Light (Diane Ackerman)
Often lyrical essays on nature.

Fiction

The Daffodil Affair (Michael Innes)
The Weight of the Evidence (Michael Innes)
Classic British mysteries.

The Four Graces (D.E. Stevenson)
Light-hearted tale of four young sisters (British, written in 1946).

Poisoned Pins (Joan Hess)
Contemporary humorous mystery.

The Rescuers (Margery Sharp)
Middle-grade fantasy novel subsequently made into a Disney movie that bears little resemblance to the book; about a trio of mice who set out to rescue a poet (human) from prison.

Wildwood (Colin Meloy)
Middle-grade fantasy about several different communities of magical beings dwelling in a wood bordering Portland, Oregon which only certain people can enter, including the human heroine Pru, who sets out to rescue her young brother.  Promising start marred by weak characterization, lack of internal logic, and overemphasis on action.

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