Outdoors & Nature

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of a dramatic year in Virginia's Blue Ridge valley. Annie Dillard sets out to see what she can see. What she sees are astonishing incidents of "mystery, death, beauty, violence."

Price: $7.24

Ecotopia

A novel both timely and prophetic, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia is a hopeful antidote to the environmental concerns of today, set in an ecologically sound future society. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as the “newest name after Wells, Verne, Huxley, and Orwell,” Callenbach offers a visionary blueprint for the survival of our planet . . . and our future.

Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.

Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.

Price: $6.50

Animals in Translation Using the Mysteries of Autism to ...

How is Animals in Translation different from every other animal book ever published?Animals in Translation is like no other animal book because of Temple Grandin. As an animal scientist and a person with autism, her professional training and personal history have created a perspective like no other thinker in the field, and this is her exciting, groundbreaking view of the intersection of autism and animal.Unlike other well-known writers in the field of animal behavior - When Elephants Weep by psychoanalyst Jeffrey Moussaleff Masson, How Dogs Think by psychologist and dog trainer Stanley Coren, and The Hidden Life of Dogs by anthropologist Elizabeth Marsha Thomas - Temple Grandin is an animal scientist who has devoted the last 30 years of her life to the study of animals. Animals in Translation is the culmination of that life's work - a book whose sweep is huge, including just about anything that gallops, trots, slithers, walks, or flies.Temple Grandin is like no other author on the subject of animals because of her training and because of her autism; understanding animals is in her blood and her bones. Animals in Translation ... * redefines consciousness and argues that language is not a requirement for consciousness * categorizes autism as a way station on the road from animals to humans * explores the "Interpreter" in the normal human brain that filters out detail, creating an unintentional blindness that animals and autistics do not suffer from * applies the autism theory of "hyper-specificity' to animals, meaning that there is no forest, only trees, trees, and more trees * argues that the single worst thing you can do to an animal is make it feel afraid * examines how humans and animals use their emotions, including to predict the future * compares animals to autistic savants, in fact declaring that animals may be autistic savants, with special forms of genius that normal people cannot see * explains that most animals have "super-human" skills: animals have animal genius * reveals the abilities handicapped people, and animals, have that normal people don't
Price: $17.93

The Bond Our Kinship with Animals Our Call to Defend Them

A fascinating exploration of humanity's eternal bond with animals, and an urgent call to answer the needs of millions of at-risk creatures

A landmark work, The Bond is the passionate, insightful, and comprehensive examination of our special connection to all creatures, written by one of America's most important champions of animal welfare. Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States, unveils the deep links of the human-animal bond, as well as the conflicting impulses that have led us to betray this bond through widespread and systemic cruelty to animals.

Pacelle begins by exploring the biological and historical underpinnings of the human-animal bond and reveals our newfound understanding of animals, including their remarkable emotional and cognitive capacities. In the book's second section, Pacelle shows how the bond has been disastrously broken. He takes readers to a slaughter plant shuttered for inhumane practices, as well as the enormous egg factory farms of California. We visit Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas to speak with NFL star Michael Vick, then serving his sentence for dogfighting. Pacelle paints a portrait of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and highlights the heroic actions of residents and volunteers to reunite pets with their owners. Pacelle's narrative also leads the reader to remote locations in which conflicts over the killing of wildlife continue to play out—from the fields outside of Yellowstone National Park where bison are slaughtered with the encouragement of federal authorities, to the ice floes of Atlantic Canada where seal nurseries turn into killing fields.

In its final section, The Bond takes on the arguments of opponents and critics of animal protection and spotlights the groups and industries standing in the way of progress—from the National Rifle Association and agribusiness organizations like the American Farm Bureau, to surprising adversaries like the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Kennel Club. Ultimately, Pacelle points the way to a new, humane economy—one not built on extraction, suffering, and killing, but on the celebration, stewardship, and care of animals.

An eye-opening must-read, The Bond reminds us that animals are at the center of our lives, they are not just a backdrop. How we treat them is one of the great themes of the human story.

Price: $8.57

The Nature Principle Human Restoration and the End of ...

The immediacy of Richard Louv’s message in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder galvanized an international movement to reconnect children with nature. Now, in The Nature Principle, Louv reaches even further with a powerful call to action for the rest of us.

Our society, says Louv, has developed such an outsized faith in technology that we have yet to fully realize or even adequately study how human capacities are enhanced through the power of nature. Supported by groundbreaking research, anecdotal evidence, and compelling personal stories, Louv shows us how tapping into the restorative powers of the natural world can boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds. As he says in his introduction, The Nature Principle is “about the power of living in nature—not with it, but in it. We are entering the most creative period in history. The twenty-first century will be the century of human restoration in the natural world.”

Richard Louv makes a convincing case that through a nature-balanced existence—driven by sound economic, social, and environmental solutions—the human race can and will thrive. This timely, inspiring, and important work will give readers renewed hope while challenging them to rethink the way we live.

Price: $6.23

Wildwood Wisdom

This historical guide, originally written in 1945, includes information on making fires, canoeing, using axes and knives, and crafting shelters from hand-gathered materials. Readers also learn about clothing, gear, and useful plants. This book also is an account of life in the 1800s, when survival in the wild depended on one's skill and ingenuity.
Price: $9.45

The Total Outdoorsman Manual Field & Stream

With practical information for both the beginner and advanced outdoorsman, the book is an authoritative, comprehensive, and entertaining guide that will enable anyone to master the outdoors and hunt, fish, and camp like an expert.

HUNT BETTER How to track a buck, make the toughest shots, master bowhunting and knife skills, and haul, butcher, and cook wild game.

FISH SMARTER Advice on the best techniques for flyfishing, baitcasting, and spinning, as well as surefire ways to get the most out of your motorboat, canoe, or kayak.

SURVIVE ANYTHING Whether you fall through thick ice, are swept away by a raging river, or have a stare down with an angry bear, these skills means the difference between life and death.

CAMP ANYWHERE Tested and proven expert tips to help you stay warm, eat well, and build a fire in any situation in record time.

Field & Stream For more than 100 years, Field & Stream magazine has provided expert advice on every aspect of the outdoor life, including hunting, fishing, conservation, and wilderness survival. The magazine's annual Total Outdoorsman issue is one of its most popular, read by over nine million sporting enthusiasts.

The Total Outdoorsman Challenge brings together avid hunters and anglers from around the country to demonstrate their skills and compete for big bucks and bigger glory. Winners are all-around hunters, fishermen, and survivors with a flair for problem-solving and the skills to prevail.

Price: $14.19

The Foxfire Book Hog Dressing Log Cabin Building Mountain ...

In the late 1960s, Eliot Wigginton and his students created the magazine Foxfire in an effort to record and preserve the traditional folk culture of the Southern Appalachians. This is the original book compilation of Foxfire material which introduces Aunt Arie and her contemporaries and includes log cabin building, hog dressing, snake lore, mountain crafts and food, and "other affairs of plain living."
Price: $10.45

The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America Stokes ...

The culmination of many years of research, observation, and study, the new STOKES FIELD GUIDE includes more species, more photographs, and more useful identification information than any other photographic field guide.

The guide features 853 North American bird species and more than 3,400 stunning color photographs. And yet it's portable enough to fit in your pocket!

The photographs cover all significant plumages, including male, female, summer, winter, immature, morphs, important subspecies, and birds in flight. Also included
* 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;
* key habitat preferences of each species; and
* the newest range maps, detailing species' winter, summer, year-round ranges, and migration routes.
* a special downloadable CD with more than 600 bird sounds (from Lang Elliott and Kevin Colver) and 150 photographs: the calls and songs of 150 common North American species.
Price: $13.38

The Beekeeper's Bible Bees Honey Recipes & Other Home Uses

The Beekeeper’s Bible is as much an ultimate guide to the practical essentials of beekeeping as it is a beautiful almanac to be read from cover to cover. Part history book, part handbook, and part cookbook, this illustrated tome covers every facet of the ancient hobby of beekeeping, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one's own honey, and ideas for how to use honey and beeswax. Detailed instructions for making candles, furniture polish, beauty products, and nearly 100 honey-themed recipes are included. Fully illustrated with how-to photography and unique etchings, any backyard enthusiast or gardener can confidently dive into beekeeping with this book in hand (or daydream about harvesting their own honey while relaxing in the comfort of an armchair).

Praise for The Beekeeper's Bible:

"Jones and Sweeney-Lynch explain the science and society of bees in clear, accessible language. And the recipes are admirably useful: honey scones, honey soap, honey hangover cures. 'Oh, stuff and fluff,' as Pooh might say. Dip a paw into this richly satisfying volume and you won't have to do stoutness exercises."
 -The New York Times 

“Lip-smackin’ throughout, The Beekeeper's Bible is, at its heart, a glorious invitation into the depths of the honeybee hive.” —Chicago Tribune

“An amazing compendium of information, lore, facts, tips, techniques, and benefits of having bees in your life—whether you choose to keep a hive yourself, enjoy the by-products, or just appreciate these wonderful creatures for all that they contribute to our human ecosystem.”

—About.com

Price: $21.08