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Recommendations based on Arctic Dreamsby Barry Lopez
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
by Aldo Leopold
A reflection on nature, paying homage to the beauty of the Wisconsin countryside.
First published in 1949, A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America's relationship to the land. Written ... (Goodreads)
Desert Solitaire
by Edward Abbey
A personal account of a season spent as a park ranger in the American wilderness.
First published in 1968, Desert Solitaire is one of Edward Abbey’s most critically acclaimed works and marks his first foray into the world of nonfiction writing. Written while Abbey was working as a ... (Goodreads)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
by Annie Dillard
A reflective journey through nature, exploring the mysteries of the natural world.
An exhilarating meditation on nature and its seasons—a personal narrative highlighting one year's exploration on foot in the author's own neighborhood in Tinker Creek, Virginia. In the summer, ... (Goodreads)
Blue Highways
by William Least Heat-Moon
A pilgrimage across America, exploring the people, places and stories of small towns.
Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing,, Blue Highways, is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads. William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put ... (Goodreads)
Silent Spring
by Rachel Carson
Expose of the environmental damage caused by the widespread use of chemical pesticides.
Silent Spring is an environmental science book. The book documents the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading ... (Goodreads)
The Songlines
by Bruce Chatwin
A mix of travelogue, memoir, and fiction exploring the Aboriginal concept of songlines and their connection to the land.
In this extraordinary book, Bruce Chatwin has adapted a literary form common until the eighteenth century though rare in ours; a story of ideas in which two companions, traveling and talking ... (Goodreads)
The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
A spiritual journey to the Himalayas, seeking to observe a rare snow leopard.
When Matthiessen went to Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and, possibly, to glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard, he undertook his five-week trek as winter snows were sweeping into the ... (Goodreads)
The Year of Magical Thinking
by Joan Didion
A woman's reflections on life and death after the sudden loss of her husband.
'An act of consummate literary bravery, a writer known for her clarity allowing us to watch her mind as it becomes clouded with grief.' From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of ... (Goodreads)
Notes of a Native Son
by James Baldwin
A collection of essays exploring the complexities of race, identity, and society in America through the lens of Baldwin's personal experiences.
Since its original publication in 1955, this first nonfiction collection of essays by James Baldwin remains an American classic. His impassioned essays on life in Harlem, the protest novel, movies, ... (Goodreads)
The Road from Coorain
by Jill Ker Conway
Autobiography of a young woman growing up in the Australian Outback.
Jill Ker Conway tells the story of her astonishing journey into adulthood—a journey that would ultimately span immense distances and encompass worlds, ideas, and ways of life that seem a century ... (Goodreads)
Drinking: A Love Story
by Caroline Knapp
A memoir of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's relationship with alcohol and the impact it had on her life.
The roots of alcoholism in the life of a brilliant daughter of an upper-class family are explored in this stylistic, literary memoir of drinking by a Massachusetts journalist. Caroline Knapp ... (Goodreads)
Personal History
by Katharine Graham
A memoir recounting the life and career of a pioneering female journalist and business leader.
In lieu of an unrevealing Famous-People-I-Have-Known autobiography, the owner of the Washington Post has chosen to be remarkably candid about the insecurities prompted by remote parents and a ... (Goodreads)
Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A letter to his son, exploring the realities of racism in America.
“This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American ... (Goodreads)
Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains
by Jon Krakauer
A collection of mountaineering stories, exploring the experiences of climbers and the beauty of the mountains.
No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant victories and hardships more brilliantly than Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest essays and reporting, Krakauer writes of mountains ... (Goodreads)
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
by Masha Gessen
A biography of Vladimir Putin, tracing his rise to power and the political landscape of modern Russia.
The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low- level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and ... (Goodreads)
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
Argument for a return to traditional diets and away from processed, industrialized food.
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma , launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan ... (Goodreads)
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
An exploration of the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature, utilizing both Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge.
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals ... (Goodreads)
Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback
by Robyn Davidson
A woman's journey of self-discovery, solo-trekking through Australia's Outback.
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Robyn Davidson's opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company with the ... (Goodreads)
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
by James McBride
A memoir of a black man's journey to understand his white mother's past and how it shaped his own identity.
Touches readers of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up, a haunting meditation on race and identity, and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son. Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A ... (Goodreads)
This Boy's Life
by Tobias Wolff
A young man's memoir of his tumultuous childhood and his struggle to overcome obstacles.
In the 1950s, nomadic and flaky Caroline Wolff wants to settle down and find a decent man to provide a better home for herself and her son, Tobias "Toby" Wolff. She moves to Seattle, Washington and ... (Wikipedia)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
by Joan Didion
Collection of essays exploring the cultural landscape of 1960s America.
The first nonfiction work by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era, Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem remains, decades after its first publication, the essential portrait of ... (Goodreads)
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
A reflective journey into nature, exploring the power of contemplation and simplicity.
Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and ... (Goodreads)
Autobiography of a Face
by Lucy Grealy
A memoir about facing physical deformity and the psychological effects of being ostracized.
The prologue introduces the reader to Lucy's struggle with self-image. She describes her work at the stable Diamond D, which was her first job after finishing chemotherapy. Through this first ... (Wikipedia)
NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
by Steve Silberman
Explores the history, science, and personal stories of autism.
Going back to the earliest days of autism research and chronicling the brave and lonely journey of autistic people and their families through the decades, Silberman provides long-sought solutions to ... (Goodreads)
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver Sacks
A collection of case studies, illustrating extraordinary neurological phenomena.
If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the ... (Goodreads)
The Seven Storey Mountain
by Thomas Merton
Autobiography of a man's journey from a privileged upbringing to becoming a Trappist monk. A spiritual classic.
One of the most famous books ever written about a man’s search for faith and peace. The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age ... (Goodreads)
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
by Arlie Russell Hochschild
An exploration of the deep story of the American Right, uncovering the feelings and motivations that drive it.
In Strangers in Their Own Land , the renowned sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou ... (Goodreads)
Speak, Memory
by Vladimir Nabokov
Autobiographical journey exploring the intimate memories of author's past.
This is an older alternate cover edition for ISBN 0141183225/ 9780141183220. A newer edition may be found here . From one of the 20th century's great writers comes one of the finest autobiographies ... (Goodreads)
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
Re-examination of the pre-Columbian Americas, uncovering new evidence of its history.
In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.,Contrary to what so many ... (Goodreads)
Just Kids
by Patti Smith
Chronicles of two young artists in New York City, finding friendship and inspiration in each other.
In Just Kids , Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal ... (Goodreads)
