Contemporary

pH: a Novel, Nancy Lord

Coming September 2017: Nancy Lord is an entrancing naturalist writer and a captivating storyteller whose factual knowledge of her beloved Alaska is impeccable. So fascinating to see how she weaves a fictional tale to remind us of the ecological and cultural issues we face on this planet. –Jean-Michel Cousteau, Founder […]

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The Coyote Hunter of Aquidneck Island, James Conroy

James Conroy, a popular novelist, moved to Newport in the summer of 2010. The coyote issue was getting notice, sporadically, in the local press. This month, with the publication of “The Coyote Hunter of Aquidneck Island,” Conroy’s fictionalized account of Middletown’s solution to the dilemma may get some press attention […]

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Fragment, Craig Russell

When avalanching glaciers thrust a massive Antarctic ice sheet into the open ocean, the captain of an atomic submarine must risk his vessel to rescue the survivors of a smashed polar research station; in Washington the President’s top advisor scrambles to spin the disaster to suit his master’s political aims; […]

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The Sunken Cathedral, Kate Walbert

From the National Book Award nominee and author of the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling A Short History of Women, a deeply moving, “lyrical, ominous, and unexpectedly funny” (Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers) novel that follows a cast of characters as they negotiate one of Manhattan’s swiftly changing neighborhoods, […]

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Oink. A Food for Thought Mystery, JL Newton

Thanks to the author, who told me that her new novel “engages with many environmental themes and tries to enlarge the meaning of ‘deep ecology.’” More from JL Newton My novel, Oink. A Food for Thought Mystery, is a sly send up of universities in general for their ever increasing […]

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The Beach House, Mary Alice Monroe

Though this eco-fiction novel was published in 2006, according to Home Town Station, Mary Alice Monroe’s novel The Beach House will be adapted into a Hallmark Channel Original Movie, starring three-time Golden Globe nominee Andie MacDowell and premiering exclusively on the network in 2017. Monroe’s novel The Butterfly’s Daughter also won […]

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Orkney, Amy Sackville

Orkney, the second novel from young British writer Amy Sackville, is certainly evocative: poetic, lyrical, lush in texture. But while this is its strength, the line between beautifully written and over-written is a fine one. –The Independent This is lovely: a beautifully painted story of love, obsession and loss, set […]

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Clay, Melissa Harrison

An interesting novel about loneliness and our disconnection from nature. It centres on a run down city park and four main characters whose lives intersect through their use of the park. -Goodreads (Catherine, reviewer) Goodreads Reviews Back to Goodreads

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We Are But a Moment, Ulrich Baer

Philosophical rather than prescriptive, We Are But A Moment explores how we live and die in the 21st century, what we consume, how we inhabit our world, and whether we can all live, and love, in the future. Goodreads Reviews Back to Goodreads

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All the Birds, Singing–Evie Wyld

From one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, a stunningly insightful, emotionally powerful new novel about an outsider haunted by an inescapable past: a story of loneliness and survival, guilt and loss, and the power of forgiveness. Goodreads Reviews Back to Goodreads

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What Remains, Angie Abdou

“I was going to write a typical ghost story but it will be more about the way we are haunted by our ancestors mistakes – environmental and genocidal,” said Abdou. “I’ve been collaborating with the Ktunaxa to get to use their name and their language. That’s been very interesting.” Abdou’s […]

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Black Wave, Michelle Tea

It’s 1999 in San Francisco, and as shockwaves of gentrification sweep through Michelle’s formerly scruffy neighborhood, money troubles, drug-fueled mishaps, and a string of disastrous affairs send her into a tailspin. Desperate to save herself, Michelle sets out to seek a fresh start in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, climate-related disruptions and […]

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The Promise of Pierson Orchard, Kate Brandes

Green Energy arrives, offering the rural community of Minden the dream of making more money from their land by leasing natural gas rights for drilling. But orchardist, Jack Pierson, fears his brother, Wade, who now works for Green Energy, has returned to town after a twenty-year absence so desperate to […]

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Martin Marten, Brian Doyle

Lake Oswego author Brian Doyle has been selected as the winner of the 2017 John Burroughs Medal for distinguished nature writing for his book “Martin Marten,” the University of Portland announced Thursday. …For “Martin Marten,” Doyle closely observed the ways and habitats of pine martens and their relatives in the […]

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Piano Tide, Kathleen Dean Moore

“For a long time I’ve been writing books and speeches and harangues about stopping climate change and extinctions, and it’s all been very abstract, and I’ve been saying really abstract things like ‘stand strong against the corporate plunder of the planet,’” Moore said. “And it seemed to me I really […]

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