Described as “new nature writing,” The Spectator describes Cynan Jones’ new novel as “…an unforgettable adventure. The story of his Crusoe-like hero, adrift on the ocean and reborn after a lightning strike, makes for a wildly rewarding and utterly exhilarating read.” Out at sea, in a sudden storm, a man […]
Read MoreAll
Paradise Lost, John Milton
It’s been a while since I have had time to write a new Discover book feature. Partly it is just that this eco-fiction project is entirely voluntary. I also work full-time (in an engaging career) and run a small book publishing company. I want to thank a reader named Dylan […]
Read MoreParadise Lost
Author: John Milton License: In the public domain. February 1992 Project Gutenberg release. Original Publication Date: 1667 Excerpt from Book V His wonder was to find unwakened Eve With tresses discomposed, and glowing cheek, As through unquiet rest: He, on his side Leaning half raised, with looks of cordial love […]
Read MoreOnly the Animals, Ceridwen Dovey
Ten tales are told by the souls of animals killed in human conflicts in the past century or so, from a camel in colonial Australia to a cat in the trenches in World War I, from a bear starved to death during the siege of Sarajevo to a mussel that […]
Read MoreAll 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
Read MoreThe Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood
Another Australian author, Charlotte Wood, does not shy away from ecological themes in her critically acclaimed text The Natural Way of Things. A novel that provokes anger, unease and repulsion, among other mixed emotions, this work of what some would call horror (although not of the supernatural kind) is based […]
Read MoreBirder Murder Mystery Series, Steve Burrows
Steve Burrows has travelled the world on birdwatching adventures. He’s turned his passion into an award-winning crime series. His latest, A Shimmer of Hummingbirds, takes police inspector Domenic Jejeune on a birding trip to the rainforest, where he hopes to uncover clues about his fugitive brother’s manslaughter case. –CBC Books […]
Read MoreRokit, Loranne Vella
On one hand it’s [Rokit] about travelling back to one’s roots. Petrel’s grandmother was Maltese, so he leaves Croatia, where he’s been living for the past seven years, to learn more about her country. It is also about the fragmentation of Europe – Petrel is travelling at a time when […]
Read MoreWhat 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 […]
Read MoreBlack 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 […]
Read MoreSplinterlands, John Feffer
Part Field Notes from a Catastrophe, part 1984, part World War Z, John Feffer’s striking new dystopian novel, takes us deep into the battered, shattered world of 2050. The European Union has broken apart. Multiethnic great powers like Russia and China have shriveled. America’s global military footprint has virtually disappeared […]
Read MoreCities of Salt, Abdul Rahman Munif
Translated by Peter Theroux. Set in an unnamed Persian Gulf kingdom in the 1930s, this remarkable novel tells the story of the disruption and diaspora of a poor oasis community following the discovery of oil there. The meeting of the Arabs and the Americans who, in essence, colonize the remote […]
Read MoreThe 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 […]
Read MoreMartin 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 […]
Read MoreProject Earth Series, Brenda Cooper
Two sisters, Matty and Elena Bela, who live in the megacity of Seacouver, are orphaned when they are teenagers. Elena goes to work on one of the re-wilding crews, restoring lands once managed by humans but now being returned to more wild places. Matty stays in Seacouver where her every […]
Read More