Review: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey (Amazon / Book Depository) Twilight vanishes the hills into the mountains; then all is lost to the dark. Elisabeth Tova Bailey was at the end of a vacation, staying at a hotel in an Alpine village, when she started to feel ill. Her... Continue Reading →
Sweet, Funny, Smart Takes On Life’s Wilderness
Book review: Vacationland, by John Hodgman (Amazon / Book Depository) "Nobody knows," I said, meaning at least one person does not know, and that person is me. I didn't know anything about John Hodgman (comedian, author, Daily Show and This American Life contributor, podcaster) at all before I picked up his most recent book, a collection of essayish... Continue Reading →
A Daughter After Her Mother: Rich Storytelling of Memoir and Murder
Book review: After the Eclipse, by Sarah Perry Amazon She believed in the souls of housecats and in the melancholy of rainy days. She believed in hard work, and the energy she poured into her job -- hand-sewing shoes at a factory -- seemed boundless...She was terrified of birds, at close range, and moths, at any... Continue Reading →
Do You Ever Just Want to Be Left Alone?
Book review: The Stranger in the Woods, by Michael Finkel (Amazon / Book Depository) "How long," she asks, "have you been living in the woods?" "Decades," he says. Vance would prefer something more specific. "Since what year?" she presses. Once more with the years. He has made the decision to talk, and it's important to him to... Continue Reading →