The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life
by Helen Whybrow

In the heart of Vermont's Green Mountains, Helen Whybrow and her partner set out to restore an old two-hundred-acre farm. Knowing that belonging more than anything requires participation, they begin to intertwine their lives with the land. But soon after releasing a flock of Icelandic sheep onto the worn-out fields, Whybrow realizes that the art of shepherding extends far beyond the flock and fences of Knoll Farm. In prose both vivid and lean, The Salt Stones offers an intimate and profoundly moving story of what it means to care for a flock and truly inhabit a piece of land. Exploring the interdependence of animals, as well as of the earth and ourselves, Whybrow reflects on the ways sheep connect her to place and to the ancient practice of shepherding.

Bird School: A Beginner in the Wood
by Adam Nicolson

Bird School describes and follows Adam Nicolson's progress over two or three years in trying to learn about, and eventually to create an environment friendly to, the birds of the farm where he lives in Sussex. In simple language that evinces his careful observational prowess, Nicolson aims to cross the boundary between the scientific and the prescientific understanding of birds, looking into why and how they sing, how they fly and breed, how they survive and migrate, how they have suffered at our hands, how we have loved them and damaged them, and how we might create, or re-create, a refuge for them. Here is a set of lessons for someone who knows little but cares a lot about the living world that is in such dire crisis. Here is life in the "rough grounds," on the edge of culture and nature.

It's Not That Radical: Climate Action to Transform Our World
by Mikaela Loach

For too long, representations of climate action in the mainstream media have been white-washed, green-washed and diluted to be made compatible with capitalism. Here, Loach addresses head-on the issues at the root of the climate crisis. As Loach shows, we are living in an economic system which pursues profit above all else; harmful, oppressive systems that heavily contribute to the climate crisis, and environmental consequences that have been toned down to the masses. Tackling the climate crisis requires us to visit the roots of poverty, capitalist exploitation, police brutality, and legal injustice. Climate justice offers the real possibility of huge leaps towards racial equality and collective liberation as it aims to dismantle the very foundations of these issues. Written with candor and hope, It's Not That Radical will galvanize readers to take action, offering a practical and transformative appraisal of our circumstances to help mobilize a majority for the future of our planet.

The Genius Bat: The Secret Life of the Only Flying Mammal
by Yossi Yovel

The most successful and most diverse group of mammals, bats come in different sizes, shapes, and colors, from the tiny bumblebee bat to the giant golden-crowned flying fox. Some bats eat fruit and nectar; others eat frogs, scorpions, or fish. Vampire bats feed on blood. Bats are the only mammals that can fly; their fingers have elongated through evolution to become wings with a unique, super-flexible skin membrane stretched between them. Their robust immune system is one of the reasons for their extreme longevity. A tiny bat can live for forty years. Yossi Yovel, an ecologist and a neurobiologist, is passionate about deciphering the secrets of bats, including using AI to decipher their communication.

Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
by Susana Monsó

When the opossum feels threatened, she becomes paralyzed. Her body temperature plummets, her breathing and heart rates drop to a minimum, and her glands simulate the smell of a putrefying corpse. Playing Possum explores what the opossum and other creatures can teach us about how we and other species understand mortality, and demonstrates that the concept of death, far from being a uniquely human attribute, is widespread in the animal kingdom. Monsó, one of today's leading experts on animal cognition and ethics, shows how there are more ways to conceive of mortality than the human way, and challenges the notion that the only emotional reactions to death worthy of our attention are ones that resemble our own.

Surviving Climate Anxiety: A Guide to Coping, Healing, and Thriving
by Thomas Doherty

With climate disasters mounting and solutions feeling ever more elusive, eco-anxiety is rapidly becoming one of the biggest mental health threats of our time. Surviving Climate Anxiety is the essential guide to coping with the psychological impacts of persistent environmental crisis.--Provided by publisher.

The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life by Arthur C. Brooks
by Arthur C. Brooks

Imagine if your life were a startup. How would you lead it and shape it to be most successful? That's the question behind this rich selection of enlightening and instructive essays by Arthur C. Brooks, known worldwide for his inspiring yet practical wisdom and advice in his weekly column for The Atlantic. The simple answer, as Brooks wisely explains, is to manage your life in a way that leads to truly valuable rewards: love, enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning—in other words, happiness.

How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time
by Amy Larocca

Peloton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashwagandha. Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion behemoth that touches us all. In this timely and clear-eyed book, journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the wellness movement and reckons with its promises and profits. How did we get here and how did the idea of wellness become integrated with women's lives? And how did we end up spending so much money on products that may not work at all? Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions, ultimately delivering an assessment of how the wellness industry embodies our (gendered, class-based, racialized) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys on our unshakable fear of the unknown. 

Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy
by Mary Roach

The body is the most complex machine in the world, and the only one for which you cannot get a replacement part from the manufacturer. For centuries, medicine has reached for what's available. Mary Roach explores the remarkable advances and difficult questions prompted by the human body's failings. When and how does a person decide they'd be better off with a prosthetic than their existing limb? Can a donated heart be made to beat forever? Can an intestine provide a workable substitute for a vagina? Roach dives in with her characteristic verve and infectious wit.

The Parkinson's Plan: A New Path to Prevention and Treatment
by Ray Dorsey

Two doctors on the cutting edge of Parkinson's research detail the steps necessary to prevent, slow, and treat this debilitating condition. They show readers how to prevent the disease through the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the lifestyles we live. They interview twenty-five of the world's top scientists, clinicians, and thought leaders in the Parkinson's field to build a plan for prevention and treatment.

Unbreakable: A Woman's Guide to Aging with Power
by Vonda Wright

Strong skeletal muscle drives healthy longevity, yet too often women in particular neglect this important measure of fitness. Indeed, more than 70% of women experience musculoskeletal symptoms like joint pain, muscle loss, and reduced bone density as they enter perimenopause and menopause. These symptoms—what Dr. Vonda Wright refers to as the 'musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause'—can often set us up for osteoporosis, osteopenia, broken bones, increasingly limited mobility, and reduced independence later in life. Drawing on her decades of experience as a pioneering orthopedic surgeon helping women at all fitness levels to repair their bones and regain strength, Dr. Wright gives clear action steps to shield us from the timebombs of aging in four critical categories.

Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future
by Dan Wang

For close to a decade, technology analyst Dan Wang has been living through the country's astonishing, messy progress. China's towering bridges, gleaming railways, and sprawling factories have improved economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain through the society. This reality—political repression and astonishing growth—is not a paradox, but rather a feature of China's engineering mindset. In Breakneck, Wang blends political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal a provocative new framework for understanding China—one that helps us see America more clearly, too.

It Doesn't Have to Hurt: Your Smart Guide to a Pain-Free Life
by Sanjay Gupta

Are you one of the 52 million people who experience chronic pain in your day-to-day life? In It Doesn't Have to Hurt, Sanjay Gupta makes the empowering argument that there are effective options for relief that you can start practicing today to greatly reduce your chances of suffering pain tomorrow. The significance of reducing and even eliminating pain cannot be overstated. Gupta shows how pain carries an enormous amount of physical, social, and emotional baggage, which is, in part, why it has been so hard to treat, and too often ignored. It can also present in infinite ways. Yet both patients and practitioners labor under the mistaken idea that most pain problems can be fixed with a drug or procedure. It turns out we have tremendous agency in choosing how we'll respond.

Our next discussion:
Thursday, January 15, 6:30 pm
Library Conference Room on Lower Level
If you're a regular reader of non-fiction about nature and science, consider joining our Eco-centric Book Club! The club usually meets on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30, but we do recommend confirming details on our events calendar in case of changes. Copies of our next book will be on reserve at the Circulation Desk. We hope to see you there!

Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures
by Katherine Rundell

Learn about the world's most extraordinary endangered animals and their remarkable characteristics. From the seahorse's lifelong dance to the American wood frog's ability to survive freezing, and the matriarchal society of lemurs, these creatures are fascinating yet incredibly at risk. Vanishing Treasures is a call to appreciate and protect these underappreciated animals and recognize the magic they bring to our world.