The Which Way Tree

Wanting to minimize the number of things I have to bring in the house, this is the right time to start reading all of the books I haven’t gotten to yet. I am so glad that I had this one, “The Which Way Tree” by Elizabeth Crook. While the “Tree” in the title and the painting on the cover probably first caught my attention, the comparisons to “True Grit” also drew my interest. An epistolary novel told mostly through the written testaments of a young Benjamin Shreve, per the order of a judge (who through these letters he befriends), he delivers much more than what he knows about a suspected criminal, making that shady character just one part of his and his half-sister’s story.

This book made me think of “Life of Pi” and even “The Jungle Book,” for the adventures with a large, wild cat. Though Samantha Shreve can only think of killing the panther that killed her mother and scarred her face, taking out an apex predator is not usually a good idea. However, this one behaves more like a domestic cat that should never be outside because it’s just killing animals for the sake of killing them, and terrorizing the people in the area. Everyone knows of this particular panther, too, because of its two missing toes, hacked off by Sam’s mother Juda. It turns out there is such a thing as a panther dog (at least in this book), which is equally single-minded in pursuing panthers, and the one that enters this story is a homely one to say the least. Benjamin’s writing has a voice that sounds so clear and true, not to mention likeable, sympathetic. I feel like I watched a movie, when I only read the book. A few particular things I liked were the descriptions of trees, and finding out what the titular which way tree means in this context. This also reflects the knowledge people needed to have in that time and place (Texas, end of the Civil War) about the natural world around them. Plus, the way Benjamin spelled Spanish words phonetically made me smile every time. I am again really glad to have received a copy of this through a Goodreads giveaway. If you are you are fortunate enough to have the means to read them, look for the ebook.

Protecting Pollinators

The coronavirus has changed the world in ways most of us were not expecting; I don’t need to further emphasize its importance and consequences, immediate and future. And yet, climate change continues, and all of those challenges remain. Among everything else tied to climate change, the conservation of pollinator species and the plants they are even more closely tied to also remain in flux. Protecting Pollinators, by Jodi Helmer, is a practical and readable book that covers the issues pollinators face, why they’re important, and what we can do. She explains that they are more than just honeybees and almonds, Monarch butterflies and milkweed, which get the same proportion of attention here as elsewhere. Native bees and other insects, along with hummingbirds and bats are also given their due. Helmer explains, in multiple ways, why native plants are the best choice, and why pesticides can be so detrimental, putting them in context from at-home to larger agricultural scales. The last chapter especially goes into citizen science, and may be the most encouraging portion for readers. While the book is not so much about food, it doesn’t need to be. This book is a concise review of the small animals that work for us, without which we wouldn’t have any food. When these issues are properly taken into consideration, we can hope for better health of the systems that produce our food. And even from home, there are ways we citizens can contribute to conservation efforts.

Thanks go to IslandPress for providing this book in exchange for a review.

The Casket of Time

I really enjoyed The Casket of Time, and found it to be a stirring, thought-provoking book. Sigrun’s leap forward in time is a stunning example, the first of several, of the author’s brilliant imagination, with the simple concept in a why-hasn’t-anyone-thought-of-that turn. While the TimeBoxes themselves, made of spider silk, are hard to picture, the rest of the writing is clear as a movie. Even the absurdity – the magical kingdoms and creatures – all unfold in a realistic way.

The premise of people sealing themselves off from time, until any time later, is a powerful reflection of humans’ inability to take proper leadership and act responsibly on issues that can’t out-wait us. The characters here are likable, and the story within the story, which occupies most of the pages, ties everything together with much satisfaction. Not judging a book by its cover, I do admire this one’s artwork, both the colors and the sketches that suggest the contents within. While reading the book gave me an ominous feeling, having time to reflect later has left me with a deeper takeaway.

Review copy provided courtesy of Restless Books