Archives de catégorie : Nature

OF TIME AND TURTLES de Sy Montgomery, illustré par Matt Patterson

From National Book Award finalist for The Soul of an Octopus and New York Times bestseller Sy Montgomery comes an ode to one of the most diverse, fascinating, and beloved species on the planet: turtles. With elegance, journalistic curiosity, and gorgeous artwork, this nonfiction investigation speaks to the wonder and wisdom of our long-lived cohabitants, who reveal to us astonishing new perspectives on time and healing.

OF TIME AND TURTLES:
Mending a Stalled and Broken World, Shell by Shattered Shell
by Sy Montgomery
illustrated by Matt Patterson
Mariner/HarperCollins, September 2023

When acclaimed naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles—with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal—are given a second chance at life. The League’s founders, Natasha and Alexxia, live by one motto: Never give up on a turtle.
But why turtles? What is it about them that inspires such devotion? Ancient and unhurried, long-lived and majestic, their lineage stretches back to the time of the dinosaurs. Some live to two hundred years, or longer. Others spend months buried under cold winter water. Sy turns to these little understood yet endlessly surprising creatures to probe the eternal question: How can we make peace with our time?
In pursuit of the answer, Sy and Matt immerse themselves in the delicate work of protecting turtle nests, incubating eggs, rescuing sea turtles, and releasing hatchlings to their homes in the wild. We follow the snapping turtle Fire Chief on his astonishing journey as he battles against injuries incurred by a truck.
Hopeful and optimistic, OF TIME AND TURTLES is an antidote to the instability of our frenzied world. Elegantly blending science, memoir, philosophy, and drawing on cultures from across the globe, this compassionate portrait of injured turtles and their determined rescuers invites us all to slow down and slip into turtle time.
Includes a signature of photos of the cast (both turtles and humans) plus stunning, photo-realistic full color paintings by artist Matt Patterson. 

Researching her articles, films, scripts, and 33 books, National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery has scuba-dived with sharks, cuddled with octopuses, slept next to a mother hippo and her baby, and been undressed by a wild orangutan. To inform this book, she and artist Matt Patterson helped rescue cold-stunned sea turtles on Cape Cod, raised baby painted turtles for release into the wild, and provided physical therapy for an injured, 42-pound wild snapping turtle named Fire Chief. They still regularly patrol a nesting site for native New England turtles against predators and volunteer at Turtle Rescue League in southern Massachusetts.

DIE WEISHEIT DER FÜCHSE

The secret life of foxes: Clever, playful and caring – what these shrewd survival artists can teach us. Surprising and inspiring.

DIE WEISHEIT DER FÜCHSE
[The Wisdom of Foxes]
by Dag Frommhold & Daniel Peller
‎ Ludwig/Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, September 2022

Red fur, amber eyes, a bushy tail: foxes are incredibly beautiful animals. We also think of them as intelligent, shrewd and playful. Yet foxes are not just smart: they have an extraordinary gift for empathy and are excellent communicators. They have a capacity for altruism and self-sacrifice, foster close emotional relationships, and are affectionate partners and loving parents. Foxes prove that you can achieve more through constructive debate than aggression, that smarts and flexibility can get us what we want, and that selflessness benefits everyone in the end.
In DIE WEISHEIT DER FÜCHSE, fox experts Dag Frommhold and Daniel Peller tell astonishing stories showing just how fascinating foxes are – not only are they much more like us than we think, but we can learn a lot from these unsung heroes.

Dag Frommhold has loved foxes ever since he was a child. As an author, co-founder of wildlife conservation initiatives and spokesperson for various wildlife and nature conservation organisations, he has spent many years championing foxes and their fellow vulpines.
When a serious illness forced him to give up his job, Daniel Peller decided to dedicate his life to foxes. After more than twenty years of observing them, corresponding with international fox specialists and closely working with wildlife shelters, he is now a bona fide fox expert. In 2017, he founded the organisation « Fox Aid », running its online aid network, and campaigning for wildlife conservation.

BÖSE BÄUME de Markus Bennemann

The evil life of trees: they kill, steal and commit arson – the truth about our beloved woodland friends.

BÖSE BÄUME
[Bad Trees]
by Markus Bennemann
Goldmann/Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, November 2022

No wonder we love trees so much. Even just a short stroll through a park or woodland helps us breathe easier and replenish our energy resources, and looking up into the leafy canopy above your head can help clear your mind. But beeches, yews, etc. also have a darker side: they commit all sorts of nefarious deeds, and are willing to poison, mutilate and kill to gain the advantage over their neighbours. In BÖSE BÄUME, the science editor Markus Bennemann – who loves nothing more than taking a stroll in the woods – uncovers the unpleasant truth about their darker side. He tells readers about the tropical strangler fig, which insidiously chokes its victims; about the domestic walnut, which turns out to be a nasty poisoner; and about eucalyptus trees, who are actually pyromaniacs – and many other such unpalatable fellows in the world of trees.

Markus Bennemann couldn’t decide whether to major in literature or biology. In the end, he chose literature, and now writes books about… well, biology. He is the author of several adult non-fiction and children’s books, which have been translated into numerous languages.

THE INSECT APOCALYPSE de Brooke Jarvis

A scientific exploration of the insect world that reveals the alarming diminishment of insect life across the globe in the era of climate change.

THE INSECT APOCALYPSE
by Brooke Jarvis
Crown, March 2025

Drawn from the author’s astonishing and deeply disturbing article for the New York Times Magazine (which was downloaded over 1 million times in the first week alone), this will be a fascinating scientific exploration of the insect world that reveals, through extensive research with amateurs and entomologists in the field, the alarming diminishment of insect life across the globe in the era of climate change. The author plans to travel to different countries and environments, including Europe and Latin America, to explore the causes and urgent consequences of life on Earth without insects.

Brooke Jarvis is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, and has written for The New Yorker, Wired, The California Sunday Magazine, GQ, Harper’s, and others. She also teaches feature writing at NYU’s American Journalism Online Master’s Program and mentors young science journalists through The Open Notebook and the Northwest Science Writers Association. Jarvis’ stories have been anthologized in The Best American Science and Nature Writing (Houghton-Mifflin); The Best American Travel Writing (Mariner Books); Love and Ruin: Tales of Obsession, Danger and Heartbreak from The Atavist Magazine (Norton); and New Stories We Tell: True Tales by America’s Next Generation of Great Women Journalists (The Sager Group).

THIRTEEN WAYS TO SMELL A TREE de David George Haskell

THIRTEEN WAYS TO SMELL A TREE takes you on a journey to connect with trees through the sense most aligned to our emotions and memories.

THIRTEEN WAYS TO SMELL A TREE
by David George Haskell
‎ Octopus UK/Viking US, October 2021
(via The Martell Agency)

Thirteen essays are included that explore the evocative scents of trees, from the smell of a book just printed as you first open its pages, to the calming scent of Linden blossom, to the ingredients of a particularly good gin & tonic. In your hand: a highball glass, beaded with cool moisture. In your nose: the aromatic embodiment of globalized trade. The spikey, herbal odour of European juniper berries. A tang of lime juice from a tree descended from wild progenitors in the foothills of the Himalayas. Bitter quinine, from the bark of the South American cinchona tree, spritzed into your nostrils by the pop of sparkling tonic water. Take a sip, feel the aroma and taste of three continents converge.
Each essay also contains a practice the reader is invited to experience. For example, taking a tree inventory of our own home, appreciating just how many things around us came from trees. And if you’ve ever hugged a tree when no one was looking, try breathing in the scents of different trees that live near you, the smell of pine after the rain, the refreshing, mind-clearing scent of a eucalyptus leaf crushed in your hand.

British-born biologist, award-winning author and celebrated academic David George Haskell’s work integrates scientific, literary and contemplative studies of the natural world. Haskell holds degrees from the University of Oxford (BA) and from Cornell University (PhD). He is Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of the South, where he served as Chair of Biology. His scientific research on animal ecology, evolution and conservation has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the World Wildlife Fund among others. He serves on the boards and advisory committees of local and national land conservation groups. His previous books include The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors and The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature.