Category: Non-Fiction

The Mapmaker’s Wife – REVIEW

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4 out of 5 stars.

The Mapmaker's Wife book cover - portrait of Isabel Grameson on a compass background - small desert scene with sand and vicunas at the bottom

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Synopsis

The year is 1735. A decade-long expedition to South America is launched by a team of French scientists racing to measure the circumference of the earth and to reveal the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery and knowledge. From this extraordinary journey arose an unlikely love between one scientist and a beautiful Peruvian noblewoman. Victims of a tangled web of international politics, Jean Godin and Isabel Grames’ destiny would ultimately unfold in the Amazon’s unforgiving jungles, and it would be Isabel’s quest to reunite with Jean after a calamitous twenty-year separation that would capture the imagination of all of eighteenth-century Europe. A remarkable testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and enduring love, Isabel Grames’ survival remains unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration.

Review

The Mapmaker’s Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon by Robert Whitaker is definitely an interesting tale. However, the title and the description on the book jacket are a bit misleading. The book jacket says that the book is about Isabelle Godin, who follows her husband down the Amazon after 20 years of separation. The thing is, that portion of the story doesn’t even start to happen until after page 200.

The first part of the book tells the tale of the original trip that brought her husband, Jean Godin, to Ecuador. It’s well-written and held my attention. I found the information provided to be interesting and fascinating, it just doesn’t include a lot about Isabelle Godin until later in the book.

It’s still a very interesting tale about exploration, murder, intrigue and a side note of love and female ingenuity. If you’re interested in South American history and the history of the men who were attempting to plot out exactly how large our planet is and what constitutes a degree of latitude or longitude, this is definitely worth reading. If you were looking for more of a biography about Isabelle Godin and are not interested in the history and scientific discoveries, this book is not for you.

The Birds of Washtenaw County, Michigan – REVIEW

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2 out of 5 stars

The Birds of Washtenaw County book cover - photos of four types of birds on cover, Cedar Waxwing, Sandhill Crane, Blue bird, and possibly a gold finch

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alternating line of short green 6-hole birdhouse, short blue & red 1-hole birdhouse with a star, and tall 3-hole yellow birdhouse with heart
© Graphic Garden

Synopsis

The Birds of Washtenaw County, Michigan provides a comprehensive account of the birdlife in Washtenaw County. Situated to the west of Detroit in southeast Michigan, the county has an exceptionally rich history of ornithological study, fueled by the activists of numerous amateur birdwatchers and by the interests of two major universities.

Frequency accounts of the 267 species recorded in the county during the last 15 years are framed by a discussion of the topographical history of the county. In addition, the authors present notes on another 30 species not seen in the county since 1976. A comprehensive site guide offers suggestions of the optimal locals and times to try to find the birds.

Michael A. Kielb has studied birds in Michigan for over 15 years and teaches classes on birds at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor and the College of Du Page in Illinois. He also leads bird-watching tours throughout the Americas and is currently a Research Associate in the Reproductive Sciences Program at the University of Michigan.

John M. Swales first became interested in birds while teaching in the Sudan and has been exploring the birdlife of Washtenaw County since arriving at the University of Michigan in 1985. He is Professor of Linguistics and Director of the English Language Institute, University of Michigan.

Richard A. Wolinski has been studying birds of Washtenaw County for nearly two decades. He is a staff biologist with an engineering firm in southeast Michigan.

line of 5 birds' nests with 5 eggs inside each
© Graphic Garden

Review

I wanted to find The Birds of Washtenaw County by Michael Kield, John Swales, & Richard Wolinski useful. I wanted to like it. After all, this is my home county and I thought this might be a good resource to take with me to the park. Unfortunately, it’s not.

The information in this book is good, factual without being boring. The problem lies in the fact that there are very few illustrations in this book and the ones that are there are in black and white. This makes it very difficult to use this as an “in the field” guidebook.

Unless you just need information on birds you’ve already seen or only need information for informational purposes, this book is not for you. It’s not much help in identifying species since there are very few illustrations.

Great Lakes Nature Guide – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

5 out of 5 stars

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BlackBearOnLimbLine
©Graphic Garden

Synopsis

This guide features over 400 species of plants and animals in the Great Lakes region. It includes extensive natural history, including animal behavior, ecology and range of species and native uses. There are color maps of the Great Lake States-NY, PA, OH, IN, MI, IL, MN and WI-showing parks and natural areas.

HyacinthTopper-Amertas
©Amerta’s Graphics

Review

Great Lakes Nature Guide by James S. McCormac & Krista Kagume is an excellent all-in-one guidebook. I originally borrowed this from my public library, but after only about a week, I realized just how handy it is in the field and went and bought a copy for myself.

The book is separated into two main parts – Animals & Plants. Then each section is broken down into sections based on the type of animal or plant. Each item identified has a picture of the plant or animal, a small paragraph about the subject, and a handy little section on where the plant or animal can be found.

Is this the most comprehensive guide on Great Lakes nature? No, but I’ve never found one that is as inclusive as this one. I used to carry different guidebooks with me to the park for birds, trees, flowers, mammals, reptiles, etc. Even tho’ each one was a rather compact volume, the quality photo paper they used made the books rather heavy. Now, I carry this guide with me and the few things I don’t find in it, I take pictures of and study more at home.

FawnInGrassLine
©Graphic Garden

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings1 Comment

4 out of 5 stars

Book cover with volcano spewing ash

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Erupting volcano line drawing

Brief Synopsis

For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, sightseers, and nearby residents listened anxiously to rumblings in Mount St. Helens, part of the chain of western volcanoes fueled by the 700-mile-long Cascadia fault. Still, no one was prepared when an immense eruption took the top off of the mountain and laid waste to hundreds of square miles of verdant forests in southwestern Washington State. The eruption was one of the largest in human history, deposited ash in eleven U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, and caused more than one billion dollars in damage. It killed fifty-seven people, some as far as thirteen miles away from the volcano’s summit.

Shedding new light on the cataclysm, author Steve Olson interweaves the history and science behind this event with page-turning accounts of what happened to those who lived and those who died.

Powerful economic and historical forces influenced the fates of those around the volcano that sunny Sunday morning, including the construction of the nation’s railroads, the harvest of a continent’s vast forests, and the protection of America’s treasured public lands. The eruption of Mount St. Helens revealed how the past is constantly present in the lives of us all. At the same time, it transformed volcanic science, the study of environmental resilience, and, ultimately, our perceptions of what it will take to survive on an increasingly dangerous planet.

Rich with vivid personal stories of lumber tycoons, loggers, volcanologists, and conservationists, Eruption delivers a spellbinding narrative built from the testimonies of those closest to the disaster, and an epic tale of our fraught relationship with the natural world. (Source: Goodreads)

Lava spurting up from the ground

Review

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson is a brilliant mix of the science behind the eruption and the personal stories of those affected by the eruptions – both victims and survivors. The combination of the two work together to show just how powerful the Earth can be and how much destruction and devastation can happen in an instant.

The re-telling of the victims’ and survivors’ stories is just phenomenal. While it’s a little macabre, I found the stories of what the victims would’ve gone through before they died fascinating. Conversely, the ingenuity and perseverance of the survivors was amazing and a wonderful example of the human spirit.

The only complaint I have about the book is that two separate times, the author takes us on a tangent and neither really needed to be included in the book. They didn’t add to the story line and in fact, their inclusion detracted from the story line. The first was the history of the WeyerHaeuser Logging Company and the family behind it. The second was a shorter tangent about Griffon Pinchot, who helped establish the national forestry services we have today. Both tangents are interesting on their own, but their inclusion in this book was definitely not the right decision.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book and I will definitely be reading it more than once in order to help all the scientific information sink into my brain.

(I received a free e-book of this title from NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.  My review was not influenced by this. All opinions and conclusions are my own.)

Photograph of Mt. St. Helens after 1981 eruption
© Smithsonian Institution – All Rights Reserved

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings1 Comment

5 out of 5 stars

Black book cover with diamonds all over it and text

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scattered grouping of diamonds - heavier on the right than the left

Brief Synopsis

On February 15, 2003, a group of thieves broke into an allegedly airtight vault in the international diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium and made off with over $108 million dollars worth of diamonds and other valuables. They did so without tripping an alarm or injuring a single guard in the process.

Although the crime was perfect, the getaway was not. The police zeroed in on a band of professional thieves fronted by Leonardo Notarbartolo, a dapper Italian who had rented an office in the Diamond Center and clandestinely cased its vault for over two years.  The “who” of the crime had been answered, but the “how” remained largely a mystery.

Enter Scott Andrew Selby, a Harvard Law grad and diamond expert, and Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds, who undertook a global goose chase to uncover the true story behind the daring heist. Tracking the threads of the story throughout Europe—from Belgium to Italy, in seedy cafés and sleek diamond offices—the authors sorted through an array of conflicting details, divergent opinions and incongruous theories to put together the puzzle of what actually happened that Valentine’s Day weekend.

This real-life Ocean’s Eleven—a combination of diamond history, journalistic reportage, and riveting true-crime story—provides a thrilling in-depth study detailing the better-than-fiction heist of the century. (Source: Goodreads)

scattered grouping of diamonds - heavier on the right than the left

Review

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby & Greg Campbell is a book that I had wanted to read for quite awhile before I was actually able to pick it up and read it. I was afraid that with all the anticipation, the book was going to fall flat. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. It surpassed my expectations!

These gentleman managed to pull off the largest diamond heist in history without a single person being injured or killed and without a single alarm being triggered. They spent two or three years working on ideas and gadgets to thwart all the various security measures in the Antwerp diamond vault. The amount of planning and ingenuity that went into this heist is simply amazing.

Unfortunately, through a couple of strokes of bad luck, the police caught onto them rather quickly after their getaway, though the police were never able to recover the diamonds and other valuables.

I found this book to be well-written, flowing smoothly from one segment to another. If you enjoy reading books or watching movies about heists or about criminals who find ways of meeting their goals without violence (like “The Italian Job” or “Ocean’s Eleven”), you will enjoy this book!

scattered grouping of diamonds - heavier on the right than the left