A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park by Edward O. Wilson

There are few pristine places left on this earth. When noted biologist Edward O. Wilson visited in 2011, Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique was not by any means untouched, but philanthropist Gregory C. Carr had led a determined effort at restoration. There had been much to fix. During a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1992 and in the impoverished years after the war, poaching of wildlife and the clearing of woods in the park had left it almost empty of large mammals and other signature species. It is the effort to restore the habitat that is examined in A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park by Edward O. Wilson.

Luckily for Wilson, there was some unspoiled habitat on the mountains when he arrived. He and his team were able to identify unknown ants and other insects. He tells about them and fossils of human ancestors found in the region.

In the hands of Wilson, who is the author of numerous thick and influential books, such as Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Sociobiology, and On Human Nature, the story of this remote park has universal implications. His small book on Gorongosa serves as an illustration of what he has written before and is written for a broader readership. Well-illustrated with photographs by Piotr Naskrecki, A Window on Eternity serves as a good lesson on the conservation of species and sustainability of habitats in poor nations.

Wilson, Edward O. A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park. Simon and Schuster, 2014. 149p. ISBN 9781476747415.

Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America by Bob Herbert

Most republicans will not like Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America. Many democrats won't either, as former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, points out many ways in which the elected leaders of our cities, states, and country (of either party) have failed the public by looking after their own interests and that of special interests. He does this through telling stories about the lives of citizens.

Here are issues that Herbert examines in Losing Our Way:

The infrastructure of highways, bridges, rails, electrical grid, etc. is crumbling as elected officials will not raise taxes to pay for the needed work. The short-sightedness of fearing that taxpayers will vote officials out of office for raising taxes is that the projects would create jobs and leave the country better able to support its industry. Everyone would benefit, but our governments large and small are unwilling to invest in the future.

Most educational testing has weakened education, as schools teach to the tests instead of offering broadly-based lessons that teach children to think and prepare them for the future. Magnet schools have often been ineffective, and they fail to bring together the haves and have-nots. Educational corporations lobby for increased testing and against teachers having a say in curriculum. Rupert Murdoch is the big winner in what is often labelled "school reform."

All the wars we have fought since the Vietnam War (including Vietnam) have been against own interest and have destabilized many nations. Many died for no good purpose - a very dangerous thing to say in our for-us-or-against-us culture. Our economy has been drained for useless foreign action that only benefits arms manufacturers and Wall Street.

Wall Street is also behind the increasing gulf between earnings of workers and stock holders. Jobs are eliminated and wages kept low so the rich may reap more and more of the profits. As a result, more and more full time workers go farther and farther into debt, bringing the economy down.

That is just a taste of what Bob Herbert has to say.

When did the country lose its way? Herbert points to President Lyndon Johnson's increasing the troops sent to Vietnam, and he adds Ronald Reagan's campaign to deregulate many industries, especially weakening banking and finance rules.

Bob Herbert thinks that the trend of the last 50 years can be reversed. He points to the success of grass roots action of the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements. He urges people to get involved at the bottom to take back the country from special interests.

Herbert, Bob. Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America. Doubleday, 2014. 283p. ISBN 9780385528238.

Books on Tape, 2014. 8 compact discs. Approx. 10 1/2 hours. ISBN 9780804193573.

Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds by Kevin T. Karlson and Dale Rosselet

When I attended David Sibley's book signing last year, he said that he looks at shape and listens to songs more than spotting marks and plumage in identifying birds. Sibley and many skilled birders do not have to get long close looks at birds to know what they are. With years of experience, they just know because of bird songs, behaviors, habitats, size, and shape. They often do not even have to see the birds.

New birders may have trouble naming species unless the birds sit still in full view, which they rarely do so. Luckily, novices may learn about expert ID methods by reading the new book Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds by Kevin T. Karlson and Dale Rosselet. In this Peterson Reference Guide, the authors group similar birds and then explain size and shape differences, as well as where to find the birds and important plumage. The new birder then needs much book and field study beyond the book, but a foundation can be laid.

The authors include many illustration, some in quizzes that are fun to take. I scored well on heron-like birds, woodpeckers, jays, and even sparrows. I was weak on shorebirds, flycatchers, and warblers.

Birding by Impression is an excellent choice for public library collections. Birders might like having personal copies, too.

Karlson, Kevin T. and Dale Rosselet. Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. 286p. ISBN 9780547195780.

Biblio Tech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google by John Palfrey

Libraries are often rated as a favorite government service, according to public opinions expressed to pollsters. When queried, people recall the pleasurable and benefit of visiting a library as a child and student. This nostalgia is nice to read but dangerous to rely on for future public support of libraries. According to Digital Public Library chairman John Palfrey, libraries need to stay vital and relevant by transitioning to a digital knowledge base. Why does it matter? The survival of our democracy is at stake.

The way for libraries will not be easy in a society that is increasing ruled by for-profit information services. Google, Amazon, and Apple are dictating how people obtain digital products. Adapting to their protocols and the copyright demands of publishers of digital books has made the library digital makeover difficult to negotiate. Librarians must network and unify to stand with the corporations and their seemingly unlimited reserves of funds and code writers.

Palfrey also calls for libraries to fund their own research and development and spend liberally in staff development. Without such an effort, libraries will be the powerless captive customer of corporate digital vendors. We already see the results of weakness in our schools where librarians and teachers are being fired to let private interests provide information and teaching systems. Democracy begins with good public schools with a tradition for teaching truth and problem solving. Community libraries and those of academia are also on the line.

We are not defeated yet. Palfrey offers a plan for libraries to transition to digital platforms while keeping printed books and public spaces for study and dialogue. I hope his book is widely read soon.

Palfrey, John. Biblio Tech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google. Basic Books, 2015. 280p. ISBN 9780465042999.

A Love Affair with Birds: The Life of Thomas Sadler Roberts by Sue Leaf

When our daughter Laura led us through the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary just north of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis in the summer of 2013, I had never heard of the nine-year-old boy who moved with his family to Minnesota in 1867 and grew up to be a leading doctor in the city. As a boy, he and his friends wandered the woods and canoed the lakes of the area, noticing the birds, about whom Roberts had learned much from his bird-fancying father. In A Love Affair with Birds: The Life of Thomas Sadler Roberts, Sue Leaf tells how Roberts balanced his dedication to medicine and his patients with his love of birds.

Roberts accomplished much in his life. Before medical school, he worked as a land examiner and civil engineer. Working as a doctor for over half a century, he treated many patients, delivered many babies, helped found the local medical society, and helped build hospitals. As a  ornithologist, he started birding clubs with his friends, led many bird walks, taught ornithology at the University of Minnesota, collected species for the natural history museum on the University campus, served as museum director, and eventually led the effort to build what is now the Bell Museum of Natural History. He may be most remembered for his two-volume The Birds of Minnesota which was published in 1930.

On one level, A Love Affair with Birds can be read as a tribute to an exemplary life. The author, however, offers the reader more than that. Her section on Roberts' medical career serves as a compelling history of health care in Minnesota, spanning the era in which Roberts road a horse to reach his rural patients or sometimes caught a trolley in town to his mature years when he rode with his chauffeur. The growth and development of Minneapolis runs through the story. Readers learn about the planning and building of hospitals and museums. Most of all, Leaf tells the story birds and the birding community of Minnesota.

Having been to Minneapolis over a dozen times now with prospects for many more visits, wanting to see all the Minnesota birds, I enjoyed A Love Affair with Birds immensely.

Leaf, Sue. A Love Affair with Birds: The Life of Thomas Sadler Roberts. University of Minnesota Press, 2013. 271p. ISBN 9780816675647.

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Falconry tests the endurance and sanity of anyone keen to attempt the sport. Author T. H. White was ill-prepared for his first attempt. Over 70 years later, Helen Macdonald was more experienced and realistic when she acquired a goshawk. Still, her experienced included self-doubt and despair, as well as self-discovery, as she recounts in H is for Hawk.

Just as it helps to read Middlemarch by George Eliot before reading My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead, having read The Goshawk by White will enrich anyone's reading of Macdonald's book. Thankfully for me, reading H is for Hawk also explained much of what puzzled me about The Goshawk.

Of course, you are more likely to have read Middlemarch than The Goshawk, as Eliot is still fashionable and White is mostly forgotten. He was most popular in the mid-twentieth century when children were reading The Sword in the Stone and their parents were reading The Once and Future King. In the 1960s, his Arthurian tales were source materials for a Disney animated film and the broadway musical Camelot.

Luckily for all, you do not have to have read White's book before reading Macdonald's, as she liberally recounts and quotes sections of it as she describes her experiences with Mabel, a young goshawk that she acquired from a breeder in Ireland and brought to her home near Cambridge to train to hunt. Like White, she take's her bird on walks through field and forest and frets over how much it weighs. For the benefit of good reading, Macdonald did not stick to White's narrative as a template for hers, and her prose flows more pleasingly.

Mead's book My Life in Middlemarch is an easier book to compare with Macdonald's title. Both mix these elements:

• Memoir of the author
• Biography of famous author
• Story of a famous book
• Observations about English history and culture

To this formula, Macdonald adds a dose of natural history, letting readers know much about hawks and falconry. The result is a great book that keeps the reader engaged.

Now I should try So We Read On by Maureen Corrigan, another book in which a reader recounts her relationship with a book.

Macdonald, Helen. H is for Hawk. Grove Press, 2014. 300p. ISBN 9780802123411.

The Goshawk by T. H. White

In the 1930s, before he became famous for writing The Sword in the Stone and The Once and Future King, T. H. White was an impoverished young writer with an interest in falconry. He read numerous classic books on the subject and supposed that he could apply what he learned from them to train a bird of his own. He acquired a goshawk and quickly discovered he was totally unprepared. He recounted the experience in his 1951 book The Goshawk.

Being a writer in search of a topic for a book at the time of his acquiring his bird, White started a journal, which he used for much of the content and structure of this book. Helen Macdonald, author of the recent memoir H is for Hawk, read it as an aspiring young falconer and was upset by it, as were many falconers of 1950s and 1960s. White was roundly criticized for being a know-nothing. Since that time literary critics have reviewed it more favorably, saying that White was courageous for being so honest about his ineptitude. They also argue that his tale contributes to the literature of adversarial relationships between humans and other animals, joining Moby Dick and The Old Man and the Sea.

Ideas about how humans should treat animals have changed since the middle of the 20th century. When I recently read The Goshawk, my sympathies aligned with the bird. White put it through much needless torment, which he seemed to realize as he spent night and day with the goshawk, trying to subdue its will. I wanted the bird to escape. The conflict does resolve about halfway through the book, but readers will find the aftermath just as interesting. It is a good reading choice while waiting for H is for Hawk.

White, T. H. The Goshawk. New York Review Books, 2007, 1951. 215p. ISBN 9781590172490.

Cuckoos: Cheating by Nature by Nick Davies

If I wasn't a librarian, I might enjoy being a naturalist. Reading Cuckoos: Cheating by Nature by Nick Davies, I am impressed by the dedication of scientists who spend countless hours outdoors observing the behaviors of birds and other wildlife. Davies has spent over three decades doing such work in the fens outside Cambridge where he is a professor of behavioral ecology. He also takes trips to other sites in England and around the world to observe cuckoos and the birds that they victimize with their egg laying. What an interesting life!

What a strange and hard-to-understand bird! The cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, so the foster parents raise the chicks. Is this good parenting? How many of the hosts fall for the deception and raise the cuckoo chicks instead of their own? Davies tries to answer these questions through conducting many experiments in the field. Many involve egg swapping.

Through his own observations and studies of cuckoos conducted over hundreds of years, Davies has come to some conclusions. One is that the host birds are not totally defenseless; they do sometimes reject the cuckoo eggs. Another is that there are numerous subspecies of common cuckoos in Europe that can only be identified by their eggs. One subspecies has eggs that resemble reed warbler eggss, another makes meadow pipit-like eggs, and so on. Their breeding success relies on getting their eggs into the right nests at the right times.

If the cuckoos were invariably successful, they would probably wipe out their host species. Studies show, however, that the common cuckoo is declining in number, as global warming is allowing their target species to nest earlier and earlier, but the cuckoos are returning from their winters in Africa at their tradition times, sometimes too late to lay their eggs unnoticed.

Davies has a fascinating subject and his reporting is lively and personal. Cuckoo should prove popular with natural history readers.

Davies, Nick. Cuckoos: Cheating by Nature. Bloomsbury, 2015. 288p. ISBN 9781620409527.

A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz

When I found that Bonnie left A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz on my nightstand, I thought that I had found a fantasy. The beautiful illustrations by Catia Chien lend the book a magical aura. In side its covers, however, is a true story. Rabinowitz has written an inspiring memoir for children about his overcoming stuttering to become a noted zoologist and conservationist. It is fantastic.

Through his love of animals and good counseling when he reaches college, Rabinowitz finds his clear voice through accepting that he will always start from a stutter.

I don't want to give too much away, but I will point out that there is a plug for the book on the back cover by Temple Grandin. You do not have to be a child to enjoy this picture book.

Rabinovitz, Alan. A Boy and a Jaguar. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. ISBN 9780547875071.

Froodle by Antoinette Portis

On Old MacDonald's farm, every animal has only one thing to say. "Quack quack" or "Moo moo" or "Cluck cluck." Anyone who has been around animals, however, knows it is not so simple. Animal, especially birds, are a bit more expressive. Each has a range of grunts, calls, chirps, etc.

In Froodle by children's author/illustrator Antoinette Portis, everyday birds say their everyday things at first, day after day, through the seasons, until Little Brown Bird suddenly says "Froodle sproodle!" Cardinal, Crow, and Dove are shocked. They insist Little Brown Bird return to simply saying "Peep." LBB, as many birders know sparrows, wrens, and other hard to identify little birds, complies at first but then exclaims "Tiffle biffle, just a miffle! A revolution is declared.

I can imagine reading Froodle to children will be much fun for people of all ages. Silliness shall reign. Take that Conformity!

Rumba numba wonka skirby dirby!

Portis, Antoinette. Froodle. Roaring Book Press*, 2014. ISBN 9781596439221.

*How appropriate!

Second Reading of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

If you had asked, I would have said I read Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick last year, maybe two years ago. I see from my March 2011 review, I'm losing track of time. I also thought I remembered the book very well. In rereading I recalled a few stories, but many I did not. Almost a new reader, I read again with concern about the lives of six people who escaped the poverty of the totalitarian regime of North Korea.

The reason for the second reading was a book club commitment. I was happy the title was chosen because I remembered it being quite moving. I was gratified that the book group had such an engaging discussion. Several people had also made an effort to research the current affairs in North Korea, not something that usually happens for the discussion.

I was surprised on rereading that the escape stories came very late in the book and were a smaller part of the story than I recalled. I think I had mentally injected part of another book, the novel The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo into Demick's account. The focus of Nothing to Envy is really the hard life in North Korea and the difficulties of adjusting to life in South Korea.

The phrase "nothing to envy" comes from a North Korean propaganda song.

I recommend the title to other book groups.

Demick, Barbara. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Spiegel and Grau, 2010. ISBN 9780385523905.

The Disneyland Book of Lists: Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented! by Chris Strodder

I have never been to Disneyland in California but I have been to Walt Disney World in Florida several times. After examining The Disneyland Book of Lists: Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented! by Chris Strodder, I see that much about the parks is similar. Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, Star Tours, and lots of costumed characters can be found in both states. The difference is that Disneyland, the original Disney theme park, packs what it has into a much smaller space.

Strodder's book falls somewhere between a historical reference and a travel guide. Arranged into thirteen chapters are lists about the park's origins, its attractions, the shops and restaurants, the business, its guests, its cast (people who work at Disneyland), and its impact on popular culture. Some of the lists provide practical advice for visiting, but most lists are offered as entertaining observations by either the author or by Disney fans or employees whom he has interviewed. There are many lists. Strodder has obviously researched his topics energetically.

I most enjoyed lists about the popular culture impact of Disney parks and about the origins of the attractions, most of which were built first in California and them duplicated in Florida. There is, however, a list of attractions that debuted in Florida as well.

Someone going to Disneyland for the first time will probably just get lost in this book, but the frequent guests (there are a lot of them) will find much to like in The Disneyland Book of Lists. Any library that needs to stock a variety of books on Disneyland will benefit by having this title, too.

Strodder, Chris. Disneyland Book of Lists: Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented! Santa Monica Press, 2015. 360p. ISBN 9781595800817.

Birdology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Birds by Monica Russo

In both of the first two libraries in which I worked as a librarian with my MLS, the adult and juvenile nonfiction was shelved together. The reasoning was that adults and children could benefit from many of the same books and they could be found all in one place. Birdology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Birds by Monica Russo is just the kind of book that supports that philosophy. It is aimed at young readers but offers much to readers of any age.

Inside the brightly illustrated cover of Birdology are lessons on birding, basic ornithology, do-it-yourself experiments, and many beautiful photographs of birds. Though I am about 50 years beyond the target audience, I read with interest, gaining understanding of some aspects of bird life that I had not realized reading more scholarly works. That birds who eat only insects in flight must migrate in winter is probably in the books I've previously read but it never registered with me. Woodpeckers who pick insect eggs and larvae from bark can winter over in many climates. I saw woodpeckers all winter long because of this.

I read with the interest the section on attracting birds to your yard with plants. We are expanding our flowerbed and replacing shrubs in the next few weeks. I will keep the birds in mind.

Birdology is a good addition to any public library.

Russo, Monica. Birdology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Birds. Chicago Review Press, 2015. 108p. ISBN 9781613749494.

Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove

On a family trip to Orlando in 1980, John Hargrove saw a killer whale show at SeaWorld and immediately knew his vocation. He wanted to be a trainer and ride the orcas into the air. To get his wish, he focused on learning everything about the whales and convinced his family to take vacations that included the Florida theme park. He asked trainers questions at the park and wrote letters to them from home. Finally in 1993, his dream came true when he was hired as apprentice trainer at SeaWorld in San Antonio.

In Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish, he recounts how after many years as a dedicated SeaWorld employee he slowly realized how his love for being with the killer whales had blinded him to the ethics of using them in popular entertainment. He saw they were stressed by the demands of performing unnatural behaviors up to seven times a day and then bored in the confinement in small pools when not in training or performing. He was also appalled by the discomfort and danger to whales required for artificial insemination and by SeaWorld's policy of separating mothers and offspring, who would be together for life in the ocean. He began to sense the truth in the animal rights movement criticism of trained animal entertainment.

Changing sides was still difficult because it meant leaving his employment, closest friends, and the whales he loved. Agreeing to speak out in the documentary Blackfish was his declaration of his new conscience.

While at first glance Beneath the Surface might seem a book that would appeal to a narrow audience, for Hargrove is hardly a national celebrity or killer whales a frequent front page news story (except when a trainer is accidentally killed), but his situation is universal. Many of us have matters of conscience that trouble us upon which we do not act because we would sacrifice so much. Combine that with subjects of animal rights, wildlife conservation, government regulation, and corporate responsibility and the title deserves a wider audience. Nonfiction book discussion groups should consider Beneath the Surface.

Hargrove, John. Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 272p. ISBN 9781137280107.

The Art of Migration: Birds, Insects, and the Changing Seasons in Chicagoland by Peggy Macnamara

The spring migration of birds has just begun. While there are many books, articles, and websites that tell birders what species to expect when and where, a particularly interesting title to me is painter Peggy Macnamara's The Art of Migration: Birds, Insects, and the Changing Seasons in Chicagoland. With text by John Bates and James H. Boone, she alerts readers to the birds and insects that will come up the Mississippi flyway through the counties surrounding Chicago.

Macnamara's watercolor illustrations are not by any means photographic, but they reproduce the effects of sunlight and shade on birds and insects as observed outdoors. Their intentional impressionism prepares spotters to natural conditions that are not ideal for seeing everything that the best photographers have been able to present in their bird and insect guides.

Working often with the scientists at the Field Museum of Chicago, Macnamara has access to the museum's specimens of birds and insects collected for over a century. Of particular interest to her are the birds who died during migration when they crashed into buildings in downtown Chicago or along the lakefront. These birds were gathered and brought to the museum every day for about 30 years. A census of them shows trends in the migrations passing through the area. Current numbers are way down thankfully because building managers have reduced lights and architects have designed friendlier buildings, but there are still plenty of bird corpses to gather.

Macnamara's book will interest artists as well as birders, as she often describes how she uses her brush to apply colors and shading. As a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and illustrator-in-residence at the Field Museum, she has much experience. The Art of Migration could as easily be shelved in the art section as the zoology area.

Since Macnamara and her co-authors tell so much about the birds and where to see them in the Chicago area, we shelve it with other helpful birding guides.

Macnamara, Peggy. The Art of Migration: Birds, Insects, and the Changing Seasons in Chicagoland. University of Chicago Press, 2013. 202p. ISBN 9780226046297.

The Italians by John Hooper

On a recent trip to Italy, we met many friendly people. I have fond memories of the desk clerks, waiters in restaurants, tour guides, and salespeople I met. Of course, they were all in a monetary relationship with me, but they seemed genuinely pleasant and thoughtful people, just like many of the people journalist John Hooper met during his long tenure as a correspondent in southern Europe. He tells about them in his new book The Italians.

Hooper's aim in The Italians is to define the essential character of the people of Italy and what factors shaped them. The problem with this is that there is not one type of Italian and the task is about as easy as defining a typical American. Like most of the countries in Europe, Italy is increasing diverse as it accepts immigrants from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, often doing the jobs that Italians will not do. That sound familiar? Hooper says that Italian children are urged to be independent but often live safely, not challenging social conventions. Many are living with their parents long into adulthood, too. Hooper sometimes compares the Italians to the Spanish, which is to be expected since he wrote The Spaniards and The New Spaniards.

Despite the need to generalize, Hooper has written a book I find fascinating. He starts with a bit of history to explain differences in northern and southern Italian upbringing and the general lack of faith in the nation to protect itself from outside forces. The peninsula has been invaded many times from various directions. The periods of glory for the natives have been few since the fall of the Roman empire - though it can be argued that through the spread of the Roman Catholic Church, Italy has conquered much of the world.

Readers learn much about the country that seems very safe for tourists despite (or because of) the power of the mafia. Hooper examines people in the media, schools, the government, police forces, and the church. Having lived among the Italians for about a couple of decades, the author knows many good stories to tell. I recommend the book to anyone wanting to travel to Italy.

Hooper, John. The Italians. Viking, 2015. 316p. ISBN 9780525428077.

The Roman Guide to Slave Management : A Treatise by the Nobleman Marcus Sidonius Falx by Jerry Toner

While in Rome, I had access to wifi in our hotel. At all times a librarian, I decided to see what books I could download from my work library's digital collection to my phone while in a foreign country. Of course, I could download anything I could in Illinois, but just doing it on foreign soil would give me more creed with the clients who ask about digital books for their travels. Looking through the history offerings on eRead Illinois, I found The Roman Guide to Slave Management : A Treatise by the Nobleman Marcus Sidonius Falx by Jerry Toner. Being in the historic city, it seemed an appropriate choice. I clicked "borrow" and had the book on my phone in less than a minute.

I started the book while in Rome but set it aside until I returned home. I got the hardback edition of the title last week and finally got back to reading. I still prefer a print edition when available.

Marcus Sidonius Falx is not a name you are going to find in your search of Roman history, but someone just like him must have existed. He would have been a nobleman with slaves both in Rome and in the country. His wealthy family would have had slaves for generations. He would have seen that a slight profit could be made from selling some scrolls with his his advice to new slaveholders.

That Toner was able to mysterious interview the nearly two thousand year old nobleman is a fact we should just accept and read Falx's advice, which seems strange and cruel to us now. Falx is an almost likable character who has some entertaining stories to tell. At the end of his chapters, Toner steps in to provide academic references that document the historical details and attitudes to which Falx refers.

The Roman Guide to Slave Management is an easy read and can be used to make history more interesting to students. It also suggests questions to discuss about twenty-first century slavery and near-slavery. It is worth reading from a scroll, bound book, or digital tablet. It should be in more libraries than it currently is.

Toner, Jerry. The Roman Guide to Slave Management : A Treatise by the Nobleman Marcus Sidonius Falx. Overlook Press, 2014. 216p. ISBN 9781468309379.

Bird Books Old and New

I have been devoting much of my free time to birding this spring, lessening the time I have spent writing this blog. I haven't stopped reading, though I may be reading a little less, and my focus lately has been books about birds or Italy.

I live in the Chicago suburbs and visit various DuPage County Forest Preserves to see what I might see. My reading, however, is geographically unbound. Through the pages of The World of the Shorebirds by Harry Thurston, I have been able to travel by armchair all over North and South America, learning about the behaviors and migrations of plovers, sandpipers, oystercatchers, jacanas, stilts, avocets, and thick-knees. This Sierra Club Book is nearly twenty years old, so readers need to look up more recent statistics about bird populations and what is happening in critical flyways. The photos are still beautiful, and the author inspires love of birds.

I am traveling around the planet in Woodpeckers of the World by Gerard Gorman. Woodpeckers can be found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. South America has the most, some of which have very small ranges. Many do not migrate, so they won't be coming up my way this spring or ever. Gorman explains that little is known about some of the more remote species and that there is disagreement about which ones should be certified as species. He profiles 239 woodpeckers, identifying ranges, habitats, behaviors, and population status; the photos he includes are gorgeous. This recent guide is hefty. The author put many years into its making.

Sweep Up the Sun by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder is a children's book that brings me home. I have seen every bird in this book already this year, either in our yard or at one of the nearby preserves. The text is a poem about flying by Frost set into amazing photos by Lieder, each showing a familiar bird in flight. Sweep Up the Sun is a great addition to any young ornithologist's collection.

I also just read a book about hummingbird rescue for Booklist. Watch there for a review.

Thurston, Harry. The World of Shorebirds. Sierra Club Books, 1996. 117p. ISBN 0871569019.

Gorman, Gerard. Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide. Firefly Books, 2014. 528p. ISBN 9781770853096.

Frost, Helen and Rick Lieder. Sweep Up the Sun. Candlewick Press, 2015. ISBN 9780763669041.

Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon

Last week, in reviewing the audiobook Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett, I mentioned that I enjoyed Michael Chabon reading his own book, too. The book to which I referred is Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son, which I had missed when it was first published, just as I had missed Patchett's book. I found these books while looking desperately for nonfiction audiobook downloads that both interested me and were unread by me.

I have never read a Michael Chabon novel, but I was willing to try his essays. There are a slew of novelists that I have not read as novelists, enjoying their essays instead, including Jonathan Franzen, Joan Didion, and Julian Barnes. Similarly, I enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's essays more than her fiction. So I thought Manhhood for Amateurs might be worth trying, and it was.

Having a downloadable audiobook without the credit pages that I would have found in the paper book, I do not know the period over which he wrote the essays, but I guess from what he says in them that he began in the late 1980s. I sense different time-specific perspectives as he recounts the ages of his life so far. I discovered that he is older than I imagined - just about young as you can be and still be considered a baby boomer - and that I identified with many of his topics - collecting baseball cards, being a nerd, fatherhood, and aging parents. What he wrote about that was foreign to my experience I still found interesting and worth contemplating.

Manhood for Amateurs is not just addressed to men. Women can read it, too. Being both sensitive and slightly nerdy, he is very likable.

Chabon, Michael. Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. Harper, 2009. 306p. ISBN 9780061490187.

7 compact discs. HaperAudio, 2009. ISBN 9780061842375.

Noisy Bird Sing-Along by John Himmelman

I find much to like in Noisy Bird Sing-Along by John Himmelman. The bright, colorful bird illustrations are nicely detailed, making the species identifiable. All the birds seem to be in motion; none are stiff. I can imagine young readers absorbing the images and becoming junior ornithologists.

Adult readers should have lots of fun performing the bird sounds under the author's directions, and young readers will want to repeat them.

I appreciate that Himmelman chose some less obvious species, including three night birds. In the appendix, the author provides fun facts about all twelve species, as well as advice for young bird watchers.

I did not know that the white belly of a nuthatch reflects light onto bark, helping it find insects. Great book.

Himmelman, John. Noisy Bird Sing-Along. Dawn Publications, 2015. ISBN 9781584695134.