RaveThe Washington PostHer voice is reminiscent of that of the accessible and practical 16th-century nun St. Teresa of Ávila, or the 19th-century St. Therese of Lisieux, whose teachings are still prevalent today ... Goodall does indeed lay out the facts, and they are grim, but she also tells numerous stories of resilience and ingenuity, and she steadfastly believes in the power of the young. Her message is contagious, her gentleness persuasive, her wisdom deep, and if this little book were to be gifted in households across the world this holiday season, then perhaps her message of hope would grow roots and shoots and unite us in her rallying cry[.]
Cynthia Barnett
RaveThe Washington Post... a glittering Wunderkammer for our age, a staggeringly varied history ... Barnett’s painstaking attention to detail renders particularly poignant the irony of the impact that the oil trade has had on marine life ... a glorious history of shells and of those who have loved shells. It is a history of fascination and of shame. It stretches our capacity to absorb new knowledge. It is as complex, multichambered and beautiful as its subject, and if Barnett can awaken our sense of wonder, then perhaps there is hope for jump-starting our collective sense of responsibility toward the oceans and one another.
Gretel Ehrlich
PositiveThe Washington Post... a lovingly observed account of the lives of people, animals and the landscapes that sustain them, spun together as deftly as a spider’s web, filled with purpose and urgency ... Unsolaced also challenges our contemporary preoccupation with looking to the future at the expense of living in the present. This constant rebalancing of contradictions defines Ehrlich’s narrative ... Ehrlich’s global nomadism and her linking of disparate ecologies conceal a carefully constructed thesis. The plains of Wyoming were formed when the glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Might Greenland one day resemble Wyoming? Is the destruction of humanity inevitable? ... As a species, our options are narrowing rapidly—yet for some of us they do still exist.
Carl Safina
RaveThe Washington Post... luminous ... In this superbly articulate cri de coeur, Safina gives us a new way of looking at the natural world that is radically different from our usual anthropocentric perspective. Becoming Wild demands that we wake up and realize that we are intrinsically linked to our other-than-human neighbors ... Safina helps us see the profound impact caused by the destruction of other species and their habitats, the inability to live in harmony with one another, and the demonization of environmental scientists battling to preserve our Earth’s delicate balance.
Alex Preston
PositiveThe Guardian\"... an object of thrilling beauty ... The reader is invited to work out if there is a subtext, and to interpret it how they may. Consequently, As Kingfishers Catch Fire is both a joyful and a wondrous book, one that successfully captures the otherness of birds, while celebrating our yearning to transcend our lot, our yearning to touch the unknowable.\
