Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

 If you are a fan of Andy Weir's novel The Martian, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that he has a new novel coming out, and it's great. The bad news is it's not coming out until May. I was fortunate to read an advance reader copy from Netgalley. I will reread it or listen to the audio when it is published.

A man wakes up. He doesn’t know who he is. He doesn’t know where he is. A cool female voice is asking him “what’s two plus two?”

This book is so funny. Not like laugh out loud all the time, although I did laugh out loud at times, but the main character's humor resonates with me. Also he never swears, for reasons, which amused me to no end. (“‘Holy moly!’ I say. ‘Holy moly’? Is that my go-to expression of surprise? I mean, it’s okay I guess. I would have expected something a little less 1950s. What kind of weirdo am I?” (p. 20 of the ARC)) (I wonder if this is a reaction to complaints about all the swearing in The Martian.)

There’s a lot of joking about how hard it is to be an American scientist because you grew up with imperial units but need metrics for science. I totally want to hang with this guy. There's a great bromance (for lack of a better word). I don't want to spoil the book too much but it's a very touching relationship and reflection on friendship.  There is also a strong female character. 

I recently read another book about someone who wakes up on a spaceship alone and doesn't know who they are - Across the Void by S.K. Vaughn. Project Hail Mary is so much better. And there is a very good, scientific reason why the main character wakes up not knowing his name or immediate past in Project Hail Mary.

Did you enjoy the movie Arrival? Well, Project Hail Mary isn't really like Arrival, but it is too. Very science-y. Full of wonder. You know all those movies, books, and TV shows where all the aliens want to do is kill us? This book...isn't like those either. 

If you are a Star Trek fan, think - the best of Star Trek. Cooperation and problem solving. I was honestly crying tears of joy at the very end (or perhaps I should say my face was leaking - you'll get that after you read the book). Extra points for believable pop culture references.

I'm glad Weir has switched back to a male main character. My biggest issue with his second book, Artemis, was that I just didn't buy the internal voice of the female main character. There were a couple of places in Project Hail Mary that seemed a little silly and out of place, but only a couple. On the whole I fell into this book and didn’t want to leave. 

Project Hail Mary is a definite recommend from me. Can't wait to read it again. Can’t wait for the movie. (Two words: jazz hands. You’ll get that after you read the book too.) The Galesburg Public Library will own it in every format in which it is available in May 2021. 

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght

From the publisher: 

I saw my first Blakiston’s fish owl in the Russian province of Primorye, a coastal talon of land hooking south into the belly of Northeast Asia . . . No scientist had seen a Blakiston’s fish owl so far south in a hundred years . . .  

When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Jonathan C. Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts. Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. That first sighting set his calling as a scientist. 

Despite a wingspan of six feet and a height of over two feet, the Blakiston’s fish owl is highly elusive. They are also endangered. And so, as Slaght and his devoted team set out to locate the owls, they aim to craft a conservation plan that helps ensure the species’ survival. This quest sends them on all-night monitoring missions in freezing tents, mad dashes across thawing rivers, and free-climbs up rotting trees to check nests for precious eggs. They use cutting-edge tracking technology and improvise ingenious traps. And all along, they must keep watch against a run-in with a bear or an Amur tiger. At the heart of Slaght’s story are the fish owls themselves: cunning hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat.

Through this rare glimpse into the everyday life of a field scientist and conservationist, Owls of the Eastern Ice testifies to the determination and creativity essential to scientific advancement and serves as a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.

 For those who didn't get a chance to meet me back in the Children's Room in the whole three months I was there before the world turned upside down, I was an animal keeper for almost twenty years before coming to Galesburg Public Library. I was watching a webinar on upcoming autumn books when the presenter started talking about a researcher from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who had worked with fish owls in Russia. Now, back in 2013 I attended a conservation conference (remember conferences?) and heard a WCS researcher talk about fish owls in Russia. If he had been talking about tigers, it might not have been the same guy, but once you get away from charismatic megafauna, the world gets pretty small. A quick Facebook search revealed that yep, Jonathan was the guy I had heard speak. NetGalley was kind enough to send me an ARC to review (thank you!), and I read through it within the week.

Owls of the Eastern Ice is a fantastic and fascinating first hand account into what goes into boots on the ground conservation. Jonathan, who is white, began working with Blakiston's fish owls as part of a multi-year study that took him into the wintry forests of Eastern Russia. Working with a number of Russian researchers and assistants, he set out to identify, trap, band, and attach monitors to the barely-studied fish owls, in addition to figuring out what type of habitat they needed. You can pass laws protecting a species from direct harm, but unless you protect the land and water that they need to feed and breed, you can still watch them slip through your fingers. Unfortunately, this basic information is lacking for many endangered species. Throughout the course of the years and the study, Jonathan and his party raced snowmobiles across melting rivers, discovered hours-old Amur tiger tracks next to their own, came up with brand new ways to trap a species rarely trapped before, dealt with temperatures that cause electronics to just give up, braved blizzards and less than hygienic food prep (seriously, A+ descriptions of field life here), and drank a lot of vodka with the locals.

One of the things that really jumped out at me was how well this book explains the basics of conservation field work. It describes how one goes about setting up a conservation biology based PhD study, including the courses you have to take during the off-season, the jobs you have to work to support yourself, the field work, and the dry statistics that come after you get home that lets you write that all important paper. Owls of the Eastern Ice focuses on how having the basic ecological information about a species, in the owls' case specific waterways and old-growth nesting trees, is so important. Targeting focused areas for preservation while freeing up other locations that can be safely used for commercial purposes is vital for getting local support for conservation.

This book is a wonderful look at a little-known species that looks like it came from the Jim Henson Company, a fantastic escape to a very different part of the world, and a well-written account of what goes in to saving a species. The book comes out on August 4 of this year, and Galesburg Public Library will have a copy. Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux @fsgbooks for the ARC.

Our Native Bees by Paige Embry

From the publisher: Honey bees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America’s native bees—an endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies—is just as crucial. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Paige Embry explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why they play a key role in gardening and agriculture. The people and stories are compelling: Embry goes on a bee hunt with the world expert on the likely extinct Franklin’s bumble bee, raises blue orchard bees in her refrigerator, and learns about an organization that turns the out-of-play areas in golf courses into pollinator habitats.

Our Native Bees is a fascinating book about Native American bees. I was afraid Our Native Bees would cover information I already knew, especially when it started off talking about honey bees. However, as the book went on I learned all kinds of interesting stuff about native bees. It's amazing how many varieties there are and how much they accomplish. I am not a scientist, but it seemed very well researched to me.

One of my favorite parts was this quote about honey bees:

Honey bees are the bankers of the bee world, working short hours and taking all the holidays off. If it’s raining, they go home. Too cold? They don’t even leave the hive. [Blue orchard bees] BOBs, on the other hand, start flying as soon as their body temperature warms up to 54 degrees F, so the ambient temperature can be considerably less if it’s a sunny day. Now, bumble bees will fly in bad weather, but their prime season comes later in the year. In early spring with the BOBs first come out, the only bumble bees alive and possibly out gathering are last year’s queens-to-be, and there aren’t going to be enough of them to pollinate an orchard (p. 64 of the advance reader copy)

Highly recommended for those interested in bees, insects, the environment, and wildlife.

I read an advance reader copy of Our Native Bees. I look forward to seeing the actual book and admiring the many bee photos in color instead of black and white.

Our Native Bees will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in February 2018.

You can help pollinators by participating in the citizen science project The Great Sunflower Project: https://www.greatsunflower.org/Pollinator_Plants

Half-Earth by Edward O. Wilson

Publisher description: Half-Earth proposes an achievable plan to save our imperiled biosphere: devote half the surface of the Earth to nature. In order to stave off the mass extinction of species, including our own, we must move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of our planet, says Edward O. Wilson in his most impassioned book to date. Half-Earth argues that the situation facing us is too large to be solved piecemeal and proposes a solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: dedicate fully half the surface of the Earth to nature. If we are to undertake such an ambitious endeavor, we first must understand just what the biosphere is, why it's essential to our survival, and the manifold threats now facing it. 

***

Edward O. Wilson knows his subject backwards and forwards, and his passion is admirable. This short work covers a lot of ground, meandering about on a large variety of topics. 

Although I agree wholeheartedly with the author’s suggestion to set aside half the planet for nature and am also passionate about the biosphere, I found the book a bit preachy and dull in parts. It was kind of like reading a really long sermon. The text was also a bit repetitive, in the way of people trying to convince others to understand their passion. I found some of the chapter transitions very abrupt. Much of the information in Half-Earth was not new to me; I'd heard or read a lot of it before. As so many environmental works are, it was also downright depressing to read.

On the plus side, Wilson quoted Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of my favorites, who noticed man’s movement away from the natural world over a hundred years ago. Occasional sentences jumped out at me and made me think, like “Keep in mind that every surviving species (including us) is therefore a champion in a club of champions. We are all best of the best, descendants of species that have never turned wrong in the maze, never lost. Not yet.” (p. 117 of the digital advance reader copy) 

Depressing as they are, I feel it is important to read books like this one if we are ever to change the way humans treat the rest of the biosphere. Half-Earth proposes a bold idea and would be a good book for discussion. Short as it is, it would also be a good starter book for someone not already well-read on the subject.

Half-Earth is scheduled to be published March 7. I read a digital advance reader copy.

Apples of Uncommon Character

Apples of Uncommon Character is a truly delightful look at 123 varieties of apples, their strengths, their weaknesses, and their uses.

This is a not boring recitation of information about apples. The author injects some humor and interest into all the descriptions. He also includes history and fun facts. For example, did you know that the character of Rambo by David Morrell was named after the Summer Rambo apple? That the apple that led Isaac Newton to ponder gravity was a Flower of Kent?

Other fun comments about various varieties:

Of the Blue Pearmain: "This is the apple Elrond would have tended in his backyard in Rivendell, and it would have been off-limits to any dwarf or hobbit."

Of the Knobbed Russet (a very ugly apple): "Uses: Terrify your children."

Of the Dabinett: "Use: Don't eat fresh, unless sucking on tea bags is your idea of fun."

Of the Red Delicious: "Texture: Both good and bad examples have that horrible leathery skin that likes to slide between your teeth and lacerate your gums....Use: Makes a great logo."

Definitely recommended for foodies and lovers of apples.

The book can be found at the Galesburg Public Library at NFIC 634.11 JAC.