The Avid Reader Show

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Lynda Mapes, author of Witness Tree: Seasons of Change with a Century-Old Oak, published in April by Bloomsbury. Lynda has been a reporter with the Seattle Times for nearly 20 years, covering Northwest tribes, nature and the environment. Her previous works include Washington, the Spirit of the Land, Breaking Ground: The Lower Elwha Klallam and The Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village. Lynda first encountered the Harvard Forest as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She then accepted the Bullard Fellowship in 2014 that enabled her to live at Harvard Forest to continue her work there, which ended up giving us this wonderful book. Witness Tree. So the tale of one year in a small forest with one run of the mill (NPI) 100 year old red oak. What can one learn from that? Well, a lot more than I thought I would. I learned about the cocktail of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide that starts the engine of photosynthesis and not only keeps a red oak alive and thriving, but sustains the very environment in which we live our lives, so far comfortably. I learned about the story of carbon itself and its inextricable tie with our own spiral toward drastic climate change. I learned about the interdisciplinary way that one can approach a tree, as an equal and in so doing learn as much about yourself as you do about the tree. Some folks say that looking too closely, you can’t see the forest for the trees. Linda belies that old saw and sees both the tree, intimately and up close and sees not only the forest but also our world and what is happening to it.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Lynda Mapes, author of Witness Tree: Seasons of Change with a Century-Old Oak, published in April by Bloomsbury. Lynda has been a reporter with the Seattle Times for nearly 20 years, covering Northwest tribes, nature and the environment. Her previous works include Washington, the Spirit of the Land, Breaking Ground: The Lower Elwha Klallam and The Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village. Lynda first encountered the Harvard Forest as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She then accepted the Bullard Fellowship in 2014 that enabled her to live at Harvard Forest to continue her work there, which ended up giving us this wonderful book. Witness Tree. So the tale of one year in a small forest with one run of the mill (NPI) 100 year old red oak. What can one learn from that? Well, a lot more than I thought I would. I learned about the cocktail of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide that starts the engine of photosynthesis and not only keeps a red oak alive and thriving, but sustains the very environment in which we live our lives, so far comfortably. I learned about the story of carbon itself and its inextricable tie with our own spiral toward drastic climate change. I learned about the interdisciplinary way that one can approach a tree, as an equal and in so doing learn as much about yourself as you do about the tree. Some folks say that looking too closely, you can’t see the forest for the trees. Linda belies that old saw and sees both the tree, intimately and up close and sees not only the forest but also our world and what is happening to it.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Our guest today is Paul Theroux, who to most of you needs no introduction. He is a renowned novelist, short story writer and perhaps is most well known as a travel writer whose The Great Railway Bazaar back in 1975 was a seminal work that influenced pretty much every travel writer since. He has written over 30 novels and short story collections, many adapted for the screen and about 20 non-fiction works, mostly devoted to travel, with the last being his Deep South in 2015, documenting his travels through the southern states of this country. Today we will be discussing with him Mother Land, published just last week by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. There are two ways that one could begin a discussion of Motherland. You could be a casual reader who happens into my bookstore, sees the book on the front table exhibited prominently and falls in love with the cover, and it is a striking one, not knowing who Paul Theroux is, or just vaguely recognizing the name and pick up the hefty (over 500 pages) book and deciding after reading the blurbs and jacket that the story of a large dysfunctional family over a series of decades, narrated by what may be a slightly unreliable brother is just what suits his fancy on that day. OR>>>>>>>> You could come into the bookstore knowing lots about Paul Theroux. How the number and members of his family almost exactly mirror the number and members of the family in Motherland, including his 103 year old mother. How Paul wrote two stories that appeared in the New Yorker, the first The Best Year of My Life in 2005 and the second Upside-Down Cake in 2016 (set 30 years apart). Both of which stories find their way into Mother Land. You might know that Paul is father to British authors and filmmakers Marcel and Louis and is the brother of authors Alexander and Peter. And Uncle of the American Actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux married to Jennifer Anniston. You would also know that Paul, decades ago, wrote a kind of autobiography My Other Life, that his then wife took umbrage to and wrote a letter to The New Yorker, objecting to certain aspects of the story. And Paul’s brother Alexander wrote a scathing review of My Other Life, which finds its way, sometimes verbatim into Mother Land. So scathing that it is sometimes held up as an example of the nastiest of all brother/brother diatribes. Mother Land contains all of Paul’s family, except you can’t really be sure if that is the case or not. For someone who has followed his career, it kind of confusing. As Paul’s Wikipedia entry states, “By including versions of himself, his family and acquaintances in some of his fiction, Theroux has occasionally disconcerted his readers. Well he certainly has this one. As Paul has said in the past, he thinks of his fiction as “my life, with liberties”. Bottom line is it is a fascinating hilarious mean-spirited book that keeps you on your toes, intimately involved with the characters and unfortunately if you have to get up early almost requires that you read it in one sitting. At least, to my own dismay, I did.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Our guest today is Paul Theroux, who to most of you needs no introduction. He is a renowned novelist, short story writer and perhaps is most well known as a travel writer whose The Great Railway Bazaar back in 1975 was a seminal work that influenced pretty much every travel writer since. He has written over 30 novels and short story collections, many adapted for the screen and about 20 non-fiction works, mostly devoted to travel, with the last being his Deep South in 2015, documenting his travels through the southern states of this country. Today we will be discussing with him Mother Land, published just last week by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. There are two ways that one could begin a discussion of Motherland. You could be a casual reader who happens into my bookstore, sees the book on the front table exhibited prominently and falls in love with the cover, and it is a striking one, not knowing who Paul Theroux is, or just vaguely recognizing the name and pick up the hefty (over 500 pages) book and deciding after reading the blurbs and jacket that the story of a large dysfunctional family over a series of decades, narrated by what may be a slightly unreliable brother is just what suits his fancy on that day. OR>>>>>>>> You could come into the bookstore knowing lots about Paul Theroux. How the number and members of his family almost exactly mirror the number and members of the family in Motherland, including his 103 year old mother. How Paul wrote two stories that appeared in the New Yorker, the first The Best Year of My Life in 2005 and the second Upside-Down Cake in 2016 (set 30 years apart). Both of which stories find their way into Mother Land. You might know that Paul is father to British authors and filmmakers Marcel and Louis and is the brother of authors Alexander and Peter. And Uncle of the American Actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux married to Jennifer Anniston. You would also know that Paul, decades ago, wrote a kind of autobiography My Other Life, that his then wife took umbrage to and wrote a letter to The New Yorker, objecting to certain aspects of the story. And Paul’s brother Alexander wrote a scathing review of My Other Life, which finds its way, sometimes verbatim into Mother Land. So scathing that it is sometimes held up as an example of the nastiest of all brother/brother diatribes. Mother Land contains all of Paul’s family, except you can’t really be sure if that is the case or not. For someone who has followed his career, it kind of confusing. As Paul’s Wikipedia entry states, “By including versions of himself, his family and acquaintances in some of his fiction, Theroux has occasionally disconcerted his readers. Well he certainly has this one. As Paul has said in the past, he thinks of his fiction as “my life, with liberties”. Bottom line is it is a fascinating hilarious mean-spirited book that keeps you on your toes, intimately involved with the characters and unfortunately if you have to get up early almost requires that you read it in one sitting. At least, to my own dismay, I did.

While Darwin in the Beagle charted the Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Matthew James author of the book Collecting Evolution: The Galapagos Expedition that Vindicated Darwin, published in April by The Oxford University Press. Matthew is The Professor of Geology and Department Chair at Sonoma State University. Collecting Evolution gives us the history of the 1905-06 expedition to the Galapagos sponsored by The Museum of The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. most famous course to the islands, Matthew convincingly shows that the specimens and labeling that he accomplished were far surpassed by this modern expedition. Darwin visited four islands over the course of five weeks In 1906 the eight young scientist and three crewman stayed for over a year visited 13 islands and collected an astounding and disconcerting 78,000 specimens including 266 giant tortoises. This is a slaughter of mass proportions yet at the same time it was done in the name of conservation. The idea being back then that if they didn’t bring back a specimen of a dwindling species that species would be lost to science forever. All of this is fascinatingly set against the backdrop of the great San Francisco Earthquake.

While Darwin in the Beagle charted the Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Matthew James author of the book Collecting Evolution: The Galapagos Expedition that Vindicated Darwin, published in April by The Oxford University Press. Matthew is The Professor of Geology and Department Chair at Sonoma State University. Collecting Evolution gives us the history of the 1905-06 expedition to the Galapagos sponsored by The Museum of The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. most famous course to the islands, Matthew convincingly shows that the specimens and labeling that he accomplished were far surpassed by this modern expedition. Darwin visited four islands over the course of five weeks In 1906 the eight young scientist and three crewman stayed for over a year visited 13 islands and collected an astounding and disconcerting 78,000 specimens including 266 giant tortoises. This is a slaughter of mass proportions yet at the same time it was done in the name of conservation. The idea being back then that if they didn’t bring back a specimen of a dwindling species that species would be lost to science forever. All of this is fascinatingly set against the backdrop of the great San Francisco Earthquake.

While Darwin in the Beagle charted the Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Matthew James author of the book Collecting Evolution: The Galapagos Expedition that Vindicated Darwin, published in April by The Oxford University Press. Matthew is The Professor of Geology and Department Chair at Sonoma State University. Collecting Evolution gives us the history of the 1905-06 expedition to the Galapagos sponsored by The Museum of The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. most famous course to the islands, Matthew convincingly shows that the specimens and labeling that he accomplished were far surpassed by this modern expedition. Darwin visited four islands over the course of five weeks In 1906 the eight young scientist and three crewman stayed for over a year visited 13 islands and collected an astounding and disconcerting 78,000 specimens including 266 giant tortoises. This is a slaughter of mass proportions yet at the same time it was done in the name of conservation. The idea being back then that if they didn’t bring back a specimen of a dwindling species that species would be lost to science forever. All of this is fascinatingly set against the backdrop of the great San Francisco Earthquake.

While Darwin in the Beagle charted the Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Matthew James author of the book Collecting Evolution: The Galapagos Expedition that Vindicated Darwin, published in April by The Oxford University Press. Matthew is The Professor of Geology and Department Chair at Sonoma State University. Collecting Evolution gives us the history of the 1905-06 expedition to the Galapagos sponsored by The Museum of The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. most famous course to the islands, Matthew convincingly shows that the specimens and labeling that he accomplished were far surpassed by this modern expedition. Darwin visited four islands over the course of five weeks In 1906 the eight young scientist and three crewman stayed for over a year visited 13 islands and collected an astounding and disconcerting 78,000 specimens including 266 giant tortoises. This is a slaughter of mass proportions yet at the same time it was done in the name of conservation. The idea being back then that if they didn’t bring back a specimen of a dwindling species that species would be lost to science forever. All of this is fascinatingly set against the backdrop of the great San Francisco Earthquake.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today we are happy to have with us Jessica Shattuck author of The Women In the Castle published in March by William Morrow. Jessica’s previous work includes her novel The Hazards of Good Breeding, a NYT Notable Book. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glamour and many other periodicals. Her non-fiction has appeared in the Times, Mother Jones, Wired and the Globe. The Women In The Castle explores the lives of three survivors of Hitler’s Germany. Marianne, Benita and Ania. Marianne is the natural leader. A righteous woman bound by a promise made to a hero, a man who wished to see his country remain a free and just one who decides to attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler. An attempt that failed and that led to his hanging as well as Albrecht’s, Marianne’s husband and hundreds of others including Ania’s husband as well. Now Marianne is responsible for bringing the women and their children together to her castle where they attempt to rebuild lives. An attempt that also fails in part, fails in part because it is an enormous task but also because each of the women, just like each of us, is not necessarily what they seem or what we expect them to be. This dynamic drives the novel and pushes and pulls us many ways at once. Jessica places the reader in a precarious position (always a good thing) where we have to work out for ourselves who is right, who is wrong, who is absolved and who isn’t, who is on the right side of things. The novel is emboldened and elevated by the dilemmas it poses to us but it is also driven forward with sheer energy and a story that captivates from the Prologue to the epilogue.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today we are happy to have with us Jessica Shattuck author of The Women In the Castle published in March by William Morrow. Jessica’s previous work includes her novel The Hazards of Good Breeding, a NYT Notable Book. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glamour and many other periodicals. Her non-fiction has appeared in the Times, Mother Jones, Wired and the Globe. The Women In The Castle explores the lives of three survivors of Hitler’s Germany. Marianne, Benita and Ania. Marianne is the natural leader. A righteous woman bound by a promise made to a hero, a man who wished to see his country remain a free and just one who decides to attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler. An attempt that failed and that led to his hanging as well as Albrecht’s, Marianne’s husband and hundreds of others including Ania’s husband as well. Now Marianne is responsible for bringing the women and their children together to her castle where they attempt to rebuild lives. An attempt that also fails in part, fails in part because it is an enormous task but also because each of the women, just like each of us, is not necessarily what they seem or what we expect them to be. This dynamic drives the novel and pushes and pulls us many ways at once. Jessica places the reader in a precarious position (always a good thing) where we have to work out for ourselves who is right, who is wrong, who is absolved and who isn’t, who is on the right side of things. The novel is emboldened and elevated by the dilemmas it poses to us but it is also driven forward with sheer energy and a story that captivates from the Prologue to the epilogue.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today we are happy to have with us Jessica Shattuck author of The Women In the Castle published in March by William Morrow. Jessica’s previous work includes her novel The Hazards of Good Breeding, a NYT Notable Book. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glamour and many other periodicals. Her non-fiction has appeared in the Times, Mother Jones, Wired and the Globe. The Women In The Castle explores the lives of three survivors of Hitler’s Germany. Marianne, Benita and Ania. Marianne is the natural leader. A righteous woman bound by a promise made to a hero, a man who wished to see his country remain a free and just one who decides to attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler. An attempt that failed and that led to his hanging as well as Albrecht’s, Marianne’s husband and hundreds of others including Ania’s husband as well. Now Marianne is responsible for bringing the women and their children together to her castle where they attempt to rebuild lives. An attempt that also fails in part, fails in part because it is an enormous task but also because each of the women, just like each of us, is not necessarily what they seem or what we expect them to be. This dynamic drives the novel and pushes and pulls us many ways at once. Jessica places the reader in a precarious position (always a good thing) where we have to work out for ourselves who is right, who is wrong, who is absolved and who isn’t, who is on the right side of things. The novel is emboldened and elevated by the dilemmas it poses to us but it is also driven forward with sheer energy and a story that captivates from the Prologue to the epilogue.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today we are happy to have with us Jessica Shattuck author of The Women In the Castle published in March by William Morrow. Jessica’s previous work includes her novel The Hazards of Good Breeding, a NYT Notable Book. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glamour and many other periodicals. Her non-fiction has appeared in the Times, Mother Jones, Wired and the Globe. The Women In The Castle explores the lives of three survivors of Hitler’s Germany. Marianne, Benita and Ania. Marianne is the natural leader. A righteous woman bound by a promise made to a hero, a man who wished to see his country remain a free and just one who decides to attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler. An attempt that failed and that led to his hanging as well as Albrecht’s, Marianne’s husband and hundreds of others including Ania’s husband as well. Now Marianne is responsible for bringing the women and their children together to her castle where they attempt to rebuild lives. An attempt that also fails in part, fails in part because it is an enormous task but also because each of the women, just like each of us, is not necessarily what they seem or what we expect them to be. This dynamic drives the novel and pushes and pulls us many ways at once. Jessica places the reader in a precarious position (always a good thing) where we have to work out for ourselves who is right, who is wrong, who is absolved and who isn’t, who is on the right side of things. The novel is emboldened and elevated by the dilemmas it poses to us but it is also driven forward with sheer energy and a story that captivates from the Prologue to the epilogue.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is our old friend Michael Sims, who we haven’t seen in a while but who has visited us in the past to discuss such arcane topics as The Story of Charlotte’s Web and Victorian Women in Crime. This week we’ll be talking with Michael about Sherlock Holmes and his literary father Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes. Michael has also written the award winning Adam’s Navel, The Adventures of Henry Thoreau and so many others. Many of which deal with the classics and Victorian Literature. Arthur and Sherlock gives us a well rounded and entertaining explanation of the reasons behind the creation of Holmes and his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. I started reading Sherlock when I was 12, as did Michael, but for those who may be late comers or unfamiliar with Sherlock, you’ll be fascinated to learn about Arthur’s early years and the many influences that led to the creation of the world’s most renowned detective. From Arthur’s medical school professor Dr. Joseph Bell, to Edgar Allen Poe’s detective Dupin. As we read we begin to understand the creation of Holmes, down to his very name and we get a much better picture of this fascinating creature that still seems to appear on the silver screen annually and whose very name connotes so much to us and for that matter to every school child.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is our old friend Michael Sims, who we haven’t seen in a while but who has visited us in the past to discuss such arcane topics as The Story of Charlotte’s Web and Victorian Women in Crime. This week we’ll be talking with Michael about Sherlock Holmes and his literary father Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes. Michael has also written the award winning Adam’s Navel, The Adventures of Henry Thoreau and so many others. Many of which deal with the classics and Victorian Literature. Arthur and Sherlock gives us a well rounded and entertaining explanation of the reasons behind the creation of Holmes and his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. I started reading Sherlock when I was 12, as did Michael, but for those who may be late comers or unfamiliar with Sherlock, you’ll be fascinated to learn about Arthur’s early years and the many influences that led to the creation of the world’s most renowned detective. From Arthur’s medical school professor Dr. Joseph Bell, to Edgar Allen Poe’s detective Dupin. As we read we begin to understand the creation of Holmes, down to his very name and we get a much better picture of this fascinating creature that still seems to appear on the silver screen annually and whose very name connotes so much to us and for that matter to every school child.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is our old friend Michael Sims, who we haven’t seen in a while but who has visited us in the past to discuss such arcane topics as The Story of Charlotte’s Web and Victorian Women in Crime. This week we’ll be talking with Michael about Sherlock Holmes and his literary father Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes. Michael has also written the award winning Adam’s Navel, The Adventures of Henry Thoreau and so many others. Many of which deal with the classics and Victorian Literature. Arthur and Sherlock gives us a well rounded and entertaining explanation of the reasons behind the creation of Holmes and his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. I started reading Sherlock when I was 12, as did Michael, but for those who may be late comers or unfamiliar with Sherlock, you’ll be fascinated to learn about Arthur’s early years and the many influences that led to the creation of the world’s most renowned detective. From Arthur’s medical school professor Dr. Joseph Bell, to Edgar Allen Poe’s detective Dupin. As we read we begin to understand the creation of Holmes, down to his very name and we get a much better picture of this fascinating creature that still seems to appear on the silver screen annually and whose very name connotes so much to us and for that matter to every school child.