Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald

Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald

Here latest after the amazing best seller H is for Hawk, this collection of essays continues to provide excellent nature writing and allows the author to explore themes beyond birds, though that is mostly what she focuses on. While H dealt specifically with how she dealt with the grief of her father's passing, this collection allows her to explore many tangents of the natural world. She also addresses some pressing issues of our natural environment that are now important; the disapearance of many natural habitats and the effects of climate change.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

The amazing story of one of the greatest art thiefs in history. This takes place in the 1990s and 2000s and I guess was a big story in Europe, where it all took place, but some how never made it into US media stories, at least that I remember. The 'thief' got away with the most amazing crimes for years, until stupid mistakes tripped him up. A complicated family psychology adds to the story, and an amazing reaction from the authorities. The fact that he never stole for profit helps to illustrate the uniqueness of this story.

Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent...and All the Places It Could Have Gone Terribly Wrong by Bob Thompson

Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent...and All the Places It Could Have Gone Terribly Wrong by Bob Thompson

In a similar vein to Travels with George, this books takes the reader to what are the present day situation of the geography that was the American Revolution. Told in a friendly style the author examines many of the personalities of the revolution, Benedict Arnold, Lafayette etc.

Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Leamer

Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Leamer The accounting of the women that Capote called his 'swans', glamorous trend setting women of the 50s through the 80s that he was friends with and that set the tone for a certain segment of society. These women were alos the subject of the unfinished Capote book about them and was going to be dishy and blast open their world, which did not need blasting. The women are names that you know, Babe Paley, Lee Radziwell, Joanna Carson etc their real story is one of not glamor but trying to get by in the sexist world the lived in while keeping a front of Vogue cover sophistication. A narrow slice of society by an easy one to read about.