The Twilight Forest

The Twilight Forest: An Elegy for Ponderosa in a Changing West (Island Press 2025) by Gary Ferguson

The author is a widely published nature writer. In this book he travels through New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and California documenting the decline of the ponderosa pine. He provides background on the evolution of the ponderosa, its place in the culture of the west and information about the different varieties of the ponderosa. Basically his premise is that the ponderosa is in decline and may disapear. Mostly this book is the story of the effects of climate change and how it is reshaping the landscape, in particular in the western US. Very good writing.

The Gardner Heist

The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser

On March 18, 1990 the Isabel Stewart Gardner musuem, in Boston, was robbed of art works worth tens of millions of dollars. The case was never solved and the art works have never been recovered. The theft included 2 Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Monet and several Degas drawings. Since the theft was never solved, this proves a problem writing a book about the event since there is not really an ending to the story. So the author spends a lot of time talking about art theft in general, the state of art museums, famous art thefts and stories of the famous theives and there hauls. A theme throughout is the incompetence of many people who run these museums, and boards that aren't really qualified but made up of people with pestigious names.

1929

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin

A history of the 1929 crash and the major players who were involved. The author does go into the background of finance and Wall Street that setup the conditions of the crash, and then follows up what happened to some of these people after the crash and the depression set in. The author is very good at explaining complex financial concepts in a way that a novice can understand.

The Gales of November

The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon

The Edmund Fitzgerald (Fitz) is well known from the Gordon Lightfoot song of the same name. The majority of this book is a history of shipping on the Great Lakes, but goes into detail about the Fitz. The ship was specifically built as an ore transport on the great lakes, and was extremely well known at the time for the records in set. The author also goes into a brief history of the song, which of course gave a wider exposure to the ship beyond people who were 'lakers'.

1942

1942: WHEN WORLD WAR II ENGULFED THE GLOBE by Peter Fritzsche

As the title indicates this is a chronicle of 1942, a pivotal year in WW2. The author does go into the years leading up to 1942 to provide background, while there is not really new material in this book, it is well written and organized.

The Big Year

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik

In birding, a Big Year is when a person starts on January 1st and spends the year listing as many birds as they can for one year. While there is no prize invovled it is very competitive for the participants, who become obsessed with having as big a list as possible. While this can involve many people, this book concentrates on the activities of 3 people to tell the story. This was made into a movie, which I have not seen.

Launching Liberty

Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War by Doug Most

This is a history of the Liberty Ships that were the work horse for the Allies in WW2. The ships were built in several locations in the US, and while they didn't exist at the beginning of the war, by the end they were being built at record speeds. Several different companies built these ships, but this books concentrates on the California shipyards of Henry Kaiser. Kaiser was the person who build Hoover damn. As part of his innovation in building the ships, he wanted his workers to have access to health care without having travel far, so he created what would become Kaiser-Permanente.