What We Are Reading Today: A Mystery of Mysteries

What We Are Reading Today: A Mystery of Mysteries
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Updated 30 March 2023

What We Are Reading Today: A Mystery of Mysteries

What We Are Reading Today: A Mystery of Mysteries

Author: Mark Dawidziak

Mark Dawidziak’s “A Mystery of Mysteries” is a brilliant biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines the renowned author’s life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes.

Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. 

In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe’s increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life, the book sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.


What We Are Reading Today: The Deep Ocean

What We Are Reading Today: The Deep Ocean
Updated 28 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: The Deep Ocean

What We Are Reading Today: The Deep Ocean

Authors: Michael Vecchione, Louise Allcock, Imants Prede & Hans Van Haren

The deep ocean comprises more than 90 percent of our planet’s biosphere and is home to some of the world’s most dazzling creatures, which thrive amid extreme pressures, scarce food supplies, and frigid temperatures.

This beautifully illustrated book leads you down into the canyons, trenches, and cold seeps of the watery abyss, presenting the deep ocean and its inhabitants as you have never seen them before.


What We Are Reading Today: Fortune’s Bazaar

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Updated 28 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: Fortune’s Bazaar

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Author: Vaudine England

This is a fascinating and exhaustive look at how one of the most famous cities in the world as created and how it shaped the fortunes of nations. without hong Kong history would have been very different.
A British crown colony for 155 years, Hong Kong is now ruled by the Chinese Communist party. Renowned journalist Vaudine England delves into Hong Kong’s complex history and its people—diverse, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan—who have made this one-time fishing village into the world port city it is today.
Rather than a traditional his- tory describing a town led by British governors or a mere offshoot of a collapsing Chinese empire, fortune’s bazaar is the first thorough examination of the varied peoples who made hong Kong.

 


What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny
Updated 26 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

What We Are Reading Today: Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

This is a story of adventure, pushing boundaries, disregarding gender norms, and setting historical precedents.

“Brave The Wild River” is the story of two women — Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter — who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon.

The botanists’ story is exciting, interesting, and informative. It is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a little-known corner of the American West at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever.

Meticulously researched and written like an adventure novel with page-turning prose, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny’s work deftly weaves the women’s stories and discoveries that influenced botany for decades. Unlike those old-time newspaper reporters, Sevigny does not look at her subjects and see women out of place.

Clover and Jotter and their 1930s achievements remain relevant and their example does not fade with time, Sevigny insists.

Sevigny has worked as a science communicator in the fields of planetary science, western water policy, and sustainable agriculture.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer
Updated 25 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Lion’ by Craig Packer

Lions are the only social cat. They hunt together, raise cubs together, and defend territories together against neighbors and strangers. Lions also rest atop their ecological pyramid, with profound impacts on competitors and prey alike, but their future is far from assured. Craig Packer interweaves his discoveries from more than 40 years of research—including a substantial body of new findings—to provide an unforgettable portrait of the African lion.


What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe

What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe
Updated 24 May 2023

What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe

What We Are Reading Today: Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe

Author: Jens H. Petersen  

In this beautifully illustrated introductory guide, Jens Petersen shows how to successfully identify and forage for edible mushrooms, and then how to prepare them for the table to ensure a delicious culinary experience, even if you’re a first-time forager.

Accessible and user-friendly, the book opens with a substantial introduction to fungi—what to look for, where to find them and how to collect and cook them.