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Best Nonfiction of 2012: Science & Nature

Cover art for NATURE WARS
NONFICTION
Released: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Star NATURE WARS: THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF HOW WILDLIFE COMEBACKS TURNED BACKYARDS INTO BATTLEGROUNDS
by Jim Sterba
"An eye-opening take on how romantic sentimentalism about nature can have destructive consequences."
Journalist Sterba (Frankie's Place: A Love Story, 2003, etc.) employs humor and an eye for the absurd to document the sometimes bizarre conflicts that arise as a consequence of America's transformed relationship with nature. Read full book review >
Cover art for FAR FROM THE TREE
NONFICTION
Released: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Star FAR FROM THE TREE: PARENTS, CHILDREN AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY
by Andrew Solomon
"An informative and moving book that raises profound issues regarding the nature of love, the value of human life and the future of humanity."
National Book Award–winning journalist Solomon (The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, 2001, etc.) uses issues raised by disability to examine the nature of parenthood, the definition of disability and the ability to control reproduction to create designer children. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE OLD WAYS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 15, 2012
Kirkus Star THE OLD WAYS: A JOURNEY ON FOOT
by Robert Macfarlane
"A breathtaking study of "walking as enabling sight and thought rather than encouraging retreat and escape.""
Macfarlane (English/Cambridge Univ.; The Wild Places, 2008, etc.) returns with another masterful, poetic travel narrative. Read full book review >
Cover art for SPILLOVER
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2012
Kirkus Star SPILLOVER: ANIMAL INFECTIONS AND THE NEXT HUMAN PANDEMIC
by David Quammen
"A wonderful, eye-opening account of humans versus disease that deserves to share the shelf with such classics as Microbe Hunters and Rats, Lice and History."
Nature writer and intrepid traveler Quammen (The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, 2006, etc.) sums up in one absorbing volume what we know about some of the world's scariest scourges: Ebola, AIDS, pandemic influenza--and what we can do to thwart the "NBO," the Next Big One. Read full book review >
Cover art for SURVIVING SURVIVAL
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 10, 2012
Kirkus Star SURVIVING SURVIVAL: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF RESILIENCE
by Laurence Gonzales
"Survivors of traumatic events often do not recover without help from others, and Gonzales' excellent book is an education for those wishing to be of use in a stressful, often frightening world."
How can the world smite thee? Let us count the ways... Read full book review >
Cover art for THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB
NONFICTION
Released: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Star THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB: AND OTHER LOST TALES OF LOVE, WAR, AND GENIUS, AS WRITTEN BY OUR GENETIC CODE
by Sam Kean
"In an impressive narrative, the author renders esoteric DNA concepts accessible to lay readers."
Science writer Kean (The Disappearing Spoon: and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, 2010) returns with another wide-ranging, entertaining look at science history, this time focusing on the many mysteries of DNA. Read full book review >