It’s always fun to browse the book selection here at the Mono Lake Committee’s Information Center & Bookstore whether you’re looking for a new field guide or a book of poetry, our diverse selection has something for everyone. Here are some of our favorite reads published in 2016 that are featured in the 2016 Fall Catalog.
Celebrate the National Park Service centennial with two great books about our National Parks. First, Committee member and wilderness advocate Terry Tempest Williams takes you through America’s greatest treasures in The Hour of Land. She beautifully reflects on her time at 12 different parks, highlighting their diversity, beauty, and wonder. In Lassoing the Sun, Mark Woods takes you on a heartfelt year-long journey through the National Parks. This powerful memoir is a story about family, memory, love, loss, and the power of wilderness to heal the human spirit.
If you’re looking to expand your knowledge of birds and flowers in the new year, these books are just for you. Committee member and Chautauqua presenter Stephen Shunk introduces the Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America. This beautifully illustrated guide features 23 woodpecker species and goes into detail about the natural history, ecology, and conservation of each species. Rock Creek Wildflowers, by botany expert Cathy Rose, includes 125 wildflowers you’re likely to see in the Rock Creek area and other high country locations in the Eastern Sierra. This book is full of gorgeous, full-color photographs by local Stephen Ingram and is in a pocket-friendly format perfect for hiking. If you’d like to remember the birds and flowers you see while you’re out exploring, pick up The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, by John Muir Laws. It’s an excellent resource for learning how to become a better artist and more observant naturalist. This full-color book features step-by-step instructions for developing nature journaling skills at any level.
One more exciting new release this year is Upstream, a collection of essays by Mary Oliver. Known for her inspiring poetry, in this book Oliver writes about her relationship with both the natural world and the world of creative writing. She shares her immense curiosity for nature and sense of responsibility to live intelligently and observantly.
You can order any of these books from our online store or by calling the Mono Lake Committee at (760) 647-6595. We’re here Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm to take your order. If you’re in Lee Vining, you can also swing by the Information Center & Bookstore—we’re open 9:00am to 5:00pm daily.