Spell the Month in Books is a monthly linkup hosted by Reviews from the Stacks. Participants need to find a book title that starts with each letter in the month's name, make a list, share their link, and that's it! The linkup opens on the first Saturday of the month and remains open through the end of the month so that one can participate whenever is convenient. Each month also has optional challenge themes.
May Day! May Day! Those in the U.S. who hear that phrase may think of planes crashing but in many countries, it's a holiday with Big Parades of military hardware. I have always liked to see the footage of these from Moscow, Beijing and Pyongyang, particularly the marching. Don't know why but I have always liked marching. In Thailand, it is Labor Day. I am not sure if we have parades -- we certainly do not have any military hardware worth showing off (the memory of buying submarines without engines for a division that still doesn't exist persists) and Thai soldiers do not really march. They do dance, however, with plenty of YouTube and TikTok videos under their belts.
This month has a theme. Nature. I picked books based on something natural being displayed on their covers rather than content. As it turns out, these books also have natural settings -- two novels and one non-fiction work. When looking for a "Y" book, I discovered that I could have used books all from one author. I had already picked my "M" and "A" by that time but the others are mentioned below. . .
M
Murder With Puffins by Donna Andrews (published May 5, 2000)
Winner of the St. Martin's Malice Domestic Award in 1997 for her first work Murder With Peacocks, Donna Andrews brings back her zany characters and disastrous events.
In an attempt to get away from her family, Meg and her boyfriend go to a tiny island off the coast of Maine. What could have been a romantic getaway slowly turns into disaster.
Once there, they are marooned by a hurricane and that is only the beginning of their problems. Meg and her boyfriend arrive at the house only to discover that Meg's parents and siblings, along with their spouses are all there. When a murder takes place, Meg realizes that she and her boyfriend can no longer sit by a cozy fireplace, but must instead tramp around the muddy island to keep try and clear her father who is the chief suspect.
Plenty of "M's" to choose from but puffins happen to be my favorite bird so I couldn't resist this one. . . .
A
American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains by Dan Flores (published March 29, 2016)
America's Great Plains once possessed one of the grandest wildlife spectacles of the world, equaled only by such places as the Serengeti, the Masai Mara, or the veld of South Africa. Pronghorn antelope, gray wolves, bison, coyotes, wild horses, and grizzly bears: less than two hundred years ago these creatures existed in such abundance that John James Audubon was moved to write, "it is impossible to describe or even conceive the vast multitudes of these animals."
In a work that is at once a lyrical evocation of that lost splendor and a detailed natural history of these charismatic species of the historic Great Plains, veteran naturalist and outdoorsman Dan Flores draws a vivid portrait of each of these animals in their glory--and tells the harrowing story of what happened to them at the hands of market hunters and ranchers and ultimately a federal killing program in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Great Plains with its wildlife intact dazzled Americans and Europeans alike, prompting numerous literary tributes. American Serengeti takes its place alongside these celebratory works, showing us the grazers and predators of the plains against the vast opalescent distances, the blue mountains shimmering on the horizon, the great rippling tracts of yellowed grasslands. Far from the empty "flyover country" of recent times, this landscape is alive with a complex ecology at least 20,000 years old--a continental patrimony whose wonders may not be entirely lost, as recent efforts hold out hope of partial restoration of these historic species.
Written by an author who has done breakthrough work on the histories of several of these animals--including bison, wild horses, and coyotes--American Serengeti is as rigorous in its research as it is intimate in its sense of wonder--the most deeply informed, closely observed view we have of the Great Plains' wild heritage.
There were also quite a few "A" books that I had to choose from. But I decided to go the non-fiction route as I read another Dan Flores book last year (Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America) and loved it. I also could not resist the American Bison -- my favorite animal -- on the cover.
Y
Yosemite Fall by Scott Graham (published June 12, 2018)
Archaeologist Chuck Bender arrives with his family in Yosemite Valley to study the 150–year–old murders of a pair of gold prospectors in the midst of preparations for the annual Yosemite Slam rock–climbing competition and a reunion with his old climbing buddies. The trip quickly turns threatening when one climber never shows up, climbing equipment fails, and Chuck and his spouse, Janelle Ortega, are suspected in the shocking, present–day death of one of Chuck's former rock–climbing partners. Together, Chuck and Janelle race against time to solve the dual mysteries and prove their innocence—all while facing down a ruthless killer on the loose.
SCOTT GRAHAM is the author of eight books, including the National Park Mystery Series from Torrey House Press, and Extreme Kids , winner of the National Outdoor Book Award. Graham is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys mountaineering, skiing, hunting, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting with his wife, who is an emergency physician, and their two sons. He lives in Durango, Colorado.
Archaeology? National Park? Murder? I'm sold. I recently came across Scott Graham, purchasing several of his National Park Mystery novels. Yosemite Falls is the fourth in the series. Other titles include Mountain Rampage (#2), Mesa Verde Victim (#6), Arches Enemy (#5), and Yellowstone Standoff (#3) so it would have been quite easy to Spell the Month in Books with Nature on the covers and in the settings from a single author! At least this month, had I thought of it before looking for "Y". At least I didn't use any Sue Grafton titles.
The June theme is "History". I suspect "U" will be quite easy. "N", too. See you next month.
#spellthemonthinbooks
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