Poor Richard’s Books suggests titles on both human and wildlife connections

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Poor Richard’s Books in Colorado Springs recommends books that look deeply into human relationships, but also our connections to wildlife.

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From the publisher: “Celebrated for her powerful short fiction, Claire Keegan now gifts us three exquisite stories together forming a brilliant examination of gender dynamics and an arc from Keegan’s earliest to her most recent work. In “So Late in the Day,” Cathal faces a long weekend as his mind agitates over a woman with whom he could have spent his life, had he acted differently; in “The Long and Painful Death” a writer’s arrival at the seaside home of Heinrich Bèoll for a two-week writing residency is disrupted by an academic who imposes his criticisms and opinions; and in “Antarctica” a married woman travels out of town to see what it’s like to sleep with another man and ends up in the grip of a possessive stranger.’ Each story probes the dynamics that corrupt what could be between women and men: a lack of generosity, the weight of expectation, the looming threat of violence.”

From Jeffery Payne, assistant retail manager: I am not a big fan of short stories. They often feel rushed and frantic. Tell the tale quickly. Move on.

Claire Keegan’s small yet powerful volume is a welcome and refreshing collection of three private and intimate pieces. With a steady and gracious hand, we are slowly dipped into stories that feel at once comfortable, languid and quietly nuanced. Her writing is exact and decisive, we feel the emotions she shares in her telling. What an incredible gift she bestows to the reader.

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From the publisher: Owls have existed for over 60 million years, and in the relatively short time we have shared the planet with these majestic birds they have ignited the human imagination. But even as owls continue to captivate our collective consciousness, celebrated British nature writer Miriam Darlington finds herself struck by all she doesn’t know about the true nature of these enigmatic creatures.

In “The Wise Hours,” Darlington watches and listens to the natural world and to the rhythms of her home and family, inviting readers to discover the wonders of owls alongside her while rewilding our imagination with the mystery, fragility, and magnificence of all creatures.

From Jeffery Payne, assistant retail manager: Similar in tone to “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating,” by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, “The Wise Hours” is a brilliant mix of nature writing and memoir. The author’s pure affection and dedication to the mythically astute and knowing sage of the wilderness is heartfelt and catchy. For those of us who have experienced an unexpected encounter with the winged shaman of the night sky, we can relate, celebrate, and envy the author’s grand adventure in travel and discovery.

Poetically written, with the glee of a youngster uncovering a secret that she shouldn’t share, but luckily, dares to do so.

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From the publisher: “Return of the Bison” is the story of how this symbol of the American West was once almost lost to history and of the continuing journey to bring bison back from the brink. Author and naturalist Roger Di Silvestro explores the complex history of the bison’s decimation and how a rising awareness of their possible extinction formed the roots of many modern wildlife conservation approaches. Weaving in natural history and fascinating historical context featuring personalities such as Teddy Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, and William T. Hornaday, Di Silvestro traces the decades it took to begin to save the bison, often with little hope and plagued by discouraging setbacks. Di Silvestro explores the key role in the story of America’s Indigenous people, whose fate was intertwined with the bison’s and whose conservation work is important not only for the animal’s recovery but also for their own cultural renewal.

From Jeffery Payne, assistant retail manager: The long and storied history of the life and near extinction of bison has many myths, tangents and challenges. Di Silvestro easily dissects those and creates a clear and concise picture of the once-wild beast that is such an icon of western lore. We acquire a deeper understanding of the very complicated relationship between the grand flocculent animal and the short-sightedness of mankind.

The likelihood of vast herds of bison ever returning is forever small. Di Silvestro gives us an optimistic outlook we could all use.

Type of Story: Review

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