NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The classic chronicle of a “terribly misguided and terribly funny” (The Washington Post) hike of the Appalachian Trail, from the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body
 
“The best way of escaping into nature.”—The New York Times 
 
Back in America after...

"A collection of essays on prairie wildlife and ecology"-- "A respected author and scholar, Paul A. Johnsgard has spent a lifetime observing the natural delights of Nebraska's woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. Seasons of the Tallgrass Prairie collects his musings on Nebraska's natural history and the issues of conservation facing our future. Johnsgard crafts essays featuring snow geese, owls, hummingbirds, and other creatures against the backdrop...

Did you know that there is a fungus that can control the mind of an ant and make it do its bidding? Would you believe there is such a thing as a corpse flower -- a ten-foot-tall plant with a blossom that smells like a zombie? How about a species of octopus that doesn't live in water but rather lurks in trees in the Pacific Northwest? Every story in this book is strange and astounding. But not all of them are real. Just like the old game in this book's...

From prehistory to present day, from remote Patagonia to the unforgiving badlands of the American West to the penthouses of Manhattan, this riveting narrative follows a fearless paleontologist who, after unearthing the first T-Rex fossils, saved NY's struggling American Museum of Natural History.

Ted Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska, an area known as the Bohemian Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention, including memories of his grandmother's cooking. And Kooser reminds us that the closing of local schools, thoughtless county weed control, and irresponsible housing development destroy more than just the view.

What makes life meaningful

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Carrying the famous biologist Charles Darwin, the Beagle set sail from Plymouth Sound in December of 1831 and returned in October of 1836-completing its journey across the world. This journal kept by Charles Darwin contains his notes from the journey and his commentary on the discoveries that were made. It also includes illustrations of the wonders that they encountered and in-depth discussions about life on the sea.