Nature Books

At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's rapid death from cancer, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America - from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington state - and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise - a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet.Strayed's account captures the agonies - both mental and physical - of her incredible journey; how it maddened and terrified her, and how, ultimately, it healed her. Wild is a brutal memoir of survival, grief and redemption: a searing portrayal of life at its lowest ebb and at its highest tide.

James Herriot has now become firmly established and accepted as one of Darrowby's veterinarians. He's also married, and lives with his wife Helen on the top floor of Skeldale House. His former boss, now partner, Siegfried, lives downstairs with Siegfried's brother Tristan.James continues the rich and rewarding day-to-day life of a small-town veterinarian, and we journey with him across the dales, meeting a whole new cast of unforgettable characters -- humans, dogs, horses, lambs, parakeets -- all of them drawn with the same infinite fascination, affection and insight that made James Herriot one of the most beloved authors of our time.

A Field Guide to Getting Lost draws on emblematic moments and relationships in Solnit's own life to explore issues of wandering, being lost, and the uses of the unknown. The result is a distinctive, stimulating, and poignant voyage of discovery.

When Benjamin Mee decided to uproot his family and move them to an unlikely new home in Devon - a dilapidated zoo where over 200 exotic animals would be their new neighbours - his friends and colleagues thought he was crazy.Benjamin's dream was to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. But with a grand reopening scheduled for spring, there was much work to be done and none of it would be easy for these novice zookeepers.Benjamin's story is a remarkable tale of anxious wolves, awkward creditors, escaping big cats, the power of family and the triumph of hope over tragedy.Now a major motion picture starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, directed by Cameron Crowe