Make the Whole World a Library!

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I hope that you will enjoy the BookCrossing experience!

Off to a new reader!

This one came home in my travel narrative bookbox. Another one I've never even heard of. It will go on my tbr pile.

I just couldn't get into this book. It was too much about ferns for me to get into it. This will probably go into my next travel narrative bookbox.

The fall '11 travel narrative bookbox is on the move.

I'm taking this book from the Travel Narrative bookbox. I've enjoyed several of Sacks' books, including An Anthropologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and even though this book appears to be more history/travel/memoir than a collection of case-histories, I'm still interested in following along!

Despite - or perhaps because of! - the lack of horrible physical, mental, or psychological ailments in this book, I really enjoyed it; Sacks writes in a lovely, chatty style, with humor and a great knack for description, and here he's clearly enjoying himself very much. [Well, except for a bout or two with illness, and some side glances into the darker side of local life.] For the most part he's practically chortling with glee in every line, as he joins a group of fellow fern-fanciers (aka "pteridophiles" - I learned several new words in this book) on a tour in Oaxaca, Mexico. It turns out he stumbled into the fern-fancier meeting while exploring the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, near where he lives (and which I visited myself just last week, making for a pleasant sense of familiarity), and was captivated by the members of the American Fern Society - quirky folk with quick wits and a devotion to their chosen fancy. [I'd never have pegged Sacks for a plant-fancier of any kind, but his explanations about the appeal that primitive plants have for him makes sense.]

I've been pleasantly surprised to stumble into different kinds of "fandom" myself, from a simple "likes the same authors" situation to a deeper connection, and Sacks' description of the fern-folk made me want to hang out with them too - I even became considerably more curious about ferns than I'd ever been before {wry grin}. [I doubt I'll become a serious fern-fancier, but I've gained immense respect for them through this book, and for the people - mainly amateur botanists, in the purest definition of the word "amateur" - who've gathered much of the existing knowledge about them.]

I also loved the way the tour incorporated so many wonderful elements besides ferns; many of the members were avid bird-watchers (though Sacks himself mourns that while others were exclaiming gleefully over another hummingbird sighting, about all he could see were the largest birds, buzzards and such; he admits that he simply never trained his eyes to spot small birds, having instead a "clinical eye"), and most of them were fascinated by the Mayan ruins, the terrain and wildlife, and the crafts of local villages, from pottery to weaving. [The bit about the development of cochineal dye could make a book of its own.]

I adore experiences - and conversations - that dart from one topic to another and then come around to integrate previous topics into current ones, the "Connections" syndrome, and apparently Sacks and most of the fern-lovers feel the same way; the conversations he cites are wonderfully appealing, and reminded me of some of the best times I've had chatting with friends or family about something we all love...

Random tidbits that amused, startled, and/or fascinated me: the suggestion that the avocado is practically extinct in the wild because it evolved to be propagated by the huge creatures of the Pleistocene - giant sloths, etc. - who could swallow the large pits along with the fruit and excrete them later some distance away. The extinction of beasts big enough to eat - and comfortably pass! - an avocado pit left the trees with no way to spread, and they mainly survive now as domesticated crops. (I have no idea if this is true but it's an interesting theory!) Then there's the possible discovery of a nitrogen-fixing bacteria on the roots of an unusually-thriving stand of corn, with the potential to create a kind of corn that doesn't rely on heavy loads of fertilizer. [Someone had to notice the tall corn, poke around to see what was going on, notice the odd, slimy coating on the roots, and take samples for investigation; this all awes me, as I wouldn't notice in the first place, and if I got to the "slimy roots" phase I'd assume it was some horrible plague and clear out the whole thing!]

The whole book felt like a visit with a new friend, who loves talking about this and that as much as I do. Charming!

This book's going into bookstogive's Making New Friends bookbox, which will be on its way to the next stop today. Enjoy!

Took out of bookstogive's Making New Friends bookbox

This book will be wild released on Feb. 4th by the Rubber City Book Posse and the Akron Reading Festival held had the main branch of the Akron Public Library.

Look for the Rubber City Book Posse!

Bookcrossing: n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
- from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Welcome to BookCrossing!

Thank you for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry on the BookCrossing site (www.bookcrossing.com) to let me know that this book has found a good home with you. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free). If you join, please consider indicating that you were referred by Tribefan. I hope you enjoy the book. You can make another journal entry with your comments when you’ve finished reading. Whenever you’re ready to send it on its way, make a journal entry if you are giving or sending this book to a known person, or release notes if you are leaving it “in the wild” again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.