On this 40th anniversary year of Earth Day, I can’t think of anything better to read than a biography of Rachel Carson, arguably the founder of the modern environmental movement. Though not necessarily new, Linda Lear’s biography RACHEL CARSON: A WITNESS FOR NATURE is well worth reading. It delves deeply into Carson’s life, loves and motivations, which offers remarkable insights into her career. It’s a scholarly but hardly dry read. I highly recommend this. (Paperback, $17.95) Recommended by Kelly.

This graphic novel recounts an eerie and sometimes funny work-visit to North Korea. The author is a Belgian animator visiting an outsourced animation studio. The food is terrible, the electricity is inconsistent, and the streets are deserted… unless an important diplomat is visiting. Delisle’s 30-story hotel is empty except for his floor, and he’s almost never allowed out without being accompanied by a “guide” attempting to control what he sees — in short, all of the typical North Korean illusions are in play. A well-drawn and compelling read. Scary, too.

THE TIME TRAVELLER’S GUIDE TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: A HANDBOOK FOR VISITORS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, is a fabulous romp through times unimaginable. Don’t let the first chapter’s rather graphic depiction of overcrowding and the plague put you off. Historian Ian Mortimer is an excellent writer simply preoccupied by how people managed in another time. Truly a travelogue for those who might wax nostalgic about simpler times, readers will learn everything from what to wear (weasel if you’re royalty, homespun if you’re not), where to stay (inns, monasteries, or castles), and what to eat (bacon if you’re royalty, rats if you’re not). Only occasionally nauseating, it’s a fascinating read. (Hardcover, $26.00) Recommended by Kelly.

A very readable, fascinating analysis of North Korean propaganda’s unique symbolism and its effect on the North Korean world-view—THE CLEANEST RACE will change the way you see the country, and not necessarily for the better. Ordinary North Koreans are not yearning for liberation, and they see no contradiction in proclaiming a state policy of self-reliance while simultaneously accepting aid from the United States. As for the government, to most outside observers, the idea that the North Korean leadership can take its own personality cult and falsified history seriously is absurd. But Myers’s thesis is that they do take it seriously, and this is why our diplomatic approach to the DPRK is bound to fail. (Hardcover, $24.95) Recommended by John.

SNOOP: WHAT YOUR STUFF SAYS ABOUT YOU by Sam Gosling will vindicate any of you closet snoopers out there. You can learn a lot about a person by rifling through their bathroom cabinet, bookshelf, and spice rack. And, according to psychologist Gosling, you should want to do so. Not only is this book filled with interesting ways to interpret stuff and associated ways of arranging it, it also has many nifty, quick Reader’s Digest-type personality quizzes to take that will give you quick insight even into people you thought you knew through and through. (Paperback, $15.95) Recommended by Kelly.

Ernst Haeckel’s astonishingly beautiful scientific drawings from ART FORMS IN NATURE (KUNSTFORMEN DER NATUR) take you to another planet, one where strange and delicate Faberge eggs grow naturally; Haeckel drew them and carefully laid them out, arranged so that every aspect of them can be seen and admired. But Haeckel wasn’t just a talented draftsman and scientist — his colors are delicious and unusual, especially considering that he made these pieces in the early 1900s. (Paperback, $14.95) Recommended by John

WALKING ON WATER by Madeleine L’Engle

I read this book years ago and was reminded of it after recently reading Wrinkle in Time.  L’Engle is an author who submitted that novel 23 times before it was accepted, so she knows intimately the struggle between staying true to your inner vision and compromising to produce a salable commodity. She writes about her Christian faith and its intersection with creativity, but the book transcends the limit of a single faith perspective: it deals with the creative process flowing through the writer, artist, photographer, etc. when they allow themselves to be “vessels”.

An inspiring book for all the artists amongst us.  It reminded me of the fun I had with clay when I didn’t worry about the end product – like being a freed child.  (Hardcover, $13.99) Julie recommends.

LITTLE HEATHENS: HARD TIMES AND HIGH SPIRITS ON AN IOWA FARM DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Mildred Armstrong Kalish is a wonderful memoir of her childhood in the 1930’s. Times were hard, but she experienced much love and kindness and also learned the importance of frugality and ingenuity. This isn’t a depressing tale of suffering: she recalls her family’s day-to-day activities that helped build her character and instill self-confidence that would carry her throughout her adulthood, and also remembers the many joys of close contact with the natural world. Written with good humor and affection, it’s a lovely world to step into for an all too brief time. It was chosen ‘One of the Ten Best Books of the Year’ by the New York Times Book Review.

For those of you currently or formerly religious gals and blokes who’ve been frightened by its reflective cover and less-than-subtle title, THE GOD DELUSION by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is a brave, compelling, and only occasionally arrogant deconstruction of centuries of religious belief. Your eyes won’t bleed; your fingertips won’t be singed. If you’re a thinker, delve in.  ($15.95, paperback) Kelly recommends.

In the field of psychology, few are held at the level of respect and awe as Carl Jung.  His writings and ideas have impacted the way we as humans view our minds and our world as much as perhaps any person in the 20th Century.  Recently, Jung’s most personal work, known as THE RED BOOK, was released after being sealed away in a Swiss bank vault for 25 years.  The book was a personal documentation, in text andillustration, of sometimes psychedelic, sometimes ominous dreams and fantasies experienced by Jung.  Though he thought it too personal to publish during his life, his family recently allowed for translation and publication of the long-mythologized project.

The Raven has a copy of THE RED BOOK, which we are offering for 20% off the cover price of $195.00.  While it may seem a hefty price, this is an amazing book, full of Jung’s colorful renderings of his visions to illuminate the text. The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City is currently displaying the original book.  

The New York Times Magazine recently had a lengthy article about the book.  You can listen to an NPR story about the book and its journey to publication here, and finally, watch the trailer created for the publication of this long-awaited treasure.