From the renowned wolf observer and author of The Rise of Wolf 8 and The Reign of Wolf 21 comes a stunning account of an unconventional alpha male.

A lover, not a fighter. That was wolf 302. A renegade with an eye for the ladies, 302 was anything but Yellowstone’s perfect alpha male. For starters, he fled from danger. He begged for food from other wolves, ditched females he’d gotten pregnant, and even napped during one particularly heated battle.

But this is not the story of 302’s failures. This is the story of his dramatic transformation. And legendary wolf writer Rick McIntyre witnessed it all from the sidelines.

As McIntyre closely observed with his spotting scope, wolf 302 began to mature, and, much to McIntyre’s surprise, became the leader of a new pack in his old age. But in a year when game was scarce, could the aging wolf provide for his family? Had he changed enough to live up to the legacies of the great alpha males before him?

Recounted in McIntyre’s captivating storytelling voice and peppered with fascinating insights into wolf behavior, The Redemption of Wolf 302 is a powerful coming-of-age tale that will strike a chord with anyone who has struggled to make a change, big or small.

I knew going into this that there would be tragedy along with the triumph. Wolves, even the luckiest of them, lead such short lives. It’s what they do, how they show the majesty of the species, that can set them apart. Such is the case with Wolf 302.

Having read the previous books, I knew that Wolf 302 was coming from behind, so reading his journey to redemption was sometimes surprising, but always awesome. McIntyre brings him to life, no matter that you only know him as a number.

So, having read the two previous books, I started the last chapter with trepidation. This would be the end of Wolf 302’s story. The end of his life. But though his light would be snuffed out, his family would survive. His story would live on.



Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

( TBR Book Links 1-15 )


16. The Virtues of War by Stephen Pressfield
17. Our Oldest Companions: The Story of the First Dogs by Pat Shipman
18. The Man in the Moss by Phil Rickman
19. The Redemption of Wolf 302 by Rick McIntyre

Thor, a mighty grizzly, and Muskwa, a motherless bear cub, become companions in the Canadian wilderness, going from one adventure to another, picking berries, fishing in rivers, encountering other animals of the forest—all while two bear trappers are drawing nearer and nearer. . . .

This exciting story, originally published as The Grizzly King, inspired the hit film The Bear.

It’s a simple story, yet there is much to glean from it. Told from the perspective of both the bears and the hunters, we come to see who is the braver, the most forgiving, the one with the most heart.

But both species have much to learn. Thor had never had any experience with humans, but he learns the danger in what he perceives as weak animals. As Langdon, one of the hunters, tracks down the grizzly, he will have an epiphany. He is a stand-in for Curwood, who had a similar experience as his character.

A saw The Bear many years ago. The book adds depth to the story, so is a great companion to the film. Both tell a still relevant tale.




( TBR Book Links 1-5 )

6. The High House by Jessie Greengrass
7. Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
8. Nightmare Country by Marlys Millhiser
9. The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde, Diane Oatley (translator)
10. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
11. The Bear (The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild) by James Oliver Curwood

Naturalist Hope Ryden braved all seasons and weather over a four-year period to document the comings and goings of a pair of wild beavers (Lily and the Inspector General and their offspring). Her patience and fortitude paid off: She won acceptance and was able to move among the animals she describes as "gnomes who work magic and transform their surroundings during the dark of night."

Author of twenty-three books on wild animals, Ryden first became interested in beavers in 1974 when she wrote a cover story for the New York Times Magazine suggesting the beaver be named New York State’s animal. Within six months, the New York State legislature voted in favor.

Dr Jane Goodall wrote in a preface to this book: "Reading this book was, for me, like journeying into a fascinating new world: I am enriched.”

Can you fall in love with a beaver family? Most definitely, yes. The author did, and so did I. Ryden has a lively writing style, so it would be hard not to be drawn into the lives of these amazing animals.

The beavers all come to life in this engaging and heartwarming book. There’s the Inspector General, the largest of the beavers, and father to all the kits that follow. And Lily, sweet Lily, mother to the five sets of kits born during Ryden’s four years studying the beavers on Lily Pond.

It turns out that there’s so much more to beavers than just automatons who build dams. They’re master builders, who learn to build, and, more amazingly, to repair under all different situations, whether it’s repairing a dam or expanding their lodge. And depending on their situation, to eat a wide variety of plants.

But being about animals, there’s also the tragedy of death. It came at the end, the passing affecting all the other beavers, changing Lily Pond forever. It affected me, too. And stays with me still.




Mount TBR 2021 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
2. Polaris
3. How Democracies Die
4. Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories From My Childhood: Beloved Fairy Tales from the Queen to Cinderella
5. The Fateful Lightning (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater #4)
6. Circling the Sun
7. The Petticoat Men
8. Lily Pond: Four Years with a Family of Beavers












2021 LJ BOOK BINGO

The Bees by Laline Paull


"The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees.

Thrilling, suspenseful and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees gives us a dazzling young heroine and will change forever the way you look at the world outside your window.

I wasn't sure about this book at first, and I almost put it down after a dozen pages or so. Reading a book that's from the POV of a bee is a different experience, but then, suddenly, she became real, and I was drawn into Flora 717's world.




*Accept ~ Obey ~ Serve*

Those are the rules of the hive, rules that Flora 717 has taken to heart. She is born to the life of a sanitation worker; her duty, to clean the hive and removes the dirt and the dead.

But Flory 717 isn't like other bees, and because she's not like other bees, she leaves behind her life as a sanitation worker and becomes a nursery worker where she feeds the newborns. But her curiosity leads her astray, and she's sent back to her old life. But once again her difference holds her in good stead as she next becomes a forager. She thrives in her new job, but her differences will, again, lead her along a different path, one that will either destroy the hive or save it.

Flora 717 will win your heart, and you'll never look at bees the same way again.