SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2019 AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "Readers who like quiet, meditative works will enjoy this strangely affecting buddy story." —Publishers Weekly "Rather than tying up the loose ends, she leaves them beautifully fluttering in the wind, and you do not feel lost in that experience. The writing is poetic and it’s worth savouring." —Angela Caravan, Shrapnel A bad dream leads to a strange poetic pilgrimage through Japan in this playful and profound Booker International-shortlisted novel. Gilbert Silvester, eminent scholar of beard fashions in film, wakes up one day from a dream that his wife has cheated on him. Certain the dream is a message, and unable to even look at her, he flees - immediately, irrationally, inexplicably - for Japan. In Tokyo he discovers the travel writings of the great Japanese poet Basho. Keen to cure his malaise, he decides to find solace in nature the way Basho did. Suddenly, from Gilbert's directionless crisis there emerges a purpose: a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the poet to see the moon rise over the pine islands of Matsushima. Although, of course, unlike the great poet, he will take a train. Along the way he falls into step with another pilgrim: Yosa, a young Japanese student clutching a copy of The Complete Manual of Suicide . Together, Gilbert and Yosa travel across Basho's disappearing Japan, one in search of his perfect ending and the other a new beginning. Serene, playful, and profound, The Pine Islands is a story of the transformations we seek and the ones we find along the way.

Four sisters search for true family in this story of resilience by a Newbery Honor author. When the McCready sisters' parents are washed away in a tsunami, their Great Aunt Martha volunteers to have them live with her on Pine Island in British Columbia. But while they are traveling there, Martha dies unexpectedly, forcing Fiona, the eldest, to come up with a scheme to keep social services from separating the girls - a scheme that will only work if no one knows they are living on their own. Fiona approaches their grouchy and indifferent neighbor Al and asks if he will pretend to be their live-in legal guardian should papers need to be signed or if anyone comes snooping around. He reluctantly agrees, under the condition that they bring him dinner every night. As weeks pass, Fiona takes on more and more adult responsibilities, while each of the younger girls finds their own special role in their atypical family. But even if things seem to be falling into place, Fiona is sure it's only a matter of time before they are caught. Written in Polly Horvath's inimitable style, gentle humor and tough obstacles are woven throughout this story about the bonds of sisterhood and what makes a family. Don’t miss the sequel, Pine Island Visitors, which Kirkus Reviews described as “terrifically entertaining” in a starred review. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

Can the love reserved for family and friends be extended to a place? “Luminous essays” on nature and environmental stewardship (Booklist). Named one of the Top Ten Northwest Books of the Year by the Oregonian In this book, acclaimed author Kathleen Dean Moore, a winner of the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award for Holdfast, reflects on how deeply the environment is entrenched in the human spirit, despite the notion that nature and humans are somehow separate. Moore’s essays, deeply felt and often funny, make connections in what can appear to be a disconnected world. Written in parable form, her stories of family and friends—of wilderness excursions with her husband and children, camping trips with students, blowing up a dam, her daughter’s arrest for protesting the war in Iraq—affirm an impulse of caring that belies the abstract division of humans from nature, of the sacred from the mundane. Underlying these wonderfully engaging stories is the author’s belief in a new ecological ethic of care, one that expands the idea of community to include the environment, and embraces the land as family. “Stands with the best tradition of nature writing.” —The Oregonian

Tucked between the mainland of southwest Florida and the islands of Sanibel and Captiva is a 17-mile-long island accessible by a single drawbridge. A haven for some and a home to others, the community of Pine Island is a rare and lingering remnant of old Florida. The island's shores are home to mangroves teaming with fish instead of crowded beaches, making it a major destination for sport fishing enthusiasts and providing a livelihood for the independent commercial fishing families of the island. The genuine personalities and untouched splendor of Pine Island have attracted numerous artists to the area in recent years, with many praising Pine Island as the new Key West. Strolling the lazy street to Bokeelia's famous fishing pier, or exploring an active Calusa Indian archeological site in Pineland, the crowds and tourist-related glitz common to most of Florida's islands are nowhere to be found, leaving visitors to discover Pine Island's unspoiled beauty at their own pace.

An overview of the archaeology and development of the coastal southwest Florida site complex at Pineland from AD 50-1710.

First published in 1949 and praised in The New York Times Book Review as "full of beauty and vigor and bite," A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with a call for changing our understanding of land management.

Through the meadow, past the orchard, near the grassy gladein the midst of Nimblewood stands Humble Tree. Behind thetiny mousehole door with its even tinier mousehole doorknob live two mice named Toofer and The Giblet. The Giblet often finds himself in tumultuous situations brought on by a lack of thinking things through-such as the time he tried to quite literally extend a hand in friendship to a neighboring cat. Thankfully, when he does these things, he can count on Toofer to stop him. Though Toofer might not readily admit it, he has come to rely on The Giblet as well-such as the time he hadn't left the mousehole for almostan entire summer because he simply wasn't up to visiting. In an effort to liberate him, The Giblet told him that Humble Tree had caught fire. Toofer later pointed out that it would have been just as effective if The Giblet had not actually tried to set the tree ablaze.Because it could be that few will ever go through the meadow, past the orchard, near the grassy glade in the midst of Nimblewood where stands Humble Tree, with its very tiny mousehole door and even tinier mousehole doorknob, to greet Toofer and The Giblet. . . these are their stories.

A life she couldn't keep, a murder she couldn't forget. In the clear waters of Pine Island, Florida darkness is swirling. Trained to be a killer, Ellie O'Conner opts for a new life of quiet privacy away from the bloated bureaucracy that has become the CIA. Now, she wants nothing more than to catch up on years lost to the wind. But when a horrifying death shocks her sleepy fishing community Ellie is compelled by a sense of duty to track down the killer. And along the way, she finds out that some of Pine Island's residents may not have the cleanest of hands. And dark waters swirl fiercest in the daylight. _____________________Books 1-4 in the Pine Island Coast Suspense Series form one larger story arc, with everything tied up in Book 4. Beginning at the end of May one will be released every two-three weeks. By July all four will be available for purchase. ________________Dear Reader,If you enjoy Wayne Stinnett, Dawn Lee McKenna, and Randy Wayne White, odds are you'll love reading my books too. So come on and join me, and get away to one of my favorite places for a few hours. I promise, you won't be disappointed. Want to travel to South Florida or visit local places you don't live near? Maybe you can't because life hasn't afford the opportunity or the grandkids would rather go to Six Flags. I get it!...I have five kids of my own. While I can't personally get you to South Florida I can transport you there into an intriguing world filled with delightful characters whose lives are filled with mystery, love, loss, and adrenaline. Kind reviews can help far more than you know and won't go unnoticed as I keep writing and drumming up more Florida Adventure and Suspense Novels that you'll fall in love with. Drop me a line some time. I'd love to hear from you. Life is short, live it well. Jack