Puzzles, Mysteries, and Reviews

A fan of non-fiction books, particularly those with a natural history bent, I figured The Swamp by Michael Grunwald would be a perfect match for my interests. After all, as the subtitle pointed out, this book focuses on "The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise."

You'll find all sorts of charts that let you know whether a particular hike is one-way or roundtrip, steep or level, good for mountain bikers or equestrians, child friendly, and on and on. In fact, the charts and their symbols are so plentiful that the book actually takes a section to explain how to use this information.

I'm so impressed with Eric Blehm's "The Last Season," an accounting of the disappearance of Randy Morgenson, a backcountry ranger who spent 28 seasons in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks before vanishing into a void. It's a mystery that perhaps will appeal largely only to parkies, but it's one masterfully told.

While there are many national park guidebooks out there that include sections on lodging, they don't always cover every possibility, and if they do, it's often just in passing. The solution just might be "The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges," ($18.95 MSRP) a comprehensive, almost encyclopedic, book by David and Kay Scott that launched its fifth edition earlier this year.

So many current issues in the parks are too complex to convey in a simple blog post, which is part of the reason I have enjoyed the deeper analysis that these books provide. If park books are on your mind this summer, the following list may contain a book or two that you'll enjoy reading during the summer break.