Category: Book Review

Working Waterfront

Bernd Heinrich explores the less-noticed parts of nature

In the foreword to his new book, Bernd Heinrich explains the reasoning behind its title. “Ensconced for forty years in the Maine woods,” the famed biologist and author writes, he has explored his forest retreat, focusing on the “common uncommon,” natural phenomena that have “not been sufficiently noticed.” SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Photo collection pairs new and old views of Boothbay peninsula

Boothbay Now and Then: New and Historic Images of the Boothbay Peninsula By Kevin Johnson (2026, Penobscot Marine Museum)   Photographer Kevin Johnson’s new book, Boothbay Now and Then, is a selection of photos depicting the Boothbay region. This subject matter is attractive enough for anyone interested in Maine’s coast.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Mike Silverton taps the strange and amusing

New and Used Poems and Objects By Mike Silverton // Photographs by Kevin Johnson (2026, Sagging Meniscus Press)   It has now been 109 years since Marcel Duchamp’s urinal was not shown in an art exhibit in New York City. This was because the Society of Independent Artists couldn’t decide… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A history of rope in everything from seafaring to magic

Clipper ships, splices, knots, cowboys, pyramid-builders, bridge engineers, tightrope walkers, executioners—this book has them all. Like Salt, Cod, and other thoroughly researched books about familiar things and their many lives, Rope considers the bundled and twisted combinations of plants, metals, and synthetics we humans all use to keep our world running—or standing, as may… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A sea captain gets her due

Mary Ann Brown Patten’s name didn’t make it into the title of Tilar Mazzeo’s book about her, The Sea Captain’s Wife, which I find a bit ironic given one of the author’s goals is to educate readers about the impressive achievements of a now-forgotten female sea captain. But also, perhaps… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Two journalist memoirs get personal

Boat Baby: A Memoir; By Vicky Nguyen (2025, Simon & Schuster) The Uncool: A Memoir; By Cameron Crowe (2026, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster) Sometimes, the best stories journalists tell don’t make it to print or broadcast. Maybe it’s a source’s off-the-record revelation, off-topic confession, or angry outburst. Two journalist… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A rich tale of bird migration

Fly For Your Life: A Hawk and Heron Risk Everything for Each Other By Eugene Pool (Ghost Car Press, 2025) From the windswept shores of Maine to warm skies over the Bahamas, Fly For Your Life follows two feathered friends on a perilous journey. While soaring above coastal beauty, osprey… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A small-scale farming pioneer reassesses ‘organic’

The Self-Fed Farm and Garden: A Return to the Roots of the Organic Method By Eliot Coleman (2025, Chelsea Green Publishing) Eliot Coleman may be familiar to you because you’ve read other books by him: The New Organic Gardener, Four-Season Harvest, The Winter Harvest Handbook. Each covers aspects of organic… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Meaningful change in small town Maine

In a Distant Valley By Shannon Bowring (2025, Europa) Author Shannon Bowring describes her fictitious town of Dalton as in “the county”—a reference to Maine’s northernmost Aroostook County. With its isolation and harsh winters, some readers might assume it’s a place where few would choose to live unless rooted there.… SEE MORE