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Here are some recent book reviews from other sites. Well, relatively recent – I got a bit behind.

This book, by Andrew Nikiforuk, is available for free as a pdf download. You need to hurry, though, it’s only available through March 20 (that’s tomorrow, as I write this).

This is a very important, and controversial, issue that directly impacts birds and other wildlife, and indirectly affects every living thing on this planet. Here is some more information on the book:

Canada has one third of the world’s oil source; it comes from the bitumen in the oil sands of Alberta. Advancements in technology and frenzied development have created the world’s largest energy project in Fort McMurray where, rather than shooting up like a fountain in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, the sticky bitumen is extracted from the earth. Providing almost 20 percent of America’s fuel, much of this dirty oil is being processed in refineries in the Midwest. This out-of-control megaproject is polluting the air, poisoning the water, and destroying boreal forest at a rate almost too rapid to be imagined. In this hard-hitting book, journalist Andrew Nikiforuk exposes the disastrous environmental, social, and political costs of the tar sands and argues forcefully for change.

The Boreal Songbird Initiative has further information about the book and the giveaway.

This may be of interest to anyone in the Atlanta area at the end of this month. John Yow, the author of The Armchair Birder, will be discussing his book. I’ve been curious about the book since it was listed on Amazon, so I’m hoping to be able to make it to the presentation.

Here’s the press release:

A Saturday for the Birds: Author Presentation & Nature Walk
Saturday, March 28, 2009, 10:00 am—1:00 pm
Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center
2020 Clean Water Drive
Buford, Ga. 30519
For directions visit www.gwinnettEHC.org or call 770.904.3500

Bird lovers, take heart! Come hear author John Yow discuss his new book, The Armchair Birder, and participate in a bird walk on the GEHC campus lead by Jim Wilson, author of Common Birds of Atlanta. The morning will also feature the Center’s presentation of “Birds in the Backyard.”

Books available for purchase from Eagle Eye Book Shop. This is a free event. Center admission is extra. Presented by the Gwinnett County Public Library and the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center.

About the Authors:

John Yow is a freelance writer based in Acworth, Georgia, and former senior editor at Longstreet Press in Atlanta. Jim Wilson has been a researcher and teacher at Emory University. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Audubon Society for eight years, including a stint of service as President. He later became the first staff person for this society as the Important Bird Areas Program Coordinator.

Princeton has just published a wonderful Encyclopedia of Birds. I just wanted everyone to be aware that it appears to be a softcover version of the 2003 Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds.

I do not know if it has been updated in any way, but from a quick glance it looks the same. I think it’s safe to say that if you already have the Firefly edition, then you can skip the new one. But if you don’t, then go for the Princeton, unless you have a strong preference for hardcover binding or you can find the Firefly for significantly less.

Either way you go, this encyclopedia is fantastic!