THE YOSEMITE

By John Muir

320 pages. Modern Library. (2003)

First published in 1912, this book is based on Muir’s firsthand experience in the Sierra Nevada, where he was hired to herd sheep by a ranch owner. He describes, in rich detail, his observations of the scenic countryside, like “the hills so covered with flowers that they seemed to be painted.” Muir also eventually became a guide to prominent visitors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. Muir was inspired by his experience in the region to fight to protect the land and was instrumental in the establishment of Yosemite National Park.

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THE HOUR OF LAND

A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks

By Terry Tempest Williams

395 pp. Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. (2016)

In honor of the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service last year, Williams embarked on a journey across a dozen national parks; this collection of essays describes her experience and also delves into the history, politics and activism associated with the lands. She travels from Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska to the Acadia National Park in Maine to investigate our relationship with the wild as well as to survey the destruction humans have imparted. Our reviewer called it “one of the best nature books I’ve read in years,” in part because of the “visceral beauty” of Williams’ language.