Beyond "Beyond the Beaten Path"

by Alana LaBeaf

Summer Reading has ended and our grand prize drawing for adults is complete. If you weren’t one of the lucky winners this year, we still have many books that can help you Read Beyond the Beaten Path in these final days of summer. Check out books about birdwatching, stargazing, herbal gardening, camping, and hiking. And, as sad as I am to plug it now and to see the days growing shorter, there is always our Winter Reading Program to look forward to, which will be based on minutes you have read, just like the Summer Reading Program! Overlapping with our Winter Reading Program this year will be our annual community reading event, Fond du Lac Reads. Get a head start with that by checking out our selection for the year, Charlie Berens’ The Midwest Survival Guide: How we Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat…Everything With Ranch. Until then, happy trails, be they amongst the bugsong of summer, under a canopy of falling leaves, or snowshoeing through the evergreens!

 The Backyard Birdwatcher’s Bible: the History of Birds, Practical Birdwatching & Identification, Understanding & Attracting Birds, Bird-friendly Gardens & Bird-inspired Art by Christopher M. Perrins, Sonja Patel, Paul Sterry, and Dominic Couzens

 How to Know the Birds: the Art & Adventure of Birding, by Ted Floyd and John N. Schmitt
 

 The Last Stargazers: the Enduring Story of Astononomy’s Vanishing Explorers, by Emily Levesque

 Space Exploration: a History in 100 Objects, by Sten Odenwald

 The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion: the Ultimate Guide to Growing, Preserving, and Using Herbs, by Amy K. Fewell

 Grow Your Own Herbs: the 40 Best Culinary Varieties For Home Gardens, by Susan Belsinger, Arthur O. Tucker, and Shawn Linehan

 The Camping Life: Inspiration and Ideas For Endless Adventure, by Brendan Leonard and Forest Woodward

 Camping’s Top Secrets: a Lexicon of Modern Bushcraft, by Cliff Jacobson

 Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail, by Heather “Anish” Anderson

 Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time, by Andrew Forsthoefel

Alana LaBeaf is the Information and Outreach Services Coordinator for the Fond du Lac Public Library.