It was with great pleasure that I noticed among the recently published list of finalists for the 2009 National Book Award not just one but two titles that fell squarely inside the category of natural history: Sean B. Carroll’s Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species and David M. Carroll’s Following the Water: A Hydromancer’s Notebook. While I have not had the opportunity to read and review either of these books (yet…), the mere fact that two natural history titles are in the running for the non-fiction category of the 2009 National Book Award fills me with great satisfaction as to the level of natural history writing presently being published in our country.
The winners in all categories will be announced at the 60th National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. I will not be there; however I will certainly be reporting the results here on The Well-read Naturalist.
