NCW Libraries

A fascinating guide to a career in marine biology written by bestselling journalist Virginia Morell and based on the real-life experiences of an expert in the field-essential reading for someone considering a path to this profession. For the last two decades, Dr. Robin Baird has spent two months out of each year aboard a twenty-four-foot Zodiac boat in the waters off the big island of Hawai'i, researching the twenty-five species of whales and dolphins...

"In Greek mythology Cassandra foresaw calamities, but was cursed by the gods to be ignored. Modern-day Cassandras clearly predicted the disasters of Katrina, Fukushima, the Great Recession, the rise of ISIS, and many others. Like her, they were ignored. There are others right now warning of impending disasters, but how do we know which warnings are likely to be right? Through riveting explorations in a variety of fields, the authors uncover a method...

Can you describe how the flavor of halibut differs from red snapper? How Brie differs from cheddar? For most of us, unfortunately, the answer is: badly. Flavor remains a vague, undeveloped concept we don't know enough about to describe-or to appreciate-fully. In Flavor, Bob Holmes shows us just how much we're missing. He tackles questions like why cake tastes sweetest on white plates, how wine experts' eyes fool their noses, and how language affects...

"While studying wolverines on a wildlife sanctuary in Montana, biologist Alex Carter is run off the road and threatened by locals determined to force her off the land. Undeterred in her mission to help save this threatened species, Alex tracks wolverines on foot and by cameras positioned in remote regions of the preserve. But when she reviews the photos, she discovers disturbing images of an animal of a different kind: a severely injured man seemingly...

"A propulsive contemporary women's fiction debut with dark humor and messy yet warm-hearted family dynamics, perfect for fans of Claire Lombardo's The Most Fun We Ever Had and Emma Straub's All Adults Here. All families are messy. Some are disasters. Natalie Walker is the reason her older brother and sister went to prison over 15 years ago. She fled California shortly after that fateful night and hasn't spoken to anyone in her family since. Ten years...

Navajo tribal policeman Jim Chee searches for the killer of a fellow policeman while a biologist hunts for the key to the most virulent form of bubonic plague since the Middle Ages.

"Following a mysterious murder on an island off the coast of Vietnam, a research team convenes to study an octopus community that seems to be developing its own language and culture. Humans, AIs, and animals are swept up in the machinations of governments and corporations in this near-future thriller about the nature of intelligence"-- Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language...

A wildlife biologist's shocking death leads to chilling discoveries about a home for troubled teens in Christine Carbo's haunting and compelling new crime novel set in the wilds of Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park police officer Monty Harris knows that each summer at least one person—be it a reckless, arrogant climber, or a distracted hiker—will meet tragedy in the park. But Paul "Wolfie" Sedgewick's fatal fall from...

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation,...

"Spanning two thousand years, The Everlasting follows four characters whose struggles resonate across the centuries: an early Christian child martyr; a medieval monk on crypt duty in a church; a Medici princess of Moorish descent; and a contemporary field biologist conducting an illicit affair. Outsiders to a city layered and dense with history, this quartet separated by time grapple with the physicality of bodies, the necessity for sacrifice, and...