All About Animals

     This week's selection includes three very different non-fiction books. One is a memoir of a young woman who seeks to train the vicious goshawk as a way to cope with her father's death and to pay tribute to him at the same time. The second book is for those who would like to know how to quell your dogs behavior problems. The third book--while technically not about an animal--is a gardening book for those who would like to attract bees and other pollinators to their gardens.

     H is for Hawk is by Helen Macdonald. When her father died suddenly on a London street, Helen was inconsolable. In her grief, she decided to train one of the most aggressive members of the falcon family, the goshawk. As an experienced falconer, Helen knew their fierce and feral nature and was determined to adopt and train Mabel as a means to coping with her grief. She turned to author T.H. White's book The Goshawk for advice and inspiration. This achingly beautiful account of bereavement and the magnetic pull of such an extraordinary creature, H is for Hawk also offers a parallel examination of a legendary writer's eccentric falconry.

     The Dog Behavior Problem Solver by Teoti Anderson, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP, offer step-by-step positive training techniques to help dog owners correct more than twenty problem behaviors. Dog owners will get professional advice to help you understand your dog and why he behaves the way he does. You'll learn techniques for positive, reward-based methods, like clicker training, to teach foundation behaviors as you build the basic bond upon which all dog training is based. The author offers detailed step-by-step solutions for specific problems like aggression, barking, begging, separation anxiety, and shyness. You will also find case studies based on real dogs and how positive training helped them to overcome their behavioral obstacles.

     Finally, we have The Bee-Friendly Garden by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn. The authors provide everything you will need to create a breathtakingly hued, vibrant, healthy garden that helps both the threatened honeybee and native bees alike. The size of you available space is not an issue. Whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, just a few simple changes to your garden can help fight the effects of colony collapse disorder and the worldwide decline of the bee population that threatens the global food chain. This is a book for every gardener who wants to change the world by creating a welcoming environment for nature's pollinators.