Sure, we may be more than halfway through Alaska’s “season of light” (and warmth), but better late than never for some “summer reading” ideas. I’ve pulled the dozen books below from my all-time favorites list, as a sampling of books that I believe combine great writing with wonderfully provocative stories and/or ideas.

I invite others to comment – and share their own favorites.

So here they are, in no particular order, from my ever-evolving favorite books list (which, I should mention, includes several other equally deserving and personally influential books that I'll share another time, perhaps for some good autumn or winter reads).

• THE ISLAND WITHIN, Richard Nelson. A lyrical, captivating, in-depth look at one man’s relationship with place. Shows the extraordinary to be found in the ordinary and also pulls in other cultural perspectives, particularly those of the Koyukon Athabascans, who became Nelson’s teachers while he lived with them as an anthropologist.
•OF WOLVES AND MEN, Barry Lopez. One of my earliest influences when I moved from geology into writing. Still considered a classic, Lopez’s book was among the first -- if not the first -- to take an in-depth look at the wolf and, more importantly, our species’ relationship with Canis lupus. Lopez’s work grabbed me and didn’t let go. In some important ways, I think, it changed how I think about “the other,” and our relationship with other creatures. Still my favorite work by Lopez.
• AN UNSPOKEN HUNGER, Terry Tempest Williams. A collection of essays by one of my favorite writers. Lyrical, provocative, ambitious, risky. Includes one of my favorite nature essays, "The Village Watchman." I also greatly enjoyed her better-known and more celebrated book REFUGE.
• NEVER CRY WOLF, Farley Mowat. This, like Lopez’s book, was an early influence as I moved into outdoors and then nature writing. It’s been heavily criticized in some quarters as fiction portrayed as nonfiction/reality. Yet Mowat captured many “truths” in his writing, while presenting new ways of looking at one of the world’s historically maligned and persecuted animals. Delightful reading, with some wonderful humor.
• SONG OF THE DODO, David Quammen. An incredible book by my favorite contemporary science writer. Quammen somehow weaves numerous threads -- natural history, adventure travel, scientific theory, science history -- into a coherent and thought-provoking whole. It’s a big book (text alone is more than 600 pp), but I never lost interest. And I learned a lot.
• THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, Ernest Hemingway. I was a big Hemingway fan in my twenties and this was -- and remains -- my favorite. I’m not as big a fan anymore, but this retains a spot on my favorite-books list. I’ve read it several times over the years. A “small” book with a big impact.
• THE IMMENSE JOURNEY, Loren Eiseley. Another science writer, with a much different approach than Quammen, Eiseley is No. 1, in my book, among science writers. I’d recommend just about anything by him, but this is my favorite among the books of his that I’ve read. He somehow weaves science and mysticism and pulls it off. This collection of essays includes some of my all-time favorites, including “The Judgment of the Birds” and “The Bird and the Machine.” If you’re into birds or science or human evolution or have a mystical streak, check him out.
• SEARCHING FOR STEINBECK’S SEA OF CORTEZ, Andromeda Romano-Lax. I must admit to some bias here, because Andromeda’s a good friend, but this is still a great book by a local author. Andromeda is another who weaves several different threads in this wonderful travel/adventure narrative: family dynamics, adventure, science, environmental issues, literary history, and philosophy. It’s a fast, easy read with some provocative ideas.
• IRON JOHN, Robert Bly. Written by one of the leaders of the men’s mythopoetic movement of the 1990s, this book explores contemporary masculinity by turning to a Grimm Brothers fairytale, while looking at such things as male initiation, mentoring, and mythic ideas about the “wild man.” A powerfully influential book.
• INTO THE WILD, Jon Krakauer. Most Alaskans seemed to hate it. I loved this book. I think Krakauer does an incredible job reconstructing Chris McCandless’s life, particularly his final years and days, while providing insights into one young man’s quest to find himself -- and ultimately die in the search. Though many have criticized Krakauer for romanticizing McCandless, I think he touches on a universal (or nearly so) experience: almost all of us, at some time in our lives, took “crazy” risks while trying to separate from family or traditions while rebelling and searching for our place in the world.
• MY STORY AS TOLD BY WATER, David James Duncan. Duncan is better known as a novelist (The River Why, The Brothers K), but I relish his essays, which often have an activist bent. I love his rants, the risks he takes in his writing, his passion, his imagery and ability to tell a great story, his provocative ideas, his love for the Earth and its wild landscapes and inhabitants. A most excellent collection of essays. "Bird Watching as Bloodsport" is among my favorite essays.
• THE ACCIDENTAL EXPLORER: WAYFINDING IN ALASKA, Sherry Simpson. Sherry has been among my favorite essayists for a long time and her newest book (released in 2008) has some of her finest writing. A self-deprecating writer with lots of wisdom, food for thought, and great story-telling skills. Includes two more of my favorite nature essays, "Fidelity" and "A Man Made Cold by the Universe."

As something of a bonus, here are two books I’ve read this summer and highly recommend. The first is LOST MOUNTAIN: A YEAR IN THE VANISHING WILDERNESS. Written by Erik Reece, it is top-notch literary (and advocacy) journalism that explores the awful destructiveness of "radical strip mining" for coal in the Appalachian region, where entire mountaintops are removed to get at the coal, with devastating consequences to the landscape and the inhabitants in the region, both human and otherwise. After reading this, I am amazed that the Obama administration is going to continue allowing some mountaintop removal to occur. And I wonder how President Obama can embrace the idea of "clean coal." What an oxymoron.

The second book is by one of my favorite authors, already mentioned above, Terry Tempest Williams. I actually had a little trouble getting into the book, FINDING BEAUTY IN A BROKEN WORLD. But once I did, I found it to be a spellbinding story that weaves together the artistry involved in the creation of mosaics (which become the book's central metaphor and theme) together with the American West's persecuted communities of prairie dogs, the death of TTW's brother to cancer, and the aftermath of Rwanda's genocide. I loved her observations, reflections and study of prairie dogs, but the section on Rwanda was especially compelling, largely because of the stories that survivors had to share, the power of forgiveness, and the lessons still to be learned. Very powerful stuff, both devastating and hopeful.