Environmental Issues | Book Chatter

How Beautiful We Were
By Imbolo Mbue
Random House, February 2022, 384pp.

The Short of It:

This wasn’t a book I fell in love with, but it’s one I’ll remember.

The Rest of It:

How Beautiful We Were tells the story of the fictional village of Kosawa, where an American oil company’s greed destroys the land, the water, and the lives of its people. It’s an exploration of environmental injustice, corruption, and the cost of standing up to power.

While I never fully connected with the story as a whole, I was completely taken with Thula. Seeing the atrocities through her eyes softened their harshness, as her thoughtful nature and concern for the village’s well-being guided every decision she made.

Watching her grow from a young girl into a fearless revolutionary gave the novel its emotional center for me. Her determination was fierce.

This isn’t an easy read, but I appreciate what Mbue accomplished. The themes are timely, the message is powerful, and the story serves as a sobering reminder of the human cost when profit is valued over people.

Profit over people’s lives is still an issue we are battling today.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

The Last Ranger
By Peter Heller
Vintage, July 2024, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

There needs to be a new genre to categorize Heller’s work. It’s outdoorsy, environmentally aware, and somehow a mystery all at the same time. In other words, a lot to love.

The Rest of It:

Officer Ren Hopper is an enforcement ranger with the National Park Service, tasked with duties both mundane and thrilling: Breaking up fights at campgrounds, saving clueless tourists from moose attacks, and attempting to broker an uneasy peace between the wealthy vacationers who tromp through the park with cameras, and the residents of hardscrabble Cooke City who want to carve out a meaningful living. ~ the publisher

Ren’s exposure to wealthy vacationers puts a damper on an otherwise perfect job. Being outside and getting to work in such a beautiful place is the thing of dreams, but as good as that is, when the wildlife, mainly the wolves and local bears are targeted for their pelts, Ren finds himself in a range war. The animals are protected to a degree but when they cross boundaries, as animals do, their lives are not guaranteed and hunters looking to profit off those expensive pelts suddenly become the hunted.

When one of Ren’s closest friends, a scientist studying the wolf pack, finds herself targeted by a local hunter, Ren vows to protect her. Especially since Ren already lost the love of his life to a terminal illness. Can he afford to lose someone close to him again?

Ren is the kind of guy you want in your corner. He’s rugged, but also tender in all the right places. Reasonable, until he’s not. He loves hard and protects his people, the best way he can. I really enjoyed my time with Ren and this rambunctious cast of characters. The Last Ranger possesses the charm of a small town but the looming threat of the outside world and with it, the reminder that at any second all can be lost.

The Last Ranger is a treat for anyone who appreciates the beauty of wide, open land. It’s a little bit of a mystery and there is a little love tossed in there too but I would not call this a romance by any means unless you consider this a love letter to nature and all it contains.

Highly recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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