July 2025: Get Outside and Explore!

Jul 10, 2025 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki

This month, we’re focusing on our National Parks here in New England and around the country, as well as the history of those lands, and the people who fought for their conservation. Travel to the Western US might not be in the cards for this summer, but you can take a trip through these selections from our collection. Let us help inspire your next outdoor adventure!

Members, find the listed titles on display in the Sawtelle Reading Room through the month of July.

Inland: A Novel

FICTION

Set in the Arizona Territory in 1893, this novel tells the story of Nora, a frontier wife waiting for the men in her life to return, and Lurie, a former outlaw haunted by ghosts. This poetic work explores and expands upon the traditional mythology of the American West.

Obreht, Téa. Inland: A Novel. PS3615 .B73 I55 2019

Butcher’s Crossing

FICTION

Described by The New York Times Book Review as perhaps the first and best revisionist Western, this novel subverts traditional views of the American West, paving the way for writers including Cormac McCarthy who focus on violence, morality, and the human condition within the genre. It follows the story of 1870s Harvard dropout Will Andrews, his Emersonian journey out West, and what awaits him in the Kansas town of Butcher’s Crossing.

Williams, John. Butcher’s Crossing. PS3545 .I5286 B8 2007

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

BIOGRAPHY

This sweeping biography of the 26th president of the United States evaluates Roosevelt’s role in developing our modern view of conservationism. It explores his early exposure to natural wonders, his friendships with naturalists and outdoorsmen, and his pioneering environmental policies as the result of his deep, though complex, love for the natural world.

Brinkley, Douglas. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America. E757 .B856 2009

Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park

BIOGRAPHY

Knighton’s memoir/travelogue covers the year the author spent exploring every park in the US National Park system. Throughout his journey, the author finds the threads that connect these disparate parks to each other and connect us to nature. He celebrates and argues on behalf of these natural wonders that tie us as Americans to our land and to each other.

Knighton, Conor. Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park. E160 .K65 2020

A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir

BIOGRAPHY

Considered to be the most complete account of the life of conservationist and environmentalist John Muir, this biography is the first to meet draw from his private correspondence and remains a distinctly scholarly work while still including the personal anecdotes and details that aid in uncovering the inner life of such a solitary individual. In exploring his private and public lives, Worster presents a man whose passion for nature continues to influence us over 100 years later.

Worster, Donald. A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir

Our Threatened Inheritance: National Treasures of the United States

NON-FICTION

This volume, which includes over 300 photographs, covers the beauty of the American landscape and wildlife, as well as the threats that development presents to our national treasures. It also chronicles the history of Federal lands, their many uses, the laws and policies that affect them, and the problems these areas face, while exploring possible solutions.

Fisher, Ron. Our Threatened Inheritance: National Treasures of the United States. QH76 .F57 1984

Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness

NON-FICTION

In a combination of environmental journalism, biography, and travelogue, Gessner presents us with a view of Roosevelt’s conservation legacy through observation and assessment of the American West. This passionate plea for our public lands reminds us of our constant responsibility for their protection and preservation.

Gessner, David. Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness. GE195 .G385 2020

National Geographic. The National Parks: An Illustrated History

NON-FICTION

Published in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service, this book provides a tour of America’s finest national treasures. A blend of historical stories and stunning photography, it showcases the results of a century of dedicated conservation and preservation of our national landscape.

Heacox, Kim. National Geographic. The National Parks: An Illustrated History. E160 H39 2015

Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite

NON-FICTION

This history of Yosemite hinges on the friendship between conservationist John Muir and his editor, Robert Underwood Johnson. When the two travel together to Yosemite Valley and find how much human factors and industry, including predatory mining, tourism, and logging, have changed the face of the natural landscape, they begin a campaign to save the area. Their efforts lay the groundwork for the modern environmentalist movement, as well as the creation of Yosemite National Park.

King, Dean. Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite. F868 .Y6 K495 2023

IMAGE: Collage of snapshots from the “Tour of the USA, 1952” scrapbook by Catherine Stulb (1922-1999) of Columbia Street, Portsmouth, NH. Stulb was a teacher in Newmarket and Rochester, NH, as well as Kittery and Sanford, Maine. She was instrumental in starting many women’s sports teams. The scrapbook contains a written journal, newsclippings, postcards, photographs and other memorabilia of trips she made to the American West with two teaching colleagues (Madelyn Donovan and Marion Waterman) in the summer of 1952. The three had enrolled in a five-week summer school at the University of Wyoming and decided to drive across country and see as much as they could before taking classes. MS0127.