A new world awakens in the dark, filled with spectacular bioluminescence, moon-kissed flora, and diverse wildlife--all captured in this spectacular photography book.

While old tales warn us that danger lies waiting in the dark, there is actually an abundance of thriving, colorful life. Solar winds brighten the sky with Northern and Southern Lights. In the desert, elegant datura blooms at night, enticing moths to help with pollination, while in the Rockies grizzly bears make a meal of the insects to sustain them during hibernation. In the ocean, night-feeding dolphins chase nocturnal squid which have made a vertical migration to the surface. In the jungles, jaguars hunt by moonlight while night monkeys swing safely through the trees.

Experienced naturalist and photographer Charles Hood captures it all, sharing his nocturnal adventures all over the world, with insight, wit, and over 240 stunning photographs. Open your senses to this darkened world, which is strange yet familiar--and more beautiful than you ever imagined.

As its sister title, A Californian's Guide to the Trees Among Us, did for arboreal varieties, this new guidebook introduces casual birders to 120 of California's most easily seen bird species--native and exotic alike--as found in a mix of urban, suburban, and traditionally natural habitats.

Full-color images and clear, direct descriptions make identification easy, and author Charles Hood supplements the essential information with surprising facts and trivia, including endangered-species recovery stories and the world record for grasshoppers eaten by one flycatcher in a single day. In sections addressing which gear to buy, where to go birdwatching, and how to read a birdsong transcription, Hood encourages readers to take ownership of their experiences, no matter their level of ornithological expertise. This accurate, lively, and even quotable guide will inspire people to notice nature more closely and find joy in interacting with the astounding diversity of avian life in California.

Explore some of California's most exquisite landscapes with this accessible hiking guidebook featuring descriptions of the flora, fauna, and ecology hikers will discover along the trail.

See the oldest trees in the world--and the tallest. Meet earthquake-loving fish, lively island foxes, and endemic birds. Visit the saltwater homes to sea otters and a desert basin where the water is even saltier.
In California's Best Nature Walks, Charles Hood reveals the golden state's unique ecosystems, guiding you through 32 spectacular natural areas, with advice on deciphering the terrain. All are within easy walking distance of the road. This is an essential companion for road-trippers, outdoor enthusiasts, and day hikers--no cleated boots or trekking poles necessary.

Locations include the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Olmsted Point at Yosemite National Park, Fossil Falls, Camp Roberts Rest Area along Highway 101, Scorpion Anchorage at Channel Islands National Park, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, and more!

An all-access guide to the abundant natural splendor of Sonoma County.

Wild Sonoma celebrates the spectacular and resilient natural landscapes of Sonoma County, which along with its neighboring counties is one of the world's premier winegrowing regions. Our exploration launches with an entertaining primer on ecology basics, including the impact of fire, before a fun fact-filled survey of sixty-two of the area's iconic and commonly encountered species--from vivacious acorn woodpeckers to disease-neutralizing Western fence lizards. It caps off with a tour of six sites to experience Sonoma's diverse natural beauty, with a special emphasis on access. Written by Wild LA author Charles Hood, introduced by renowned naturalist Jane Goodall, and illustrated by John Muir Laws, Wild Sonoma offers residents and tourists from eight to eighty a sense of wonder and cause for hope.

Don't be afraid of the dark: grab a flashlight and rediscover your sense of adventure!

Darkness is something humans strive to keep at bay, but under the glow of twilight a nocturnal universe stirs to life. Nightshade blossoms bloom, javelinas parade down city streets, fox eyes gleam under the cover of the forest, and tiny sparrows fly incredible distances, guided by the stars. Naturalist Charles Hood and bat biologist José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca unravel these enigmas in Nocturnalia, inviting readers on an environmental romp through the wonders of the Wild West. Their sundown dispatches, featuring over 100 photographs from California and the American Southwest, take us from the astronomical canopy overhead, to the flora that unfurl under moonshine, to the creatures that go bump in the night.

With practical tips for the budding nighttime naturalist, the authors invite citizen scientists of all stripes to expand our knowledge of this final frontier and our understanding of life on Earth. Exploring the evolutionary adaptations of owls, bats, and other nightlife animals; the natural history of nighttime plants; and the celestial patterns that regulate this after-dark kingdom, Hood and Martínez-Fonseca lift their lanterns to illuminate the exquisite and intricate inner workings of nature after nightfall.

At its current tally of 212 species, California's mammal list is the largest of all the United States'. This new guidebook joins its sister titles A Californian's Guide to the Birds among Us and A Californian's Guide to the Trees among Us in introducing naturalists of all levels to over forty varieties of the Golden State's fascinating warm-blooded wildlife. Full-color images and evocative descriptions make identification fun and intuitive: a bobcat, for example, has a Civil War look, with old-fashioned sideburns framing the face in black and white, while a blue whale is named for its coloration of not old jeans or dull paint, but a luminous, 'how can water catch on fire?' kind of blue. Author Charles Hood supplements essential information with strange but true facts like voles' predilection for deer antlers as a source of calcium, and Mexican free-tailed bats' ability to live in gaseous environments that would kill most other animals. With refreshingly pragmatic commentary (the fact is, even for experienced naturalists, most chipmunks look pretty much alike) and sound advice for where to see mammals in urban and wilderness settings alike, this lively and even quotable guide will inspire people to connect with their environments wherever they are.

Lauded essayist takes to the high seas in hot pursuit of elusive birds, artistic ghosts, fathers and their memories, and above all, safe harbor.

Among nature writers now working, Charles Hood is my favorite. --Jonathan Franzen

Charles Hood is on a boat, wearing at least two life jackets as he scans the sky for seabirds and plumbs the depths of his--and our--relationship with the vast Pacific Ocean. Winner of the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year for his collection of essays A Salad Only the Devil Would Eat: The Joys of Ugly Nature, Hood now brings his irrepressible curiosity to the lives of petrels, frigate birds, sea snakes, and flying fish. During our voyage, he resurrects Melville's journey on tempestuous seas to San Francisco, takes us into the storm-tossed minds and paintings of J. M. W. Turner and Winslow Homer, and surfaces the trauma--still reverberating--to ocean and family ecologies alike from World War II. As sharp and witty as ever, Hood also turns his scrutiny on a more personal history, navigating murky waters of harm and forgiveness, love and entrapment. Full of wonder, joy, and terror at the shared capacity of the ocean and the humans on its edges to nurture life and damage it irreparably, this book is a vessel, seaworthy and transportive.

A quirky and reverent romp through nature with an irreverently funny guide.

Among nature writers now working, Charles Hood may be my favorite. He never stops telling stories, and his perspective is fundamentally comic, even when he's recounting a tragedy. --Jonathan Franzen

In these wry and explosively funny essays, nature obsessive Charles Hood reveals his abiding affection for the overlooked and undervalued parts of the natural world. Like a Bill Bryson of the Mojave exurbs, Hood takes us on a joyride through the obscure, finding wilderness in Hollywood palms, the airports of Alaska, and the empty lots of Palmdale. In a zinger-filled whirl of literary and artistic allusions, he celebrates Audubon's droopy condor, the world-changing history of a cactus parasite, and the weird art of natural history dioramas. This debut collection of creative nonfiction from a widely published poet, photographer, and wildlife guide unveils the wonderment of nature's underbelly with poetic vision and singular wit.

A vivid and insightful look at the culture and terrain of Antarctica, as well as the people who choose to live and work there, South South celebrates and explores life at the extreme edge of our planet. Blending travel narrative, historical research, and the surprises of magical realism, Hood presents life in Antarctica and the history of polar aviation as both a miracle of achievement yet also as a way to understand humanity's longing to be creatures of the heavens as well as the earth. South South is poetry at its most inventive and surprising, insisting that the world is stranger and more glorious than we ever might have guessed.

Charles Hood shows us a strange and perplexing world that runs on sadness, microbrews, snack cakes, and inexplicable magic. Brimming with natural history and bright flashes of language, his poems focus on transformations. He takes us from Paleolithic caves to modern movie theaters, and along the way we fix time machines with Tom Hanks, enter a Rousseau painting, and collect diamonds from the moons of Neptune.

Fiction. Written by Charles Hood and illustrated by Christine Mugnolo. Winner of the 2016 Kenneth Patchen Award for the Innovative Novel. Charles Hood has a unique voice and style. Sentences are sometimes fragmented on edge of abstraction, then sharp, staccato, poetic and lyrical. It is clear from the opening passages that the writer is at the wheel and in total control. I did not know where I was being taken, but I was excited to be going on this ride. The story is absorbing on several levels. It's a tale told in the voices of two women, Chica and Bela. The former is the main narrative voice--her text appearing at the top of each page, while Bela's appears at the bottom (usually only a sentence or two.) Bela is also credited as the illustrator whose portraits of Chica appear interspersed throughout. Pages contain a large white space separating the two voices. For me, this area represents what is alluded to but not revealed in the text, either backstory or undescribed events in the present narrative. The reader is invited to fill this space, imagining all that is hidden. Bela, a museum curator, asks Chica to accompany her on a trip from London to the Soviet Union--Siberia--in search of buried mammoth tusks and bones. We discover that the women are lovers poised at the entrance to a fragile relationship. The narrative reveals enigmatic snippets of Chica's broken past, her physical (and psychic) injuries (a broken jaw); her relationship with her father; and gnawing feelings of inadequacy, of being ugly and undesirable. The prehistoric bones are metaphoric talismans as Chica is searching within herself and exploring the connection to her own injuries: Deep inside, the bones hurt, benthic connections of ache and groan. On the outside, though, the skin is numb but supple and yet you still can't smile- the muscles have been cut, plus nothing connects up anymore. Your brain sends messages in English but your lips, chin, sides of your face, they speak Urdu. They are singing their own song and not listening. They don't need you anymore. The writer manages to uncover raw, visceral emotions, digging below the surface of the relationship and, ultimately, reaches the marrow. MOUTH is an unconventional love story--at turns surreal, dreamlike, and extraordinarily moving.--Derek Pell

From its headwaters in Calabasas to the tidal mouth in San Pedro, the Los Angeles River is many things--an open air art gallery, a wildlife corridor, a history lesson, a storm drain, and a metaphor for missed chances balanced against the hope of future possibilities. Once integrated into one of the largest estuary and floodplain systems in California, the L.A. River now waits for rediscovery and renewal. Many people do not know it is there at all, and few can accurately recall its history. R o de Dios changes that, blending science, history, art, and poetry to explore the complex and contradictory worlds of the Los Angeles River. A fresh, vivid synthesis of the culture and biology of the river, this book investigates its pockets of still-wild habitat, honors its losses, and celebrates its evolving future.

Poetry. Latino/a Studies. I read THE XOPILOTE with wonder at its fertility of imagination and vigor of expression. The poem vividly evokes the haunting 'otherness' of the Central American Pacific rainforest, where giant stone spheres brood under the suras and almendros -- and the Quixotic strangeness of Gil Gonzalez Davila's attempt to penetrate and possess that 'other.' Charles Hood has given new life to narrative verse-- David Rains Wallace. Charles Hood teaches literature and writing at Antelope valley College and his awards include a Fulbright scholarship in ethnopoetics as well as recognition for his photography and collages. This is his third book.

A Practical Treatise on Warming Buildings - By Hot Water, Steam and Hot Air is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1885. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Gonzalvo: Or The Fall Of Grenada is a historical novel written by Charles Hood in 1845. The story is set in the 15th century and revolves around the fall of the city of Grenada, the last stronghold of the Moors in Spain. The protagonist of the novel is Gonzalvo, a young Spanish nobleman who is sent to fight against the Moors. Gonzalvo is a brave and skilled warrior, but he is also torn between his loyalty to his country and his love for a Moorish princess named Zelinda.As the war between the Spanish and the Moors intensifies, Gonzalvo finds himself in increasingly difficult situations. He is captured by the Moors and taken to Grenada, where he meets Zelinda and falls in love with her. However, their love is forbidden by both their cultures, and they must keep their relationship a secret.The novel is filled with action, romance, and political intrigue. It explores themes of love, loyalty, and cultural differences. Hood's writing is descriptive and engaging, transporting the reader to the world of medieval Spain. Gonzalvo: Or The Fall Of Grenada is a captivating historical novel that will appeal to fans of historical fiction and anyone interested in the history of Spain.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Gonzalvo: Or The Fall Of Grenada (1845) is a historical novel written by Charles Hood. The story is set in the 15th century during the time of the Spanish conquest of Granada. The protagonist of the story is Gonzalvo, a young and ambitious soldier who is determined to fight for his country and achieve glory. He falls in love with the beautiful and virtuous Zayda, the daughter of the last Moorish king of Granada. However, their love is forbidden as they come from different religions.As the war between the Spanish and the Moors intensifies, Gonzalvo finds himself torn between his duty to his country and his love for Zayda. He must navigate through political intrigue, betrayal, and war to try and save his beloved Granada from falling into the hands of the Spanish.The novel is a captivating tale of love, war, and sacrifice. It provides a vivid depiction of the historical events of the time and the cultural clash between the Spanish and the Moors. The characters are well-developed, and the plot is full of twists and turns that keep the reader engaged until the very end. Overall, Gonzalvo: Or The Fall Of Grenada is a must-read for anyone interested in historical fiction or the Spanish conquest of Granada.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

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As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.