The NOBA awards have become my field of wildflowers. When I cannot do, I read. I have never really taken advantage of the library system. The last couple of months though it seems that I go to the library probably twice a week. Watseka Public Library has an excellent summer reading program once a week for preschool age kids that Lily and Jacob love. I’ve filled my evenings with reading both to the kids and for myself. It has been marvelous, sitting down with a cup of tea and a good book. I have indulged my heart with great devotionals, works of fiction and of course the dreaming and scheming of the next trail or park I’m going to take myself to and saturate my spirit with the beauty all around. The National Outdoor Book Awards or commonly known as NOBA’s each year feed my frenzy for the outdoors. I’m working my way through last years books and am so excited (bolded are ones I’m planning to read). Here are the books from 2008…

• Natural History Literature Category - The American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree. By Susan Freinkel
• Outdoor Literature Category - Forget Me Not: A Memoir. By Jennifer Lowe-Anker.
• History/Biography Category
  • Grand Obsession: Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of the Grand Canyon. By Elias Butler and Tom Myers.
  • Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes. By Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver.
• Classic Category
  • Through the Grand Canyon to Mexico. By Ellsworth L. Kolb.
  • The Pacific Crest Trail (Series, 3 volumes)
• Children’s Category - The Pole. By Eric Walters. Puffin Canada/Penguin Group,Toronto
• Nature & Environment Category
  • The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World. Photographs by Steven Kazlowski.
  • The Great Lakes: The Natural History of a Changing Region. By Wayne Grady.
• Design/Artistic Merit Category
  • Surfboards by Guy Motil.
  • Bruce Aiken's Grand Canyon: An Intimate Affair. Paintings by Bruce Aiken. Text by Susan Hallsten McGarry
  • Honorable Mention - Soul of the Heights: 50 Years Going to the Mountains. Photographs and text by Ed Cooper
• Nature Guidebook Category
  • Birds of Peru. By Tomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, Daniel F. Lane, John P. O'Neill, and Theodore A. Parker III.
• Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category - Florida Keys Paddling Atlas. By Bill and Mary Burnham.
• Instructional Category
  • Road Bike Maintenance. By Guy Andrews.
  • Whitewater Kayaking: The Ultimate Guide. By Ken Whiting and Kevin Varette.

* Full List and details can be found at http://www.noba-web.org