Island Press E-ssentials
In 2012, Island Press launched the E-ssentials Program, a series of electronic-only works, to complement our book program. We hope that these timely examinations of important issues—short enough to be read in a couple of hours, yet long enough to illuminate complex topics—will inspire readers to help sustain a healthy planet.
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Now Available:
Simple Pleasures
Thoughts on Food, Friendship, and Life
By Stephanie Mills
In Simple Pleasures: Thoughts on Food, Friendship, and Life we highlight two chapters from Stephanie Mill’s reflection on the pleasures, as well as the virtues and difficulties, of a perhaps simpler than average North American life. It is a thoughtful paean to living, like Thoreau, a deliberate life. Mill’s writing is beautifully crafted, fluid, inspiring, and enlightening, and these chapters encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your own life.
Available at these Retailers:
Apple | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google | Sony | Kobo
Thinking Like a Mountain
An Ecological Perspective on Earth
By R. Edward Grumbine
In Thinking Like a Mountain, we have excerpted a clear and inviting introduction to the science of conservation biology from Ed Grumbine's previous book, Ghost Bears. Grumbine offers a succinct and evocative description of why we should all care about biodiversity, protected lands, connectivity, and extinction rates, and the advantages to be gained by attempting to 'think like a mountain', as so eloquently phrased by Aldo Leopold.
Available at these Retailers:
Apple | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google | Sony | Kobo
Trash Backwards
Innovating Our Way to Zero Waste
By David Naylor
Trash Backwards: Innovating Our Way to Zero Waste examines the various kinds of trash Americans produce in staggering quantities, and profiles a range of innovative processes, people, and companies who are thinking creatively about how to not just reduce pressure on landfills, but redefine what’s possible in the realm of recycling.
Available at these Retailers:
Apple | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google | Sony | Kobo
Bedside Essays for Lovers (of Cities)
By Daniel Solomon
In this provocative collection of essays, renowned architect Daniel Solomon delves into the complexities of what makes a city vibrant. However fond you are of your city, or however much you feel it needs improvement, this short collection of essays offers an enticing vision of the future. All of our cities have a past worth examining, a richness of experience that can shape the future in wonderful, surprising ways. Solomon’s prose is thought-provoking and inspiring, well worth keeping close by wherever you do your reading—be it your bedside, couch, a park, or on the metro.
Available at these Retailers:
Apple | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google | Sony | Kobo
Making Transit Fun!
How to entice motorists from their cars (and onto their feet, a bike, or bus)
By Darrin Nordahl
Read Chapter 1 or Download Press Kit
Why do people in Stockholm prefer to take the stairs instead of the escalator? How do carmakers convince us to buy environmentally damaging, wallet-draining machines? It's called the fun theory. What Darrin Nordahl illustrates in this delightful book is that transit can be just as inviting, exciting, and seductive as the automobile, if designed with passenger experience in mind.
Purchase at these Retailers:
Apple | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google | Sony | Kobo
