Winter's Subtle Palette

Up North, the outdoor world in January verges on monochromatic. Bright yellow, green, and red colors appear only on signs (and, in the city, traffic lights), while in fields and woods the soft dun color of a dry, rustling beech leaf is almost shocking against the white of snow and black tracery of bare branches. The picture at left was taken before there was snow on the ground, so use your imagination to subtract that much brown, and see what remains.

(You can also click here for images of dun-colored horses and information on what causes the coloring and its variations.)

Several recent new offerings at Dog Ears Books sport covers with subtle palette colors:

NEW COLLECTED POEMS, by Wendell Berry (hardcover with jacket, $30)

THE RIVER SWIMMER (two novellas), by Jim Harrison (hardcover with jacket, $25)

THE GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF LAKE MICHIGAN COASTAL DUNES, by William A. Lovis Alan F. Arbogast, & G. William Monaghan (softcover, large format, $35.95)

Now in paperback: THE WINDWARD SHORE: A WINTER ON THE GREAT LAKES, by Jerry Dennis (pb, $16.95)

Friday was my sister's birthday. What did I send her? Recall that I am a bookseller and that we are a family of readers! Can I be more specific? Not without spoiling the surprise, in case the package hasn’t reached her yet. Were the cover colors bright or subtle? Definitely subtle. Will she find the book boring? Not on your life! It will transport her to a place she'd like to be....