Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson’s first novel Gloryland is the first person story of Elijah Yancy, an African American raised in post Civil War South Carolina that hikes out of the South to Nebraska, becomes a Buffalo Soldier, and eventually finds himself guarding the new Yosemite National Park in the early 20^th Century.

Johnson is such a wonderful storyteller that Gloryland reads less like a novel and more like an old man telling you his life story. The book is so beautifully written that I found line after line that I wanted to quote, but to keep this review concise I’ll only share a couple of my favorite quotes like the words Yancy offers after seeing a beautiful woman:

“She woke me up from a sleep so deep I didn’t even know I’d been dreaming all my life…You don’t need eyes to see beauty once you got it inside your head. You don’t need hands to feel beauty, once it seeps into your bones.”

Ranger Johnson’s time in Yosemite hasn’t been wasted and comes through in his poetic words, and not since John Muir has a love letter to Yosemite so elegantly been written. Anyone that has ever seen the Sierra Nevada Mountains or visited Yosemite understands the beauty that is difficult to express in words, or even pictures, but somehow Johnson captures the splendor of the land in his novel. I have spent many weeks walking and visiting with Yosemite and feel connected in a spiritual way that only can be understood by others that have properly experienced this heaven on earth. Yancy understands this when he states, “God is everywhere, but I’m thinking he prefers some places more than others. I’m thinking he spends a lot of time in these mountains.”

For those seeking the typical novel, or for those that have never truly explored natural lands, this may not be the book for them as it is more of a spiritual journey and discovery than a fast paced read. Some chapters ramble and are superfluous, but this is appropriate if you remember that it is told from the perspective of Elijah Yancy remembering stories from his past.

This is a novel I want my children to read someday. To teach them about their country and the struggles of strong people that made America the great place it is today. This piece of historical fiction is simultaneously educational and entertaining as history flows naturally from the narrator’s lips. Ranger Shelton Johnson is not only a great American patriot, but also a great writer with a unique voice. This book will make a cherished gift during the holidays and is highly recommended.

The step-by-step approach to identifying trees is really cool and reminds of the Choose Your Own Adventure books I read as a kid. This tree book is as much fun now as those books were then, except that you never fall into an endless, black pit with the Arbor Day book. To identify a tree you follow various paths based on questions until you’ve narrowed the search down to your tree.

Other tree books I own use photographs as illustrations. While photographs have value they usually don’t show texture or other identifiable characteristics of a particular tree making identification difficult. What Tree is That? uses illustrations hand-drawn by artist Karina Helm. Helm has extensive experience creating natural history and scientific illustrations and her experience and talent shows in the beautiful and detailed images, images that make identification easy.

I read several books per month and own dozens of outdoor manuals, travel guides, and nature identification guides and I rate this book among the best. I highly recommend getting your own copy of What Tree Is That? as it will become a treasured part of your collection and a family heirloom as well.

The most interesting part of the book to me was not about the Chris McCandless, the subject of the book, but a deviation in the story where Jon writes about an extreme climbing trip in Alaska where he risked death climbing Devils Thumb.  I think that Jon should write a life biography because he has some great stories to tell. Maybe he’s just waiting until he’s older and has a few more adventures to write about?

Jon Krakauer is a great writer that tells a good story and leaves out the fluff.  Pick up anything he’s written and he’ll take you on an adventure you won’t soon forget.