Ishmael - Daniel Quinn

Hard to believe that it has been more than ten years since I last read this. Within certain circles Ishmael and other works by Quinn have taken on almost mythic status. Its about a gorilla, who tells one man that there have been other ways for people to live on this planet; ways that may not hasten human and ecological demise. The main insight, that different ways of seeing and being are important, feels particularly relevant. A book to return to, again and again.

The Overstory - Richard Powers

Intersecting and interwoven rings of a story, much like the lives of trees, and the ecosystems they form a part of and support, feedback upon and form one another. Power's novel is a beautiful evocation of how people begin to see the world in another way - and the effects of this different type of vision. Barbara Kingsolver called it a 'fable' and she is right. It could serve as a fable for people moving into a different type of relationship with a world that is older than our own. It is not perfect. But it is an important voice for thinking about the world and our affect on it. Something to return to again and again. A motivating story for another way of being.

The Descent - Jeff Long

What if a subterranean, parallel world existed, and has always existed below our feet? What if we had glimpsed this world periodically, and passed word of it through time - alternately rediscovering and forgetting it? As communication and technology grows apace we might rediscover this world and even explore it. What might we find there and about ourselves in the process?

Long's novel begins with a simple premise: Hell exists. Not the spooky realm of pain and suffering, but a specific, geological, geographic, and biologically-rich place. It is inhabited by humanoids simultaneously similar and dissimilar from our own world. An adventure story, Long sends a group of scientists and explorers deep into the Earth in search of Hell and even Satan. A fun and sometimes terrifying exploration in the world that we imagine exists below us. Re-read after a long time.