A North Country Life Tales of Woodsman, Waters, and Wildlife by Sydney Lea

Here's a chance to take a walk through the memories of the Poet Laureate of Vermont while he thinks back over the years when social media was time spent with friends and family and the only "connection" you had was with the woods, water, trees, animals and nature as a whole.

Skyhorse Publishing sent me a copy of this book for review (thank you).  It is available now as a hardcover or as an ebook, so you can purchase whichever format you prefer.

I came from a family of hunters and this author is the age of my husband, so I could relate to his stories and to his eulogies for his friends who have gone before him.  He writes with such love about those who taught him so much that it's not a sad book.  It's a tribute to those influenced his life.

He talks about how hunting has changed in time as the wild animals disappear, tells tales about fishing and the big one that got away, and he shares his love and loss of dogs.  I was pleased to see he still has one; it's good to have an animal friend when you get older.  (I have two Bengal cats that check on me and share my life.)

While what he talks about are the good old days of the past, he is sharing his experiences and treasured friends and animals along the way.  This book makes you feel "full" when you're done reading it.

I'd love to see this done as an audio book.  Mr. Lea points out that you can't hear the accents in the written word.  I think adding the country twang to an audio would be special.

Why not get a copy of this book, put a comfortable chair in front of the fire place, get a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and begin reading.  You can pretend you're sharing a campfire with the author and he's regaling you with tales around the fire; just like some of the stories he has heard and will be telling you about.

Happy reading.