I am on the fence about whether this gets 4 or 5 stars, I am still so blown away by Meloy's writing. I haven't given many books 5 stars. I have a feeling that this book deserves another reading, but I borrowed it on ILL so it has to go back to the library.

Almost every day I get an email called Shelf Awareness. It is written for independent booksellers, but anyone who loves books would enjoy it. Awhile back, Philip Connors mentioned Ellen Meloy as an author he is an evangelist for. I don't know why I felt compelled to find one of Meloy's books, but I did. I am so grateful to Connors - I know it was serendipity, but this was a wonderful book.

Melroy reminds me of all the authors I have read (Annie Dillard, Gretchen Erhlich, Terry Tempest Williams, etc.) who know their place in the world. They know the landscape, the animals, the air that they breathe. They make me want to move to wherever they are because they have described the place so well. Ellen Meloy has done this for the US southwest.

Her writing seems effortless and is beautiful. Meloy has taught me about turquoise, the land around western rivers, burros and other aspects of life that I never knew that I wanted to know. Now that I have read this book, I am amazed that I was living without this information. My life definitely was not complete.

I am so sad that Ellen Meloy has died. However, her presence will live on for a long, long time.