In his 40s, poet Jarod K. Anderson (Field Guide to the Haunted Forest; Love Notes from the Hollow Tree) left his job in academia to try to survive the debilitating depression he'd mostly hidden for decades. Early on in his memoir, he describes taking a walk in the woods, quietly observing nature as he had not in some time. He communes with a great blue heron and finds that there may be solace in a place where he'd forgotten to look.
Something in the Woods Loves You describes the slow and difficult process of seeking help and getting better, in increments, and with relapses. Anderson's journey to wellness is not and perhaps never will be complete, but he does progress. His notes of advice are always couched within Anderson's personal experience, which he acknowledges will not be universal. The result is a memoir of the slow passage toward improved mental health, a deeply beautiful work of nature writing, and a treatise on the underestimated connections between the human and "natural" worlds. While its subject matter is undeniably heavy, Something in the Woods Loves You is frequently light and positive.
Something in the Woods Loves You is organized in a seasonal cycle and structured around 20 species, which include sugar maple, morel, eastern bluebird, lightning bug, raccoon, and human. His poet's prose renders shining, glinting details under a careful eye: great blue herons "are a mix of shaggy and angular, a blade of yellow stone dressed in flowing robes stitched from overcast skies." With these and other scintillating observations, Something in the Woods Loves You is revelatory. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia