Sightlines

In Sightlines, Kathleen Jamie reports from the field-from her native Scottish "byways and hills" to the frigid Arctic in fourteen enthralling essays. She dissects whatever her gaze falls upon-vistas of cells beneath a hospital microscope, orcas rounding a headland, the aurora borealis lighting up the frozen sea. In so doing, she questions what, exactly, constitutes "nature," and upends the idea that it is always picturesque. Written with precision, subtlety, and wry humor, Sightlines urges the listener: "Keep looking, even when there's nothing much to see."