Crying behind the counter at work is par for the course reading Backman's work. Short enough to read on a lunch break and powerful enough to resonate for ages... he's done it again, though perhaps it meant a little more simply because it hits too close to home right now with my own grandmother.

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"Like most people, I have a particular tree that I remember from my childhood." And so starts chapter two of this poetically written, fascinating book of science and memories by Hope Jahren.

I too had such a tree - a horse chestnut tree that towered to one side of our driveway and held my swing. Both of my folks graduated from the UW with degrees in forestry - so this book resonated on so many levels, albeit from a different viewpoint at times.