The most recommended books about moths

Firstly, it inspired me to try writing short stories again, just by showcasing the range and versatility of the form, and by demonstrating how short fiction, in the hands of a virtuoso writer like Ruby Cowling, can say more than a novel.

These short stories are experimental in the best sense, by which I mean the varied forms enhance the content and themes. These are in turn, tragic, funny, uplifting, and poignant, reflecting the multi-faceted world we live in. Also, the small press, Boiler House has done a wonderful job of production. This collection is a joy to read!

This book is a masterwork of psychological suspense that I love for its unreliable narration, emotional intensity, vivid rendering of character and place, and ingenious plot twists. Just as compelling and atmospheric as du Maurier’s earlier Rebecca, this novel similarly features a central enigma in the form of a shape-shifting woman. Still, its narrator and protagonist is a young man.

Philip Ashley, heir to a Cornish estate, is reckoning with the sudden overseas death of his beloved cousin and guardian, Ambrose, under mysterious circumstances. As he increasingly questions the role Ambrose’s new wife—a mysterious widow named Rachel—might have played in the months leading to his death, the grief-stricken Philip is drawn into a drama of conspiracy, romance, and obsession that will test the limits of his sanity.

I find off-the-rack clothing boring. I’m also allergic to synthetic fibers and work to make my now-rare 100% cotton clothes last. So, this book was a godsend and funny! 

Sekules notes that our culture despises mending as indicating poverty, then details a zillion ways to not just mend but mend ostentatiously! Make them say, this is me! I’m unique!

I now keep embroidery thread and her book next to the TV so I can artfully cover rips and stains to my heart’s content when not actually staring at the screen. (Sometimes, a little paint helps.) 

It’s fun, saves money, and helps save the environment by not wasting reusable cotton cloth—something we carelessly destroy now at an appalling rate.

I am an Academy Awards nerd. I don’t think that description does it justice though. A worshipper? An obsessed fanatic? It’s impossible to over emphasize.

So, when I saw there was a new book about Oscar History, I was drawn to it like a moth to the flame. I went in confident and snarky like I already knew everything that the book contained, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book is not a conventional retelling of the entire Award show history.

It picks certain points in history that were important, dives deep, and illustrates change and turmoil through those details. Roughly one deep dive chapter per decade. It’s a very fun read.

This book will lead you on a dark adventure of unexpected horror and amusement. For example: an alchemist creates a woman who is later entrapped, turns into a moth, and eventually gives birth to a cat–fathered by Napoleon, of course. All of this and more are illustrated in gorgeous labor-intensive aquatints that make you feel like you are observing these scenes through the murky waters of a magical puddle. 

This book is rhythmic, rhyming, and fast-paced, so much like music that every time I read a certain passage, my daughter, though she was just learning to walk, would spin and dance. It’s a groove. Some of her first words were bug names like “Eyed Click Beetle” and “Buffalo Tree Hopper,” which was delightful for both of us. I think this early love helps soothe her fear of buzzing things. 

In addition to providing a fascinating biological history of North America, this book is also extremely well-written.

Its chapters offer history lessons of North American landscape and ecosystems, disguised as lyrical essays that focus on a series of unlikely non-human protagonists (or antagonists, depending on how you look at them)—including hessian flies, gypsy moths, pigeons, starlings, and honeybees.

These stories matter because they remind us of how great our illusion of control is, especially when it comes to the natural world, and how far the consequences of even the most well-intentioned actions can reach. It also showed me how engaging a story can be when the human characters are resigned to the margins.

In this magical and otherworldly graphic novel a village of desert dwellers were gifted by the moon spirit three enchanted moon moths and taught how to raise them so they would pollinate a special tree called “The Night Flower Tree”.

This miraculous tree bestows special gifts upon the desert people. Young Anya is to become a moth keeper and carry the “Moth Keeper’s Lantern”. This lantern keeps the moths from returning to their home in the stars and bound to earth.

This story is full of stunning artwork and magical scenes. Just an incredible coming-of-age story as Anya begins her apprenticeship. The reading level is spot on for ages 8 and up. A truly enchanting story.

Moths are the underdogs of the animal kingdom – unfairly castigated as pests and associated with evil darkness.

I wrote my book to set the story straight. Decades earlier, publisher P.B.M. Allan had done these insects a considerable service, showcasing Britain’s remarkable moths and relating, in a jocular fashion, his escapades across Britain to see many of them.

Reading his book, I came to appreciate quite what diversity of moths Britain harbours – and was inspired by his enthusiasm to go out and see them for myself. The moth hunter’s gossip is long out of print, but can often be tracked down at second-hand retailers. 

These are thoughtfully observed, multi-generational stories about people obsessed with science while negotiating relationships and their place in the world. I’ve met some of them in Barrett’s previous books.

Much of the action happens in upstate New York, by the lake where my grandparents had a cottage. One major character, Henrietta Atkins, is first seen as a ten-year-old during the Civil War. She becomes a science teacher who studies moths, helps her sister’s family, and tries to find her place among the natural historians of her day. 

A family tree helps keep track of the characters over a century and a half. I especially like the details Barrett’s characters focus on. “…a young heron stabbed at a frog and missed, as if he didn’t yet understand how the surface bent the light and made everything shift position.”