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In Brief
Night Magic: Adventures among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
by Leigh Ann Henion.
Algonquin, 2024 ($30)
I recently returned from a camping trip with legs covered in bug bites and a newfound awareness of my reliance on artificial light and the glow of electronic devices. It seems author Leigh Ann Henion had a similar epiphany and sought an antidote by venturing into the Appalachian Mountains after hours. Night Magic chronicles her journey to “re-center darkness” through experiencing the living things that thrive in it: spotted salamanders that perform mating dances before an audience of fairy shrimp and tricolor bats that see through sound. Henion’s vivid style of nature writing and complementary self-reflection are reminders that witnessing the extraordinary can be as easy as shifting your bedtime back an hour and going outside.
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