hey, i think i like this whole "true story" thing

My foray into the nonfiction world has begun, and as a result, I want more nature books and a job with the Central Park Conservancy (they're not hiring). Reading "Central Park in the Dark" was like pulling on my old hiking boots, grabbing a bag of gorp and embarking on an adventure through NYC's elegant treetops -- but without the sunscreen, because all of these wildlife dramas unfold after sunset.

I'll never again enter Central Park without turning on my long-lost wilderness senses. I might not know what kind of bird is on that branch, but I'll take a minute to observe it, or to say hello. Marie Winn has inspired me to think back fondly on my days in field-studies class, and to wonder why I didn't get my degree in forestry. Alas, I can school myself indirectly by memorizing everything I learned reading this book and will learn when I become obsessed with its many related blogs. I wanted to whine that there were no maps or photos included in the book, but I'd rather buy my own map of the park to hang on the wall, and I like the optional interactive aspect of going online to see what slug sex looks like beyond my imagination's eye.

I can never bring myself to underline things in a new book, but this one includes a handy index for referencing everything from the history of cars in Central Park to moth bait, pinking time and the Perseids. That means I can verify the Snapple "Real Facts" I started throwing at my friends: "Did you know the scariest-looking wasp is one that doesn't come after people? It's the cicada killer!" I'm not sure my pseudo-knowledge of shooting stars and roosting birds will help me convince anyone to go to the park with me at night, but perhaps at twilight you'll find me pointing out how you can tell the difference between male and female lightning bugs by where they're flying when they flash. Marie Winn does her best to comfort the reader by noting that in a decade of night visits, she's only had two scary experiences, one involving men who want to be cops, the other involving men who actually were cops. But the park has such a bad reputation, I'm not holding my breath till I'll convince anyone to go on a night walk there.

I did not want this book to end, and lucky for me the nature knowledge can continue by following Marie Winn online, and I can monitor the book for a whole month when I make it my staff rec in August. It just came out in paperback, though I was reading the hardcover version I received for free at NYU last year. And if I ever get money, I'll pick up a copy of Winn's other popular tome, "Red-Tails in Love," the story of some red-tail hawks who built a nest on a building on Fifth Avenue and had babies there for something like 10 years.

So I've got a whole heap of nonfiction stacked upon my television set, but I'm compelled to take a tiny hiatus from nonfiction. I happened to have won a free copy of the Pulitzer-winning short-story collection "Olive Kitteridge" from Goodreads.com, and since the point of a contest there is to read and review the book, I'll be starting on that today. It marks the second time I've read an honest-to-goodness bestseller ... the first being "Eat, Pray, Love." I'm not selling out, I'm expanding!