Also of interest...in the rites of spring

Ripe

by Cheryl Sternman Rule (Running Press, $25)

Cheryl Sternman Rule’s paean to ripe fruits and vegetables is the opposite of a vegetarian’s manifesto, said Aram Bakshian Jr. in The Wall Street Journal. “Beautifully illustrated”—with 150 photographs by Paulette Phlipot of fresh peaches, raspberries, radicchio, and all manner of fresh produce—this is a book that urges us to eat our veggies simply because they’re delicious. It features 75 vegetarian recipes that make the most of spring’s bounty.

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Swim

by Lynn Sherr (PublicAffairs, $26)

With temperatures rising, Lynn Sherr has written a book for all of us “who heed the siren call of the water,” said Donna Marchetti in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A “love letter to her favorite sport,” Swim focuses on the author’s decision to compete, at 60, in a jellyfish-dodging race across the Dardanelles, the 4-mile-wide strait separating Europe from Asia Minor. But the book also becomes a “compendium of all things aquatic,” including meditations on swimming’s history and its health effects.

The Great Animal Orchestra

by Bernie Krause (Little, Brown, $27)Bernie Krause wants to open your ears to the “biophonic” orchestra currently playing outside your door, said Jeremy Denk in The New York Times. The former musician’s new book “is not tightly written,” but it is a passionate and poetic celebration of all things musical in the wild. Krause shows how individual species stake out their own niches in the local soundscape, creating a rich sonic tapestry. The richer the music, he argues, the healthier the habitat.

The Forest Unseen

by David George Haskell (Viking, $26)

“Even an unassuming patch of forest floor reveals squirming wonders,” said Alexandra Witze in The Dallas Morning News. Naturalist David George Haskell spent a full year watching the changes that occurred within a single square meter of Tennessee woods. If that sounds boring, think again. Haskell’s narrow focus “opens a larger window onto the wonders of natural science,” demonstrating how studying ecology “can be a journey begun in your own backyard.”