April Bookshelf: The Stars and a Star

Books from two local authors who treasure the world around them – one whose sights are set on faraway galaxies and another who has star status in the world of green business practices.

“For more than 25 years, I’ve been turning green ideas into greenbacks.” And so begins the amazing tale of Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm yogurt in “Stirring It Up.” [Hyperion, N.Y., $24.95] Part biography, part business book, it traces how CE-Yo (Stonyfield is famous for those groaners) Hirshberg built a $300 million business by incorporating environmental principles and practices. Point by point, he shows how green business can save money – and the environment. When you have book blurbs from the likes of Robert Redford (“a legitimately optimistic book worth every minute”) and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (“a must-read for every CEO”), you know, indeed, that you have done well by doing good.

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Who doesn’t like to look at the stars on a clear night? But even if you, as the old song goes, “wonder what they are,” you might not take the time to find out. Too much information to dig through. Not so with Goffstown resident Roger Ducharme’s “Looking Up – An Introduction to Stargazing.” [Vantage Press, N.Y., $10.95] The retired geologist/cartographer/computer programmer has long enjoyed studying the night sky and he has put together a non-technical book about it that is very accessible and a nice mix of history and star info. He has a Web site, www.nightskyalmanac.com, for all people with what he calls the “malady of celestial voyeurism.”