Tracking Giants: Big Trees, Tiny Triumphs, and Misadventures in the Forest

Amanda Lewis

Dec 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Tanya Eby

About this audiobook

Amanda Lewis was an overachieving, burned-out book editor most familiar with trees as dead blocks of paper. A dedicated "indoorswoman," she could barely tell a birch from a beech. But that didn't stop her from pledging to visit all of the biggest trees in British Columbia, a Canadian province known for its rugged terrain and gigantic trees. The "Champion" trees on Lewis's ambitious list ranged from mighty Western red cedars to towering arbutus. The only problem? Well, there were many . . . Climate change and a pandemic aside, Lewis's lack of wilderness experience, the upsetting reality of old-growth logging, the ever-changing nature of trees, and the pressures of her one-year time frame complicated her quest. Burned out again-and realizing that her "checklist" approach to life might be the problem-she reframed her search for trees to something humbler and more meaningful: getting to know forests in an interconnected way. Weaving in insights from writers and artists, Lewis uncovers what we're really after when we pursue the big things-revealing that sometimes it's the smaller joys, the mindsets we have, and the companions we're with that make us feel more connected to the natural world.

About the author

Amanda Lewis is a big-tree tracker and an award-winning book editor. Born in Ireland, she divides her time between the internet and a small island on the west coast of Canada. Tracking Giants is her first book. She works as a developmental editor, creative coach, and publishing strategist. Learn more at amandalewis.org.

Tanya Eby has been a voice-over artist for over a decade. She is an Audie-nominated and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. Besides narrating, Tanya spends her time teaching creative writing classes at the collegiate level, blogging, and working on her own novels.