Notes from The Oregonian/OregonLive's books desk.

Brian Doyle: Oregon author Brian Doyle has won the 2017 John Burroughs Medal for distinguished nature writing for his 2015 novel "Martin Marten," about a boy and a pine marten growing up side by side on Mount Hood. "Martin Marten," only the second work of fiction to be awarded the medal in its 90-year history, also received the 2016 Oregon Book Awards' Leslie Bradshaw Award for young adult literature. The medal is awarded by a nonprofit that works to honor the life of American naturalist, nature essayist and conservationist John Burroughs. Doyle has been undergoing treatment for a brain tumor diagnosed in November; his wife wrote in late January on a GoFundMe fundraising site for his family that he has faced "complications and more complications" and is feeble, but "still has woken up every morning with a wink and a smile."

Amy Sutherland's book publishes Feb. 21. Harper 

Shelter animals: Sharon Harmon, executive director and chief executive officer of the Oregon Humane Society, is among the "cast of human characters" in the upcoming book "Rescuing Penny Jane: One Shelter Volunteer, Countless Dogs, and the Quest to Find Them All Homes" (Harper, 288 pages,s $26.99). Author Amy Sutherland notes how the shelter changed from putting down dogs for barking and other normal behavior to abolishing limits on how long dogs can stay and achieving a 98 percent dog adoption rate. The book publishes Tuesday, Feb. 21. 

Auf Deutsch: Eugene native Rebecca Schuman has published "Schadenfreude, a Love Story: Me, the Germans, and 20 Years of Attempted Transformations, Unfortunate Miscommunications, and Humiliating Situations That Only They Have Words For" (Flatiron Books, 288 pages, $26.99). It is not clear whether the title of her humorous memoir was inspired by the celebrated lengths that some German words go to. Schuman cites a failed teen romance with a Franz Kafka fan at South Eugene High School as the starting place for her subsequent pursuit of all things Teutonic, which culminated in a doctoral degree in German. Humorist Dave Barry blurbed, " ... just read it, OK?"

British mystery: Deborah Crombie, author of a British mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, will be in town to promote the series' 16th title, "Garden of Lamentations" (Morrow, 432 pages, $26.99). Booklist's starred review called it "another winner in a series that goes from one high point to another." Crombie will appear at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton.

Elena Passarello will have Portland and Corvallis author events.Sarabande Books 

Animals in history: Elena Passarello, an assistant professor of English at Oregon State University and a past winner of the Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship, is about to publish a collection of inventive, wry essays, "Animals Strike Curious Poses" (Sarabande Books, 200 pages, $19.95.) Despite the Prince lyric, there are no crying doves here - but there are pigeons, mammoths, tortoises, horses, an elephant, even a headless chicken. Says Marie Claire magazine, "The essays ... are technically about animals you'll find in history books, but really they're about the worlds the creatures inhabit and the ways people intersect with them." Passarello reads from the book at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in the Valley Library Rotunda at Oregon State University in Corvallis. She'll also participate in a Prince tribute reading and party at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Mother Foucault's Bookshop, 523 S.E. Morrison St.

Nature studies: University of Oregon physicist Richard Taylor is featured in the new book "Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative," by Florence Williams (W.W. Norton & Company, 288 pages, $26.95). What's a guy like him doing in a book like that? His research has included studying how people respond to fractals - complex patterns such as those found in clouds, shorelines and trees and their leaves. Turns out humans are less stressed when they see fractals: "We need these natural patterns, and we're not getting enough of them, said Taylor."

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