Readers write: Buryatia coverage, book search, wildfire precautions, science at home

Buryatia coverage

I was delighted to see the five-part series on Buryatia in the Monitor Daily. My sons and I spent two months in Mongolia on a bicycle tour in 1998. We went to visit Mongolian friends who came to my town – Golden, Colo. – to study at the Colorado School of Mines. Several of them lived with me for months. It is not easy to find current, accurate information on this area, so I am delighted the Monitor undertook this series.

Portia Masterson

Lyle, Wash.

Book search

Regarding the July 30 Home Forum essay, “The book next to the one I was looking for”: I have always wondered whether there is a significant difference in the percentages of books checked out based on the shelf location. Are books on the middle shelf more popular than those on the top or bottom shelves?

Jeff Payne

Trenton, N.C.

Wildfire precautions

Regarding the Aug. 3 Monitor Daily article “Wildfires force California to reckon with a not-so-new normal”: As a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, I found this article to be relevant, timely, and valuable. I hope the citizens of California start putting pressure on local governments to stop allowing developers to build communities in areas that are at high risk of wildfires. Thanks!

Dee Ann Tortorice

Walnut Creek, Calif.

Science at home

I loved the try-this-at-home science experiments in the Science & Nature section in the Aug. 20 & 27 issue. What fun! My mom and I also read about funambulism, aka slacklining or tightrope walking. Thanks for the fun and interesting reads.

Maribeth Condon

Traverse City, Mich.