Heinrich has developed a wide following with such classics as "Ravens in Winter" and "Bumblebee Economics." "A Year in the Maine Woods" is a more personal book, propelled by the kind of restlessness that usually sends writers trekking across continents. Rather than hitting the open road, though, Heinrich looks for answers to life's questions in the unexpected richness of one small place, a few green acres along Alder Brook just east of the Presidential Mountains, which he intends to discover in exquisite detail.