Sunday book review – The Book of 365 by Hugh Brazier and Jan McCann

This book is not all about nature but there is quite a lot of nature dispersed through its pages, which is to be expected since one of its authors is a former Guest Blogger here.

And so, it comes as no great surprise, but a delight nonetheless, to find mentions of Passenger Pigeons, California Condors and more dotted around. Can you think which numbers might be the hooks on which to hang those stories?  For that is what this book does – it takes every number from one to 365 and finds out something relevant to that number.

Do you know how many steps there are in the Elizabeth Tower which houses Big Ben? Fewer than 365  – that’s not much of a clue is it? And each entry has a link, sometimes quite cryptic, to another number, so you are led from all those steps in the Palace of Westminster, down the Thames a little to the Shard and number 68.

This is an ideal Christmas present, and you may find it in your Christmas pile of presents or perhaps in the loos of friends’ houses as the individual pages are worthy of a quick read on a quick visit to such places  – and see 68 for more on that subject.

This book is clever and fun, and easy-to-read whilst intellectually stimulating.

The Book of 365: all the numbers with none of the maths by Hugh Brazier and Jan McCann is published by Square Peg.

A Message from Martha by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury.

[registration_form]