Book review – Bird Day by Mark E. Hauber, illustrated by Tony Angell

This small book is built around the idea of writing about 24 birds from around the world, but one for each hour of the day. What is the species doing at that particular time? It’s an approach that works partly but not, in my opinion, brilliantly. After all, you need to know something about the…

This blog’s Books of the Year 2023

It seems that I have reviewed 47 books on this blog this year – slightly fewer than in the last couple of years – but a wide-ranging varied selection including many high quality works. If you are looking for a Christmas present for a nature-loving naturalist then this list might give you some ideas and…

Stephen Moss’s 2023 Round-up of Nature Books

Stephen Moss is a naturalist, author and, until recently, a course leader of the MA in Travel & Nature Writing at Bath Spa University. Here is his annual round-up of books about wildlife, nature and the environment which was formerly published by The Guardian but this is the sixth year it has appeared on this…

Sunday book review – A Connecticut Yankee goes to Washington by Will McLean Greeley

This biography of a very distinguished conservationist and politician was written by the subject’s great great nephew. It charts the journey of George McLean (1857-1932) from the family farm in Connecticut to a political career as a Republican Governor of his home state and an 18-year spell in the Senate (1911-29). Those dates show that…

Sunday book review – The Bone Cave by Dougie Strang

This is a lovely well-written book, but it is only tangentially a wildlife and nature book so I’ll use a few words to tell you about it and leave it at that. The author walks through some of the most attractive parts of Scotland, although mostly in rather dreary autumn weather, and tracks down places…