This is Nicholas Milton’s third book this year – I’m tempted to say ‘so far’ – after The Role of Birds in World War Two and The Secret Life of the Adder. That’s quite an output considering that each of them is well-researched, well-written and covers areas where the author has quite a specialised interest and…
Category: BOOK REVIEWS
Sunday book review – Island to Island by Sally Mills
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This is an account of an almost 2-year stint wardening the nature reserve on Aride Island in the Seychelles. Idyllic tropical paradise or small island community with plenty of difficult characters to navigate? Or both? Sally Mills worked for the RSPB in Somerset and, with her partner, she took the opportunity to see the sand,…
Sunday book review – The History of the World in 100 Plants by Simon Barnes
A sumptuously illustrated and beautifully written volume with accounts of 100 plants and their roles in human existence. This is one of those fairly rare books that is good to look at and even better to read. If you have forgotten what a brilliant writer is Simon Barnes then this book is a fine reminder….
Sunday book review – Into the Red curated by Kit Jewitt and Mike Toms
Following the successful publication of Red Sixty Seven in 2020 this is another run at the same group of species (with a net three additions) – those on the UK Red List because of their conservation status. Profits from the sale of this volume go to the BTO for work on such species and to…
Sunday book review – Lichens by Vincent Zonca (translated by Jody Gladding)
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This is a very individual book, and I’m afraid it didn’t appeal much to this individual but that does not mean that it won’t appeal to you. So let me describe it. There are four parts to this book; First Contacts; To Describe, Name, Represent; Ecopoetics: Life Force and Resistance; Towards a Symbiotic Way of…
Sunday book review – Divide by Anna Jones
This book, by farmer’s daughter and now-journalist and media presenter Anna Jones, is one of the most enjoyable and interesting books I have read this year – and I write that in full knowledge that in a few weeks I’ll be choosing my books of the year (click here for 2021’s list). It examines the…
Sunday book review – The Hen Harrier’s Year by Ian Carter and Dan Powell
A book about one of my favourite bird species – the amazing, the beautiful, the persecuted Hen Harrier. This volume takes the same approach as the authors’ previous The Red Kite’s Year and is a month by month account of what Hen Harriers are doing and what is sometimes done to them. Interleaved amongst the…
Bank Holiday book review – Seasonality by Ian Parsons
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Ian Parsons has contributed to this blog on numerous occasions (see here) and this is the third of his books reviewed here (see A Vulture Landscape, October 2020, and A Tree Miscellany, January 2017). I like Ian’s writing as it is clear, easy to understand, has some embedded wit and much embedded knowledge and an…
Bank Holiday book review – The Bird Name Book by Susan Myers
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This is an interesting book which explores the origins of bird names from accentor to Zeledonia. I’m interested in names, and in birds, and birds’ names, and the more I dipped into this book the more and more I liked it. The 400+ pages are packed with information and are well-referenced. I hadn’t appreciated that…
Bank Holiday book review – Seasons of Storm and Wonder by Jim Crumley
I came across Jim Crumley’s writing only fairly recently but it is a case of a deferred pleasure being very sweet. This 400+ page book is a reworking of his four recent volumes on The Nature of [Season] and is a joy to read. The reworking takes the form of leaving out some whole passages…