This blog’s recent writing competition was to write a review of George Monbiot’s book Feral. The entries were judged by John Riutta, The Well-read Naturalist, Ian Carter and myself. The winning entry by Kerrie Gardner was posted on Sunday. Two more entries were highly commended and this is the first of them, by Tom Rigby….
Category: BOOK REVIEWS
Feral review, a winner – Kerrie Gardner
This blog’s recent writing competition was to write a review of George Monbiot’s book Feral. The entries were judged by John Riutta, The Well-read Naturalist, Ian Carter and myself. Three entries were in the running for the winner (who receives a signed copy of my book Remarkable Birds) and I will publish the two highly-commended…
Sunday book review – Landskipping by Anna Pavord
Reviewed by Ian Carter Landskipping is a very individual and reflective account of the British countryside and how it, and our appreciation of it, has evolved over time. It is loosely divided into three parts, covering the history of landscape painting and landscape tourism, the all-pervasive influence of farming, and the importance of a…
Win a copy of Behind More Binoculars
Behind More Binoculars will be published on or soon after 16 October – apparently the books are arriving on a slow boat from China – how exciting! – so that’s a bit less than a month away. But I’ll give you the chance to win a copy signed by the authors, Keith Betton and…
Sunday book review – Shorebirds in Action by Richard Chandler
Shorebirds in Action: An introduction to waders and their behaviour, by Richard Chandler Reviewed by Ian Carter I’m a big fan of books that blend photography and the written word, though they sometimes struggle to reach their full potential. So often, it seems, photos are added to books almost as an afterthought, simply to help…
Behind More Binoculars – readers’offer
A follow-up to Behind the Binoculars to be published in October. Behind More Binoculars follows the same model as its predecessor: we ask birdy people the questions we think you’d like to ask. Interviewees: Frank Gardner Ann and Tim Cleeves Roy Dennis Kevin Parr Tony Marr Tim Appleton Tim Birkhead Dawn Balmer Jon Hornbuckle Tony…
The Well-Read Naturalist (1)
Comments Off on The Well-Read Naturalist (1)
I have to admit that John (Johannes) Riutta’s excellent website, The Well-Read Naturalist, first came to my attention when he wrote a very kind review of my A Message from Martha, but I have been dipping into it regularly ever since. I like the ethos of the site ‘The Well-read Naturalist publishes reviews and news…
Bank holiday book review – The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf
Reviewed by Ian Carter One of the joys of reviewing books is that you end up reading titles that would otherwise pass you by. Of course, it doesn’t always work out well, but I had high hopes for this one having read about all the awards and commendations it has received. Before reading…
Bank holiday book review – Images from a Warming Planet by Ashley Cooper
Comments Off on Bank holiday book review – Images from a Warming Planet by Ashley Cooper
This book is a tour de force in so many ways. The photographs, many of which are superb, are all taken by the author, and the words are all his and the book is published by him. This is the result of years of travel and is subtitled ‘One man’s mission to document climate change…
Bank holiday book review – Flock Together by B. J. Hollars
Comments Off on Bank holiday book review – Flock Together by B. J. Hollars
Reviewed by Ian Carter I tried very hard to like this book and, in the end, despite the rather relentless ‘chatty’ style of writing, I think I just about got there. It’s certainly a hard book to categorise. In part, it’s a history of recently extinct birds in the USA and the individuals…