This is a very pleasant book of observations of birds around the author’s home in the Lake District. There is a lot about the flight of Buzzards and the song of Blackbirds. I really liked the author’s watercolours of the views and some birds of the Lake District and nearby areas although I’m not…
Category: BOOK REVIEWS
Sunday book review – A Sky Full of Birds by Matt Merritt
This is a book about bird gatherings from seabird colonies to winter roosts. Having spent a frustrating evening recently looking for a Pied Wagtail roost that wasn’t there I enjoyed hearing of Matt Merritt’s successes. A huge flock of birds is a sight to be seen – and sometimes a sound to be heard and…
Sunday book review – Winter by Melissa Harrison (ed)
This book is on the same model as the preceding three volumes: an anthology of seasonal nature writing with a mixture of work from well-known and older writers and some very modern pieces too. I liked Spring, Summer and Autumn and I like Winter too. It felt as though there were more poetry in this…
Sunday book review – Bring Back the King by Helen Pilcher
Helen Pilcher is a science writer and comedian – and not many people can claim that. In this book she looks at the possibility of de-extinction – bringing back extinct species – and searches for the species most worthy of the effort. This book made me laugh (as early as the last four words on…
Sunday book review – Speaking Out by Ed Balls
Did you watch Ed Balls on Strictly Come Dancing last night? Yes, so did I. If you want to learn more about the man behind The Mask, and the moves, then this is the book for you. But it’s also a book to read to understand that politicians are people not cut-out models, and they…
Sunday book review – the Ethical Carnivore by Louise Gray
Louise Gray is a former Daily Telegraph environmental journalist. She writes well and this is a book that all should read – but it isn’t simply a duty, it is a gritty pleasure. Louise set off on a year’s journey only to eat meat that she had killed herself – despite being close to being…
Sunday book review – Cat Wars by Peter P. Marra and Chris Santella
I’m not a cat person; I’m not a dog person either; I’m not really a pet person at all. I prefer my animals wild and free, or cooked and on a plate. And so I enter this subject, the impacts of domesticated and feral cats on wildlife, with a slight preference for hearing that cats…
Sunday book review – Autumn by Melissa Harrison (ed)
I’ve reviewed Spring and Summer here, and liked them, so it won’t be a surprise that I enjoyed Autumn too. The book follows the same model as the earlier two seasons – an anthology of writings from famous writers mixed in with offerings from current writers. It’s still a good model and worked as well…
Sunday book review – Badgered to Death by Dominic Dyer
I enjoyed reading this book and I strongly recommend it to you. This is a powerful and stimulating read and it’s bang up to date with the important issue it discusses. It is written by a passionate insider with years of experience. The narrative is pacey and exciting. This book arrived with me on Thursday…
Sunday book review – Britain’s Birds by Rob Hume et al.
This book is very good. Why would you need another bird identification guide or field guide? Because this one is very good! This is a quite straight forward bird identification guide – there isn’t much mucking about with other information – and that’s good. It covers birds you might see in Britain and Ireland –…