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…
Category: BOOK REVIEWS
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 –…
Sunday book review – Where the wild thyme blew by Peter Marren
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I’m a big fan of Peter Marren’s writing – his Rainbow Dust was (and is) a lovely book which I listed as my #2 book of the year for 2015. Peter has also written a number of Guest Blogs here and I hope he will write some more. This book is one that the author…
Sunday book review – Summer edited by Melissa Harrison
It must be summer because I am picking elderflowers from which to make champagne. Spring is over, and if you are a birder then you are now in the position of suspecting that any passage wader on your local patch is already heading south after a nest failure (it’s really already autumn!). This anthology is…
Sunday book review – The Life of The Robin by David Lack
This book is a classic and has been reissued with an introduction from David Lindo (whose National Bird Vote firmly established the Redbreast as our national bird) and gorgeous artwork by Robert Gillmor (as in the 1965 edition but with a spanking new cover). And this re-issue also has an account of the importance of…