I’m reading Chris Packham’s book – out in May – Fingers in the Sparkle Jar. I hope to review it next week. But, wow!
I’m reading…
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Category: BOOK REVIEWS
Sunday book review – Wild Kingdom by Stephen Moss
Britain’s wildlife is going down the pan, isn’t it? Yes, it is! But it isn’t all bad. In this personal account of the fate of our wildlife Stephen Moss visits a wide variety of places and habitats – and sees species on the up as well as on the down track. It’s an entertaining journey…
Sunday book review – Devon Bird Atlas by Stella Beavan and Mike Lock
I was talking in Devon on Wednesday evening – and very nice it was too! Devon is big – big and grassy. Seen by some as a place to get through in order to cross the Tamar into Cornwall, there are reasons to stay and explore. Devon has two coasts and more coastline than most…
Sunday book review – The Most Perfect Thing by Tim Birkhead
In this book Tim Birkhead has unscrambled the complexities of the biology of eggs with writing as smooth and rounded as an eggshell. As I sit writing this review I am listening to a dawn chorus dominated by Blackbird song, and I am thinking of the female Blackbird who is sitting on a nest containing…
Sunday book review – An Unreliable History of Tattoos by Paul Thomas
You might be wondering what a book with this title is doing on this website. Well spotted! This is a book which uses the wacky idea that historical characters were tattooed, to tell some jokes. Some of the jokes are ones which you might not want to tell your grandma or your children as they…
Book review – Raptor by James Macdonald Lockhart
This book was a disappointment. The basic structure is a chapter by chapter account of 15 species of UK raptor, each described in a different place, stretching from Hen Harriers on Orkney in Chapter 1 to Devon Sparrowhawks in Chapter 15. Wrapped into this structure is a tale of the life, and a previous journey,…
Review of Inglorious from the USA
I’ve had a few conversations with American friends about grouse shooting and several have started with the American being sympathetic to grouse ‘hunting’ and them ending up saying ‘but that’s not hunting at all’. Correct! Driven grouse shooting is the most unsporting of sports and is akin to a computer game where one blasts away…
Sunday book review – Wild Island by Jane Smith
This is a lovely book about a lovely place – the island of Oronsay. I’ve seen Oronsay from afar but never visited. This book by artist Jane Smith opens the door to the island and its wildlife. Since Oronsay is an RSPB nature reserve I know some of the characters in the pages of this…
Sunday book review – the Sacred Combe by Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes’s new book is a very readable collection of stories, memories and short essays on places that are important to him – all with a strong link to the natural world. I enjoyed reading them. And I enjoyed the illustrations by Pam Guhrs-Carr too. I wasn’t completely convinced that the book deserved the handicap…
Sunday book review – Shetland by Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves is probably known to most people for her crime novels, the Vera and Shetland series. Back in the fairly distant past, Ann was the assistant cook at the Fair Isle Bird Observatory despite, she says, not being interested in birds and not being that great a cook. It was there that she met…