George Monbiot writes so well – I envy him. And he knows so much – I envy him! The subtitle to this book is ‘Politics, Equality and Nature’ and it really is that wide-ranging. If you are familiar with George’s Guardian column you will currently be missing it as he is having a break and…
Category: BOOK REVIEWS
Books that I am reading
I hope to review George Monbiot’s new book ‘How did we get into this mess‘ on Sunday. I’m still reading it. But then I am also reading Mike Dilger’s book ‘Nightingales in November‘, Theunis Piersma’s Guests of Summer, and Kevin Parr’s Rivers Run too. Since Monday is a Bank Holiday, and therefore like a Sunday,…
Sunday book review – Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham
If you are expecting a book of rather sweet wildlife tales from your favourite TV personality then this book may not be for you. This is a brave and powerful book. It’s brave because it is a self-portrait of a rather weird kid – not good with people and not a bundle of laughs, it…
I’m reading…
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I’m reading Chris Packham’s book – out in May – Fingers in the Sparkle Jar. I hope to review it next week. But, wow!
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…