The nature theme continues

 

"What To Look For in..." text E.L. Grant Watson , Illustrator C. F. Tunnicliffe. Ladybird Nature Books

own books

My interest in nature and nature writing hasn't waned after my Wainwright reading, and nor has my enthusiasm for being outdoors and looking at the world around me. This quartet of books makes the most of these facts.

Unlike spotter's guides or the i-Spy books these books are written as a narrative and are matched with beautiful pictures of the countryside.

I'm not 100% certain which came first, the picture or the text, but it really doesn't matter as both are fabulous and if you can't get out in to the countryside for any reason then these books are a way to take a walk. They are also a form of time travel - they date back to the late 1950s and very early 1960s!

As well as being able to use these as a guide on what to look for while we are out an about in Norfolk (or further afield) I'm also going to find it interesting to see what changes have occurred in the 60 years since they were written. Have the seasons shifted date? What species were common but are now more scarce? The one that instantly leapt out was the lapwing, in these books they feature in every season and in large numbers. Even though we live in an area with lots of nature reserves and birding opportunities we do now only see them in small numbers and people seem very excited to see them.

The biggest changes that I can see from  just looking at the pictures is not to the natural world, but rather to farming, despite there being some machinery in the pictures it is clear that it was a really labour intensive industry just 60 years ago, and that apart from replacing the horse with a tractor not a lot else had changed. Yesterday Mr Norfolkbookworm and I watched one combine harvester and one trailer harvest nearly an entire field during our half hour walk.

These books were republished in 2020 and  I have these new editions on order from the library - I'm intrigued to see the new images and if the text has been rewritten for the 21st Century. 

Right now to look more closely at Autumn so I know what to be looking out for (and also marking all of the things I've already seen whilst still in summer...

Micro Review 35 (Wainwright Prize)

 

Skylarks with Rosie by Stephen Moss (Saraband Books)

Own copy

I feel a bit bad for this book and my response to it, if I hadn't read and loved The Consolation of Nature  so recently I think that this one would have spoken to me more.

Once more I really liked the concept of exploring a local setting more deeply, and also the diary format. It was also interesting to read another personal account of the first lockdown last year but for me it just didn't reach the heights of Consolation - not a fault of the book, just the reader.

 

Micro Review 34 (Wainwright Prize)

 

The Circling Sky by Neil Ansell (Tinder Press)

Library book

Unlike some of the other books this was a book with a set location and charts Ansell's exploration of just one place over the course of a year.

As Ansell explores the New Forest we learn more about why he considers this his 'home turf' and he weaves in his family and personal history in a way that, for me, blended perfectly with the observations of the natural world.

I very much liked the idea of exploring just one location over the course of a year - since the start of the pandemic Mr Norfolkbookworm and I have definitely got to know several local areas far more and are enjoying watching them change through the seasons. However as the area explored was the huge New Forest each visit seemed like a new location and I was a little sad to lose the tight focus.

I have now added the New Forest to my list of places I'd like to visit, and put another of Ansell's books on reserve in the library - signs that I liked this book a lot!

Micro review 33 (Wainwright Prize)

 

Into the Tangled Bank by Lev Parikian (Elliot & Thompson)

Library eBook

This was my out and out favourite book from the long list and I am really sad that it didn't make the short list and thus can't win.

This was a book that resonated the most with me. Parikian explores nature in the same way that I do - when he's in a new place he explores it, and occasionally makes trips to areas for a walk or to learn more but he's just as happy looking at the world closer to home.

The writing made me feel that yI was discovering things along with Parikian rather than him just lecturing me, and I certainly felt like I was sharing his walks and trips as he took them.

This was another book that let me see myself in the writing, another writer who approaches the natural world in the same way as me but is far more talented in communicating what he sees than I ever could!

Parikian has another book coming out soon and I am very excited to have an advance copy of that thanks to NetGalley.

Micro Review 32 (Wainwright Prize)

 

The Stubborn Light of Things by Melissa Harrison (Faber & Faber)

NetGalley

This was another book that I'd read before the Wainwright Prize long list was announced, and was another book I was really pleased to see made the list - and one I was really sad that didn't go further, it is definitely a contender for being on my best books of the year in December.

Another book that was great to dip in and out of as it was written in diary format - a style I really love. Another real plus about this book was that I knew the places Harrison talks about, especially when she is writing about Suffolk.

My favourite thing about this book is the way that Harrison appears to experience nature in the same way that Mr Norfolkbookworm and I do - it feels natural and points out things that non experts can see. The details are there but it is the ordinary that shines, and the details are written so that everyone can feel the wonder and even if you live in a city centre there are still natural wonders to see.

On the back of how much I enjoyed this book I went out and bought Harrison's novel All Among the Barley and I'm sure it won't be that long before it gets to the top of my tbr pile...

Micro Review 31 (Wainwright Prize long list)

 

Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald (Jonathan Cape)

NetGalley

I was lucky enough to have the chance to read this back in July 2020 thanks to NetGalley and so I was very pleased to see it on the long list.

Unlike H is for Hawk this wasn't a straight forward narrative, this was a collection of essays, musings, and articles all with nature as a theme.

As is always the case with an essay collection not every one hit the mark for me, but I loved the format - a book to really dip in and out of. Macdonald's writing is very readable and I like her style a lot.

It didn't quite hit the high of H is for Hawk but I am really surprised that it didn't make the Wainwright shortlist. I was amused to see that nature writing is no different to other genres in that books with similar themes come along at the same time - 2021 seems to be the year of the swift!

The Wainwright Prize Shortlist

 

The shortlist for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing was announced on the 4th August and I did manage to read all of the long listed titles before the list revealed - just I finished my last book at 10am on the day!

The official shortlist really doesn't match my personal list, and indeed neither of my favourites made the list at all. I'll review them in separate posts over the next couple of weeks,

The short listed titles are below, with my thoughts on them in blue.

The shortlist for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing is: 

English Pastoral: An Inheritance, James Rebanks, Penguin Press - from this list I think it is my 2nd favourite, I really enjoyed the parts on how the farm was run and the talk of traditional farming as well as the parts on how Rebanks is trying to return to these (or improve on them). It did give a good feel on the pressures felt by farmers.

Featherhood, Charlie Gilmour, Orion Publishing Group - I really wasn't so keen on this one at all, for me there wasn't quite enough nature in it (and the idea of a bird flying freely in a flat along with all its habits freaked me out).

I Belong Here, Anita Sethi, Bloomsbury - This was the last book I read from the longlist and for the most part I really enjoyed it, and it was really eye opening at times but every so often the timeline/continuity felt out and I couldn't mentally follow Sethi's journey which disengaged me from the narrative somewhat.

Seed to Dust, Marc Hamer, Vintage - This was the first book I read from the longlist and while I am not a gardener in any sense of the word at all I did enjoy the gentle pace of this book, it was a restful read that flowed just as the seasons do.

The Screaming Sky, Charles Foster, Little Toller Books - I really wanted to love this book, seeing the first swifts of the year is something I look forward to annually. The chapters were interesting and the illustrations beautiful but my issue with this book was the author. There is lots of talk about what could be changing the swift's patterns and threatening them and climate change is one of the big factors here - yet the author thought nothing of taking multiple flights around the world to see his favourite bird...

The Wild Silence, Raynor Winn, Michael Joseph - I'm going to make myself very unpopular with my thoughts on this one but I really didn't like Winn's first book (The Salt Path) and although I did finish this one I can't say I enjoyed it. I'm not sure why I don't like her writing but it just really leaves me cold and uninterested

Thin Places, Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Canongate Books - This one grew on me slowly but at times moved me to tears. As well as finding the writing beautiful the weaving of the author's history, Ireland's recent history and the way nature is a constant just made for a great read - if depressing at times.

From this list I think I'd like Thin Places or Seed to Dust to win but as I was so out of step with the books I wanted to see on the shortlist I wouldn't use my thoughts as a guideline!

Micro Review 31

 

The Book  Lover's Bucket List by Caroline Taggart (British Library Publishing)

Library book

This book for me is a cautionary tale in reviewing, as at first pass of this one I was a bit disappointed in it. However since those first thoughts the book has stuck with me and new thoughts keep rising to the surface and I think that my first response was too harsh.

A literary tour of Great Britain in just 100 locations is of course going to miss out lots of authors and locations, and as is so often the way in the publishing world the book is going to be quite London centric. 

The information within each entry is quirky, informative and interesting and that I was upset my favourite authors and locations weren't included is a fault with me and not the book! 

I also think that I am spoiled by living in Norfolk, a county that is very proud of its authors and literary locations - there's a whole website dedicated to them after all!

The book has definitely added some interesting places and authors to my own bucket lists and there's certainly some places in London that I now look forward to visiting.

This book has made me think what locations would appear in a Norfolkbookworm's Bucket List, and how I would structure it differently - who knows if we end up in another COVID lockdown this might become my pandemic project...

I'm glad I didn't write this review on finishing the book, and I think that I'd be even more generous with my thoughts if it was called A Book Lover's Bucket List rather than The Book Lover's Bucket List!