4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Scotland is famous for its breath-taking scenery, the fertile lowlands, rolling hills and the much climbed Munroe’s. It has been extensively written about and photographed so finding another route and a narrative that flows from this landscape cannot be easy. Chris Townsend takes an idea that he got from Ribbon Of Wildness by Peter Wright. He wants to walk the spine of his adopted land from the border at Deadland Fell right up to Duncansby Head on the North coast.

 A watershed, a divide, between two worlds.

This backbone of the country that follows the line of hills that the water drops away either to the Atlantic or the North Sea is about 700 miles long. It is a tough walk too, crossing moorlands, bogs through forests and or course over the top of mountains at an average height of 450m. At certain points of the route, the line between the two directions of travel that the water goes can be less than 50m or be vast distances apart in the flatter parts of the country.

 A  trickle begins, running gently downhill, eventually to reach the ocean

This is the first of Townsend’s books that I have read and it is not going to be the last. This thoroughly enjoyable travel book about him walking through Scotland is written at the same gentle pace that he walked at. For him, the adventure is the journey, not the finish and over his route, he has some adventures, gets soaked several times, avoids being blown off a hill, watches the sunset on a perfect evening from his tarp. He has quite a philosophical outlook, reminisces about past walks and contemplates both the independence referendum in Scotland and rues the Brexit vote. We learn about the places that he passes, touching on the history and the wildlife that he sees, but not in an overbearing way. It also has some of the best maps that I have seen in a travel book, the route is clear and unambiguous as it wiggles it’sits across the landscape.

3 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Almost Llewhellin has had an unusual upbringing on the coast of Wales,  being brought up by his sister Perfection. He travels all over the coast and local area, playing in the graveyards, exploring the sea caves and he is intrinsically linked to the landscape where he lives. Rather than other children to play with he knows mermaids and mermen, morticians and his own family’s undead. It feels to him like time has stopped, he is stood watching things as they drift on by. Even moving away has no effect, Pembrokeshire has its roots deep inside his soul and he returns once again.

I dreamed of pearls, full fathom five;

I sang of gales, the tang of salt

Almost as a character feels like he is not fully of this world, but rather he inhabits somewhere in between this world and the next as he mixes with mermaids and converses with the dead. This is a strange book in lots of ways, very surreal at times, blended with fantasy, a dash of folklore with hints of The Graveyard Book. It is a lyrical book and I really enjoyed the poetic elements, but personally struggled to engage with the characters at times.

3 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

“The Guide says there is an art to flying”, said Ford, “or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” ― Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything

For millennia man wished he could fly like the birds, people had been up in hot air balloons since 1783, but it wasn’t until 1904 with the first powered flight from the Wright Brothers that we saw the dawn of a new era. These early pioneers of the air began to fly around America, Charles Lindbergh became the first to fly from America to Paris in his epic flight and flight changed the way we connected with others around the world. But people still wanted to reach for the stars.

It would take a World War for humanity to develop the technology that would make this possible though and it was the losing side that gave the rest of the world the rockets that would enable men to finally leave the grip of gravity for the first time. That brilliant scientist was Wernher Von Braun, a former Nazi, who spent the billions of dollars that the US government wanted to spend in the Cold War space race. This space race put men in orbit, gave us technologies that we are using today and 65 years later after the first powered flight, put the first men on the moon.

Two pictures from the Apollo missions Earthrise, taken during the first manned mission, and The Blue Marble, taken in the final one, became some of the most reproduced and influential photos of all time. It became the image that inspired the environmental movements around the world as people realised that this small blue planet was our home and that getting more than half a dozen people off at any one time was near impossible. We only have this planet. If we bugger it up, who knows what could happen

This is an enjoyable book on the rise of man to overcome gravity, rise from the surface of the earth and achieve the monumental task to stand on the surface of our nearest satellite. Good overview of the history of flight and the links that those first pilots had to the rocket men.

4 out of 5 stars

In rural Suffolk in the 1930’s the effects of the Great War still loomed over those working the land. There was some change in the air though, modernisation was slowly happening despite the global Great Depression. For everything that was moving on, there was as much standing still too. At Wych Farm, they farm the land in the old way and everyone, including the fourteen-year-old Edie Mather, is still expected to help with the harvest.

In these uncertain times the appearance of Constance FitzAllen from the heady heights of the capital looking for stories in the rural economy and hoping to capture the old ways before they disappear for good. For all her glamour, FitzAllen brings with her ideas that seem quite innocent at first, yet have deeply sinister and radical roots.  As Edie finishes school and has to decide what she does next, the appeal of heading to London grows on her and she hopes that it will take her away from the unwanted attention she is getting from a lad from a nearby farm. Things are coming to a head as FitzAllen starts to push her agenda to the villagers in the pub one night.

As with her previous books, the natural world is the very bedrock of this story, but this time she has woven in the hardship of farming the 1930’s as well as the alarming rise of nationalism in the UK that had certain parallels to Germany. Draped over all of this is the story of Edie as she reaches a crossroads in her life, unsure of what to do, wanting to not be the baby of the family anymore, but fearful of the future. There is something about Harrison’s novels that resonate with me and in All Among the Barley, her writing is lyrical and eloquent without feeling rose-tinted and sentimental; there is proper drama within these pages. It feels authentic too, the research that Harrison must have undertaken to get the details right for the season, the region and the language spoken at the time. It evokes standing in that field feeling the late summer breeze brushing the barley. There are beautiful maps by Neil Gower too! I can highly recommend this book from Melissa Harrison, her stature with words increases with every book she writes. It is timely too as it feels that history is repeating itself at the moment.

3 out of 5 stars

London is an amazing city, it feels very organic with streets that ebb and flow rather than being in a tedious grid pattern. It mixes the very old, The Tower is over 950 years old, with the sharpest new architecture. Unless you are fortunate to live or work in the newest skyscrapers, you will rarely see the layout from above.

Nightscape is one of those who prefers to discover the delights of looking down over the city for himself and has become a  YouTube sensation for his videos of him and his friendsYouTubeing on the roofs of some of the highest buildings in the capital.

It is illegal and he has had several run-inss with the authorities, been arrested, had all his electronics siezed and he still does it. The prose is not why you’d get this book, but what you do get is some amazing pictures of the skyline of London with Nightscape and friends standing quite relaxed over some death-defying drops. She has been invited to other cities where the authorities were more than happy to assist him in hitting the city heights. One for the pictures, though if you like this can also recommend Bradley L. Garrett’s books Subterranean London and Explore Everything.

Another nice touch was when you tilted the pages:

2.5 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

A famous phrase in Islamic scripture tells us that ‘There is no prophet who has not tended sheep.’ The three Islamic prophets, Mohammed, Moses, and Abraham had all bee shepherds at some point in their lives. It was a phrase that MBA student AlBaraa Taibah found quite curious. How could being alongside sheep in an arid desert have any relevance to modern business skills and leadership requirements?

The only way to see what happened was to spend some time with another a shepherd in the Sahara desert and a flock of sheep to see if he could get an insight into the words of the prophets. It was a steep learning curve. He would get lost, suffer from dehydration and it took a while for the sheep intrinsically trusted their master and took a few days to begin to tolerate him.

Like other writers before him, such as Wilfred Thesiger he discovers that being in the desert is a way of crystalizing your thoughts and sharpening the senses. He learnt humility and patience from trying to manage a flock of sheep as well as finding out his limits. He does switch from his desert experiences to talking about his old school that he was parachuted in to manage far more experienced staff. He is open about dealing with those pressures and at times it is quite philosophical.

3 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Almost everything that you buy these days has come out of a factory, probably based somewhere in the Far East and whilst the quality is generally serviceable, it often isn’t. Quality has always come at a price, and more people are rediscovering the advantages of using a well-made basket, or correctly balanced tool. Something that has fascinated Alexander Langlands for years is looking at the way that we used to make and do things. As an experienced experimental archaeologist who has appeared on many BBC programmes alongside Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn running a farm set in different eras, he has learnt the techniques and the ways that they farmed in those days.

His fascination or borderline obsession with crafts of all sorts has led to him considering it in a wider context. He calls this cræft. He considers it more than that just being able to make a useful object with your hands that you can use, it is sometime about technique, using limited resources in an intelligent way. A scythe is a good example. For large amounts of ground to cut, a form of mechanical mower will save you time, but not necessarily money. However, if you only have a small amount of land to cut with a bit of practice you can cut it in around the same time as it would have taken with a strimmer. There are plenty more examples in her, from coracle building, dry stone walls, beekeeping and the alchemy that fire can bring to materials.

A properly made product can last for a decent amount of time, are sustainable in the materials they use and can be readily repaired, unlike most modern things that break too soon, and get slung in the bin as there are no spares. It is an interesting book and Langlands is an entertaining writer. He picks up on the themes in Why Making Things is Good for You by Peter Korn. They are both right about the process of discovering, researching and making an item with our own hands is far more fulfilling that staring at a screen. It does occasionally ventures into hipster territory I think that it suffers from the a romantic view through rose tinted hand crafted spectacles of what was for a lot of people in the past hard and back breaking work.

4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

The modern world is fast and relentless, our connection to the internet that means we have a never-ending stream of notifications, jobs that come with a phone and almost permanent on call. Our nerves are jangled constantly. It feel like you are in a race that you can never win and standing still doesn’t feel like an option. Yet in the world of 24 / 7 connections to family, friends and strangers around the world, people have never been more alone.

In this modern world, can we stay sane?

This is the follow up to his successful and what I consider now an essential book, Reasons to Stay Alive. I that he told us of his journey back from staring into the abyss. In this, he lays out the problems of the modern world that have been caused by the internet as well as the positive benefits that it has brought. He makes it very personal, telling us of the issues that he has had with obsessions with Facebook, Twitter and the slightly unreal world of Instagram and how it has affected his mental health.

Reading isn’t important because it helps to get you a job. It’s important because it gives you room to exist beyond the reality you’re given. It is how humans merge. How minds connect. Dreams. Empathy. Understanding. Escape.

Like his previous book, there are anecdotes, his thoughts on the world we are living in. Woven into this is his own personal story about how his depression and anxiety has ebbed and flowed, often caused by spending way too long on the internet. Listening to the echo chamber is not good for your health, especially in this political climate, and this book is full of practical suggestions on how to cope with the relentlessness of it all, when and how to engage for an affirmative experience and when to turn the computer off, set the phone aside and go and do something else. Probably essential reading for teenagers.

4 out of 5 stars

The pivotal moment in Matt Haig’s life came when he was just 24. He stood at the top of a cliff in Ibiza and stared at the edge. Every element in his body was willing him to throw himself off and end the pain of being alive. Something made him stop; he had four people that loved him. Four people that even in his darkest moment meant something to him. Something did die that day, it was the thing that was consuming him from inside. For men, in particular, suicide is one of the biggest killers for those under 35 in the western world. Thankfully, Haig didn’t join the statistics that day. He turned away from the cliff and walked back into a new life.

It wasn’t an easy recovery though, he tried drugs, they didn’t work. He cried, suffer panic attacks, wouldn’t leave the house, suffered from anxiety, didn’t sleep, didn’t eat and suffered from the terrible thing that is depression. The black dog for some can be a bottomless pit and this horrible affliction affects huge numbers of people around the world now in a variety of different ways as well as affecting families and those trying to cope with them.  But a lot of the problems of this is most people don’t have any idea at all how to support their friends and family that are suffering from it.

How to stop time: kiss.

How to travel in time: read.

How to escape time: music.

How to feel time: write.

How to release time: breathe.

There are things not to say to someone with depression. But what to say though? Not much, just being with them is more important a lot of the time. Encourage but don’t force the issue. It is not an exhaustive book on the medical ins and outs of the root causes of depression, rather it is a literary response to the very real pain that Haig felt and an expression of the love he has for those that were there for him at his lowest moment. Haig puts his pain into words and if you suffer from any form of depression and anxiety then there are probably words in here that will bring you comfort and relief. More importantly, this is a book that you can give to others so they can gain some insight into the suffering that people are going through. The raw and honest writing is a mix of short chapters and longer, more thoughtful ones and are all full of helpful advice. We probably all know someone affected and in the modern world, this should be essential reading.