November 2024 Review

I read eleven books last month, lower than normal, but it has kept me on my end-of-year target. No five-star books this month, so I have selected the best four-star from the ones that I read. I thought that I had bought less than normal, but it turns out that I hadn’t…

 

Books Read

North – Seamus Heaney – 4 Stars

Seveneves – Neal Stephenson – 3.5 Stars

The Station – Athos: Treasures and Men – Robert Byron – 3.5 Stars

The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare – Andy Howard – 4 Stars

The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring – Gary Russell – 4 Stars

The Long Unwinding Road: A Journey Through the Heart of Wales – Marc P. Jones – 4 Stars

The Whalebone Theatre – Joanna Quinn – 3.5 Stars

Blue Machine: How The Ocean Shapes Our World – Helen Czerski – 4 Stars

Blue Mind: How Water Makes You Happier, More Connected and Better at What You Do – Wallace J. Nichols – 3.5 Stars

A Cloud a Day – Gavin Pretor-Pinney – 4 Stars

 

Book(s) Of The Month

Bloom: From Food to Fuel, the Epic Story of How Algae Can Save Our World – Ruth Kassinger – 4 Stars

 

Top Genres

Fiction – 33

Travel – 30

Natural History – 14

Poetry – 11

Memoir – 9

Science Fiction – 8

Science – 4

History – 4

Miscellaneous – 4

Humour – 3

 

Top Publishers

Bloomsbury – 7

Eland – 5

Vintage – 5

Picador – 4

Summersdale – 4

Faber & Faber – 4

Canongate – 4

Saraband – 3

Orion – 3

Orbit – 3

 

Review Copies Received

The Company of Owls – Polly Atkin

Oaklore – Jules Acton

An Insect a Day: Bees, Bugs, And Pollinators For Every Day Of The Year – Dominic Couzens & Gail Ashton

Three-Quarters Of A Footprint: Travels in South India – Joe Roberts

On This Holy Island: A Modern Pilgrimage Across Britain – Oliver Smith

While the Earth Holds its Breath: Embracing The Winter Season – Helen Moat

 

Library Books Checked Out

The Masquerades of Spring – Ben Aaronovitch

The Ponies At The Edge Of The World: A Story of Hope and Belonging in Shetland – Catherine Munroe

 

Books Bought

Turkiye: Cycling Through a Country’s First Century – Julian Sayarer

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow – Natasha Pulley

Wild Twin – Jeff Young (Signed)

The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare – Andy Howard

The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring – Gary Russell

The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific – Brandon Presser

The Naming of the Shrew: A Curious History of Latin Names – John Wright (Signed)

Aeneid Book VI – Virgil, Seamus Heaney (Tr)

Homecoming – Melissa Harrison (Signed)

Walking the Himalayas – Levison Wood (Signed)

C’est La Folie – Michael Wright (Signed)

Celtic Britain – Lloyd Laing

Autumn – Martin Maudsley & Sarah Acton

Coast & Sea – Sarah Welton

A Gleaming Landscape: A Hundred Years of the Guardian’s Country Diary – Martin Wainwright (Ed)

The Marmalade Diaries: The True Story of an Odd Couple – Ben Aitken

Bothy: In Search of Simple Shelter – Kat Hill (Signed)

Erebus – Michael Palin

The Lost Rainforests of Britain – Guy Shrubsole

The Last Grain Race – Eric Newby

Flavours Rosello – Pino Iacaruso (Signed)

Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (Tr)

 

So are there any from that list that you have read, or now seeing them, now want to read? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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2 Comments

  1. Liz Dexter

    The Ponies at the Edge of the World is excellent, and Emma and I have the Shrubsole on our Reading Together pile. “I thought that I had bought less than normal, but it turns out that I hadn’t…” – I loved this!

    • Paul

      I have followed the author on social medai for a while now so though that I had better read her book! I though that I had only bought about six…

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