October 2022 Review

Somehow I managed to read 16 books again this month. Some were quite short though which probably helped. There was a good mix too, as you can see below. Sarah has now completed three cycles of chemo and has found a routine that works for her, but this week they found another lump in her other boob. 🙁 She described it as whack a mole, just seeing what will happen next. Anyway here they are:

 

Books Read

The Illustrated Woman – Helen Mort – 3 Stars

The Magic of Mushrooms: Fungi In Folklore, Superstition And Traditional Medicine – Sandra Lawrence – 3 Stars

Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature – Dara McAnulty – 3 Stars

Wild Nights Out: The Magic of Exploring the Outdoors After Dark – Chris Salisbury – 3 Stars

All Island No Sea – Chris Campbell – 3 Stars

The Slain Birds – Michael Longley – 3 Stars

The Art of Jeremy Gardiner: Unfolding Landscape – Wendy Baron – 3.5 Stars

The Heath: A Year in the Life of Hampstead Heath – Hunter Davies – 3.5 Stars

The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19 ½ Front Gardens – Ben Dark – 3.5 Stars

The Travel Photographer’s Way – Nori Jemil – 3.5 Stars

A Song for a New Day – Sarah Pinsker – 4 Stars

At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond – Various – 4 Stars

Taverna by the Sea: One Greek Island Summer – Jennifer Barclay – 4 Stars

My Family and Other Enemies: Life and Travels in Croatia’s Hinterland – Mary Novakovich – 4 Stars

Bunker: Building For The End Times – Bradley L. Garrett – 4 Stars

 

Book Of The Month

This is a heartwarming story of two brothers during the pandemic. It is about how Manni brought his brother Ruben back out of the self-inflicted silence caused by the care home he was in.

brother. do. you. love. me. – Manni Coe & Reuben Coe  – 4 Stars

 

Top Genres

Natural History – 32

Travel – 22

Poetry – 15

History – 13

Memoir – 12

Fiction – 9

Science – 8

Science Fiction – 6

Environmental – 6

Photography – 5

 

Top Publishers

Faber & Faber – 8

William Collins – 7

Little Toller – 5

Gollancz – 5

Unbound – 5

Elliott & Thompson – 4

Bloomsbury – 4

Canongate – 4

Eland – 4

Picador – 4

 

Review Copies Received

West Cumbria Mining: The Silence Between The Shadows – David Banning

Spectral Sounds: Unquiet Tales of Acoustic Weird – Ed. Manon Burz-Labrande

From Utmost East to Utmost West: My life of exploration and adventure – John Blashford-Snell

Tree Glee: How and Why Trees Make Us Feel Better – Cheryl Rickman

Smelling the Breezes: A Journey through the High Lebanon in 1957 – Ralph Izzard & Molly Izzard

On Travel and the Journey Through Life – Ed. Barnaby Rogerson

The Wheel of the Year: A Nurturing Guide to Rediscovering Nature’s Seasons and Cycles – Rebecca Beattie

My Life in France: The Classic Memoir Of Food And French Living – Julia Child

 

Library Books Checked Out

Remainders Of The Day: More Diaries From The Bookshop, Wigtown – Shaun Bythell

Eric Ravilious: Artist And Designer – Alan Powers

Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses To Rural England’s Colonial Connections – Corinne Fowler

Wild Nights Out: The Magic Of Exploring The Outdoors After Dark – Chris Salisbury

Vuelta Skelter: Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain – Tim Moore

Into Iraq – Michael Palin

No Country For Eight-Spot Butterflies – Julian Aguon

Burn: A Story of Fire, Woods and Healing – Ben Short

The Slain Birds – Michael Longley

Wild Child – Dara McAnulty

The Ravens Nest – Sarah Thomas

Bibliomaniac – Robin Ince

Once Upon a Tome – Oliver Darkshire

 

Books Bought

The Bedlam Stacks – Natasha Pulley

Perfume from Provence – Lady Winifred Fortescue

Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials – Alice Roberts

Hidden Histories: A Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape – Mary-Ann Ochota

Elements Of Italy – Lisa St. Aubin De Teran

The Industrial Past – Peter Stanier

Regency Riot & Reform – Jo Draper

Traveller From Tokyo – John Morris

Folklore Of Dorset – Fran & Geoff Doel

Apricots On the Nile – Colette Rossant

Night Trains – Andrew Martin

A Year In The World – Frances Mayes

Tree Tales: A Celebration of Exeter’s Trees – Jos Smith & Luke Thompson

The Rights Of The Reader – Daniel Pennac

This Luminous Coast – Jules Pretty

The Bullet Journal Method – Ryder Carrol

Dorset Up Along and Down Along: a Collection of History, Tradition, Folk Lore, Flower Names and Herbal Lore – Ed. Marianne Dacombe

Heathlands – Lesley Haskins

Dorset Dialect Days – James Atwell

The Flora of Dorset – Humphry Bowen

Toujours Provence – Peter Mayle

The Life of My Choice – Wilfred Thesiger

One More Croissant for the Road – Felicity Cloake

The Premonitions Bureau – Sam Knight

Gardener’s Nightcap – Muriel Stuart

Island Wife: Living On The Edge Of The Wild – Judy Fairbairns (Signed)

Seven Years in Tibet – Heinrich Harrer

Any that you have heard of from that (huge) list. Let me know in the comments below.

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5 Comments

  1. Jackie Law

    Love and ((hugs)) to you and Sarah 🙁

    • Paul

      Thank you so much, Jackie

  2. Liz Dexter

    Love and strength to you and Sarah is the most important thing, obviously. Sounds like the staff are being vigilant and taking care of her well. I was very careful to go and get my first mammogram for being over 50 as soon as I possibly could (has come back all clear and I’ve made sure I’ve told people now non-horrendous it was).

    Green Unpleasant Land and the Alice Roberts are the two that appeal from your incomings. And obviously you’re doing a nice bit of collection development on your Dorset buying!

    • Paul

      Glad that you went and even more glad it is clear, Liz. A local charity shop always has some good books on Dorset. Bought another tonight…

      • Liz Dexter

        Good work! Our local Oxfam Books seems to get in various up to date social justice books a few at a time, must be one person reading and donating them!

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