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.
Love and ((hugs)) to you and Sarah 🙁
Thank you so much, Jackie
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!
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…
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!