Category: Book Musings (Page 10 of 31)

We’re into the final third of the year and the mornings already have that autumn twang. Not that we had that much of a summer after the promise of June…

Any way you’re here for the books, and I am here to tell you what I am aiming to read in this equinox month.

 

It is a bit shorter than normal as previous TBRs have been recently. This is partly a hope that I can actually read all on the list and secondly that I have less than 60 book to go on my Good Reads challenge.

I am very late in posting this as I have been away to Jersey and came back last weekend. And then have been busy doing lots of other things this week.

Anyway, July was a good reading month, with two books making my book of the month

Books Read

Circles And Tangents: Art In The Shadow Of Cranborne Chase – Vivienne Mary Light – 4 Stars

The Bedlam Stacks – Natasha Pulley – 2 Stars

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street – Natasha Pulley – 3 Stars

Don’t Look Now – Daphne du Maurier – 2 Stars

One August Night – Victoria Hislop – 2.5 Stars

The Last Dance And Other Stories – Victoria Hislop – 2.5 Stars

Blood Storm – Colin Forbes – 3 Stars

The Mermaid of Black Conch – Monique Roffey – 3.5 Stars

Himself – Jess Kidd – 3.5 Stars

Elowen: A Story of Grief and Love – William Henry Searle – 4 Stars

A Trillion Trees: How We Can Reforest Our World – Fred Pearce – 3.5 Stars

Out For Air – Olly Todd – 3 Stars

We, Robots: Staying Human In The Age Of Big Data – Curtis White – 2.5 Stars

Venice: The Lion, The City And The Water – Cees Nooteboom – 4 Stars

 

Book(s) Of The Month

La Vie: A Year In Rural France – John Lewis-Stempel – 4.5 Stars

The Swimmer: The Wild Life Of Roger Deakin – Patrick Barkham – 5 Stars

 

Top Genres

Fiction – 18

Natural History – 15

Travel – 15

Poetry – 10

Memoir – 8

History – 6

Science Fiction – 6

Fantasy – 5

Art – 3

Photography – 3

 

Top Publishers

Faber & Faber – 8

Bloomsbury – 5

Penguin – 4

Little Toller – 4

Simon & Schuster – 4

Monoray – 3

Chatto & Windus – 3

William Collins – 3

Doubleday – 3

Michael Joseph – 3

 

Review Copies Received

Walking The Wharfe: An Ode to a Yorkshire River – Johno Ellison

A Fenland Garden: Creating a haven for people, plants and wildlife in the Lincolnshire Fens – Francis Pryor

The Uncanny Gastronomic: Strange Tales of the Edible Weird – Ed. Zara-Louise Stubbs

Holy Ghosts: Classic Tales of the Ecclesiastical Uncanny – Ed. Fiona Snailham

 

Library Books Checked Out

A Flat Place: A Memoir – Noreen Masud

Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, And Why It Matters – Oliver Franklin-Wallis

One Midsummer’s Day: Swifts And The Story Of Life On Earth – Mark Cocker

The Invention Of Essex: The Making Of An English County – Tim Burrows

Borderland: A Journey Through The History Of Ukraine – Anna Reid

Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature And Not Getting Better – Polly Atkin

Ravenous: How To Get Ourselves And Our Planet Into Shape – Henry Dimbleby

The Only Gaijin In The Village – Iain Maloney

One Thousand Shades Of Green: A Year In Search Of Britain’S Wild Plants – Mike Dilger

Where The Seals Sing – Susan Richardson

Footprints in the Woods: The Secret Life of Forest and Riverbank – John Lister-Kaye

 

Books Bought

Wayfinding: The Art And Science Of How We Find And Lose Our Way – Michael Bond

One More Croissant for the Road – Felicity Cloake (Signed)

Tojours Provence – Peter Mayle (Signed)

Treacle Walker – Alan Garner

Gone Bones – Margaret Atwood (Signed)

Bridges – David McFetrich & Jo Parsons

Harry Mount’s Odyssey: Ancient Greece in the Footsteps of Odysseus – Harry Mount

The Heavens – Sandra Newman

Follow This Thread: A Maze Book to Get Lost In – Henry Eliot

From Yukon to Yucatan: A Journey of Discovery in the Footsteps of America’s First Travellers – Irwin Allan Sealy

Farming – J.H. Bettey

The Gallows Pole – Benjamin Myers

Bitter Lemons – Lawrence Durrell

Motoring With Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea – Eric Hansen

A Shepherd’s Life – W. H. Hudson

Against Straight Lines: Alone in Labrador – Robert Perkins

The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland – Andy Burnham

A Far Country: Travels in Ethiopia – Philip Marsden-Smedley

Raven Seek Thy Brother – Gavin Maxwell

The Lonely Planet Travel Anthology – Lonely Planet

An Introduction to William Barnes – Douglas Ashdown

Setting the Poem to Words – David Hart

The Skin Spinners: Poems – Joan Aiken

 

Are there any from that list that you may have read or having now seen, would like to read at some point? Let me know what you read above in July in the comments below.

This month is all about the challenge and completing (for the first time ever) the #20BooksOfSummer Challenge. I have eight to go! So here is my list. It would be good to read more that 16 too this month…

 

How are we halfway through 2023 already? How? I don’t feel that I have read enough, but somehow I finished my 99th book on June 30th. I am ahead of schedule in terms of the good reads challenge, but less so on other challenges! Ho hum. I read 17 books in June. Always less than I hope for, but seeing what other people post on social media, I am doing much better than I think I am. So here they are:

 

Books Read

David Weston: An Artist at Home and Abroad – David Weston – 3.5 stars

Small Island: A History Of Britain In 12 Maps – Philip Parker – 3 stars

Acts of Desperation – Megan Nolan – 2.5 stars

Exciting Times – Naoise Dolan – 2.5 stars

Here Comes the Miracle – Anna Beecher – 3 stars

Open Water – Nelson Caleb Azumah – 3 stars

Shy – Max Porter – 3 stars

Grounding: Finding Home In A Garden – Lulah Ellender – 4.5 stars

Hard Lying; An Intelligence Officer on the Levantine Shore, 1914-1919 – Lewen Weldon – 4 stars

The Ten Equations That Rule The World And How You Can Use Them Too – David Sumpter – 3 stars

In Her Nature: How Women Break Boundaries In The Great Outdoors : A Past, Present And Personal Story – Rachel Hewitt – 4 stars

How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves – Tristan Gooley – 4 stars

The Language of Trees: How Trees Make Our World, Change Our Minds and Rewild Our Lives – Katie Holten – 4.5 starsMy Darling from the Lions – Rachel Long – 3 stars

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood – 4 stars

Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World – Anthony Sattin – 4 stars

 

Book(s) Of The Month

Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir Of Poverty, Nature And Resilience – Natasha Carthew – 5 stars

 

Top Genres

Natural History – 14

Travel – 13

Fiction – 13

Poetry – 9

Memoir – 7

History – 6

Science Fiction – 6

Photography – 3

Fantasy – 3

Art – 2

 

Top Publishers

Faber & Faber – 8

Allen Lane – 3

Bloomsbury – 3

Jonathan Cape – 3

William Collins – 3

Little Toller – 3

Monoray – 3

Michael Joseph – 3

Chatto & Windus – 3

Simon & Schuster – 3

 

Review Copies Received

Wind: Nature And Culture – Louise M Pryke

Moderate Becoming Good Later: Sea Kayaking the Shipping Forecast – Katie Carr & Toby Carr

Call of the Kingfisher: Bright Sights and Birdsong in a Year by the River – Nick Penny

An Almost Impossible Thing: The Radical Lives of Britain’s Pioneering Women Gardeners – Fiona Davidson

 

Library Books Checked Out

Shy – Max Porter

The Swimmer: The Wild Life Of Roger Deakin – Patrick Barkham

La Vie: A Year In Rural France – John Lewis-Stempel

The Turning Tide: A Biography Of The Irish Sea – Jon Gower

Blue Dahlia, Black Gold: A Journey Into Angola – Daniel Metcalfe

 

Books Bought

This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland – Gretel Ehrlich

Dorset Coast – James Crowden

A Local Habitation – Norman Nicholson

Forbidden Journey: From Peking To Kasmir – Ella Maillart, Tr. Thomas McGreevy

The Santiago Pilgrimage: Walking the Immortal Way – Jean-Christophe Rufin, Tr. Malcolm Imrie & Martina Dervis

Gargoyles and Grotesques – Alex Woodcock

Pondlife: A Swimmer’s Journal – Al Álvarez

Love and War in the Apennines – Eric Newby

A Fez of the Heart – Jeremy Seal

Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana – Isadora Tattlin

Impossible Journeys – Mathew Lyons

Island On The Edge: A Life on Soay – Anne Cholawo

An African in Greenland – Tété-Michel Kpomassie Tr. James Kirkup

With Chatwin: Portrait of a Writer – Susannah Clapp

The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book – Neil Gaiman

Inside Dorset – Monica Hutchings

Richard Bell’s Britain – Richard Bell

Postcards From the Beach – Phil Tufnell

The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History – Rolans Ennos

The Penguin Modern Painters: Henry Moore – Geoffry Grigson

The Penguin Modern Painters: Paul Nash – Herbert Read

The Penguin Modern Painters: Edward Burra – John Rothenstein

Any that you read from that list above? Any that you now want to read? Let me know in the comments below

 

How are we halfway through the year already? This month is all about reading books for the #20BooksOfSummer Challenge. I have almost finished my fifth and have eight lined up for this month along with a few from the nature reading challenge that I am doing. So without further ado, here is the list of books that I will be picking around 16 to 18 books from:

 

Still Reading

Exciting Times – Naoise Dolan

Review Books

Isles at the Edge of the Sea – Jonny Muir

The Wonderful Mr Willughby: The First True Ornithologist – Tim Birkhead

The House of Islam – Ed Husain

On the Scent: Unlocking The Mysteries Of Smell – And How Losing It Can Change Our World – Paola Totaro and Robert Wainwright

Swan: Portrait of a Majestic Bird, from Mythical Meanings to the Modern Day – Dan Keel

Handbook of Mammals of Madagascar Hardcover – Nick Garbutt

RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife: 3rd edition – Peter Holden & Geoffrey Abbott

Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature – Miles Richardson

One Fine Day: A Journey Through English Time – Ian Marchant

The Possibility of Life: Searching for Kinship in the Cosmos – Jaime Green

Once Upon a Raven’s Nest: A Life On Exmoor In An Epoch Of Change – Catrina Davies

The View from the Hill: Four Seasons in a Walker’s Britain – Christopher Somerville

Across A Waking Land: A 1,000-Mile Walk Through A British Spring – Roger Morgan-Grenville

Minor Monuments – Ian Maleney

Cry of the Wild: Tales Of Sea, Woods and Hill – Charles Foster

The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey – Tim Hannigan

Elowen – William Henry Searle

The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths – Brad Fox

Call of the Kingfisher: Bright Sights and Birdsong in a Year by the River – Nick Penny

 

Other Books

Waypoints: A Journey On Foot – Robert Martineau

Venice: The Lion, The City And The Water – Cees Nooteboom

A Trillion Trees: How We Can Reforest Our World – Fred Pearce

Circles And Tangents: Art In The Shadow Of Cranborne Chase – Vivienne Mary Light

Borderland: A Journey Through The History Of Ukraine – Anna Reid

The Swimmer: The Wild Life Of Roger Deakin – Patrick Barkham

 

Challenge Books

Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland – Lisa Schneidau

Nightingale – Marina Kemp

A Perfect Explanation – Eleanor Anstruther

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street – Natasha Pulley

The Bedlam Stacks – Natasha Pulley

Himself – Jess Kidd

Don’t Look Now – Daphne du Maurier

The Mermaid of Black Conch – Monique Roffey

Blood Storm – Colin Forbes

One August Night – Victoria Hislop

A Trillion Trees: How We Can Reforest Our World – Fred Pearce

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

In Search Of One Last Song: Britain’s Disappearing Birds And The People Trying To Save Them – Patrick Galbraith

 

Photo / Art

Circles And Tangents: Art In The Shadow Of Cranborne Chase – Vivienne Mary Light

 

Poetry

Out For Air – Olly Todd

 

Any that takes your fancy in this list? Let me know in the comments below

I have been through 23 catalogues so far and it is that time of the year when I release the list of books coming out in the Autumn that I really like the sound of. It is not a full list, there are many more books being published than I have included here. It is not complete, so this may be updated if I come across any more after this has been published.

 

Bloomsbury

The Other Pandemic – James Ball

Code of Conduct – Chris Bryant

The Globemakers – Peter Bellerby

Slow Seasons – Rosie Steer

Unfinished Woman – Robyn Davidson

The Gardener of Lashkar – Larisa Brown

God Is An Octopus – Ben Goldsmith

 

Bodley Head

Techno-Feudalism What Killed Capitalism – Yanis Varoufakis

 

Bradt

Call of the Kingfisher: Bright Sights and birdsong in a Year by the River – Nick Penny

 

Canongate

Footprints in the Woods: The Secret Life of Forest and Riverbank – John Lister-Kaye

Uprooting: From the Caribbean to the Countryside – Finding Home in an English Country Garden – Marchella Farrell

The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World – James Crawford

Namesake: Reflections on A Warrior Woman – N.S. Nuseibeh

Let the Light Pour In – Lemn Sissay

A History of Women in 101 Objects: A walk through female history – Annabelle Hirsch Tr. Eleanor Updegraff

The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews – Ed Adam Biles

Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China – Noo Saro-Wiwa

 

Cheerio

Shopping Lists: A Consuming Fascination – Ingrid Swenson

 

Faber & Faber

Cahokia Jazz – Francis Spufford

The Farmer’s Wife – Helen Rebanks

Property – Rowan Moore

The Wisdom of Sheep (And Other Animals): Observations From a Cotswold Farm – Rosamund Young

 

Granta

Nature’s Calendar: The British Year in 72 Seasons – Kiera Chapman, Lulah Ellender, Rowan Jaines and Rebecca Warren

A Book of Noises” Notes on the Auraculous – Caspar Henderson

 

Headline

High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland – Tom Parfitt

Lost Music of the Holocaust – Francesco Lotoro

 

Hodder & Stoughton

Many Things Under a Rock: The Mysteries of Octopuses – David Scheel

Dust: The Story of the Modern World in a Trillion Particles – Jay Owens

Mountains Of Fire: The Secret Lives of Volcanoes – Clive Oppenheimer

 

Hurst Publishers

Stuff” Humanity’s Epic Journey from Naked Ape to Nonstop Shopper – Chip Colwell

All That Glistens: Chinese Party-State Influence in Britain – Martin Thorley

Edge of England: Landfall in Lincolnshire – Darek Turner

 

John Murray

Interesting Stories about Curious Words – Susie Dent

Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions – Akshat Rathi

The Race To The Future: Peking to Paris and Beyond – Kassia St Clair

The Women Who Made Modern Economics – Rachel Reeves

Starborn – Roberto Trotta

 

Jonathan Cape

Orbital – Samantha Harvey

 

Little Toller

Elowen – William Henry Serle

 

Oneworld

What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds – Jennifer Ackerman

What We Owe the Future: A Million-Year View – William MacAskill

The Battle for Thought: Freethinking in the Twenty-First Century – Simon McCarthy-Jones

 

Pan Macmillan

Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History – Ben Mezrich

 

Profile Books

Invisible Lines: Boundaries and Belts That Define the World – Maxim Samson

The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs – David Runciman

The Book at War: Libraries and Readers in an Age of Conflict – Andrew Pettegree

The Secret Life of John le Carré – Adam Sisman

The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary – Hana Videen

The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper – Roland Allen

 

Pushkin

The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths Brad Fox

National Dish: Around The World In Search Of Food, History And The Meaning Of Home – Anya von Bremzen

A Line In The World: A Year On The North Sea Coast – Dorthe Nors

 

Reaktion Books

Way Makers: An Anthology of Women’s Writing about Walking – Kerri Andrews

Enchanted Forests: The Poetic Construction of a World before Time – Boria Sax

Alone – Daniel Schreiber Tr. Ben Fergusson

The Food Adventurers: How Around-the-World Travel Changed the Way We Eat – Daniel E. Bender

The Point of the Needle: Why Sewing Matters – Barbara Burman

Stones: A Material and Cultural History – Cally Oldershaw

Living with the Dead: How We Care for the Deceased Vibeke – Maria Viestad and Andreas Viestad

Dreamwork: Why All Work Is Imaginary – Steven Connor

 

Square Peg

The Owl: A Biography – Stephen Moss

Weird Medieval Guys: How to Live, Laugh, Love (and Die) in Dark Times – Olivia Swarthout

 

Summersdale

Moderate Becoming Good Later: Sea Kayaking the Shipping Forecast – Katie Carr & Toby Carr

 

Two Roads

Rambling Man: Travels of a Lifetime – Billy Connolly

 

William Collins

Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas – Karen Pinchin

The Bone Chests – Cat Jarman

Windswept: Life, Nature and Deep Time in the Scottish Highlands – Annie Worsley

The Infinite City: Utopian Dreams on the Streets of London – Niall Kishtainy

 

So are there any there that you have heard of before? Are you now making your TBR much longer? Let me know in the comments below

Even though we had three bank holidays in May, I didn’t get as much read as I hoped. Story of my life really. However, I did manage to read 16 in the end and had three books of the month and here they are:

Books Read

Brittany – Stone Stories – Wendy Mewes – 4 Stars

The Fell – Sarah Moss – 3 Stars

Threads – William Henry Searle – 3.5 Stars

Enchantment – Katherine May – 3.5 Stars

Elegy For A River – Tom Moorhouse – 3.5 Stars

Shaping the Wild – David Elias – 4 Stars

Wild City – Florence Wilkinson – 4 Stars

The Golden Valley – Phil Cope – 3.5 Stars

Two Cures for Love – Wendy Cope – 3.5 Stars

The Passengers – Will Ashon – 3.5 Stars

Sarn Helen – Tom Bullough – 4 Stars

Coffee First, Then The World – Jenny Graham – 4 Stars

Glowing Still – Sara Wheeler – 4 Stars

 

Book(s) Of The Month

Taking Flight – Lev Parikian – 4.5 Stars

Real Dorset – Jon Woolcott t 4.5 Stars

Between The Chalk And The Sea – Gail Simmons – 4.5 Stars

 

Top Genres

Travel – 12

Natural History – 12

Fiction – 9

Poetry – 8

History – 5

Science Fiction – 5

Memoir – 5

Photography – 3

Fantasy – 3

Social History – 2

 

Top Publishers

Faber & Faber – 7

Simon & Schuster – 3

Bloomsbury – 3

Little Toller – 3

William Collins – 3

Monoray – 3

Orbit – 2

Michael Joseph – 2

Fum D’Estamps Press – 2

Jonathan Cape – 2

 

Review Copies Received

Lost In The Lakes: Notes From A 379-Mile Walk In The Lake District – Tom Chesshyre

Brazilian Adventure – Peter Fleming

Hard Lying; An Intelligence Officer on the Levantine Shore, 1914-1919 – Lewen Weldon

Travellers Through Time: A Gypsy History – Jeremy Harte

The Language of Trees: How Trees Make Our World, Change Our Minds and Rewild Our Lives – Katie Holten

The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths – Brad Fox

 

Library Books Checked Out

Enchantment : Reawakening Wonder In An Exhausted Age – Katherine May

In Her Nature: How Women Break Boundaries In The Great Outdoors : A Past, Present And Personal Story – Rachel Hewitt

How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves – Tristan Gooley

Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir Of Poverty, Nature And Resilience – Natasha Carthew

Nomads : the wanderers who shaped our world – Anthony Sattin

 

Books Bought 

Selected Poems 1923 – 1958 – E.E. Cummings

Selected Poems – W.H. Auden

New Selected Poems 1966-1987 – Seamus Heaney

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History – Lewis Buzbee

How to be a Knowledge Ninja: Study Smarter. Focus Better. Achieve More. – Graham Allcott

Dorset (The King’s England) – Arthur Mee

A Chip Shop in Poznań: My Unlikely Year in Poland – Ben Aitken

Boat in Our Baggage: Around the World With a Kayak – Maria Coffey

Unknown Dorset – Donald Maxwell

Jade City – Fonda Lee

Last Chance to See – Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

Nala’s World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride around the Globe – Dean Nicholson & Garry Jenkins

A Wild Life: My Adventures Around the World Filming Wildlife – Martin Hughes-Games

The English Village – Richard Muir

 

Any from there that you have read or now want to read? Let me know in the comments below.

Hello again. Here is my June TBR. I have quite a few challenge books lined up this month as I have once again signed up to Cathy at 746Books 20 Books Of Summer Challenge. I have a few books on walks to read and a fair number of library books. So without further ado, here is the list of books that I will be picking around 16 to 18 books from:

 

Still Reading

Between The Chalk And The Sea: A Journey On Foot Into The Past – Gail Simmons

 

Review Books

Isles at the Edge of the Sea – Jonny Muir

The Wonderful Mr Willughby: The First True Ornithologist – Tim Birkhead

The House of Islam – Ed Husain

On the Scent: Unlocking The Mysteries Of Smell – And How Losing It Can Change Our World – Paola Totaro and Robert Wainwright

Swan: Portrait of a Majestic Bird, from Mythical Meanings to the Modern Day – Dan Keel

Handbook of Mammals of Madagascar Hardcover – Nick Garbutt

RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife: 3rd edition – Peter Holden & Geoffrey Abbott

Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature – Miles Richardson

One Fine Day: A Journey Through English Time – Ian Marchant

The Possibility of Life: Searching for Kinship in the Cosmos – Jaime Green

Once Upon a Raven’s Nest: A Life On Exmoor In An Epoch Of Change Catrina DaviesReview Books The View from the Hill: Four Seasons in a Walker’s Britain – Christopher Somerville

Across A Waking Land: A 1,000-Mile Walk Through A British Spring – Roger Morgan-Grenville

Minor Monuments – Ian Maleney

Cry of the Wild: Tales Of Sea, Woods and Hill – Charles Foster

Hard Lying; An Intelligence Officer on the Levantine Shore, 1914-1919 – Lewen Weldon

The Language of Trees: How Trees Make Our World, Change Our Minds and Rewild Our Lives – Katie Holten

 

Other Books

The Last Overland: Singapore to London: The Return Journey Of The Iconic Land Rover Expedition – Alex Bescoby

A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People’s Institution – Travis Elborough

Wanderers: A History of Women Walking – Kerri Andrews

The Ten Equations That Rule The World And How You Can Use Them Too – David Sumpter

Cornerstones: Wild Forces That Can Change Our World – Benedict Macdonald

Small Island: A History Of Britain In 12 Maps – Philip Parker

Grounding: Finding Home In A Garden – Lulah Ellender

Apple Island Wife: Slow Living In Tasmania – Fiona Stocker

In Search Of One Last Song: Britain’s Disappearing Birds And The People Trying To Save Them – Patrick Galbraith

Waypoints: A Journey On Foot – Robert Martineau

 

Challenge Books

Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland – Lisa Schneidau

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

Exciting Times – Naoise Dolan

Nightingale – Marina Kemp

Acts of Desperation – Megan Nolan

Open Water – Nelson Caleb Azumah

Here Comes the Miracle – Anna Beecher

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood

 

Poetry

My Darling from the Lions Rachel Long

 

Photobooks

David Weston: An Artist at Home and Abroad – David Weston

It is almost June. It is scary just how fast this year is going. And whilst the bank holiday weather was remarkably sunny, as I type this there are big black clouds building outside my office window. , And being almost June must mean that it is time for 20 books of Summer again, the challenge dreamt up by Cathy at 746 Books.

It is a challenge for bloggers and anyone else who wants to and the aim is to try and read through 20 books that are on their TBR. I have tried for the past few years. In the first year, I read 18, in 2020 managed 12 in 2021 only 10 and in 2022 I almost finished with 19 books read! Even though I have never finished it, I  like the idea of it and It is good to support other bloggers in what they are doing to promote reading. l like to pick themes usually, I have had travel,  outstanding review books and I combined it with a natural history challenge last year. This year I am going for something really different, fiction!!!!!

For those at the back who have just fainted, let me explain. I buy a lot of books and with all that has been going on over the past year, I have stepped back on the amount of reviews I am writing. te plan for these is just to read and rate them and pass them on to others who may (or may not) want to read them. So here are the twenty books that I am aiming to read.

 

A Perfect Explanation	Eleanor Anstruther
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street	Natasha Pulley
The Bedlam Stacks	Natasha Pulley
Himself	Jess Kidd
Don’t Look Now	Daphne du Maurier
Mayhem	Sarah Pinborough
Exciting Times	Naoise Dolan
Nightingale	Marina Kemp
Acts of Desperation	Megan Nolan
Open Water	Nelson Caleb Azumah
Here Comes the Miracle	Anna Beecher
The Testaments	Margaret Atwood
Hot Milk	Deborah Levy
The Mermaid of Black Conch	Monique Roffey
From a Low and Quiet Sea	Donal Ryan
Blood Storm	Colin Forbes
Year of the Golden Ape	Colin Forbes
One August Night	Victoria Hislop
The Last Dance And Other Stories	Victoria Hislop
The Acid Test	Élmer Mendoza Tr. Mark Fried

I am happy to pass these on, so if there is anything that you want to read I can send it on. A couple are spoken for though

Follow the hashtag #20booksofsummer22 to follow those who are taking part this year.

The month started really well. I had a week off and I read six books, and then it kind of went a bit awry, and I ended up reading 15 in the end. Less than I had hoped for, but still a reasonable number. It was a good month for books too, with four making my book of the month that we almost but not quite five-star reads. So here is what I read and the books that made it through my door.

 

Books Read

Hide and Seek – Sofia Borges, Sven Ehmann & Di Ozesanmuseum Bamberg – Architecture – 3.5 Stars

Seining Along Chesil – Sarah Acton – Dorset – 4 Stars

More Numbers Every Day – Micael Dahlén & Helge Thorbjørnsen – Economics – 3.5 Stars

The Angel Of Santa Sofia – Josep M. Argemí Tr. Tiago Miller – Fiction – 3.5 Stars

Longshoreman – Benjamin Pond – Memoir – 3.5 Stars

Illuminated by Water – Malachy Tallack – Natural History – 3.5 Stars

The Treeline – Ben Rawlence – Natural History – 4 Stars

The Catch – Fiona Sampson – Poetry – 3 Stars

Polling UnPacked – Mark Pack – Politics – 3.5 Stars

Far From The Light – Tade Thompson – Science Fiction – 3.5 Stars

Three Women of Herat: Afghanistan 1973-77 – Veronica Doubleday – Travel – 4 Stars

 

Book(s) Of The Month

Notes from the Cévennes – Adam Thorpe – Travel – 4.5 Stars

The Serpent Coiled in Naples – Marius Kociejowski – Travel – 4.5 Stars

The Lost Rainforests Of Britain – Guy Shrubsole – Natural History – 4.5 Stars

Rosewater – Tade Thompson – Science Fiction – 4.5 Stars

 

Top Genres

Natural History – 9

Travel – 8

Fiction – 7

Poetry – 7

Science Fiction – 5

History – 5

Memoir – 4

Fantasy – 3

Politics – 2

Economics – 2

 

Top Publishers

Faber & Faber – 4

William Collins – 3

Monoray – 3

Little Toller – 3

Simon & Schuster – 3

Bloomsbury – 2

Allen Lane – 2

Fum D’Estamps Press – 2

Doubleday – 2

Michael Joseph – 2

 

Review Copies Received

The Future Of Geography: How Power And Politics In Space Will Challenge Our World – Tim Marshall

Elowen – William Henry Searle

Taking Flight: A Celebration Of The Miraculous Phenomenon Of Flight – Lev Parikian

The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey – Tim Hannigan

 

Library Books Checked Out

The Passengers – Will Ashon

Glowing Still: A Woman’S Life On The Road – Sara Wheeler

Cucina Di Amalfi : Sun-Drenched Recipes From Southern Italy’s Most Magical Coastline – Ursula Ferrigno

Coffee First, Then The World: One Woman’s Record-Breaking Pedal Around The Planet – Jenny Graham

Singing Like Larks – Andrew Millham

Wild Isles – Patrick Barkham

Soundings: Journeys In The Company Of Whales – Doreen Cunningham

 

Books Bought

A Beer In The Loire: One Family’s Quest To Brew British Beer In French Wine Country – Tommy Barnes

The Golden Valley: A Visual Biography of the Garw – Phil Cope

Sheds On The Seashore: A Tour Through Beach Hut History – Kathryn Ferry

Elegy For A River: Whiskers, Claws And Conservation’s Last, Wild Hope – Tom Moorhouse

Bald Coot and Screaming Loon: A Handbook for the Curious Bird Lover – Niall Edworthy

Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World – Anthony Doerr

Vision of England: Dorset – Aubrey de Selincourt & Barabra Jones

Atlas of Magical Britain – Janet & Colin Bord

The Meaning of Geese: A Thousand Miles in Search of Home – Nick Acheson

Edge of Blue Heaven: A Journey Through Mongolia – Benedict Allen

Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske – Julia Blackburn

Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett – Terry Pratchett

The Weather In Africa – Martha Gellhorn

The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World – Malcolm Gaskill

Life of a Chalkstream – Simon Cooper

Po: Beyond Yes And No – Edward de Bono

The 5-Day Course in Thinking – Edward de Bono

Mumbai to Mecca – Ilija Trojanow Tr. Rebecca Morrison

Pacific Passages – Travelling the South Seas – Hans-Christof Wächter

Seeking Provence: Old Myths, New Paths – Nicholas Woodsworth

Pacific Passages – Travelling the South Seas – Hans-Christof Wächter

Along the River that Flows Uphill: From the Orinoco to the Amazon – Richard Starks

 

Any from that vast list that takes your fancy? Or that you have but haven’t got around to reading yet? Le me know in the comments below.