#BookReview REBUGGING THE PLANET by VICKI HIRD @chelseagreen #nonfiction #environment #wildlife

ABOUT THE BOOK

This is a lovely little book that could and should have a big impact. ..Let’s all get rebugging right away! Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Meet the intelligent insects, marvellous minibeasts and inspirational invertebrates that help shape our planet – and discover how you can help them help us by rebugging your attitude today!

Remember when there were bugs on your windscreen? Ever wonder where they went? We need to act now if we are to help them survive. Chris Packham, Isabella Tree and George Monbiot are but a few voices championing the rewilding of our world. In Rebugging the Planet, Vicki Hird adds her voice to this chorus, explaining how our planet is headed towards ‘insectageddon’ with a rate of insect extinction eight times faster than that of mammals or birds. Rebugging the Planet gives us crucial information to help all those essential creepy-crawlies flourish once more.

Hird passionately demonstrates how insects and invertebrates are the cornerstone of our global ecosystem. They pollinate plants, feed birds, support and defend our food crops and clean our water systems. They are also beautiful, inventive and economically invaluable – bees, for example, contribute more to the UK economy than the Queen!

Rebugging the Planet shows us small changes we can make to have a big impact on our littlest allies:
Learn how to rebug parks, schools, pavements, verges and other green spaces.Leave your garden to grow a little wild and plant weedkiller-free, wildlife-friendly plants.Take your kids on a minibeast treasure hunt and learn how to build bug palaces.Make bug-friendly choices with your food and support good farming practices. Begin to understand how reducing inequality and poverty will help nature and wildlife too – it’s all connected.

So do your part and start rebugging today! The bees, ants, earthworms, butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, ladybirds, snails and slugs will thank you – and our planet will thank you too.

PUBLISHED BY CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING
PUBLICATION DATE – 16TH SEPTEMBER 2021

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PRE-ORDER LINKS

Waterstones

Blackwell’s

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MY REVIEW

With over 40% of insect species at risk of extinction the time has come for us to pull together and help the little critters out! And this book is the perfect guide and call to arms for us all to get rebugging and all play a part in doing our bit!

The author speaks with tremendous passion for all things creepy crawly, and has been an environmental campaigner for a number of years and is now sharing her thoughts on just how serious the situation is for bugs and humans. Without them we’re screwed!! And she explains why throughout the book which really helps you understand how they all help in their own little ways.

It touches on the staggeringly scary way humans have impacted on the wellbeing of insects and the environment. BUT we have a chance of turning it round and this book has a wealth of ideas and hints on how we can change our attitudes towards insects and instead of reaching for the pest control or screaming ‘eeewwww’ at them, we begin to encourage them and work with them in our spaces – be it a garden, windowbox, park, school grounds…let your children play with worms! Teach them to love them and not fear them!

I’m happy to say that I am a great fan of wildlife in my garden so do all I can to encourage as much in as possible, and this book has introduced me to new ideas and ways of rebugging and rewilding my garden so I’m excited to put some of them into action and has made me more determined to do all I can to keep my garden as wildlife friendly as possible!

The author also shares ways of using less harmful products indoors as well – it all adds up to helping the environment and I found it to be a really enlightening read and will be dipping back in and out to try out more ideas and learn more about these amazing little creatures! There’s lots of information to think about and act on!!

The perfect book for those already interested in wildlife and the environment, or those just setting out to learn some practical ways to help out!

★★★★★

My thanks to the team at Chelsea Green Publishing for the advance reading copy in return for a fair and honest review.

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#BookReview THE RAIN HERON by ROBBIE ARNOTT

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading—and forgetting.

But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a local myth, Ren is inexorably drawn into her impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt—as myths merge with reality—both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear.

The Rain Heron is the dizzying, dazzling new novel from the author of Flames.
PUBLISHED BY ATLANTIC BOOKS

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

Having loved his previous book, Flames, I was eager to see what Robbie Arnott had in store for us next – I have not been disappointed!

This is one of those books that take you out of yourself! With the imagery and world created, you become part of the backdrop watching over the struggles of the characters and feeling their emotions – all while the mythical rain heron affects the weather that will deeply affect the characters we follow.

This is a really subtle book, with nods to the damage that climate change causes to the daily lives of those working the land, affecting not only their livelihoods but their mental wellbeing too.

The story starts with a female farmer who is pivotal to the wellbeing of the local community – her farm had struggled for years leading her to the brink of life, but the appearance of the heron changes the fortunes of the farm and she shares this upturn in her luck with those around her. Not all those around her see the good in her charity, and shows the ugliness of jealousy when all is not well in their lives.

And then there is Ren who is living a very hermit existence on the side of a mountain. It’s a brutal life but she has learnt to thrive thanks to her survival skills and she is helped by some who meet her. But there’s always those questions in your head as to why she has decided to live the way she does and why she won’t change her ways for an easier life.

The darker side is portrayed brilliantly by the soldiers sent out to track down the Rain Heron and capture it. Ruthless in their approach, they seem almost brainwashed into following orders and never questioning why they’ve been given this objective. It’s only when they start to see life a little differently that they begin to show their humanity. And there’s more good vs bad in the story of Zoe, when we see people working with nature versus those who see it just for greed and their own gain, and how that changes the balance and brings despair to many.

This is a book that gets you thinking about your actions and how it impacts on the wider world. It makes you notice the little things. About how you treat people, and how they treat you! It’s weird, quirky, compelling, magical, captivating and will leave you pondering for long after you finish that final page. Loved it!!

★★★★★