#BookReview NATURE IS A HUMAN RIGHT by ELLEN MILES

ABOUT THE BOOK

Fighting for a green world — a collection of essays and writing for building an equal, healthier society.

Access to the natural world is a human right. This inspiring book captures why contact with nature is essential for our mental, social and physical well-being — and how we can rethink urban development to create green city spaces and a return to nature.

Find an inspiring collection of original writings from world-leading “green” voices and discover:

– Benefits and issues surrounding our access to nature
– Discussions on social and environmental justice
– Why we need nature around us, how we’re being deprived of nature and what we can all do to change environmental and social issues
– Edited by the founder of the environmental justice campaign Nature is a Human Right, Ellen Miles

Concrete outweighs every tree, bush, and shrub on Earth. Nature deprivation is a fast-growing epidemic, harming the health and happiness of hundreds of millions of people worldwide — especially vulnerable and marginalized groups. Nature is a Human Right, founded by Ellen Miles in 2020, is working to make access to green space a recognized right for all, not a privilege.

This book brings together a collection of engaging, accessible essays, interviews and exercises, from expert ambassadors and supporters (including authors, artists, scientists, human rights experts, television presenters, TED speakers, and climate activists). Each contributor offers a new perspective on why contact with nature should be a protected human right.

Enlightening and sometimes uncomfortable, this collection of writing and ideas illuminate the work that needs to be done to make our global future happier.

PUBLISHED BY DK PUBLISHING

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

This is a brilliant, and very timely book, that focuses on the importance of a green space is to each and everyone us – no more so than over the past couple of years where we have all seen how nature and spending time in it is crucial to our wellbeing.

This book is a collection of essays and interviews from a variety of leading experts and brilliantly sums up the different aspects that nature has on the human psyche and how attitudes have changed to it over the years – to the detriment of society at times.

It is split into 3 sections which works really well – Welfare; showing the impact on how a green space is so good for you and the benefits it has both mentally and physically, Injustice; how the modern world has turned grey and that much needed green spaces are being taken over and not replaced… and Change; what we can do to keep the green spaces and do your bit be it in your own garden space or in the local community.

There’s a good mix of essays – that aren’t too preachy! – studies and even poetry and is fascinating to see the impact on health, senses and sleep. As a keen birdwatcher myself I really connected with the study on birdspotting and the joy it brings and a lift to your mental health when you hear a bird sing or spot a new species to you!

There’s also some good practical advice on how to make seed bombs, how to compost and using a worm farm so it was good to see the more hands on side to the book, and I loved how it offered solutions to various problems or ways to help instead of just featuring the issues.

I loved reading every page of this book and I just think it is sad that those not interested in nature and green social spaces who should be reading this book will be the least likely to pick this up. They’re the ones who need to read this the most!! Highly recommended!

★★★★★

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#BookReview ON GALLOWS DOWN by NICOLA CHESTER #NonFiction @chelseagreen

ABOUT THE BOOK

Part nature writing, part memoir, On Gallows Down is an essential, unforgettable read for fans of Helen Macdonald, Melissa Harrison and Isabella Tree.

Nicola Chester won the BBC Wildlife Magazine’s Nature Writer of the Year Award – this is her first book.

The story of a life shaped by landscape; of an enduring love of nature and the fierce desire to protect it – living as part of the rural working class in a ‘tied cottage’ on a country estate – and what it takes to feel like you belong.

On Gallows Down is a book about hope – from the rewilding of Greenham Common after the missiles left to how, as a new mother, Nicola walked the chalk hills to give her children roots, teaching them names and waymarks to find their way home. It is about the songs of the nightingale and cuckoo – whose return she waits for – the red kites, fieldfares, skylarks and lapwings that accompany her, the badger cubs she watches at night and the velvety mole she finds in her garden.

And it is also the story of how Nicola came to write and to protest – unearthing the seam of resistance that ran through Newbury’s past, from the Civil Wars to the Swing Riots and the women of the Greenham Common Peace Camps and to the fight against the Newbury bypass. A resistance that continues today against the destruction of hedgerows, trees and wildlife through modern farm estate management.

On Gallows Down is perfect for fans of H is for Hawk, The Salt Path and Featherhood.

‘It is impossible to write with integrity about nature without protesting and resisting and waving a desperate red flag.

Isn’t it?’

PUBLISHED BY CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING

PUBLICATION DATE – 7TH OCTOBER 2021

PRE-ORDER LINKS

Publisher Website

Amazon

MY REVIEW

This is a book that inspires you to appreciate the nature around us as the author does a wonderful job of combining her personal experiences over the years, amidst the backdrop of the ever changing world we find ourselves living in.

This is a memoir of Nicola Chester, who has found herself protesting over the years to protect the environment in various locations whilst bringing up her family, and doing what she can to pass on the knowledge and love of wildlife and nature to her children and those around her. I have nothing but admiration for this woman after reading about her life experiences, and how she writes so passionately about the natural world. Her enthusiasm is infectious and I share the same anticipation as her awaiting wildlife sightings whilst you’re out for a walk.

I knew very little about some of the areas she talks about, but she brings them to life with her writing style and I also found myself googling pictures of the area to get more of a feel for the areas that meant so much to her over the years, and those areas that she fought so passionately to save and protect.

With her husband, she moved around the country over the years due to various job changes and there’s always that connection to nature and the outside world that allowed her to cope with change – the nature around always seemed to give her hope and it was lovely to see her passing that interest on to her children as she had them exploring local areas with her.

There’s lots of fascinating information about the wildlife she sees and how the changes in areas has impacted on the animals and their habitats, as well as the history of places she lived in, that it made for an absorbing read, and one that has made me more determined to do what I can for local areas and wildlife so that more can be protected and saved for future generations.

★★★★★


Thank you to the publisher, Chelsea Green Publishing, for the advanced reader copy in return for a fair and honest review.

#BlogTour TAPESTRIES OF LIFE by ANNE SVERDRUP-THYGESON #TapestriesOfLife @annesver @HarperNonFic @RandomTTours #BookReview

Delighted to be joining you today as part of the blog tour for the wonderful TAPESTRIES OF LIFE.   My thanks to the author, publisher and Anne of  Random Things Tours for letting me be part of it all and sharing my thoughts!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The second book by the bestselling author of Extraordinary Insects

Trees clean air and water; hoverflies and bees pollinate our crops; the kingfisher inspired the construction of high-speed trains. In Tapestries of Life, bestselling author Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson explains how closely we are all connected with the natural world, highlighting our indelible link with nature’s finely knit system and our everyday lives.

In the heart of natural world is a life-support system like no other, a collective term that describes all the goods and services we receive – food, fresh water, medicine, pollination, pollution control, carbon sequestration, erosion prevention, recreation, spiritual health and so much more. In this utterly captivating book, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson sets out to explore these wonderful, supportive elements – taking the reader on a journey through the surprising characteristics of the natural world.

PUBLISHED BY MUDLARK

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is the bestselling author of Extraordinary Insects. A professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Ås, Norway, she is also a scientific advisor for The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research NINA. She has a Doctorate degree in conservation biology and lectures on nature management and forest biodiversity. 

MY REVIEW

This is one of those books that makes you go ‘wow’!  It highlights the world and all we take for granted, and until you see it written down you just forget how all this stuff around us works to help us live!  And how do we repay the natural world?! By destroying it!! Maybe if more people read this book, then there’d be more understanding  and appreciation for the wonders of this planet we live on!

We are 1 species of 10 million on the planet! That puts things into perspective doesn’t it?!  And what the author does brilliantly in this book is explore in great detail all that is around us and how every aspect of our daily life is there because of nature.  From the clothes on our back, the remedies we take and the food we eat…. we can’t survive without it!

It explores our relationship with nature and how we’re losing touch with  the simple things in life – how we’re spending less time outdoors and we’re poorer for it.  How we’re encouraged to have neat and tidy gardens – I don’t! – and how that impacts wildlife, and how the ‘simple’ aspects of water, grass, pollination all work together to create harmony.  And how we as humans have forgotten how much we have changed nature for our own convenience – and then wonder why things go wrong!

I have learnt so much from this book and just wish my brain could hold on to all the amazing facts I discovered while reading it! It’s one of those books you can dip in and out of anytime and take away a new discovery and appreciation every time you open up a chapter.

The author does a wonderful job of not being too preachy or OTT in her examinations of the different aspects of the natural world – she gets to the point and puts it in terms that’s so easy to relate to and it has definitely made me look at the world outside my window with fresh eyes and to stop taking everything for granted. 

We need the trees to clean the air, we need the insects to pollinate our plants – and this awe inspiring book allows the reader to see just how we both need each other to keep surviving!

★★★★★

#BlogTour EMPIRE OF ANTS by SUZANNE FOITZIK & OLAF FRITSCHE #BookReview #EmpireOfAnts @SusanneFoitzik @Octopus_Books @RandomTTours

Delighted to be with you today as part of the Blog Tour for the wonderful EMPIRE OF ANTS by SUZANNE FOITZIK & OLAF FRITSCHE.  My thanks to the publisher, authors and Anne of  Random Things Tours for letting me be part of it all!

ABOUT THE BOOK

 ‘Thrilling, compellingly readable and paradigm-shattering’ – Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

Ants have been walking the Earth since the age of the dinosaurs. Today there are one million ants for every one of us. The closer you get to ants, the more human they look: they build megacities, grow crops, raise livestock, tend their young and infirm, and even make vaccines. They also have a darker side: they wage war, enslave rivals and rebel against their oppressors. From fearsome army ants, who stage twelve-hour hunting raids where they devour thousands, to gentle leafcutters gardening in their peaceful underground kingdoms, every ant is engineered by nature to fulfil their particular role.

 Acclaimed biologist Susanne Foitzik has travelled the globe to study these master architects of Earth. Joined by journalist Olaf Fritsche, Foitzik invites readers deep into her world – in the field and in the lab – and will inspire new respect for ants as a global superpower. Fascinating and action-packed, Empire of Ants will open your eyes to the secret societies thriving right beneath your feet

PUBLISHED BY  OCTOPUS BOOKS

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon

hive.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susanne Foitzik (Author) Susanne Foitzik is an evolutionary biologist, behavioral scientist and international authority on ants. After completing her PhD in ant evolution and behavior and conducting postdoctoral work in the US, she became a professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Currently, she teaches at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where she studies the behaviors of slaveholding ants and different work roles in insect colonies. Her findings have been published in over 100 scientific papers to date.

 Olaf Fritsche (Author)

Olaf Fritsche is a science journalist and biophysicist with a PhD in biology. He was previously an editor at the German-language edition of Scientific American, is the author and coauthor

MY REVIEW

As a gardener myself, I’m very aware of ants!  But I have to be honest in not really knowing much about them, other than they’re very good at crawling over you when you sit on the grass! But consider me now an ant convert! I’m seriously impressed by these little creatures after reading this book, and you will be too! Who knew something so little could be so powerful and so complex!  

For every one of us, there’s a million of them!  And within their communities there are so many similarities to humans  and the way we live our lives – they even wage wars like us!  And this book tracks the different varieties around the world, noting their differences, their similarities, their quirks and their unique traits and I was utterly captivated by these insects.
The work put in by the team behind this book is exhaustive and you really get a good glimpse into the hard work and the less than glamorous research trips they find themselves on to investigate ants a little closer.

There’s always a danger with these kind of books that it goes a little OTT with detail and feeling quite clinical with the facts, but this book does a great job of balancing out the facts with the intriguing aspects of ‘ant culture’!  The queen system is fascinating, as well as looking at how they deal with ant illnesses, their use of sound and scent, how they defend themselves, and just the sheer amount of work it takes to be part of an ant colony!  There’s even ant zombies!! How could you not want to learn more about them?!

This was a truly fascinating, extensive and informative book all about the world of ants and I found myself totally in awe of ants after reading it!

★★★★

#BookReview BIRDSONG IN A TIME OF SILENCE by STEVEN LOVATT #nonfiction #nature

ABOUT THE BOOK

A lyrical celebration of birdsong, and the rekindling of a deep passion for nature.

“At this time of year, blackbirds never simply fly: instead, like reluctantly retired officers, they’re always ‘on manoeuvres’, and it’s easy to see from their constant agitation that for them every flower bed is a bunker, every shed a redoubt and every hedge-bottom a potential place of ambush”

As the world went silent in lockdown, something else happened; for the first time, many of us started becoming more aware of the spring sounds of the birds around us. Birdsong in a Time of Silence is a lyrical, uplifting reflection on these sounds and what they mean to us.

From a portrait of the blackbird – most prominent and articulate of the early spring singers – to explorations of how birds sing, the science behind their choice of song and nest-sites, and the varied meanings that people have brought to and taken from birdsong, this book ultimately shows that natural history and human history cannot be separated. It is the story of a collective reawakening brought on by the strangest of springs.

PUBLISHED BY PARTICULAR BOOKS

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

This was a wonderfully relaxing and insightful book, as the author looks back at a strange old year – 2020! – and how it affected the way we interacted with birds and wildlife given that so many of us had more time at home, and more hours to notice the sounds coming from our gardens, parks and woodland areas.

For the author, the sound of birdsong evoked many happy childhood memories and I could totally relate to that. Even as I read the book, I sat out in my garden listening to the many varieties of birds that visit the very well stocked bird tables I provide! And it’s that connection with birds that I enjoyed so much about this book. It explores different types, their characteristics and the amazing stories about migration and their battles for survival.

In lockdown the world was a much quieter place – oh to have that back! – with less traffic on the roads, no planes in the sky and the author picks up on each season through the last year and how that affected the wildlife around us and how we interacted with it, given that we were exploring local areas more and spending more time noticing the little things in life we took for granted and often ignored!

It also touches on climate change and how that is affecting the various species, along with the destruction of local habitats – as I read the book, I could hear a neighbour hacking back a shrub much loved by a large group of sparrows – and it really shows how important our actions impact on that of the bird populations.

I have learned so much from this book and it has also helped me appreciate visits from our feathered friends and to do more to make sure they continue coming! It also brilliantly sums up the experiences of the past year and how that has made more of us connect with nature and our surroundings. I just hope that many don’t forget about the joys that our gardens and wildlife have bought us over the past year and that they will start changing their ways to help wildlife a little more – I have my doubts but there is hope!

The author has a beautiful way with words and it was just a pleasure to read from start to finish!

★★★★★

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in return for a fair and honest review.

#AudiobookReview The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Living Mountain is a lyrical testament in praise of the Cairngorms. It is a work deeply rooted in Nan Shepherd’s knowledge of the natural world, and a poetic and philosophical meditation on our longing for high and holy places. Drawing on different perspectives of the mountain environment, Shepherd makes the familiar strange and the strange awe-inspiring. Her sensitivity and powers of observation put her into the front rank of nature writing.

PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE BOOKS

MY REVIEW

I listened to the audio version of this book.

Written in the 1940’s and hidden in a drawer until the 1970’s, this is a stunningly beautiful and enchanting ‘ode to the Cairngorms’. The wonderful language used throughout is brought to life exquisitely by Tilda Swinton, and even has bird song in the background which just adds to the feeling of calm and serenity that I had when listening.

Nan Shepherd was a woman who lived in Scotland her whole life and devoted her time to being amongst nature and walking the hills and mountains, taking note of all she saw around her and that lesson comes across loud and proud with her attention to detail. A very relevant lesson to us all, especially in these times, to take note of the little things you see, hear and smell around you.

She explores the wildlife living in the mountains, the danger to life and the changing and perilous weather experienced throughout the year. She shares her own recollections of climbs and walks, and what each journey taught her about herself. Just time with herself in nature made her feel so much and gave her life and energy.

Beautifully written and beautifully read!

★★★★

#BookReview LIVING WITH TREES by ROBIN WALTER @LittleToller @Robin_Trees

ABOUT THE BOOK

Living with Trees is a powerful call for more trees in our lives. Drawing on the many ways that people around the UK are redefining their relationship with trees and woods in the twenty-first century – in healthcare, education, ecology, art, architecture, agroforestry, conservation – it demonstrates how caring for trees and woods enhances local biodiversity, community cohesion and well-being.

Trees and woods offer great potential for rebuilding our wider relationship with nature, reinforcing local identity and sustaining wildlife. We need more trees and woods in our lives, to lock up carbon, to mitigate flooding, to help shade our towns and cities and bring shelter, wildlife and beauty to places.

Living with Trees is a cornucopia of practical information, good examples and new ideas that will inspire, guide and encourage people to reconnect with the trees and woods in their community, so we can all discover how to value, celebrate and protect our arboreal neighbours.

Foreword by Dame Judi Dench

Introduction by Richard Mabey

PUBLISHED BY Little Toller Books

PURCHASE LINKS

Publisher Website

hive.co.uk

blackwell’s

MY REVIEW

As a self confessed tree-hugger, this was the perfect read for me! And it’s a book that should be available to all schools and all governments and councils as the author takes an in depth look at the important role that trees play in our day to day living. WE seem to be at a point in the world where people are too happy to cut trees down, without giving a thought to the future and it’s more important now than ever that this kind of action needs stopping. What is it with this era being obsessed with flat landscapes and even more concrete??

Like the author, the moment I hear chainsaws in the neighbourhood it fills me with dread and it was wonderful to read his experiences of what trees mean to him as he explores a variety of topics such as the enviromental impact, the health benefits, the history, the diseases threatening different tree varieties, and the consequences of the actions of humans – all through the medium of well written paragraphs, brilliant illustrations and stunning photographs. This wide range of sources really made reading this book so much more powerful and it’s a book that you can dip in and out of to learn about different things everytime you pick it up.

During Lockdown I was extremely grateful to discover local ancient woodlands for an escape and somewhere to walk for exercise, and it scares me that so many of these areas are being destroyed, and this is explored in the book and shows how attitudes have changed over the years to the role that trees play, for the local community especially.

There’s also a look at how we can all help play our part in reversing the damage through recycling, local schemes and rewilding areas.

Terrific!!

★★★★★

#BookReviews THE GREEN WITCH & THE WITCH’S BOOK OF SELF CARE by ARIN MURPHY-HISCOCK #nonfiction

ABOUT THE BOOK

Self-care and magic work together in this guide to help you become the best version of yourself. You’ll learn how to nourish your body and spirit with herbal remedies, spells, and rituals inspired by witchcraft in this unique, enchanted guide to self-care.

Self-care is a necessity for any modern woman. The goals of self-care are simple: healthy mind, healthy body, healthy spirit. This book helps you prioritize yourself with a little help from the magic of witchcraft. The Witch’s Book of Self-Care has advice for pampering your mind, body, and spirit with spells, meditations, mantras, and powerful activities to help you to keep healthy, soothe stress, relinquish sadness, channel joy, and embrace your strength. This book features such magical self-care remedies:

-A Ritual to Release Guilt: Learn to burn whatever causes you pain and process painful memories or work through heavy emotions in this therapeutic ritual.

-Green Space Meditation: Learn how to reconnect with the healing energies of nature, even in the middle of a bustling city, as part of a series of meditations based on the elements and your senses.

-DIY Body Butter: Create your own custom soothing and smoothing body butter, powered by crystal and essential oils suited to your intention, and sanctified by a ritual.

And much more! The Witch’s Book of Self-Care shows you how easy it is to connect to the earth, harness your personal power, and add a little magic to your everyday life for a better you!
PUBLISHED BY ADAMS MEDIA

MY REVIEW

This is a helpful little book for witches and non-witchy folk! It is full of information and tips on how to take care of yourself, body, mind and spirit – all so useful in these difficult times we find ourselves living in!

There are tons of ideas for you to pick and choose from in finding a way to help you cope with the stresses of life – from a 5 minute self care routine to start off your day with, to journalling, hygge, candle magic and guides to meditation. There’s even a few recipes to help with creating your own teas, sleep mists and even body scrubs and bath bombs.

I really enjoyed dipping in and out of this book for picking up little hints on how to treat yourself and how to slow down and take care of yourself.

★★★★

ABOUT THE BOOK

Discover the power of natural magic and healing through herbs, flowers, and essential oils in this new guide to green witchcraft.

At her core, the green witch is a naturalist, an herbalist, a wise woman, and a healer. She embraces the power of nature; she draws energy from the Earth and the Universe; she relies on natural objects like stones and gems to commune with the land she lives off of; she uses plants, flowers, oils, and herbs for healing; she calls on nature for guidance; and she respects every living being no matter how small.

In The Green Witch, you will learn the way of the green witch, from how to use herbs, plants, and flowers to make potions and oils for everyday healing as well as how crystals, gems, stones, and even twigs can help you find balance within. You’ll discover how to find harmony in Earth’s great elements and connect your soul to every living creature. This guide also contains directions for herbal blends and potions, ritual suggestions, recipes for sacred foods, and information on how to listen to and commune with nature. Embrace the world of the green witch and discover what the power of nature has in store for you.

MY REVIEW

Another really helpful and enjoyable book that features the magic of nature and how it can be used to help us on a day to day basis in dealing with whatever life can throw our way!!

This goes into a bit more depth about what being a ‘witch’ means nowadays and how the use of nature can help heal, and how to be more aware of natural energy.

There are lots of handy hints on how to overhaul your outlook and surroundings, and how that being more aware of the local surroundings and nature can help focus your mind.

It’s a book that looks into seasons, tides, moon, stars etc are all playing a part in our moods and experiences and I really enjoyed learning a little more, as well as being surprised at how many elements of this way of life that I already practice!

There’s more recipes, a look at meditation, rituals, moon gardening and just becoming more aware of the world around us.

★★★★

#BookReview HOW TO CATCH A MOLE by MARC HAMER #20booksofsummer #nonfiction

ABOUT THE BOOK

‘It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature for herself.’ Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows

A life-affirming book about the British countryside, the cycle of nature, solitude and contentment, through the prism of a brilliant new nature writer’s experience working as a traditional mole-catcher, and why he gave it up.

I have been catching moles in gardens and farms for years and I have decided that I am not going to do it any more. Molecatching is a traditional skill that has given me a good life but I am old now and tired of hunting and it has taught me what I needed to learn.

Although common, moles are mysterious: their habits are inscrutable, they are anatomically bizarre, and they live completely alone. Marc Hamer has come closer to them than most, both through his long working life out in the Welsh countryside, and his experiences of rural homelessness as a boy, sleeping in hedgerows.

Over the years, Marc has learned a great deal about these small, velvet creatures who live in the dark beneath us, and the myths that surround them, and his work has also led him to a wise and uplifting acceptance of the inevitable changes that we all face. In this beautiful and meditative book, Marc tells his story and explores what moles, and a life in nature, can tell us about our own humanity and our search for contentment.

How to Catch a Mole is a gem of nature writing, beautifully illustrated by Joe McLaren, which celebrates living peacefully and finding wonder in the world around us. 

PUBLISHED BY HARVILL SECKER

MY REVIEW

Book 2 of my #20BooksOfSummer.

This was such an easy and quick book to read. The author has a really lovely writing style, and his appreciation of nature is clear for all to see. It’s a book about his life, what he has overcome to reach this point in his life and the role that nature and his job as a mole catcher has allowed him to maybe take his time to appreciate more than many.

The information about moles was fascinating and informative, especially about their habits and habitats, and it worked really well alongside the poetry and his own recollections of the tough life he had spent being homeless and moving around, trying to stay out of the way of humans….. you can understand why he sympathises with moles so much!

This is a book that is a reflection of a man conflicted by the world around him, and the nature he encounters and how times have changed people and their attitude towards wildlife.

★★★

#BookReview LANDFILL by TIM DEE @LittleToller #NonFictionNovember

ABOUT THE BOOK

A ground breaking new book from the author of The Running Sky and Four Fields, Landfill confronts our waste-making species through the extraordinary and fascinating life of gulls, and the people who watch them. Original, compelling and unflinching, it is the nature book for our times.

We think of gulls as pests. They steal our chips and make newspaper headlines, these animals, often derided as “bin chickens” are complex neighbours, making the most of our throw away species. In the Anthropocene, they are a surprising success story. They’ve become intertwined with us, precisely because we are so good at making rubbish. Landfill is a book that avoids nostalgia and eulogy for nature and instead kicks beneath the littered surface to find stranger and more inspiring truths.
Landfill is the compelling story of how we have worked the rest of the living world, learned about it, named and catalogued it, colonised and planted it, and filled it with our rubbish.

PUBLISHED BY Little Toller

PURCHASE LINKS

Publisher Website

Amazon UK

whsmith

MY REVIEW

If you don’t become a ‘gull’ fan after reading this book then I think there’s something wrong with you! They’re a bird I’ve taken for granted, especially living so close to the estuary and the large landfill site in Pitsea where a lot of this book is set (and I never knew such gull action even went on there!), but in this stunning little book, the author really gets behind the ‘trashy’ image we all get of gulls – that they’re aggressive and ugly and serve no real purpose other than nicking your food if you’re at the seaside, or attacking small animals in gardens, thanks to silly season reports in newspapers! The more that he studies these birds in various sites, the more he begins to appreciate them and realise just how much human behaviour has impacted on their habits. Hence the link with rubbish and why so many can be spotted at landfill sites across the county.

The author is a birdwatcher, and his enthusiasm and passion for the subject is infectious as he follows the birds and talks to the people who follow these birds and are known as ‘gullers’. They’ve become fascinated by the species and their behaviour and will travel long distances for glimpses of rare breeds but also to note changes in their numbers. And due to the changes in the way we dispose of food waste especially now, the numbers aren’t seen at landfill sites anymore so they’re having to change where they get their food, and heading away from the seaside and into towns.

I really enjoyed the mix of the way the author told the story of the gull – he used his own knowledge alongside where they’re mentioned in poetry, literature and films, and it made for an absorbing read and I never thought I’d find the subjects of gulls and rubbish so fascinating! The information and anecdotes were really well balanced and made for an enthralling read.

I’m really glad to have been educated about these birds that I think we all take for granted and largely ignore, so will definitely be paying more attention to the local gull population!

★★★★

My thanks to the publisher, Little Toller, for a copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.