A good read

In the run-up to Christmas most of us are thinking of gifts for family or friends. Even in this digital age, ‘real’ books remain a popular choice with something suitable for all ages and interests. Here, staff from TCV Scotland give their own recommendations for books about nature and the environment. As well as a gift for others, you could of course also treat yourself!

Diary Of A Young Naturalist

By Dara McAnulty

this is a cracking reflection on the effect nature can have on someone’s life and their journey to sharing their fascination of it with others. featuring one of the best mum’s i have ever read about, fictional or otherwise. dara is already a big voice in the environmental world and having read this, i am sure he will continue to be so in the future.

JoSH tHornHill, StirlinG

rewild your Garden

By Frances Tophill

i think this is a great book, (or maybe almanac is the better noun) for beginners who are looking to garden differently and make a refuge for wildlife. it’s something that you can pick up and flick through while sitting in the shed, letting the colourful illustrations guide you, or browse until you find exactly what you’re looking for. then read a page or two synopsis on everything from pond creation to dead hedges, unsung environmental heroes like fungi and slugs, and a host of other ideas to bring wildlife back into our own personal green spaces.

Joe WilliamS, edinBurGH

Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm

By Isabella Tree i had heard many thoughts about this book but was surprised at how much it drew me in. a book about how wild the uk used to be and what still exists in savannah lands today with big game playing a crucial part in the cycle of life of a wilder place. Some excellent facts about nature – the loss of nightingales – how valuable one 400 year old tree is – the need for corridors of connectivity to islands of sanctuary. it also highlights the social and political storms and fashions and how much owners of one farm had to fight their cause and invest in their vision both in terms of time and money. ultimately it helped me appreciate how far conservation has come recently as well as how we need to keep challenging our assumptions. it is important to explore conservation elsewhere on earth and what we do and say with nature in mind matters. definitely one to read for 2023.

Clare JoHnStone, GranGemoutH

Badgerlands

By Patrick Barkham this book is about the world of badgers from a species viewpoint, but also how they impact the world and people around them in a positive and negative way. i enjoyed it because it shows all the different perspectives and opinions that this one creature just going about its business has created. it also made me love badgers even more than i already did.

fiona mCGreVey, GlaSGoW

the forest unseen: a year’s Watch in nature

By David G. Haskell

Haskell spends a year returning to a single, one square metre patch of ancient woodland and shares his observations and inspirations in this beautifully written book. forty-three short chapters each describe a different visit throughout the year as the weather and seasons evoke changes in the lives and behaviour of all the life of this randomly chosen patch of woods. i loved it for its deep dive into how much is going on in any spot we might otherwise walk past without much thought. it captures how much can be gained by building a relationship with a place and seeing it over time.

Camilo BrokaW, GlaSGoW

Braiding Sweetgrass

By Robin Wall Kimmerer

robin is a master storyteller, botanist, and tradition keeper of indigenous knowledge who better than anyone i’ve read expresses the human capacity to live in close relationship to the natural world. She weaves between her own life experience, her extensive knowledge of diverse plant life, and the stories and wisdom of her and other indigenous american tribes a tapestry of how meaning can be found in the way we treat the world around of us. the book is an invitation to accept some animism into our worldview and a dare to approach the natural world with a respect we may not have even considered beforehand.

Camilo BrokaW, GlaSGoW

Entangled Life

By Merlin Sheldrake

a mushroom afficionado myself i had heard about this book for some time. at a time when mushrooms and fungi are having a moment in the spotlight, Sheldrake manages to set this book apart with a deep knowledge and romantic appreciation of the subject matter. Sheldrake grabs the reader’s curiosity and evokes a powerful sense of wonder with a complete re-evaluation of the way biology works. a world of survival of the fittest and dog eat dog evolution is called into question as systems are shown to thrive through cooperation and fluid, dynamic relationships. Sheldrake will get you to wonder if you actually know where the individual ends and the wide, connected world around them begins.

Camilo BrokaW, GlaSGoW

Britain’s Birds: a treasury of fact, fiction and folklore

By Jo Woolf

did you know that the latin name for chough (pronounced chuff) is the fire crow, and comes from an old belief that the birds would deliberately set fire to people’s houses so that they could steal money and valuables from the ruins? or that the reason you rarely see fairies in an alder wood is because they use a dye made from the leaves to camouflage themselves? all these facts and more can be found in the ‘treasury of tradition’ series published by the national trust. the three books in the series cover Britain’s birds, trees and wildflowers and are chock-full of stories and old beliefs about our natural world. Beautifully illustrated and bound, they’re perfect for dipping in and out of on a dreich winter’s eve.

Paul BarClay, liVinGSton

Where Bigfoot Walks

– Crossing the dark divide

By Robert Michael Pyle

the first thing to say about this book about bigfoot… is that it’s mostly not about bigfoot. for the first half of the book we accompany the author, an experienced field entomologist, on a journey through the unprotected forest wilderness known as the ‘dark divide’ in north-west Washington state. although we will be introduced to many bigfoot stories and ‘encounters’, including indigenous american tales, as we go on the real meat of the story is about that forest wilderness itself. How people experience it, how we relate to it, how living and vital an organism it is by itself, and how we as a civilization are destroying it for logging and recreation purposes. at times the text is amazing and inspiring, but at others it becomes heart-breaking as we come to realise that for future generations this wonderful, wild place might be as much of a vanished myth and legend as bigfoot is to us today.

Paul BarClay, liVinGSton

Shark!

By Ron and Valerie Taylor

not an easy one to get hold of – it was published in 1979 – but copies can be found online for £5 or so, ron and Valerie taylor are australian legends. film makers and conservationists, they were responsible for all of the ‘real’ shark footage in the Jaws movies. using ground-breaking techniques and with a hair-raising approach to health and safety – when the script in Jaws 2 required the shark to have a scar, Valerie simply leaned over the side of her boat and used her waterproof lipstick to draw one on the mouth of every great white which came within reach. the couple have been responsible for some of the most iconic shark footage and incredible research. the book is a mix of anecdotes, stories and science pieces as the authors attempt to dispel some of the fearsome reputation of great whites which the Jaws films largely created.

Paul BarClay, liVinGSton two recommendations from david meechan, irvine: the Climate Book, by Greta Thunberg feral, by George Monbiot

Badger – encounters in the Wild

By Jim Crumley

Part of a series of books filled with Jim Crumley’s almost poetic descriptions of his encounters with various species in the wild. this isn’t a book about biology, science or conservation – it’s about how experiencing wildlife makes us feel, how it fills the soul with joy and wonder. the books themselves are slim volumes with beautiful cover art – a perfect stocking filler for Christmas.

Paul BarClay, liVinGSton

a monstrous Commotion – the mysteries of loch ness

By Gareth Williams

tHe definitive history of the phenomenon of the loch ness monster and its impact on the people involved. most of the book avoids talking about the existence of strange creatures in the loch, it is much more interested in the (sometimes even stranger) people who have been involved in the search and the murky history of the monster story. from the early days of a doctor’s (and doctored) photos, to the sightings of gamekeepers, hotel employees, celebrities (did you know respected royal correspondent nicholas Witchell began his media career by spending weeks on a rowboat floating about the loch?) and Watergate style ‘deep throat’ anonymous witnesses, through to the intense period of well financed international research expeditions from impressive sounding science establishments and on to the modern day. although the author doesn’t speculate much about the monster itself, stick around to the end for the twist in the tale…

Paul BarClay, liVinGSton

a Sky full of kites: a rewilding Story

By Tom Bowser

this is a fascinating story which brings together Britain’s chequered history of red kite persecution with a more personal and positive experience of reintroduction of kites at argaty estate near doune, Stirlingshire. tom talks with emotion about the highs and lows of this journey and the challenges of changing the land management priorities of the wider estate. a fascinating insight into rewilding, ecotourism and the frustrations/barriers that come with navigating a new and much needed nature restoration direction.

Julia dunCan, edinBurGH

fingers in the Sparkle Jar: a memoir

By Chris Packham

this book reminded me a bit of my own daughter, Charlie, who for years and years has come home covered in mud or wet through from the river with some precious smelly animal skull or ancient bone or similar “treasure” trailing mud, sand and water in her wake. this story features the incredible story of Chris as a young man and his relationship with a wild kestrel that he hand-reared. a fascinating story that shines a light on those whose “social battery” becomes easily overwhelmed and who need nature to recharge and recalibrate more than food!

Julia dunCan, edinBurGH

Hindsight: in Search of lost Wilderness

by Jenna Watt

rewilding is a complex and sometimes contentious topic. Here, Jenna Watt looks into what rewilding is, and how it may contribute to the restoration of our nature-depleted environment and help combat the ‘ecological grief’ many people, including herself, feel.

She visits several Highland estates to talk to landowners, stalkers (including a rare woman stalker), and others involved in land management. She discusses with them the re-introduction of species such as the beaver and apex predators including lynx and most controversial of all – the wolf, a subject which seems to distort the wider rewilding debate.

Watt is particularly interested in the role of deer and their management in the regeneration of native woodland, whether through planting or natural regeneration. for that to succeed deer numbers need to be controlled, but to what extent?

and are deer to ‘blame’ for the current situation? interwoven through the book is the account of a day on the hill the author spent stalking as part of the deer cull. Could she overcome her deep anxiety to shoot a hind?

also raised is the question of whether the new ‘green’ landowners engaged in rewilding schemes are simply replacing control of the land and the people who live there, from one set of rich and often absentee owners to another? a thoughtful read.

GraHam BurnS, GlaSGoW