Many of you may be asking right about now “what has Mark Avery been reading recently?” I was curious about that very question myself – so I popped over to his website and as I discovered, he’s been reading quite a lot.
A Richness of Martens; Wildlife Tales from Ardnamurchan by Polly Pullar was the subject of his review back on 16 September. Comprised of personal reflections about Pine Martens and those who study them, Mark noted that while it wasn’t quite his cup of tea, that he nevertheless “found it intriguing and well worth the read.”
Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? by Lev Parikian was Mark’s review for 23 September. The tale of a “middle-aged lapsed birdwatcher takes up the hobby again and tries hard to see 200 species in a calendar year while also being a freelance conductor (of music),” Mark was able to look past its unfortunate pairing of title and cover to find that it was in fact both “entertaining and enjoyable.”
6 October saw Mark publish his collected thoughts about Nancy Jennings’ new RSPB Spotlight: Bats. I was particularly glad to see Mark take this one up as a copy has not yet reached me on this side of the Atlantic. I have yet to read any of the RSPB Spotlight series that were not well worth the time spent doing so and that were written so as to be useful to both children and adults, so I was not surprised to discover that Mark found this one “would suit bat enthusiasts of most ages from 10 to 100.”
And finally, to bring us up to date this 7 October, Mark has a few thoughts about Riverwatch: the Waterside Diaries of a Naturalist Angler by Mark Everard.
Links to Mark Avery’s Sunday book reviews appear in The Well-read Naturalist by special arrangement. You can find all of Mark’s past reviews as well as a wide-ranging collection of his other writings on his Standing Up for Nature website. Mark’s opinions regarding the books he reviews are his own.
