Although a copy of the new “RSPB Spotlight: Hedgehogs” by James Lowen arrived from Bloomsbury a few months ago, I delayed adding it to the Newly Noted column in order to better align it with an annual threat to its subject: Bonfire Night bonfires.
Like many people living in rural areas all across America, I was awakened this past Saturday morning in the same manner I have been on week-end mornings for the past few months now – by the sound of gunfire in the distance.
In an effort to bring the continued plight of book reviewing as well as the changes occurring in book retailing to the attention of the wider general public, I took up the subject of the announced closing of Kirkus Reviews in my most recent “From Under My Hat” editorial column.
What do all three of these things have in common (other than the potential for one remarkably funny limerick to be made of them together)? They are the various subjects of some of my most recently published written work.