Thursday 2 April 2020

20 in 2020

I saw an idea on Amanda's blog here earlier this year about doing 20 things in 2020, so decided to do a variation on this with a couple of different lists.

Though I read voraciously it's usually fiction and in the crime/thriller genre, I have huge reading piles and a lot of generally nature related non-fiction in these piles so i'm making the effort to read at least a couple of non-fiction books in between the fiction! In theory this should give me 20 (at least) books this year. So far it's working well -

1) Wham and Me by Andrew Ridgeley - ok so this is not nature related, it was a Christmas gift and one i'd been looking forward to reading, Wham were my favourite band as the 80's child that I was! I won't go on about it but if you're a fan it's a definitely a book you should read!





2) Effin Birds by Aaron Reynolds - this was also a gift from a lovely friend who had received it to review and knew how much I liked my birds. It's not a bird book in the usual sense in it being quite sweary and silly really, the illustrations are quite wonderful and fun but it's not a book for everyone!





3) The Stationary Ark by Gerald Durrell - I read every Durrell book I could get my hands on at the local library growing up  (more than once) and picked this one up in a charity shop last year. Once I started reading I realised I hadn't actually read this before. It's an interesting book with a lot of very forward thinking for the role of Zoos for a time when Zoos were not into conservation and most wouldn't even entertain the idea. Of course zoos are still controversial in some quarters but there is no doubt that Durrell was trying (and succeeding) in making things better.

4) The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell - I've followed this lady on twitter for quite a while after she popped up in my timeline with her lovely nature filled tweets. I bought the book when it came out last year and i'm so glad I did. It chronicles a year in her life and how nature helps with her depression. The writing is beautiful and a lot of it resonates with how I feel when just watching the garden birds or taking a walk and seeing the simple things like trees in bud, hidden flowers, first Swallows. It is a really wonderful book and one i'd 100% recommend.

I'll add to the list as the year goes on, (i'm half way through my fifth book right now) i'm not a book reviewer (I'm not good at writing and expressing with the right words) but hopefully you may feel like picking up at least one of the books from my list! Plus putting this out on my blog motivates me to keep up with getting through my very large to read pile! (I've got to admit though with everything going on at the moment i'm struggling to concentrate to read anything!)

I also decided to do another 20, this one 100% nature based - learn 20 new wild flowers, I used to be so good with wild flowers when I was younger but somehow seem to have forgotten the names of even the more common ones that pop up through the year. At the moment of course Snowdrops, Crocus and Daffodils have been dominating the landscape but I have also seen my first Marsh Marigold in the woods early March, i'm looking forward to refreshing my memory and relearning things I really shouldn't have forgotten!

So far though the only one i've come across that I struggled to name was the following -

1) Coltsfoot - this was by the sea in Scarborough, in full flower and plenty of it too











It's a start, we'll see how it goes over the coming months with my world restricted mostly to the garden and the small nearby park at the moment!

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review of the books, Pam. I have the opposite issue with my reading habits. I seem to hunker down with non-fiction and revel in that, and both my wife and my daughter recommend works of fiction that they have enjoyed and chivvy me until I succumb. My daughter says that I am the only person in the world who reads books in bed filled with graphs, charts and statistics! Stay well during these difficult times. I have little doubt that we will be dealing with this for many months to come.

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    1. It's a joy to hunker down with a book no matter the subject I think :) You too David.

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  2. Thank you for sharing the new books you have been reading Pam - I thought I'd read most of the Gerald Durrell books too but that looks new to me. Have been tempted at times to buy the Emma Mitchell book and I think I will now when I can get to a bookshop! I don't do proper reviews either for similar reasons. I'm doing some 20 things in 2020 too as suggested by Amanda but I doubt now many will get added to. But I did put down one about identifying 20 trees and finding out more about them. That is a lovely photo of coltsfoot - a plant I rarely seem to see! The last one was in a pub car park a few years back! Stay safe and well.

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    1. Maybe the Durrell book wasn't as popular at the time?? The Emma Mitchell book is definitely worth purchasing, I forgot to mention how beautifully it's illustrated too. The tree idea is a good one, I might carry on into next year with that! How random to find some in a pub car park! There was plenty on the cliffs a Scarborough You too and take care with that ankle :)

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  3. I like both of your 20 goals. I did the same learned many wildflowers then forgot them! Same with Butterfly and Moth. I think the "effin birds" would make a good gift for the birder who has everything as this is probably one they don't have. Stay busy and enjoy the time away from work.

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    1. It's funny what you forget, though maybe with a little nudge it'll all come flooding back! Haha yes I think so!

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  4. Thanks for the mention and pleased you are occupying your time, as some days it's hard to concentrate on anything.
    On my daily walk round the block I'm going to see how many wildflowers I can find growing in the grass verge (and draw them) that might be a good place to start learning. Having said that some of them (weeds) can be a bit pesky to name.

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    1. No problem :) Yes i've been photographing a lot of the plants I see, some are just starting to flower so it's a start, I can't really draw (but I'm really enjoying your creativeness!).

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  5. Some interesting books, Pam and reading is a good diversion in these strange times. I like your wildflower challenge too. I had thought that I would like to be able to identify more wildflowers, I used to know so many from woodland nature walks from junior school but I seem to have lost that along the way:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie, it is though i'm not getting through as much reading as I hoped so far! A few have said the same about learning them when they were younger and now having forgotten the names, hopefully I can improve my memory!

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