You're leaving it a bit late if you are still looking for Christmas presents but what I often end up doing is going into a bookshop to look for presents and then find myself buying books for me! So here are five books which I have read (except one - see below!) this year which if you like my blog you may like too. And also five blogs to keep an eye on over Christmas and into 2010 - remember that a blog isn't just for Christmas!
Books (in no particular order!):
1. Sustainable Energy without the hot air by David Mackay. I've mentioned this book several times before in this blog and I recommend it as a very clear, informative read about sustainable energy and its potential. I don't agree with everything in it, but it is thought-provoking and (with a few quirks) very clearly written. The lessons are that decarbonising our lives is a big job and there is no simple answer - but the complicated answers have to add up for them to be real answers! You can read the book online - but have a look at it on the web and then go out and buy one because you'll need to give it a decent chance to get the most out of it.
2. Say goodbye to the cuckoo by Michael McCarthy. Now I have to admit, up front, that Mike McCarthy is a mate of mine but that isn't the only reason I'm giving his book a plug here! This book is about our migrant birds, the spring-bringers, that return every year and signal a change of season. Species like the cuckoo, swallow and nightingale. Many migrants are in decline across much of Europe and this book is about why they are declining but also about why it matters! It celebrates their part in our lives. And if you skip Chapter Five, which features a wet May day in Wales with me, then you'll find the book delightful. And what could be better than to settle down in front of a log fire in winter and think about the days only three months away when the first sand martins, wheatears, garganeys and Sandwich terns will come back to us - providing that they do!
3. Hard rain: our headlong collision with nature by Mark Edwards. I'm showing by age (51and three quarters) by picking a book that is based around the Bob Dylan classic song! A great song! And this book pairs the words up with images of people and the environment. Looking back at the words they could almost have been written with climate change, habitat destruction and over-consumption in mind.
4. Prosperity without growth - economics for a finite planet by Tim Jackson. This is the book which I haven't yet read (but I have bought it!) but I went to a talk by Professor Jackson in Cambridge a few weeks ago and then had dinner with him afterwards. The thesis is that we could move away from such a consumer-dominated lifestyle but we would need a new type of economics for this to make sense. I want to read this book because its author impressed me and I like the thrust of the idea.
5. Bird conservation and agriculture by Jeremy Wilson, Andy Evans and Phil Grice. Written by two RSPB staff and a Natural England colleague this book tells the story of what we know about farmland bird declines. It's a fascinating read and written by experts who know their stuff. The loss of common birds from the countryside around us is shocking but the book shows that it is no longer inevitable - we can turn these declines around and re-vitalise the countryside.
Blogs (also in no particular order!):
But first, please do come back to my blog even if you love these!
1. Dusted off bins. A birder's blog and although I have never met Alan Tilmouth, I feel he and I would enjoy a day's birding together. He writes about birds and birding in a very accessible way. I always read his blog.
2. James Marchington. He shoots, I don't. He occasionally has a go at me and/or the RSPB in his blog - I promote his blog for him! It takes all sorts to make a world and it's good to see what others think and say, and what makes them tick. When James touches on areas about which I care passionately - nature, the countryside and people not killing birds of prey! - then I always want to read his thoughts.
3. Passion for the Planet. This digital and internet radio station covers health and environment issues and mixes them up with great music (obviously a matter of taste!). The blog is written by a variety of people, including guest bloggers including an RSPB staff member once, and is always well written and interesting. The RSPB gets a mention now and again.
4. Jim Dixon. Written by an ex-colleague who is the Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park, this blog takes you into what's happening in one of the most beautiful parts of England and an upland area surrounded by large cities and lots of people. Pity there aren't more birds of prey allowed to live there but...
5. Monbiot. Love him, hate him, or feel like you want to do both at once, there is no getting way from the fact that the Guardian columnist's ranting and railings are full of insight and entertaining with it.
Sooty - yes they aren't light reading taken together are they! Good point! Says something about me probably! But Say goodbye to the cuckoo isn't heavy reading at all - a series of chapters about individual species and people. One of my colleagues at the RSPB (not a birder - but married to one) said that she thought we ought to give a copy of this book to every new member of staff so that they would 'get' bird conservation. And - if you and I are going to disagree about farmland birds - or at least on how to conserve them - then you might like to swot up on the subject with the last book mentioned!
Hi Mark,afraid all seem a bit heavy for me I shall depend on you sifting the relevant points and putting them in your blog.I know that is lazy but at least I follow it better on your blog.Had a look at some of the blogs and had to laugh that someone accused me of extreme views,blimey if they read some of those they would blow a gasket,I think that you probably think the same as I do that at least some of these which I would rather call different views at least make us consider our own views which is no bad thing.Find it difficult to think that less fuels will be used to save global warming,we seem hell bent on using more but talking about using less,just look at car scrappage scheme,must be lots of decent cars being scrapped and look at all the energy used in making each car.Decline in farmland birds just as difficult to turn round with all the pressure on farmers prices almost forced to be very specialised and take the route most profitable.Feel personally that the people who could turn things round,talk the talk and have absolutely no intention of putting measures in place to help.