Jackie ROOTs in 2024 (2)

Welcome to my second 2024 ROOTs thread, I’m glad you’re here! My name is Jackie, and this is my 11th year ROOTing out those unread books on the physical and electronic shelves. I am a research nurse by day, and by night I’m a wannabe author, finally publishing my first book in 2023 after talking about it for a good couple of years beforehand! I’m married with a 10 year old daughter, and we live in beautiful Scotland.

Last year I went a bit overboard with acquiring new books (and oh, it was such fun!). I’m not sure yet whether I’m ready to rein it in again and try to read more than I acquire this year, or if I’m going to carry on having fun acquiring more and more new and shiny books. Turns out acquiring books is FUN! Let's see how many I can get by the end of the year :D Every book on my physical or e-shelves counts as a ROOT for me, regardless of how recently I bought them, and my goal for this year is to read at least 40 books (3 a month plus a few others for luck – this would be about the same rate as last year). I’ll be tracking acquisitions as well as ROOTs read again.

I really like being part of this group, and love the book chat, so you’re very welcome to join in with my corner of the conversation!

Note to self so I don't have to look everywhere - code for inserting a picture (surrounded by less than and greater than signs): img src="URL" width=200 length=150

Ticker 1: ROOTs read



Ticker 2: Books acquired



Ticker 3: Books on Mt TBR

ROOTs read - thread 1

1. Andrew Shaffer - Hope Never Dies. Finished 2.1.24. 4/5.
2. Stephen Moss - The Twelve Birds of Christmas. Finished 5.1.24. 3.5/5.
3. David Clensy - Walking the White Horses: Wiltshire's White Horse Trail on Foot. Finished 5.1.24. 4/5.
4. Aaron Reynolds - Effin' Birds. Finished 5.1.24. 4/5.
5. Angela Harding - A Year Unfolding. Finished 12.1.24. 4.5/5.
6. Ed Yong - An Immense World. Finished 18.1.24. 4.5/5.
7. John Reed - Ten Days that Shook the World. Finished 25.1.24. 2.5/5.
8. ed. Nancy Campbell - Nature Tales for Winter Nights. Finished 30.1.24. 4/5.
9. Chris van Tulleken - Ultra-Processed People. Finished 10.2.24. 4.5/5.
10. Katy Hessel - The Story of Art Without Men. Finished 12.2.24. 5/5.
11. Camille T. Dungy - Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden. Finished 17.2.24. 5/5.
12. Goscinny & Uderzo - Asterix Gladiateur. Finished 18.2.24. 3/5.
13. Frank Rennie - The Changing Outer Hebrides: Galson and the meaning of Place. Finished 25.2.24. 3.5/5.
14. Mark Stay - The Holly King. Finished 13.3.24. 4.5/5.
15. Professor Sue Black - All That Remains. Finished 15.3.24. 4.5/5.
16. Kenneth Libbrecht & Rachel Wing - The Snowflake: Winter's Frozen Artistry. Finished 18.3.24. 3.5/5.
17. Tony Angell - The House of Owls. Finished 23.3.24. 3.5/5.
18. Dr Margot Singer & Dr Nicole Walker (eds) - Bending Genre: Essays on Creative Nonfiction. Finished 7.4.23. 3/5.
19. Theresa Lillis & Mary Jane Curry - Academic Writing in a Global Context. Finished 8.4.23. 3.5/5.
20. Andrew Cotter - Olive, Mabel & Me. Finished 11.4.24. 4/5.
21. Richard Milne - Rhododendron. Finished 12.4.24. 3/5.
22. Michael Rosen - Getting Better. Finished 15.4.24. 4.5/5.
23. Noam Chomsky - Who Rules the World?. Finished 24.4.24. 3/5.
24. Andrew D. Blechman - Pigeons. Finished 29.4.24. 3.5/5.
25. Jos Smith - The New Nature Writing: Rethinking the Literature of Place. Finished 5.5.24. 3.5/5.
26. Ruth Allen - Weathering. Finished 20.5.24. 4/5.
27. Morgan Delaney - The Phoenix (An Alumiere Sisters Adventure). Finished 26.5.24. 4/5.
28. Kathleen Jamie - Surfacing. Finished 5.6.24. 4.5/5.
29. Binyavanga Wainaina - One Day I Will Write About This Place. Finished 12.6.24. 5/5.
30. Christy Wampole - Rootedness: The Ramifications of a Metaphor. Finished 2.7.24. 3.5/5.
31. Lauren Elkin - Flaneuse. Finished 14.7.24. 4/5.
32. Marlene Zuk - Sex on Six Legs. Finished 21.7.24. 4/5.
33. ed Stewart Conn - Other Worlds: An Anthology of Scottish Island Poems. Finished 28.7.24. 4/5.
34. Tim Birkhead - Birds and Us. Finished 5.8.24. 4/5.

ROOTs read - this thread (1)

35. Dom Joly - The Dark Tourist. Finished 17.8.24. 4/5.
36. Kapka Kassabova - Elixir. Finished 25.8.24. 4/5.
37. Noam Chayut - The Girl Who Stole My Holocaust. Finished 2.9.24. 3/5.
38. David Sedaris - The Best of Me (audiobook). Finished 8.9.24. 4/5.
39. Raymond Antrobus - All the Names Given (audiobook). Finished 8.9.24. 4/5.
40. John Green - The Anthropocene Reviewed. Finished 10.9.24. 4/5.
41. Elizabeth Tova Bailey - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. Finished 21.9.24. 4.5/5.
42. Margaret Atwood - Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004 to 2022. Finished 14.10.24. 4.5/5.
43. ed. David Rothenberg & Marta Ulvaeus - The Book of Music and Nature. Finished 17.10.24. 2/5.
44. Leif Bersweden - Where the Wildflowers Grow. Finished 5.11.24. 4/5.
45. Katya Balen - October, October. Finished 15.11.24. 4.5/5.
46. Ed Yong - I Contain Multitudes. Finished 28.11.24. 4.5/5.

ROOTS read - this thread (2)

47. John O'Donohue - Anam Cara. Finished 14.12.24. 3.5/5.

Non-ROOTs read

1. Jennifer Ackerman - The Genius of Birds. Finished 6.1.24. 4.5/5.
2. Jonathan Franzen - The End of the End of the Earth: Essays. Finished 27.1.24. 3.5/5.
3. Elif Shafak - How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division. Finished 29.2.24. 4/5.
4. Andrew Rumsey - Strangely Warmed. Finished 30.3.24. 4/5.
5. Satoshi Yagisawa - Days at the Morisaki Bookshop. Finished 28.9.24. 4/5.
6. Jim Crumley - Watching Wildlife (In the Moment). Finished 22.10.24. 5/5.

Acquisitions - thread 1

1. David Sedaris - Calypso. Acquired 1.1.24.
2. Alastair Campbell - Living Better. Acquired 1.1.24.
3. Emily Ratajkowski - My Body. Acquired 1.1.24.
4. Marianne Levy - Don't Forget to Scream. Acquired 1.1.24.
5. Brian Bilston - Days Like These. Acquired 1.1.24
6. Freya Bromley - The Tidal Year. Acquired 1.1.24.
7. Tony Angell - The House of Owls. Acquired 8.1.24.
8. Alice Roberts - Buried. Acquired 9.1.24.
9. Helen Rappaport - In Search of Mary Seacole. Acquired 9.1.24.
10. Timothy Beatley - The Bird-Friendly City. Acquired 13.1.24.
11. Bill McKibben - Wandering Home. Acquired 13.1.24.
12. Vaclav Havel - The Power of the Powerless. Acquired 13.1.24.
13. Becky Holmes - Keanu Reeves is not in love with you. Acquired 19.1.24. (preorder)
14. Vivien Spitz - Doctors from Hell. Acquired 24.1.24.
15. C.K. McDonnell - Relight My Fire. Acquired 25.1.24. (preorder)
16. Jade Angeles Fitten - Hermit: A Memoir of Finding Freedom in a Wild Place. Acquired 25.1.24.
17. Philippa Gregory - Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History. Acquired 29.1.24.
18. ed. Durre Shahwar & Nasia Sarwar-Skuse - Gathering: Women of Colour on Nature. Acquired 3.2.23. (preorder)
19-21. Gerald Durrell - The Corfu Trilogy. Acquired 18.2.24.
22. Patricia Evangelista - Some People Need Killing. Acquired 24.2.24.
23. Adele Brand - The Hidden World of the Fox. Acquired 27.2.24.
24. Isabel Hardman - Fighting for Life. Acquired 27.2.24.
25. Travis Elborough - Atlas of the Unexpected. Acquired 10.3.24.
26. Sue Hubbell - A Country Year: Living the Questions. Acquired 10.3.24.
27. David Mitchell - Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's King's and Queens. Acquired 15.3.24.
28. Sara Gibbs - Drama Queen: One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels. Acquired 15.3.24.
29. Morgan Delaney - The Phoenix: An Alumiere Sisters Adventure. Acquired 16.3.24.
30. Morgan Delaney - The Forgotten Creatures. Acquired 16.3.24. (no touchstone yet)
31. Rochelle A Burgess - Rethinking Global Health: Frameworks of Power. Acquired 19.3.24.
32. Russell Jones - Four Chancellors and a Funeral (preorder). Acquired 20.3.24.
33. Alice Roberts - Ancestors. Acquired 23.3.24.
34. Oliver Franklin-Wallis - Wasteland. Acquired 23.3.24.
35. Robert Ashton - Where are the Fellows who Cut the Hay? (preorder). Acquired 27.3.24.
36. A.Y. Chao - Shanghai Immortal. Acquired 27.3.24.
37. Anna Funder - Wifedom. Acquired 30.3.24.
38. Ruth Allen - Weathering. Acquired 3.4.24.
39. Matt Gaw - The Pull of the River. Acquired 3.4.24.
40. Michelle Zauner - Crying in H Mart. Acquired 8.4.24.
41. Hannah Gadsby - Ten Steps to Nanette. Acquired 8.4.24.
42. Ben Wilson - Urban Jungle: The History and Future of Nature in the City. Acquired 9.4.24.
43. Michael Wood - The Story of England. Acquired 9.4.24.
44. Suzie Edge - Poo Through the Ages. (preorder) Acquired 11.4.24.
45. Tom Chivers & David Chivers - How to Read Numbers. Acquired 16.4.24.
46. Noreen Masud - A Flat Place. Acquired 18.4.24.
47. Bobby Tulloch - Bobby Tulloch's Shetland. Acquired 18.4.24.
48. Marc Hamer - Spring Rain. Acquired 19.4.24.
49. Lauren Elkin - Flaneuse. Acquired 21.4.24.
50. Laura J Miller - Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Acquired 1.5.24.
51. Joanna Wolfarth - Milk: An Intimate History of Breastfeeding. Acquired 1.5.24.
52. Charlie Gilmour - Featherhood. Acquired 1.5.24.
53. Amy Key - Arrangements in Blue. Acquired 9.5.24.
54. Kapka Kassabova - Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time. Acquired 10.5.24.
55. JM Carr - The Wonder Girls Rebel. (preorder) Acquired 15.5.24.
56. Jeremy Bowen - The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History. Acquired 15.5.24.
57. ed. Jon Woolcott - Going to Ground: An anthology of nature and place. (preorder) Acquired 17.5.24.
58. Matt Coyne - Frank and Red. Acquired 17.5.24.
59. Kerry Hudson - Newborn: Running Away, Breaking with the Past, Building a New Family. Acquired 24.5.24.
60. Jarvis Cocker - Good Pop, Bad Pop. Acquired 24.5.24.
61-65. Eva St John - The Quantum Curators Box Set. Acquired 25.5.24.
66. Leah Hazard - Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began. Acquired 1.6.24.
67. Suzanne O'Sullivan - The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness. Acquired 1.6.24.
68. Ronald Blythe - Next to Nature: A Lifetime in the English Countryside. Acquired 1.6.24.
69. Dana Mattioli - The Everything War. Acquired 1.6.24.
70. Helen Czerski - Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World. Acquired 1.6.24.
71. Dr Jennifer Gunter - The Menopause Manifesto. Acquired 1.6.24.
72. Andrei Kurkov - Diary of an Invasion. Acquired 3.6.24.
73. Carwyn Graves - Tir: The Story of the Welsh Landscape. Acquired 3.6.24.
74. Caroline Lucas - Another England: How to Reclaim Our National Story. Acquired 3.6.24.
75. Sian Northey - This House (only the original Welsh version has a touchstone: Yn Y Ty Hwn). Acquired 3.6.24.
76. Susannah Walker - The Hard Way. (preorder) Acquired 4.6.24.
77. Sandra Newman - Julia. Acquired 8.6.24.
78. Christine M Larson - Love in the Time of Self-Publishing. Acquired 9.6.24.
79. Chris Broad - Abroad in Japan. Acquired 13.6.24.
80. Lauren Elkin - Art Monsters. Acquired 15.6.24.
81. Kathryn Aalto - The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh. Acquired 20.6.24.
82. Susan Sontag - On Women. Acquired 22.6.24.
83. ed. Stewart Conn - Other Worlds: An Anthology of Scottish Island Poems. Acquired 26.6.24.
84. Keggie Carew - Beastly: A New History of Animals and Us. Acquired 26.6.24.
85. Edward Hoagland - Alaskan Travels. Acquired 26.6.24.
86. Kyo Maclean - Birds Art Life Death. Acquired 28.6.24.
87. Ken Smith - The Way of the Hermit. Acquired 1.7.24.
88. Peter Matthiesson - The Snow Leopard. Acquired 1.7.24.
89. Polly Atkin - Some of us Just Fall. Acquired 1.7.24.
90. Nick Hunt - Outlandish. Acquired 1.7.24.
91. Catrina Davies - Homesick: Why I Live in a Shed. Acquired 1.7.24.
92. Clive Myrie - Everything is Everything: A Memoir of Love, Hate and Hope. Acquired 1.7.24.
93. James Felton - Sunburn. Acquired 1.7.24.
94. James Felton - 52 Times Britain was a Bellend. Acquired 1.7.24.
95. Kassia St Clair - The Secret Lives of Colour. Acquired 1.7.24.
96. Damien Le Bas - The Stopping Places. Acquired 1.7.24.
97. Maria Smilios - The Black Angels. Acquired 1.7.24.
98. Led By Donkeys - Led By Donkeys: How Four Friends with a Ladder took on Brexit. Acquired 10.7.24 (ordered 5.7.24).
99. Various - The Law of Consequences (no touchstone). Acquired 6.7.24.
100. Candace Savage - Crows: Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World. Acquired 24.7.24.
101. Raymond Antrobus - All The Names Given (audiobook). Acquired 1.8.24.
102. Guy Shrubsole - Who Owns England?. Acquired 1.8.24.
103. Mark Cocker - One Midsummer's Day. Acquired 1.8.24.
104. Kathleen Jamie - Cairn. Acquired 3.8.24.

Acquisitions - this thread (1)

105. Frederic Gros - A Philosophy of Walking. Acquired 9.8.24.
106. Stephen Moss - A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching. Acquired 16.8.24.
107. Tom Bullough - Sarn Helen. Acquired 19.8.24.
108. Anna Sherman - The Bells of Old Tokyo. Acquired 24.8.24.
109. Elizabeth Tova Bailey - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. Acquired 30.8.24.
110. David Attenborough - Life on Earth (audiobook). Acquired 1.9.24.
111. Victoria Smith - Hags. Acquired 1.9.24.
112. Rob Delaney - A Heart That Works. Acquired 1.9.24.
113. Natasha Carthew - Undercurrent. Acquired 1.9.24.
114. Jeffrey Boakye - I Heard What You Said. Acquired 1.9.24.
115. John Lewis-Stempel - La Vie. Acquired 1.9.24.
116. Led By Donkeys - Led By Donkeys: Adventures in Art, Activism and Accountability. (preorder) Acquired 3.9.24.
117. Laura Cumming - Thunderclap. Acquired 12.9.24.
118. Kamala Harris - The Truths We Hold. Acquired 20.9.24.
119. Travis Baldree - Bookshops and Bonedust. Acquired 28.9.24.
120. ed. David Rothenburg & Martha Ulvaeus - The Book of Music and Nature. Acquired 29.9.24.
121. Andrew Millham - Singing Like Larks. Acquired 29.9.24.
122. Caroline Davison - The Captain's Apprentice. Acquired 29.9.24.
123. Steve Roud - Folk Song in England. Acquired 29.9.24.
124. Diane Abbott - A Woman Like Me. Acquired 30.9.24. (audiobook)

Acquisitions - this thread (2)

125. Mark Hood - The Return of the Martians: A Sequel to War of the Worlds. Acquired 9.10.24.
126. Kenneth Steven - Atoms of Delight: Ten pilgrimages in nature. Acquired 17.10.24.
127. Madeleine Bunting - Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey. Acquired 19.10.24.
128. Horatio Clare - A Single Swallow. Acquired 19.10.24.
129. Dave Goulson - A Sting in the Tale. Acquired 19.10.24.
130. Ryszard Kapuscinski - The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life. Acquired 19.10.24.
131. Margaret Drabble - A Writer's Britain: Landscape in Literature. Acquired 26.10.24.
132. Dragos-Ioan Samsudean - Eastern Christianity in the Digital Space. Acquired 27.10.24.
133. Kate Kenzie - A Blend of Magic. Acquired 30.10.24.
134. Amanda I Seligman - Chicago's Block Clubs. Acquired 1.11.24.
135. Simon Barnes - The Year of Sitting Dangerously: My Garden Safari. Acquired 2.11.24.
136. Corinne Fowler - Our Island Stories: Country Walks through Colonial Britain. Acquired 5.11.24.
137. Serhii Plokhy - Chernobyl Roulette. Acquired 5.11.24.
138. Iratus Ursus Major - Bear Necessities of Politics and Power. Acquired 9.11.24. (no touchstone)
139. London Wildlife Trust - London in the Wild: Exploring Nature in the City. Acquired 13.11.24.
140. Jennifer Howard - Clutter: An Untidy History. Acquired 21.11.24.
141. Melissa Harrison - Homecoming. Acquired 25.11.24.
142. Sigrid Rausing - Everything is Wonderful. Acquired 30.11.24.
143. Robin Wall Kimmerer - The Serviceberry. Acquired 30.11.24. (audiobook) (***NB all titles up to and including this one in the Jar of Fate***)
144. Rekha Nath - Why It's OK To Be Fat. Acquired 7.12.24.
145. Alom Shaha - Why Don't Things Fall Up?. Acquired 10.12.24.
146. Rory Cellan Jones - Sophie From Romania. Acquired 11.12.24.
147. Andy Miller - The Year of Reading Dangerously. Acquired 12.12.24.
148. John Lewis-Stempel - The Sheep's Tale. Acquired 12.12.24.
149. Penelope Lively - Ammonites and Leaping Fish. Acquired 14.12.24.
150. Stephen Moss - The Starling. Acquired 20.12.24.
151. Sarah Hendrickx & Jess Hendrickx - Women and Girls on the Autistic Spectrum. Acquired 22.12.24.
152. Richard Mabey - The Accidental Garden. Acquired 25.12.24.
153. Edmund Crispin - The Case of the Gilded Fly. Acquired 25.12.24.
154. Joe Harkness - Bird Therapy. Acquired 25.12.24.
155. Vincent Doumeizel - The Seaweed Revolution. Acquired 27.12.24.

2024 Nerdy Stats

ROOTs (total: 46)

fiction: 5
non-fiction: 38
poetry: 2
mixed F/NF/P: 1

female author: 16 (%)
male author: 29 (%)
non-binary author: (%)
mixed anthology: 4 (%)

paper book: 10 (%)
ebook: 32 (%)
audiobook: 4 (%)

completed: 46
abandoned:

ratings (4* and above): 29

Non-ROOTs (total: 6)

fiction: 1
non-fiction: 5
poetry:
mixed F/NF:

female author: 2
male author: 4

paper book: 2
ebook: 4

completed: 6
abandoned:

Acquisitions (total: 155)

fiction: 17 (these numbers are wrong!)
non-fiction: 129
poetry: 3

female author: 74
male author: 70
unknown gender: 1
non-binary author:
mixed anthology: 4
non-profit org: 1
(NB Gathering: women of colour on nature counted as 2 female authors - this is an anthology of all women, so I counted the 2 editors for these figures. The Corfu Trilogy is 3 books but I've only counted the male author once. Only counted Morgan D once (male authors). Only counted Eva St John once (female authors). Only counted Lauren Elkin once (female authors). Only counted James Felton once (male authors)). Led By Donkeys counted as 4 male authors.

paper book: 32
ebook: 119
audiobook: 4

Amount spent overall: £46.57 (Jan); £18.75 (Feb); £32.75 (Mar); £35.42 (Apr); £37.40 (May); £70.64 (June); £24.42 (July); £31.06 (Aug); £71.67 (Sep); £56.18 (Oct); £56.38 (Nov); £42.41 (Dec)

Source: (check these numbers, they're wrong!)

kobo - 103
Routledge Open Access - 1
Routledge - 1
Fox Lane Books -
Big Green Bookshop - 1
Kickstarter -
Waterstones -
Unbound - 4
amazon marketplace - 2
birthday presents - 4
LTER -
Verso - 1
Barter Books - 5
amazon.co.uk - 7
Christmas presents - 3
random gift - 1
bookshop.org - 3
Book Nook Stirling - 4
AbeBooks -
Bandcamp -
Faded Page -
Twitter giveaway -
SPCK Publishing -
Bloomsbury Open Access -
Fitzcarraldo Editions -
Inkcap Journal giveaway -
404 Ink - 1
The Bookhouse Broughty Ferry - 1
University of Chicago Press - 2
Direct from the author - 1
Crowdfunder - 1
Ledbury Books & Maps - 1
Portobello Books - 1
Charity auction - 1

(via Bookbub - 36)

Welcome to my new thread! :)

Happy new thread, Jackie!

Happy New Thread, Jackie.

Turns out acquiring books is FUN! Let's see how many I can get by the end of the year :D

I will join you in this endeavour by acquiring All the Journal Articles I have access to through my university ;)

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Jackie! All I can say is that acquiring books is therapeutic. Every time I feel a bit down I visit the bookstore and ogle the new books, and then the charity bookstore and usually I come home with a book saved from a fate worse than death.

Turns out acquiring books is FUN!
Oh their promise of possibility, opening the cover is like opening a door!
Happy new thread!

>11 atozgrl: >12 Robertgreaves: >13 rabbitprincess: >14 MissWatson: >15 detailmuse: Thank you all!

>13 rabbitprincess: I will join you in this endeavour by acquiring All the Journal Articles I have access to through my university ;) - I assume that you are doing the magic postgrad student thing of printing out/downloading millions of articles and assuming you will assimilate their contents by osmosis. The need to actually read some of them always came as something of a shock to me. I still have hundreds which I would love to read some day, more than a decade after graduating, but who knows when?!

>16 Jackie_K: Exactly so :D I'll be counting them as ROOTS for a long time to come!

Apologies for the radio silence. My lovely father in law died a couple of weeks ago, and although I hadn't disappeared completely from the boards, my relative sociability was considerably reduced. We are very sad, but thankful for a good life well lived.

I did finish a couple of books over the last couple of weeks though, here they are:

ROOT #35



Comedian Dom Joly's book The Dark Tourist: Sightseeing in the world's most unlikely holiday destinations was a fun and occasionally more serious look at travel. In it, he goes skiing in Iran, does an assassination destination tour of the US, and also travels to Chernobyl, Cambodia, North Korea, and finishes up in the country of his birth, Lebanon. He was born in the late 60s, so his formative years as an expat kid in Beirut were punctuated with bombs and destruction until he was sent to boarding school in England at the age of 10. So he has quite a complex relationship wtih Lebanon, and although this wasn't the first time he'd been back there as an adult, the previous time he'd been working, and this was the first time he reckoned with family destinations and memories. It also turns out that for a couple of years he was at the same school, he thinks at the same time, as Osama bin Laden. I enjoyed this book very much. 4/5.

ROOT #36



Elixir: A Voyage into Alchemy by Kapka Kassabova is a beautiful book which powerfully evokes a particular place, the Mesta Valley in Bulgaria. The blurb calls it 'an exploration of the deep connections between people, plants and place', and oh my goodness does this book deliver on that! Over several seasons she talks and lives and walks with the people of this rural region, as they gather herbs and other medicinal plants, and attempt to maintain their way of life in the face of globalism, capitalism, and post-socialist chaos. The author is Bulgarian, but now lives in Highland Scotland, and I did like the links and observations of the two places that she made. There were a few occasions where the emphasis on herbalism felt a bit much, but that is honestly a small thing, because her writing is just so beautiful, so evocative, that I honestly felt that I was there alongside the same people she was, seeing the same beautiful views. Lovely. 4/5.

So sorry to hear your sad news, Jackie. May he rest in peace.

Hi Jackie! Happy newish thread. I can't believe I hadn't visited you this year, bad me.

>1 Jackie_K: Turns out acquiring books is FUN! Let's see how many I can get by the end of the year Who’da thunk, right? You’re really doing well on the ROOTs read front, congrats. And only 4 months to go to acquire 92 more books – better get going!

>6 Jackie_K: I loved Calypso. I went to a signing when he first published it. He was so tired talking about the book by the end of that tour that he did other readings for us. He signed my copy, too. There’s an essay in there that includes the acquisition and owning of a beach house on the North Carolina coast. The tradition is to give them quirky or sentimental names. His choice? The Sea-Section.

>18 Jackie_K: I’m so sorry about your FiL. I can appreciate the sadness and celebrate a good life well lived.

an assassination destination tour of the US You might want to find a copy of Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell if you want a native’s view of things. I loved it.

>19 Robertgreaves: >20 karenmarie: Thank you both for your condolences. We miss him every day.
>20 karenmarie: I am currently listening to The Best of Me on audiobook, and the Sea-Section essay is included in that. I love listening to him reading his own stuff.

Here's my August round-up. For probably obvious reasons it's not been the greatest month, but I have finished 3 books, and acquired 9, which in the circumstances was quite restrained, I feel!

The books I read were:

1. Tim Birkhead - Birds and Us.
2. Dom Joly - The Dark Tourist.
3. Kapka Kassabova - Elixir: A Voyage into Alchemy.

And the books I acquired were:

1. Raymond Antrobus - All The Names Given (audiobook).
2. Guy Shrubsole - Who Owns England?.
3. Mark Cocker - One Midsummer's Day.
4. Kathleen Jamie - Cairn.
5. Frederic Gros - A Philosophy of Walking.
6. Stephen Moss - A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching.
7. Tom Bullough - Sarn Helen.
8. Anna Sherman - The Bells of Old Tokyo.
9. Elizabeth Tova Bailey - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.

I'm so sorry about your father-in-law, condolences to your whole family.

>21 Jackie_K: I loved The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating and it might fit as a comfort read for you.

>22 detailmuse: Thank you MJ. Actually I bought The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating for a reading challenge this month, so will hopefully read it sooner rather than later!

>18 Jackie_K: Oh Jackie, I'm so sorry :( Thinking of you and your family.

>18 Jackie_K: Jackie, I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law. My condolences to you and all your family. It's been a bad year for news like this.

>21 Jackie_K: Birds and Us looks interesting.

>24 rabbitprincess: >25 atozgrl: Thank you very much. The funeral is at the end of this week, we have felt a bit in limbo up to now, which I suppose is quite common.
>25 atozgrl: It is interesting, yes - and impressive how he manages to cover 12,000 years of history!

ROOT #37



The Girl Who Stole My Holocaust is a memoir by Noam Chayut, former eager Zionist conscript in the Israeli army who gradually begins to question the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his/Israel's role in the occupation. He ended up as a campaigner against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

This is a really important story, and many of the events of Israeli cruelty he recounts are shocking, even as they're unsurprising. I feel a bit churlish saying it could have done with better editing, but honestly I think it could have been even more forceful without so much repetition and, in places, self-indulgent writing. Despite that though, his is an important message and I also found the account of his early years helpful in understanding Israeli perspectives and accounts, which is something I think I needed. And of course it's very instructive given the current war in Gaza and increased attacks in the West Bank. 3/5.

My condolences to you and your family, Jackie

So sorry you and your family have lost your father in law, Jackie. That is very sad. Big cuddle!

My condolences on your loss, Jackie.

>27 Cecilturtle: >28 connie53: >29 MissWatson: Thank you all so much. We had the funeral last week and it was a beautiful tribute to a beautiful soul.

I finished a couple of audiobooks this weekend.

ROOT #38



David Sedaris' The Best of Me is a collection of mostly essays (plus a handful of fiction pieces) selected and read by the author showcasing the 3 decades of his career. They are variously moving, funny, wry, cringey, and wise, often all in the one essay. I have no idea how his family are still speaking to him, but despite the cringe his love for them shines through. And at the bits where I started to think that he was insufferable and smug, he'd always end up lampooning himself and making it clear that he knew exactly that too, and wasn't proud of it. I wasn't mad on the fictional pieces - his essays are definitely the pinnacle here. The audiobook finished with an interview with the author. 4/5.

ROOT #39



All the Names Given is a collection of poetry by one of my favourite British poets, Raymond Antrobus. Exploring identity, heritage, belonging, language, and deafness, this is a powerful collection which showcases his incredible talent. 4/5.

And I've reached my ROOT goal for the year!

ROOT #40



John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed is a collection of essays subtitled "Essays on a Human-Centred Planet". Most of the pieces are based on episodes of his podcast of the same name. I expected them to be about the environment and climate change, and a handful of them are, but mostly it's about uniquely human inventions and values and ridiculousness that have led us to where we are today. I found this easy to read, yet moving, funny, profound, occasionally a bit annoying, but always thought-provoking, and I enjoyed it very much. 4/5.

Congratulations, Jackie!

GOOOOAL, congratulations!

>32 MissWatson: >33 detailmuse: Thank you both!

ROOT #41



The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey is an unusual but very powerful memoir. Completely floored by an unknown virus, the author is confined to bed for several months, and has to be moved out of her home and into accommodation where she can be cared for. One of her visiting friends brings her a plant in a pot, and adds a snail she'd picked up in the woods nearby. Over the months that follow she watches the snail go about its business, firstly in the plant pot and then in a terrarium her carer gets for her. She finds herself fascinated by the creature, and as she watches it she reflects on her own illness and what the snail is teaching her about life.

I must admit to not being a big snail fan - I don't think I'll ever quite get over the ick factor, or stop being cross when they eat our veg - but this book has given me a new respect for a complex and fascinating creature. This book is short but beautifully written. 4.5/5.

>31 Jackie_K: Good for you being finished with three "free" months ahead of you!

Congratulations, Jackie!

>35 clue: >36 connie53: Thank you both!

Non-ROOT #5



Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (translated by Eric Ozawa) is a gentle story of a young woman, Takako, whose boyfriend turns out to be a scumbag, and when she finds out he's going to be marrying someone else, she leaves her job and reluctantly moves into the bookshop run by her somewhat eccentric uncle. Gradually she encounters the magic of books, makes new friends, and finds a way to help her uncle in a way that nobody else could have.

I'm coming to the conclusion that what I really like in fiction is stories where not all that much happens. This is definitely a good example of that - there's enough to be interesting, but not so much going on or so many characters that you need to remind yourself who's who every time you pick it up. I enjoyed this a lot. 4/5.

Very belatedly, here's my September roundup. 5 ROOTs and 1 Non-ROOT read, and 15 new books acquired (luckily for me, I didn't fancy any of the kobo October deals this month, that's usually a big chunk of my downfall!).

These are my ROOTs for the month:

1. Noam Chayut - The Girl Who Stole My Holocaust.
2. David Sedaris - The Best of Me (audiobook).
3. Raymond Antrobus - All the Names Given (audiobook).
4. John Green - The Anthropocene Reviewed.
5. Elizabeth Tova Bailey - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.

And the non-ROOT:

1. Satoshi Yagisawa - Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.

The books I acquired were:

1. David Attenborough - Life on Earth (audiobook).
2. Victoria Smith - Hags.
3. Rob Delaney - A Heart That Works.
4. Natasha Carthew - Undercurrent.
5. Jeffrey Boakye - I Heard What You Said.
6. John Lewis-Stempel - La Vie.
7. Led By Donkeys - Led By Donkeys: Adventures in Art, Activism and Accountability. (preorder)
8. Laura Cumming - Thunderclap.
9. Kamala Harris - The Truths We Hold.
10. Travis Baldree - Bookshops and Bonedust.
11. ed. David Rothenburg & Martha Ulvaeus - The Book of Music and Nature.
12. Andrew Millham - Singing Like Larks.
13. Caroline Davison - The Captain's Apprentice.
14. Steve Roud - Folk Song in England.
15. Diane Abbott - A Woman Like Me (audiobook).

>37 Jackie_K: That sounds like my kind of book. I think I've seen the translation in the bookstore I visited Saturday

>39 connie53: It's a really lovely, gentle read, Connie, sometimes you just need a break from all the literary action!

ROOT #42



Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004 to 2022 is a collection of essays, speeches, book reviews, and other articles written by the author Margaret Atwood. It took me a few weeks to read it, it's a pretty chunky book, as you would expect from someone who thinks and writes so widely. I really enjoyed this, for the most part - even the reviews of books I've never read or even heard of had something to tweak my interest. The essays and other pieces here cover many different issues - feminism, climate change, debt, storytelling, family, culture, the writing life, amongst many others - and I always looked forward to opening the book and reading another couple of essays. 4.5/5.

>40 Jackie_K: She is a pretty terrific writer!

>41 Cecilturtle: Yes indeed!

ROOT #43



The Book of Music and Nature, edited by David Rothenberg and Marta Ulvaeus, is an anthology of essays of which I had high hopes. Unfortunately most of the essays were prime candidates for Pseud's Corner, and I'm honestly not much more the wiser now I've finished it. There were a couple of essays I found interesting (by R Murray Schafer and Brian Eno), but I ended up skimming much of this and couldn't really tell you much about what it's about (despite the title, which you would think would be obvious). 2/5.

We're away for a week so posting will be minimal. It would be remiss of me though not to point out that I am in Barter Books RIGHT NOW!!! Waiting for lunch, then will pick up our credit for the books Pete brought in, then we can explore the stacks. I can't begin to explain just how much I am in my happy place, but I suspect everyone here will have guessed!

Hi Jackie!

I visited as recently as August 31, which is pretty good for me these days, and I wasn't going to post because I did post recently, BUT. As I scrolled down see that you listened to David Sedaris and

>31 Jackie_K: …read The Anthropocene Reviewed. I found Green’s podcast several years ago and listened to them all avidly. In fact, I should re-listen to them simply because they are so full of fabulous.

Congratulations on ROOT #40.

>34 Jackie_K: I have this one on my shelves, admittedly simply for the title when I bought it at the Habitat for Humanity Store. You make me actually want to read it.

>43 Jackie_K: Credit, books, time to explore. Of course it’s your happy place.

I have just a happy place like that! Enjoy Jackie.

>44 karenmarie: I must have a listen to John Green's podcast. If they're as entertaining as the book they'll be a treat! Thanks re my review, I hope you manage to read it (it can be a palate cleanser between all the s.m.u.t.).

>45 connie53: everyone needs a bookish happy place!

Non-ROOT #6



Jim Crumley's Watching Wildlife: In the Moment is a short book I got from the library and enjoyed so much I've just bought my own copy. He is a Scottish nature writer (actually he lives here in Stirling too, I've sat next to him in the cafe at our local indie bookshop and hoped that I would absorb some of his beautiful writing skill by osmosis), and in this book he describes some of the nature encounters he's had over the years, and how he manages to get so many lucky encounters (basically: it's not luck, it's hours of trudging up hills and waiting around). His writing is always just such a delight. 5/5.

Edited: I meant to add an example which made me laugh:

I walked from one oystercatcher territory to another, so the decibels of strident variations on a theme of "piss off" rose and fell about my ears with the rhythm of waves on shingle.

Here's my October round-up, such as it is. Highlights (of course) were the two trips to Barter Books, on the way to and from my holiday. I only finished 2 ROOTs (I had hoped it would be 3, but I didn't quite manage to finish the book I've got on the go at the moment, hopefully that will be finished this weekend) and 1 non-ROOT. And I acquired 9.

The two ROOTs were:

1. Margaret Atwood - Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004 to 2022.
2. ed. David Rothenberg & Marta Ulvaeus - The Book of Music and Nature.

And the non-ROOT was:

1. Jim Crumley - Watching Wildlife: In the Moment.

Here are October's acquisitions (books marked with a * are from Barter Books):

1. Mark Hood - The Return of the Martians: A Sequel to War of the Worlds.
2. Kenneth Steven - Atoms of Delight: Ten pilgrimages in nature.
3. *Madeleine Bunting - Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey.
4. *Horatio Clare - A Single Swallow.
5. *Dave Goulson - A Sting in the Tale.
6. *Ryszard Kapuscinski - The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life.
7. *Margaret Drabble - A Writer's Britain: Landscape in Literature.
8. Dragos-Ioan Samsudean - Eastern Christianity in the Digital Space.
9. Kate Kenzie - A Blend of Magic.

Nice haul, Jackie!

That looks like a lovely pile of books to read!

>49 connie53: >50 MissWatson: Thank you, I'm looking forward to them all!

What with all the political goings-on this week, I completely forgot to report my first ROOT of November, so here goes:

ROOT #44?



Where the Wildflowers Grow by Leif Bersweden is an account of the year he spent (in 2021) cycling and walking through Britain and Ireland looking for various different wildflower habitats and sharing his joy of botany. He does sound the alarm for habitat destruction and climate change, but what comes through is his love of plants and the joy he gains from finding flowers and sharing his knowledge with others. A very pleasant antidote to *waves at everything*. 4/5.

>51 Jackie_K: *waves at everything*
Amen.

>52 detailmuse: I hope you're keeping well at this, well, you know, time.

ROOT #45



October, October by Katya Balen, illustrated by Angela Harding who also created this beautiful cover, won the Yoto Carnegie Medal in 2022 and deservedly so. This middle-grade book is the story of October, a girl who lives in the woods with her dad until she is 11 when she finds an abandoned wild owl chick and her dad falls out of a tree and has catastrophic injuries. She is then taken to live with her mother in London (her mother had originally lived the wild life with them, but couldn't cope with it and returned to the city, and October thereafter had refused to have anything to do with her) while her dad has months in hospital and rehab. Initially rejecting her mother's attempts to reconcile, October struggles with life in the city, having to give the owl to a sanctuary, and going to school for the first time, till she makes a friend in Yusuf and they discover mudlarking on the Thames. This story is about becoming (and staying) wild, reconciliation, crafting stories, and living our best lives. I loved it. 4.5/5.

Sorry to see the news about your father in law, Jackie. Congrats on meeting your goal and finding your happy place with acquisitions!

>54 Familyhistorian: Thank you Meg. We miss him a lot. And the book acquiring continues...

ROOT #46



I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong is a fabulous book about microbes. What they are, what they do, how they work. Much like An Immense World, which I read earlier this year, I loved how every time I turned the page my mind was blown some more. Fantastic.

It also made me think of a meme I saw recently - along the lines of 'after all these millions of years of evolution, humans apparently reach the top of the tree and the only thing we're interested in doing is destroying ourselves'. Thinking about that in the context of I Contain Multitudes definitely made me ponder on the nature of intelligence, and wonder which is the more primitive being. 4.5/5.

>53 Jackie_K: I'm trying. It's lovely to come here and find your gentle reviews and nature appreciations.

>56 detailmuse: I'm glad they help. I'm exhausted just watching, and I'm an entire ocean away.

I completely forgot my November roundup, so better late than never here it is. 3 ROOTs and 10 acquisitions. All very good :)

ROOTs read in Nov:

1. Leif Bersweden - Where the Wildflowers Grow.
2. Katya Balen - October, October.
3. Ed Yong - I Contain Multitudes.

And the acquisitions:

1. Amanda I Seligman - Chicago's Block Clubs.
2. Simon Barnes - The Year of Sitting Dangerously: My Garden Safari.
3. Corinne Fowler - Our Island Stories: Country Walks through Colonial Britain.
4. Serhii Plokhy - Chernobyl Roulette.
5. Iratus Ursus Major - Bear Necessities of Politics and Power.
6. London Wildlife Trust - London in the Wild: Exploring Nature in the City.
7. Jennifer Howard - Clutter: An Untidy History.
8. Melissa Harrison - Homecoming.
9. Sigrid Rausing - Everything is Wonderful.
10. Robin Wall Kimmerer - The Serviceberry. (audiobook)

ROOT #47



Anam Cara by the late John O'Donohue is subtitled "A Book of Celtic Wisdom". I was looking forward to this; before his untimely death in 2007 he was a popular speaker at the Greenbelt Festival which I love, and I know many people have appreciated his gentle wisdom and spirit. I wonder if I just wasn't quite in the right frame of mind, because I found this a bit wanting - elements of it were lovely, and I could sense the profundity, but not quite touch it, if that makes sense. I don't mean it was pseudo-spiritual or vapid (in the way that I would characterise books by, say, Paulo Coelho), just that it didn't quite touch me in the way I was hoping. Actually the most moving thing for me was the poem of dedication at the beginning to his late mother, Josie - that was truly beautiful, and I will definitely seek out more of his poetry. 3.5/5.