Rachel Lister Jones
If you look at the cover of this book and you know me a little, you will instantly see why it attracted me at first glance:
The cover is in blue and yellow (my favourite colour combination), the cover art is a lino or wood cut reminding me of Angela Harding's work (which I like very much); I enjoy being outdoors (especially in woodland) and I love reading non-fiction.
This book had it all, I thought when I spotted it at the National Trust Shop at Fountains Abbey last summer, or maybe it was at The Little Ripon Book shop. I would have bought it there and then but knew that adding anything more to my luggage wasn't a good idea. Instead, I took a photo of the book cover, and when later in the year O.K. asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I sent him the photo. He duly ordered the book for me, and I was happy to unwrap it on Christmas Day.
When I began to read it a while ago, though, I was disappointed at first: There is hardly a page - or even a paragraph - without errors. Some chapters show less errors, so I guess there must have been some editing; it just wasn't done thoroughly or systematically. Also, I found the lack of structure exhausting. Yes, there are chapters (divided by habitat, such as woods, farms, the Sea and so on), and at the end of each chapter neatly headlined sections list why each habitat is so important, what's threatening it, what's being done to save it and what each of us can do to help.
But from the start to each chapter until those sections at its end, paragraph follows upon paragraph with no space between them, nothing to make you pause and think a little before you move on to the next description of a species. As an example, the first chapter has 20 pages of unstructured information - a lot to take in.
Having said that, I found the information so good and important that I persisted reading, and I am glad I did; I got used to the many errors and pouring out of information and just think how much this otherwise truly wonderful and important book would have profited from proper editing, which clearly wasn't done.
Rachel Lister Jones knows a great deal about nature, be it plants or animals or terrain or water. She also lets us have a glimpse of her sense of humour every now and then, and she is obviously a keen walker and good observer.
When she wrote this book in 2022, the UK (as almost all the world) was in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic with all its restrictions, and it is interesting to read how this influenced her experience and outlook. Four years later, we know that unfortunately, the brief period of recovery for the natural world did not last, and there are more cars on our roads and more plastic is being produced than ever.
Anyway, if you love nature and can find this book at your local library, I encourage you to give it a go. If Rachel Lister Jones and her publisher should ever decide to print a new version of the book, I'd strongly recommend systematic editing and structuring.
Too bad about the lack of editing. I often find errors in books I'm reading and just want to cross out the error and pen in the correction but I never do as it's a library book and I don't want to mark it up. ;)
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