Rambling...

I love to be outside, as regular readers here will know it is an integral part of out week, at least one if not two days outside all year round.  I am lucky to live in a country which has an abundance of public footpaths which make wandering and exploring, easy and accessible.  I often find myself on a path that has clearly been in use for a long, long time.  The track itself maybe a good few feet lower than the land either side, worn down by footfall and weather most probably.  The history in those paths is likely to be long and fascinating, who would have walked there, where were they going, why did the path take thought that it does?  I was hoping for some answers in a book I read this month but it didn't fit the bill.

I have been wanting to read The Old Ways by Robert MacFarlane for a while now, it has been recommended to me by many bloggers.  I was given a copy for Christmas and was really looking forward to reading it.   It really disappointed me.  The cover of the book describes it as a journey on foot yet 60 pages are given over to sea journeys.  The journeys that were on foot were largely made on well known old routes that much is written about already, the few that were new to me were interesting but made up such a small part of the book that they were rather lost.  It is a beautifully written book and had I wanted to read a poetic, travel book about walking this would have been perfect but I expected something else from the words on the back........

I have read on blogs about people getting out of the reading habit and not being able to find a book to read.  After reading The Old Ways this happened to me.  I am sure it was because I was disappointed in it and didn't want to make another bad choice.  At the beginning of every month I take my children to our local independent bookshop to choose a book.  My eldest chose a wonderful book this month and when he had finished it suggested, with perfect timing, that I read it too.  I had just finished The Old Ways so I thought why not?  The Journey by Kathryn Lasky is a book written for children about Owls.  The author spent time researching these beautiful birds with a view to writing a non fiction book about them but she couldn't get the pictures she wanted to illustrate the book so she turned to fiction instead.  It is the classic story of good vs evil set in the world of Owls.  The imagery created by the prose is stunning, the description of Owl behaviour, I would hope, given the research of the author to be be correct is a good way to learn about Owls.  It is the first book of a series which seems to contain many books.  This book provided the basis of the film Legend of the Guardians which was released a few years ago.  Sadly for us this is the only book in the series, in print at the moment so we will have to wait and see if they reprint any of the others, we hope so!

So now I am in a bit of a rut.  I have been halfheartedly reading The Making of the British Landscape by Francis Pryor which is a meaty read.  I feel sure that I should put this down and read it when I am more focused as when I do read it I love it.  I picked up a book in the library this week which I think I will read next, A Handful of Straw by Mary Rensten is the story of the a famous witch trial of Jane Wenham at Hertford in 1712, not that famous as I hadn't heard of it have you?  I grew up in Hertfordshire where this book is set and it is a self published book both of which give it appeal to me, I hope it doesn't disappoint!

If none of these take your fancy then take a look at A Year in Books for some other ideas.....