Books I read in 2017

A list of the books read by me in 2017.

Ever Since Darwin
by Stephen Jay Gould
Reflections in Natural History.

The Panda’s Thumb
by Stephen Jay Gould
More Reflections in Natural History.

The Making of the British Landscape
by Nicholas Crane
From the Ice Age to the Present.

Man of Iron
by Julian Glover
Thomas Telford and the Building of Britain.

On Writing
by Stephen King
A second reading.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
by Annie Dillard
Pulitzer-Prize-winning ruminations on the natural world.

Selected Letters of Philip Larkin
Anthony Thwaite, ed.
Hugely entertaining correspondence from one of Britain’s most popular poets.

Built on Bones
by Brenna Hassett
15,000 years of urban life and death.

The Outrun
by Amy Liptrot
Recovering from addiction in the far north. (Second reading.)

Word from Wormingford
by Ronald Blythe
A parish year

On Photography
by Susan Sontag
Wonderful insights marred by pretentious over-analysis.

The Gallows Pole
by Benjamin Myers
Intrigue, betrayal, murder, and revenge in the Calder Valley.

Hen's Teeth & Horse's Toes
by Stephen Jay Gould
Science essays.

The Writing Life
by Annie Dillard
Definitely not a writing guide.

Teaching a Stone to Talk
by Annie Dillard
Expeditions and encounters.

The Abundance
by Annie Dillard
Enigmatic essays.

For the Time Being
by Annie Dillard
Strange essay collection that doesn't quite work.

In the Artist's Garden
by Ronald Blythe
More Wormingford series diary entries.

Improbable Destinies
by Jonathan Losos
How predictable is evolution?

Show Your Work
by Austin Kleon
10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered.

The Rings of Saturn
by W.G. Sebald
File under ‘Sebaldian’.

Findings
by Kathleen Jamie
Nature writing at its best.

Sightlines
by Kathleen Jamie
Nature writng at its best.

Devotion
by Patti Smith
Why she writes.

Vertigo
by W.G. Sebald
File under Sebaldian.

Charles Darwin: Voyaging
by Janet Browne
Part one of an excellent two-part biography.

The Emigrants
by W.G.Sebald
A re-re-re-etc-reading of a great book. File under Sebaldinan.

The Last Wilderness
by Neil Ansell
A journey into silence.

The Dun Cow Rib
by John Lister-Kaye
A very natural childhood.

On the Moor
by Richard Carter
Science, History and Nature on a Country Walk.