• The best books on Local Adventures - The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell
  • The best books on Local Adventures - The Path: A One-Mile Walk Through the Universe by Chet Raymo
  • The best books on Local Adventures - On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz
  • The best books on Local Adventures - Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
  • The best books on Local Adventures - The Backyard Adventurer by Beau Miles

The best books on Local Adventures, recommended by Alastair Humphreys

Wonderful as it would be to climb Mount Everest or row across the Atlantic, not all of us will get the chance to go on an epic adventure. But that doesn’t mean we can’t go exploring. Alastair Humphreys, the British adventurer, explains the concept of ‘local adventure’ and recommends books that give a feel for what it’s about and why it’s worth pursuing.

  • The best books on The Scottish Highlands - The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd
  • The best books on The Scottish Highlands - The Poems of Norman MacCaig ed. Ewen MacCaig
  • The best books on The Scottish Highlands - Sea Room by Adam Nicolson
  • The best books on The Scottish Highlands - Song of the Rolling Earth: A Highland Odyssey by John Lister-Kaye
  • The best books on The Scottish Highlands - At the Loch of the Green Corrie by Andrew Greig

The best books on The Scottish Highlands, recommended by Annie Worsley

The Scottish Highlands are known for the stark splendour of the landscape and the bellowing of the stags. They have inspired many classic works of poetry and nature writing, says Annie Worsley—the author of a memoir set on Scotland’s rugged north west coast. Here, she recommends five books on the Scottish Highlands that portray the people and their place.

  • The Best Nature Memoirs - Belonging: Natural Histories of Place, Identity and Home by Amanda Thomson
  • The Best Nature Memoirs - Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas by Jamaica Kincaid
  • The Best Nature Memoirs - Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh
  • The Best Nature Memoirs - Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy
  • The Best Nature Memoirs - Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

The Best Nature Memoirs, recommended by Victoria Bennett

Nature is intrinsic to our experience of being alive and reading about it allows us to connect not just with the natural world but with ourselves. Here Victoria Bennett, author of All My Wild Mothers, a memoir of grief and creating an apothecary garden, recommends five other nature memoirs, highlighting personal and reflective prose by writers including Lauret Savoy, Mary Oliver, and Jamaica Kincaid.

  • The best books on Natural History - The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod by Henry Beston
  • The best books on Natural History - Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
  • The best books on Natural History - Findings by Kathleen Jamie
  • The best books on Natural History - Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australians and the Birth of Agriculture by Bruce Pascoe
  • The best books on Natural History - A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species by Rob Dunn

The best books on Natural History, recommended by David George Haskell

Natural history can offer a “portal into wonder and astonishment,” says David George Haskell, the biologist and award-winning author of nonfiction works including Sounds Wild and Broken and The Forest Unseen. But natural history books, in the past, have also been guilty of reinforcing prejudices. Here he recommends five natural history books that celebrate the diversity of life.

  • The best books on Summer - The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
  • The best books on Summer - The Go-Between by L P Hartley
  • The best books on Summer - To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface by Olivia Laing
  • The best books on Summer - Summer by Ali Smith
  • The best books on Summer - The Hill of Summer by J A Baker

The best books on Summer, recommended by Melissa Harrison

Temperatures ratcheting, tinderbox conditions, a pressure cooker atmosphere… summer is a handy literary shorthand for rising tensions. But in the natural world, summer is a quiet time when the flowers die back and the fruits and seeds are ripening. Here, Melissa Harrison—the novelist, nature writer and podcaster—recommends five of the best summer books, for those who like to read in step with the seasons.