As with last year’s review, I haven’t provided links to purchase any of the books here. You can, no doubt, find them easily enough from the usual places — unless it can be avoided I have dropped Amazon as my go-to book store, preferring to use a small independent shop, The Wedale Bookshop. They are part of a network of bookshops across the UK, supported by Bookshop.org. Read more about it on this link-clicky-thing.

Blue Machine — Helen Czerski

Well written and an easy read, full of fascinating information. This book is an excellent journey around our planet’s ocean, showing how there really is just the one surrounding the land upon which we all live, explaining clearly how significant that Blue Machine is and why we really should all be more aware of the damage our species is doing to it — and ourselves.

Notes From Deep Time — Helen Gordon

A journey to discover and comprehend our planet from the perspective of geology and geophysics. This is another well-written and easy-to-read book, which looks at the deep past and discusses the future of our home world. 

Taking Flight — Lev Parikian

I’m a fan of Lev’s writing style. After I read “Light Rains Sometimes Fall” last year, his next book was a shoo-in. It’s about how the power of flight evolved across time and various animal genera. Fascinating.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — Bettany Hughes

I’ve seen Hughes on telly over the years, striding purposefully about ancient monuments, describing their creators and the world in which they were created. I have to admit I’m not much of a fan of Hughes’ writing style. She is a bit prone to parentheses and sub-clauses which sometimes drag my mind away from what the original paragraph was about. Nevertheless, heavy going though it can be, the book is a good exploration of the famous Ancient Wonders.

Operation Aerial — David Worsfold

The Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 is etched deep in the British psyche, but the evacuations from occupied Europe didn’t end there. Using official archives and personal letters and diaries, Worsfold tells the forgotten story of the efforts to lift remaining allied military and civilians from Brittany and the French Atlantic Coast as the Germans swept across the country.

The Discworld — Terry Pratchett

For several years, I have belatedly been reading the Discworld novels. I offer no excuse for missing them when I was younger. I have them in electronic format, which I read on my iPad, and I get through roughly three or four a year, often going back and reading them again. I’m about halfway through the series, having elected to read them in chronological order of publication. Beyond saying that I thoroughly enjoy reading them, I will not review them further.