Getting salty, feeling blue
Hi! I’m Hannah James, journalist, writer and editor, and this is where I review nature books, and think about nature-related topics out loud. Thanks for reading!
News: I took a break and decided this is a monthly (kinda) thing now. This is because I got promoted at work (hurray) and have gone full-time, and so no longer have my Fridays free to write this (boo). So here we are: shorter, less frequent, but still here. Welcome! Again!
What I’m reading
Honestly, I’ve not been reading much - I have been oddly obsessed with watching Elementary, an OK crime drama about a 21st-century version of Sherlock Holmes and starring two extremely beautiful people and some truly fabulous fashion. And I have been listening to Taylor Swift. Hey Tay Tay! And that’s how you know it’s a(nother) lockdown.
But I did finally read The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, a lovely account of a traumatic time in the author’s life. Thanks to some shady financial dealings by a former friend, Winn and her husband Moth lose their beloved home of several decades to the bank, and - as it’s a farm and B&B - their income, too. Oh, and Moth has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Homeless, flat broke and unwilling to impose on friends, they set off hiking along the South West Coast Path along the southern shores of England.
It’s Winn’s first book, and some shaky dialogue betrays that, but her depiction of their heartbreak and poverty is wrenching, and her account of the healing powers of nature uplifting. I’ll be seeking out her next book, The Wild Silence. And given the publicity surrounding both books’ soaraway success, I hope the shady friend has had an opportunity to take a good hard look at him/herself.
What I’m doing
Did I mention lockdown? So, not much. Lots of walking the same paths near my house - it’s fascinating how much the light, the plants, the sea can change in 24 hours. Nothing in nature stays the same for long. And I saw for the first time (knowingly, anyway) a New Holland honeyeater. He was a steadfast little thing sitting on a bare branch, carolling away, totally unalarmed by my proximity. This is not my photo, but shows what a splendid fellow he was.
Also: lots of gazing longingly at historic homes being sold by upmarket UK estate agent Inigo House (can someone buy me The Old Manor, please? It dates back to 1460. OK thanks!).
Lots of cooking this smoky tomato soup with cheese and spring onion dumplings.
Lots of laughing at The Moth Effect on Prime. I only ever found The Bondi Hipsters patchily engaging, but this little cracker (co-written by and co-starring one of the Hipsters) had me giggling out loud every couple of minutes. Rare and welcome.
Less amusingly, I finally did my tax for the year ending 2020! What? How late am I? Oh well, I hear you can get a lot of reading done in prison…
What else I read
The Salt Path was book 52 for 2021.
Since mid-June, when I last wrote an update, I’ve also been reading:
Rebekah Campbell, 138 Dates
Stacey Halls, Mrs England
Evelyn Waugh, Scoop
Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Jade Miles, Futuresteading
Nigel Slater, Eating for England
Clover Stroud, The Wild Other
Otegha Uwagba, We Need to Talk About Money
Bill Hayes, Insomniac City
Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt, The 99% Invisible City
Ruth Adam, A House in the Country
Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
Scott Bevan, The Harbour
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