Your favourite books of 2019 (1 Viewer)

[Melanie]

This year I've bought 29 books, many of them on bird or animal art. Eleven out of them are novelties:

1) Flock Together: A Love Affair with Extinct Birds by B. J. Hollars (from 2016). Interesting stories on extinct North American Birds.

2) Lost (from 2018): Markus Mauthe is a German nature and portrait photographer. For this book he visited some of the most remote living tribes on this planet which are already on the brink of extinction.

3) Birds of Japan (from 2019). Lynx Field Guide

4) Birds of Vietnam (from 2018). Lynx Field Guide

5) Handbook of Bird Families (from 2019), by Jonathan Elphick

6) Handbook of the Mammals of the World (from 2019). The ultimate book of the HMW series

7) The Complete Guide to Australian Birds (from 2019) by George Adams, a comprehensive field guide with photographes of the most Australian birds, including the Night parrot

8) Oceanic Birds of the World A Photo Guide (from 2019), Photo guide on all sea birds of the world

9) Birds: Ornithology and the Great Bird Artists (from 2019), book on the greatest bird artists of several centuries from the beginning of bird art to Elizabeth Butterworth.

10) Around the World for Albatrosses. (from 2019) Beautifully photographed book on the "king of the oceans".

11) The Life of Animals in Japanese Art (from 2019). Beautifully illustrated book on the exhibition which was shown from June to August 2019 in the National Galery of Art in Washington. It covers 17 centuries of Japanese animal art.

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In addition i have a currently a one year Wikipedia access to DeGruyter where i have download the book Elephant by Errol Fuller (from 2019) as PDF ebook.

 

[Steve Lister]

I have been a lot more restrained than Melanie but the stand-out book for me is one of her choices, Oceanic Birds of the World by Howell and Zufelt. A real eye-opener to what might come to pass in the future. I had never heard of 'Titan Storm-petrel' and several other possible new species before.

Steve

 

[Andy Adcock]

Probably less than a quarter of what I've bought this year........not boasting, just obsessed and can't pick a favourite.


Birds of Japan (from 2019). Lynx Field Guide
Birds of Vietnam (from 2018). Lynx Field Guide
Handbook of the Mammals of the World (from 2019). The ultimate book of the HMW series
Oceanic Birds of the World A Photo Guide (from 2019), Photo guide on all sea birds of the world
The Hobby by Anthony Chapman - Arlequin Press Hardback, 1999
Birds of blakeney Point, Andy Stoddart and Steve Joyner 2005
The Natural History of Pollination (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 83) Hardcover – 14 Jul 2009
Ferns (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 74) 2009
Australian Birds of Prey in Flight Paperback – 28 Feb 2019
A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife, Shirahai, Hardcover – 8 Mar 2019

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Really enjoyed Bird Therapy by Joe Harkness and have just started The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd. Pretty decent so far.

Rich

 

[Scridifer]

Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names by Stephen Moss. I coudn't put it down!

Chris

 

[aeshna5]

Always difficult to remember what I bought early this year + what I bought last year. Like Andy a bit of a natural history book collector. Though a keen birder I think of myself as an all round naturalist as demonstrated in my choices.

Latest acquisition yesterday a real gem- Atlas of Britain + Ireland's Larger Moths.

Also New Naturalist Garden Birds by Mike Toms + NN Gulls by John Coulson
Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies by Peter Eeles- a real labour of love!
Grasshoppers & Crickets of Italy- great to have another European Orthoptera guide
Amphibians of Europe, North Africa & the Middle East by Christophe Dufresnes
Europe's Sea Mammals Wild Guides
The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson
Field Guide to the Orchids of Europe & the Mediterranean by Kuhn, Pederson + Cribb.

 

[Andy Adcock]

A book I've just started, looks as though it will be a very interesting read.

Called 'Bristow and the Hastings rarities affair', written by Dr James M. Harrison D.S.C and published in 1968, it sets out to defend or at least, more thoroughly investigate the alleged guilt, of one of the perpetrators of this famous fraud ( or was it?), the taxidermist George Bristow.

 

[Murray Lord]

A book I've just started, looks as though it will be a very interesting read.

Called 'Bristow and the Hastings rarities affair', written by Dr James M. Harrison D.S.C and published in 1968, it sets out to defend or at least, more thoroughly investigate the alleged guilt, of one of the perpetrators of this famous fraud ( or was it?), the taxidermist George Bristow.

After you finish it you might then be interested in watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-foPeqda55c

 

[Andy Adcock]

After you finish it you might then be interested in watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-foPeqda55c

Thanks for that, I certainly will watch that.

Still in the early part of the book due to time constraints but Bristow was basically defamed it seems on a purely statistical basis and the methodology usesd in the appraisal of those stats, has been greatly criticisesd if not discredited altogether.

 

[John Cantelo]

A book I've just started, looks as though it will be a very interesting read.

Called 'Bristow and the Hastings rarities affair', written by Dr James M. Harrison D.S.C and published in 1968, it sets out to defend or at least, more thoroughly investigate the alleged guilt, of one of the perpetrators of this famous fraud ( or was it?), the taxidermist George Bristow.

I read the book years ago and thought its argument was weak and unconvincing particularly after reading 'The Hastings Rarities again’ (Brit. Birds, 62: 364-381). In my mind, it's very difficult to suggest a scenario where Bristow wasn't knowingly involved in some way even if he wasn't the brains behind the fraud.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I read the book years ago and thought its argument was weak and unconvincing particularly after reading 'The Hastings Rarities again’ (Brit. Birds, 62: 364-381). In my mind, it's very difficult to suggest a scenario where Bristow wasn't knowingly involved in some way even if he wasn't the brains behind the fraud.

As I said John, only just started it but did the committee really bin the records and destroy a mans rep, solely on the basis of statistics and probablity?

 

[Maroon Jay]

Birding on Borrowed Time autobiography of Phoebe Snetsinger. This woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer and spends the rest of her life birding. Amazing adventures. Every birder should read this.
Life List. Another biography of Phoebe Snetsinger. Another person's point of view written by a non-birder. Good story.
Birds of Panama. A Zona Tropica Fieldguide
A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama by Angehr and Engleman
Birds of Costa Rica A Zona Tropica Fieldguide
A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica by Lawson
Birds of the Middle East A Princeton Filed Guide
Birds of the United Arab Emirates - an old used book out of print
Birds of Oman A Helm Field Guide
Birds of Singapore which got lost in the mail and never showed up.
Birds and Mammals of the Falkland Islands by Woods
Wildlife of the Galapagos by Fitter and Hosking
So by my purchases, you can guess where I am going birding over the next two years.