Miscellaneous...

One of the problems with studying English is that things read a few months ago all congeal into the fuzzy blob of half-remembered quotes that is my memory. I can't remember where I read it but I remember Martin Amis once wrote something along the lines of, 'the problem with reviewing books is that your review is in the same medium. You can't help but be judged in comparison with what you're judging'. Or at least I think he said it. It could've been someone else. My memory might have made it up.

Anyway, with that in mind, here's my latest book review, of Anthony McGeehan's Birds Through Irish Eyes. I hope it doesn't suffer in the light of his writing. Click on the image and cross your fingers the hyperlink works.

And whilst we're on the topic, here are my older reviews on BirdGuides.

The Urban Birder by David Lindo
Facing Extinction by Paul Donald, et al.
The Jewel Hunter by Chris Goodie (The somewhat controversial one. I've reread the review but not the book (time issues) but I've passed it on to other people who said pretty much the same thing as me. I still think it's a good and fair review. See comments seven and eight for more of a discussion; see comments one to six for a pointless waste of everyone's entitlement to be a keyboard warrior.)
Birding from the Hip by Anthony McGeehan (The first one. I was a mere seventeen, acne ridden and prematurely bearded when I wrote this.)

In the meantime, I've been busy drowning in essays. Recently I stretched my legs for the first time in far too long and I found these fish trying too hard and getting nowhere:

And I know exactly what that feels like. Though to be fair I've never tried it in a river. I think they're trout; I imagine Atlantic Salmon to be much bigger and much more capable and taking that jump.


Winter arrived recently.

But hasn't been seen since. Waxwings are filtering through, and I'll probably spend the next fortnight wandering through the backstreets in search of Rowan trees, cotoneasters, etc. failing to find my own flocks. I have quite an extraordinary history of failure with these things, hopefully this year will be the year I finally find a decent flock.