1martencat
The book buying continued apace in 2025, so the physical stack is leaning ominously and the virtual ROOTS pile has toppled over. Reading my ROOTS proceeded at a lower pace, but I hit my goal in 2025 but lets not mention posting on the chat. Still time to turn to a new clear page for 2026.
The plan is to read 18 books. I have more non-fiction than fiction so aiming for 12:6 non-fiction to fiction split.
If the book is on my bookshelves or Kindle at midnight on 31st December then it counts as a ROOT, even if I only got it for Christmas in December. Re-reads do not count towards my ROOT total.
A big, bold New Year’s resolution - to read books as I acquire them - and to read the ones I already own.
Hoping for a year of great reading
The plan is to read 18 books. I have more non-fiction than fiction so aiming for 12:6 non-fiction to fiction split.
If the book is on my bookshelves or Kindle at midnight on 31st December then it counts as a ROOT, even if I only got it for Christmas in December. Re-reads do not count towards my ROOT total.
A big, bold New Year’s resolution - to read books as I acquire them - and to read the ones I already own.
Hoping for a year of great reading
2martencat
ROOTS Reading summary
FICTION
#1 A darker domain by Val McDermid
#2 The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid
#3 Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
#4 Broken Ground by Val McDermid
#5 Still Life by Val McDermid
#6 Past Lying by Val McDermid
NON FICTION
#1 Local a search for nearby nature and wilderness by Alistair Humphreys
#2 The Glorious Life of the Oak by John Lewis-Stempel
#3 Nature's Ghosts: the world we lost and how o bring it back by Sophie Yeo
#4 The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes
#5 The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris
#6 Irresponsible Traveller ed Tim Cahill
FICTION
#1 A darker domain by Val McDermid
#2 The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid
#3 Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
#4 Broken Ground by Val McDermid
#5 Still Life by Val McDermid
#6 Past Lying by Val McDermid
NON FICTION
#1 Local a search for nearby nature and wilderness by Alistair Humphreys
#2 The Glorious Life of the Oak by John Lewis-Stempel
#3 Nature's Ghosts: the world we lost and how o bring it back by Sophie Yeo
#4 The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes
#5 The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris
#6 Irresponsible Traveller ed Tim Cahill
6MissWatson
Welcome back and good luck with your goal!
7rabbitprincess
Welcome back and have a great reading year!
9martencat
>8 Jackie_K: , >7 rabbitprincess: , >6 MissWatson: & >5 connie53:
It's good to be back. I hope your reading year is going well.
It's good to be back. I hope your reading year is going well.
10martencat
Off to my best ROOTing start as I read the Karen Pirie novels by Val McDermid almost back to back. The 1st in the series was the last ROOT of 2025. Throughly enjoyed the mix of the cold case and contempory story lines in eash book.
Not sure that the latest in the series is going to have time to sprout and become a true ROOT
Not sure that the latest in the series is going to have time to sprout and become a true ROOT
11martencat
Fiction roots 1 - 6
Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series - a very enjoyable set of books mixing old and new crimes. The lastest nook was on offer earlier in the year and I don't think it will turn into a root
Non-fiction root #1
Local: a search for nearby nature and wilderness by Alistair Humphreys.
Not entirely sure where I first heard of the author, but I think it was in the context of adventurous and challenging travels around the world, so the premise of the book a year spent exploring only the area covered by his local OS map sounded intriguing an area of 20km by 20km. He never explicitly states where but it's certainly not one of the tourist hotspots, with a mixture of urban areas and straggley green belt, no large hills and a bit of coast.
Being forced to slow down and observe by his self-impossed limit of one km2 per week, selected randomly, was an interesting process both for him as a writer and me as a reader. He doesn't dive into any issue or subject in great depths but does cover a great variety of topics, from the wildlife he sees to land use and access, passing by history and social geography.
Once the km square was chosen he aimed to explore all the paths and roads in the square, talking photos and notes, talking to the people he met before disapppearing down various internet research rabbit holes. If you are curious about anything and everthing then nowhere is truely boring.
I'm not sure i could stick to such a small area each week but I shall try to slow down, be more curious about my local area, which was the point of the book.
Val McDermid's Karen Pirie series - a very enjoyable set of books mixing old and new crimes. The lastest nook was on offer earlier in the year and I don't think it will turn into a root
Non-fiction root #1
Local: a search for nearby nature and wilderness by Alistair Humphreys.
Not entirely sure where I first heard of the author, but I think it was in the context of adventurous and challenging travels around the world, so the premise of the book a year spent exploring only the area covered by his local OS map sounded intriguing an area of 20km by 20km. He never explicitly states where but it's certainly not one of the tourist hotspots, with a mixture of urban areas and straggley green belt, no large hills and a bit of coast.
Being forced to slow down and observe by his self-impossed limit of one km2 per week, selected randomly, was an interesting process both for him as a writer and me as a reader. He doesn't dive into any issue or subject in great depths but does cover a great variety of topics, from the wildlife he sees to land use and access, passing by history and social geography.
Once the km square was chosen he aimed to explore all the paths and roads in the square, talking photos and notes, talking to the people he met before disapppearing down various internet research rabbit holes. If you are curious about anything and everthing then nowhere is truely boring.
I'm not sure i could stick to such a small area each week but I shall try to slow down, be more curious about my local area, which was the point of the book.
12connie53
Just popping in to see what you have been reading.
The Val McDermid are on my shelves as well, some read, some not.
The Val McDermid are on my shelves as well, some read, some not.
13martencat
>12 connie53: Hi Connie,
I can recommend getting those Val McDernid books off the shelf and reading them. I have just finished reading her latest Karen Pirie "Slient Bones", which was very enjoyable
I can recommend getting those Val McDernid books off the shelf and reading them. I have just finished reading her latest Karen Pirie "Slient Bones", which was very enjoyable
14martencat
Non-Fiction ROOT #2 The Glorious Life of the Oak by John Lewis-Stempel
As the chapter headings indicate the oak occupies a special space in the British countryside, history and myths. A very short book, so skimmed the surface of the subject. He's normally a more interesting writer than this.
As the chapter headings indicate the oak occupies a special space in the British countryside, history and myths. A very short book, so skimmed the surface of the subject. He's normally a more interesting writer than this.
15martencat
Non-fiction ROOT #3 Nature's Ghosts by Sophie Yeo
A very interesting book. There's a lot of discussion around the subject of re-wilding in some conversation circles, see interest generated by the Knepp estate and Isabella Tree's book wilding and landscape scale restoration of nature and the re-introduction of keystone species such as beavers or wolves to enhance biodiversity and return to a more natural state and allow natural processes to run their course rather than focusing on maintaining the status quo.
The book asks the question, mostly in a British isles context, what is the natural state of an environment and habitat and when did Home sapiens first begin to shape and influence the environment. The short answer to that is much earlier than had been previously thought by the use of fire, the hunting of the mega-fauna after the last ice-age and the clearing of forests by flint hand tools.
She is also very interesting on the subject of shifting base-lines and what historic date should the restoring conservationist aim for. Absence of written records does not mean that the species was not there previously, the sharks of the pacific atolls or the beavers of California hunted to extinction before the written records, as the evidence of their presence in ceremonial weapons in faraway museums and re-found historic dams proves. Just because a species is not threatened with extinction does not meant that it is thriving.
A very interesting book. There's a lot of discussion around the subject of re-wilding in some conversation circles, see interest generated by the Knepp estate and Isabella Tree's book wilding and landscape scale restoration of nature and the re-introduction of keystone species such as beavers or wolves to enhance biodiversity and return to a more natural state and allow natural processes to run their course rather than focusing on maintaining the status quo.
The book asks the question, mostly in a British isles context, what is the natural state of an environment and habitat and when did Home sapiens first begin to shape and influence the environment. The short answer to that is much earlier than had been previously thought by the use of fire, the hunting of the mega-fauna after the last ice-age and the clearing of forests by flint hand tools.
She is also very interesting on the subject of shifting base-lines and what historic date should the restoring conservationist aim for. Absence of written records does not mean that the species was not there previously, the sharks of the pacific atolls or the beavers of California hunted to extinction before the written records, as the evidence of their presence in ceremonial weapons in faraway museums and re-found historic dams proves. Just because a species is not threatened with extinction does not meant that it is thriving.
16connie53
Hi MC, Thanks for recommending Val McDermid to me again.
17martencat
Non-fiction ROOT #4 The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes
A very interesting read on the subject of the earliest travel bucket list, only one survives to be included on the modern travel bucket list - the Great Pyramid at Giza. This is the list as created by the writers of Ancient Greece, so they are all concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean and middle east, and I was surprised by the very short time period that many were built in.
As someone who likes gardening and visiting gardens the wonder that I would want to visit would be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, sadly these turn out to be the ones with the least historic detail and evidence, it's not even clear from the contemporary sources where they where or how they actually hung.
Bettany Hughes is very good on the historic context of who, how and why the wonders were built. Some were wonders for a very short time (The Colossus of Rhodes) but the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria lasted a very long time.
A very interesting read on the subject of the earliest travel bucket list, only one survives to be included on the modern travel bucket list - the Great Pyramid at Giza. This is the list as created by the writers of Ancient Greece, so they are all concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean and middle east, and I was surprised by the very short time period that many were built in.
As someone who likes gardening and visiting gardens the wonder that I would want to visit would be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, sadly these turn out to be the ones with the least historic detail and evidence, it's not even clear from the contemporary sources where they where or how they actually hung.
Bettany Hughes is very good on the historic context of who, how and why the wonders were built. Some were wonders for a very short time (The Colossus of Rhodes) but the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria lasted a very long time.
18martencat
Non-fiction ROOT #5 The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris
This book has been lingering in the ROOT pile for awhile, the news that the Bayeux tapestry is returning to England (it was almost certainly sown in Canterbury) after nine centuries prompted me to re-arrange the ROOT pile. I am glad that I did.
Marc Morris does a very good job of drawing on the various partisan sources to give an overview of England pre-conquest, the events of the conquest itself and the aftermath until the death of William. Although, as he notes the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles the events of 1084 in a single sentence.
The early eleventh century was a turbulent time in England, the rules of succession for the throne of England were slightly fluid, it's desirable to be a close blood relative of the previous king but approval by the leading men of the kingdom was a requirement for success. King Edward, succeeding his father only after the invasion, reign and death of King Cnut, logically the next heir was the young teenager Edgar AEtheling. As a leading magnate Harold Godwinson, was able to persuade his fellow magnates and relatives to back him in early 1066. Picking through the sources it's likely that both Harold and William had their eyes on the throne before Edward's death.
The events of 1066 are covered in detail.
The Doomsday book complied in 1086 documents not only the almost complete change in land ownership over the preceding twenty years, but the devastation and destruction that followed the conquest as William struggled to control the country as in turn almost every English magnate rose in rebellion. The conquest shaped the language with Latin not Anglo-Saxon becoming the language of legal documents, the landscape with the building of many castles, but also the great cathedrals such as Durham being built shortly afterwards.
Will I go and see the tapestry at the British Museum or wait until it returns to the refurbished museum in Bayeux and explore Normandy further? Maybe both
This book has been lingering in the ROOT pile for awhile, the news that the Bayeux tapestry is returning to England (it was almost certainly sown in Canterbury) after nine centuries prompted me to re-arrange the ROOT pile. I am glad that I did.
Marc Morris does a very good job of drawing on the various partisan sources to give an overview of England pre-conquest, the events of the conquest itself and the aftermath until the death of William. Although, as he notes the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles the events of 1084 in a single sentence.
The early eleventh century was a turbulent time in England, the rules of succession for the throne of England were slightly fluid, it's desirable to be a close blood relative of the previous king but approval by the leading men of the kingdom was a requirement for success. King Edward, succeeding his father only after the invasion, reign and death of King Cnut, logically the next heir was the young teenager Edgar AEtheling. As a leading magnate Harold Godwinson, was able to persuade his fellow magnates and relatives to back him in early 1066. Picking through the sources it's likely that both Harold and William had their eyes on the throne before Edward's death.
The events of 1066 are covered in detail.
The Doomsday book complied in 1086 documents not only the almost complete change in land ownership over the preceding twenty years, but the devastation and destruction that followed the conquest as William struggled to control the country as in turn almost every English magnate rose in rebellion. The conquest shaped the language with Latin not Anglo-Saxon becoming the language of legal documents, the landscape with the building of many castles, but also the great cathedrals such as Durham being built shortly afterwards.
Will I go and see the tapestry at the British Museum or wait until it returns to the refurbished museum in Bayeux and explore Normandy further? Maybe both
19martencat
Non-fiction ROOT # 6 The Irresponsible Traveller tales of scrapes and narrow escapes
A mix of short, mostly magazine article length travellers tales, a number of well known names (who feature in the cover art) and less well known writers. The tales ran from genuinely terrifying to the amusing scrapes, wildlife and natural phenomenon, man-made hazards and border crossings, and the unpredictable to the entirely self-inflicted (failure to check the itinerary and packing light).
A mix of short, mostly magazine article length travellers tales, a number of well known names (who feature in the cover art) and less well known writers. The tales ran from genuinely terrifying to the amusing scrapes, wildlife and natural phenomenon, man-made hazards and border crossings, and the unpredictable to the entirely self-inflicted (failure to check the itinerary and packing light).
