A Book Prize List Worth Reading

There are lots of Book Awards out there............. The Man Booker, The Pulitzer, The Baileys Womens prize, The Costa, The Wellcome and a lot of others.
When a list of nominations appears anywhere I usually find I've not read any and wouldn't want to read them by choice anyway.

But this list popped up in an email from National Book Tokens .
It was the nominations list for  The Wainwright Prize for "the best writing on The Outdoors, Nature and UK Travel Writing. Named in honour of Alfred Wainwright, the fell walker and author, you can read about it here


 Goodness, people I'd actually heard of and a couple I've read already,


The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell

Hidden Nature by Alys Fowler
Outskirts by John Grindrod
The Dun Cow Rib by John Lister-Kaye
The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
The Seabird’s Cry by Adam Nicolson
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Neil Ansell also wrote "Deep Country: 5 years in the Welsh Hills"  which was a good account of his time in a remote hovel in the hills.
 I did have the book for ages but it went off to ziffit recently - worth over £2 to them that day. I shall order this new one from the library.

I read the Alys Fowler book last year. This is what I said about "Hidden Nature". 
 She travels round the unknown bits of the Birmingham canal system in an inflatable canoe noting wildlife etc. But it's also a story  of finding she is gay at the age of 37 and coming out to live with garden designer Charlotte Harris.(Published 2017)
  She is more well known for her various gardening books.

I don't know John Grindrod but will order this from the library too

The John Lister-Kaye book I borrowed earlier this year but sent it back unread although I can't remember why so I'll borrow it again and find out.

I borrowed The Lost Words from the library, it's a huge book, (as in Outsize not in length) with lovely illustrations.

Adam Nicolson is famous for being the grandson of Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson and the husband of the garden designer and flower grower Sarah Raven and was the driving force in the re-organisation of the Gardens at Sissinghurst National Trust property. He has written lots of books before this one and I've read Perch Hill, which is about the reclaiming of their house and garden. This new book looks at how seabirds are endangered. Not sure I want to read it.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn was an unknown but there are 30+ people on the library waiting list so I'm obviously the only person who hasn't heard about this book.
This is the library description
In one devastating week, Raynor and her husband Moth lost their home of 20 years, just as a terminal diagnosis took away their future together. With nowhere else to go, they decided to walk the South West Coast Path: a 630-mile sea-swept trail from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall. This ancient, wind-battered landscape strips them of every comfort they had previously known. With very little money for food or shelter, Raynor and Moth carry everything on their backs and wild camp on beaches and clifftops. But slowly, with every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, the walk sets them on a remarkable journey. They don't know how far they will travel, but - to their surprise - they find themselves on a path to freedom

Sounds good - I shall add myself to the waiting list.

I began this post weeks ago before the winner was announce and strangely enough when the winner was announced it was the very book that I said I wouldn't want to read............................The Seabirds Cry.


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Sue