Happy #EarthDay from Saraband
Posted on April 22, 2020
Highlighting the world’s natural beauty and importance has always been a driving force for us at Saraband. From rocks to roads, coasts to rivers, trees to edible plants, birds to badgers, everything plays its part.
So, to celebrate Earth Day 2020 we’ve collated a list of book and podcast recommendations to get you thinking about (and enjoying) our wonderful world from the comfort of your home.
Books to read now: The Nature of Spring by Jim Crumley and The Blackbird Diaries by Karen Lloyd
We’ve put together a discounted bundle of two beautiful books about nature and the environment, The Nature of Spring by Jim Crumley (hardback) and The Blackbird Diaries by Karen Lloyd (paperback). Usually priced at £12.99 each, for 24 hours only this exclusive Earth Day deal offers you the chance to purchase both books for just £20.
You can buy the bundle from us here.
Books to look forward to: The Nature of Summer, Jim Crumley
Out in May, The Nature of Summer concludes Jim’s seasons series with a book that not only celebrates our natural world, but explores what’s at stake as our seasons are pushed beyond nature’s limits.
In the abiding light of summer, the nature in Jim Crumley’s heartlands of Scotland is burgeoning freely. Seals sing, brown hares bound, dragonflies dance. His silent vigils reveal not only an enchanting account of summer’s exuberant profusion, but the unfolding climate chaos. From declining puffin populations to the demise of entire glaciers, this is a world in crisis … and of everyday miracles on land, mountains, lochs, coasts and skies.
Jim Crumley’s intimate portraits branch out beyond the heart of the Highlands to memories of summers past: from kittiwake cliffs in far-flung St Kilda to the pure wilderness of Arctic Norway, where sea eagles rule.
You can pre-order The Nature of Summer now.
Books to look forward to: The Garden Cure, Jan Cameron
Out in June, The Garden Cure explores how nature, plants and gardening – particularly community gardening – can have a positive effect on our mental well-being and growth.
Jan distils a lifetime’s experience of award-winning work in community gardens and with people recovering from mental illness to show in a direct, accessible way how tending these shared green spaces promotes our well-being and brings tremendous therapeutic benefits.
Using stories to illustrate different facets of the garden’s annual cycle, the author shows how stages of the growing year act as a powerful metaphor and can even mirror healing mechanisms for states of distress, anxiety, depression and other challenges. Jan is a passionate advocate for the principles of organic growing and how those, too, apply to human health.
At least one in four of us will experience mental health problems – and the beneficial values of working outside in nature are ever more recognised. This, then, is a timely and essential book for us all.
Podcasts to listen to now: Cabin Fever Fables with Anna Levin and Tiffany Francis on night skies and light pollution
Nature writers Tiffany Francis and Anna Levin discuss night skies, light pollution, how pollution levels are affected by the lockdown, and the difficult choices over our need for daylight and fresh air vs the necessary restrictions on going outside. Incandescent: We Need to Talk About Light by Anna Levin is available to buy from the Saraband Bookshop here.
Podcasts to listen to now: Cabin Fever Fables with Jim Crumley reading from The Nature of Spring
Nature writer Jim Crumley joins us for this episode and reads from The Nature of Spring, which was BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week this time last year. It’s a real tonic to hear Jim’s words while Coronavirus restrictions prevent us getting outside ourselves into the Countryside. What Jim lacks in the cooking inspiration, he more than makes up for with this scene of travelling to Mull on the ferry (enjoyable in itself) and then watching a sea eagle eyeing up its prey. You can buy The Nature of Spring as part of our Earth Day Bundle here.