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books, fauna guide books, flora guide books, identification aids, identification keys, species identification books, wildlife guide books
Are you a bibliophile? My love of books is very deeply ingrained: as a child I read voraciously, I worked in book publishing for 10 years, and libraries and bookshops are amongst my favourite indoor places. I don’t yet have a large library of reference books for British flora and fauna but my collection is slowly growing as I trawl through the offerings at local second-hand book and charity shops or allow myself the luxury of buying a new guide.
As well as the reference books, I also like to read books by authors who write more broadly about the natural world. Recent favourite reads have been James Rebanks’ The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District, and I am working my way through the many publications of Robert Macfarlane, which has also led me to a book which is now particular favourite of mine, Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain. If you have suggestions for Nature or wildlife-related books I really should read or own, I would love to hear about them.
Oh, and as a nod to World Book Day I’ve updated the ‘Resources’ page on this blog (see link above; it also includes many useful websites).
earthstar 
My collection is pretty exrensive and eclectic too, I especially love my old books and one of my favourites is ‘Faber’s Book of Insects’, despite some of the observations being a little dubious. I find having more than one book on a subject often helps with a tricky identification as illustrations are variable and one may come up trumps while another doesn’t resonate with me at all.
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I’m torn between drawings and photographs for ID purposes – the more aids the better, I think.
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This is good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collins_Bird_Guide
Also, while not scientific there are two bird books that are out of print but worth finding second-hand, by a woman who went by the name of Len (Gwendolen) Howard, called ‘Birds as Individuals’ and ‘Living with birds’. Here’s the wiki entry on her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Howard
And yes, I love books as long as they are engaging and informative. 🙂
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Excellent. Thanks very much for those recommendations, Val. 🙂
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Well, I am only part way through this book so perhaps it is too early to make a recommendation, but it is certainly thought provoking. I picked my copy up cheaply at a bird conference last year. This is a link https://wordery.com/the-new-wild-fred-pearce-9781848318342?currency=GBP>rck=Qy9teGQrSTVuWFVzMStSZU95dnhYYjBpNHR5OGFLVGRRL01iUHhXbVFzbkE3MGxlS3JkSFBodndRWEVsanJsaDhTaHhzTTQ0MDlqc0YyOGJMWnRrWWc9PQ&gclid=Cj0KEQiAot_FBRCqt8jVsoDKoZABEiQAqFL76N3ahrlDu39D00LjbQYEFmE2lsORrrUquwUi1q–heQaAmUs8P8HAQ
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Thanks for this, Joyce. I have it tagged in my ‘Books to read’ folder on Pinterest. Very timely as I’m working on blogs for Invasive Species week later this month so will see if I can get this from the library.
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Oh my I could be looking at myself here! I have some of the books you have here, Annie, and I especially like the Fascinated by Fungi’ book. I have too many books really, and not enough room to put them, lol! I must have about 6 books on fungi alone, apart from my books on flora and fauna. But they are always a great read and reference.
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The ‘too many books’ seems to be a common problem, Pete. But, despite all the wonderful online tools now available, I still think good reference books are a good investment. 🙂
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I agree 100% Annie!
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I am. Your book collection reminds me very much of the books my father had, though his were older volumes.
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Good memories, hopefully, Susan. 🙂
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Very much so.
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If you’re interested in insects I would recommend books from Dave Goulson. I really enjoyed reading those.
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Thanks very much for that. Googled … the Bumblebee Trust founder … will definitely check his books out! 🙂
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