Life Between the Tides

Life Between the Tides
Author: Adam Nicolson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2022-02-22
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0374721289

Adam Nicolson explores the marine life inhabiting seashore rockpools with a scientist’s curiosity and a poet’s wonder in this beautifully illustrated book. The sea is not made of water. Creatures are its genes. Look down as you crouch over the shallows and you will find a periwinkle or a prawn, a claw-displaying crab or a cluster of anemones ready to meet you. No need for binoculars or special stalking skills: go to the rocks and the living will say hello. Inside each rock pool tucked into one of the infinite crevices of the tidal coastline lies a rippling, silent, unknowable universe. Below the stillness of the surface course different currents of endless motion—the ebb and flow of the tide, the steady forward propulsion of the passage of time, and the tiny lifetimes of the rock pool’s creatures, all of which coalesce into the grand narrative of evolution. In Life Between the Tides, Adam Nicolson investigates one of the most revelatory habitats on earth. Under his microscope, we see a prawn’s head become a medieval helmet and a group of “winkles” transform into a Dickensian social scene, with mollusks munching on Stilton and glancing at their pocket watches. Or, rather, is a winkle more like Achilles, an ancient hero, throwing himself toward death for the sake of glory? For Nicolson, who writes “with scientific rigor and a poet’s sense of wonder” (The American Scholar), the world of the rock pools is infinite and as intricate as our own. As Nicolson journeys between the tides, both in the pools he builds along the coast of Scotland and through the timeline of scientific discovery, he is accompanied by great thinkers—no one can escape the pull of the sea. We meet Virginia Woolf and her Waves; a young T. S. Eliot peering into his own rock pool in Massachusetts; even Nicolson’s father-in-law, a classical scholar who would hunt for amethysts along the shoreline, his mind on Heraclitus and the other philosophers of ancient Greece. And, of course, scientists populate the pages; not only their discoveries, but also their doubts and errors, their moments of quiet observation and their thrilling realizations. Everything is within the rock pools, where you can look beyond your own reflection and find the miraculous an inch beneath your nose. “The soul wants to be wet,” Heraclitus said in Ephesus twenty-five hundred years ago. This marvelous book demonstrates why it is so. Includes Color and Black-and-White Photographs

Rock Pool

Rock Pool
Author: Heather Buttivant
Publisher: September Publishing
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2019-05-02
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 191283619X

'I recommend Heather's book to everyone. It's brilliant!' Dara McAnulty, author of Diary of a Young Naturalist An entrancing book of exploration, marine life and natural wonders. 'Wherever I go, I seek out beaches. They are woven through my life; a changing constant in a constantly changing world. Every walk through the rock pools, from the tideline to the low water mark, takes me on a journey into the sea and challenges my understanding of my world and of myself.' The British beach is full of creatures that we think we know - from crabs to clams, starfish to anemones. But, in fact, we barely understand how many survive or thrive. In Rock Pool the delights of childhood paddling are elevated to oceanic discoveries, as the fragile beauty and drama of intertidal existence is illustrated through the incredible lives of twenty-four individual creatures. The eye-opening account of a life-long passion by a talented writer and naturalist. 'Here are three simple steps to help you feel better about the world: read Heather Buttivant's marvellous book, grab a pair of wellies and get yourself to a rocky shore ... [a] thoughtful, enlightening and entertaining read.' BBC Wildlife Magazine

Wild Swimming Sydney, Australia

Wild Swimming Sydney, Australia
Author: Sally Tertini
Publisher: Wild Swimming
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2015-10-12
Genre: Bays
ISBN: 9781910636046

Sydney is surrounded by some of the most beautiful national parks and wilderness in the world. Dramatic canyons and serene rivers flow through pristine bush to meet a coastline of white sand and tidal pools. This book will guide you to the best the area has to offer while also celebrating the sheer joy of wild swimming.

The Essential Guide to Rockpooling

The Essential Guide to Rockpooling
Author: Julie Hatcher
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0691232431

The marine environment is a remarkable place – otherworldly and a source of endless fascination. The rocky shore where land meets sea, its array of life ever-changing with the tides, offers us a chance to explore this hidden world. This book reveals the astonishing diversity of wildlife on rocky shores and in the rockpools around the coast of Britain and gives readers a greater under-standing of the myriad creatures that can be found using a bit of simple detective work. Rockpooling is an activity enjoyed by children and adults alike. This guide will make your exploration even more rewarding, whether you are enjoying a day out at the seaside or seeking to expand your knowledge of a unique habitat. ​​​​​​ Detailed descriptions of around 400 common and rare rocky shore species Clear colour photographs of all the species described Tips and techniques describing how to find the more cryptic animals Ideas for rockpool-related family activities Information on threats to the intertidal environment Measures we can all take to safeguard the future of our rocky shore wildlife

Orkney

Orkney
Author: Amy Sackville
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2013-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1619022087

“A haunting novel” about sex and obsession, set off the coast of Scotland and “full of otherworldly emotion and strange impulses” (Marie Claire). A professor marries his prize student, a woman forty years his junior, and at her request, he takes her to the sea for their honeymoon. His life’s work is a book about enchantment–narratives in literature, most of them involving strange girls and women—but soon he finds himself distracted by his own enchantment with his new white–haired young wife. They travel to the Orkney Islands, the ancient Mesolithic and Neolithic site north of the Scottish coast, a barren place of extraordinary beauty known as “the Seal Islands.” And as the days of their honeymoon pass, his desire and his constant, yearning contemplation become his normality. His mysterious bride becomes his entire universe. He is consumed . . . From the author of The Still Point, a winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, this is a novel that “will appeal to literature aficionados: a Lolita–esque love, a romance born out of academia, and folklore come to life” (Booklist). “What begins as a familiar, almost fairytale–like narrative ends as something more fragmented, unsettling, and odd . . . Providing a brooding, bruised, ever–changing backdrop to all this is Orkney, the book’s most compelling character of all. In a tribute to Virginia Woolf’s experimental masterpiece, The Waves, the sea in Orkney functions as a kind of rhythmic talisman, its ebb and flow mirrored in the actions, ideas, and themes of the book. More than anything, Sackville’s Orkney is a breathtaking place in the most literal of senses.” —The Scotsman

Written on the Body

Written on the Body
Author: Jeanette Winterson
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2013-04-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307763595

The most beguilingly seductive novel to date from the author of The Passion and Sexing the Cherry. Winterson chronicles the consuming affair between the narrator, who is given neither name nor gender, and the beloved, a complex and confused married woman. “At once a love story and a philosophical meditation.” —New York Times Book Review.

Beachcombing

Beachcombing
Author: Ceridwen Fraser
Publisher:
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2021-07
Genre: Beachcombing
ISBN: 9781486314898

If you've ever walked along a beach or rocky shore and peered, poked or wondered at the things cast upon it by the waves, this book is for you. Beaches are our windows to the ocean, and the objects we find on them tell stories about life, death and dynamic processes in the sea. "Beachcombing" will help you to understand what you find on beaches, and the intriguing reasons these objects and organisms have come to be there.

The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay

The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay
Author: Julie Brooks
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-09-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1472279158

Two women set sail for Australia, bound by a terrible truth. But only one will make it off the ship. 'The writing is polished and evocative, the twists and turns are surprising, and the characters' stories emotionally compelling' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review 'Stunning . . . Julie Brooks has written an impeccably researched novel with a wonderful sense of history and character . . . I thoroughly recommend it to lovers of historical fiction' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review 'An incredibly moving story of two women . . . Beautifully written the books draws you in from the start. It's very emotional as the story moves from the different timelines' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay is a darkly gripping dual-time novel, with a wealth of twists, turns and secrets, and an absolute book club treat, perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Rachel Rhys and Hannah Richell. 'A sweeping tale of family secrets, betrayal, jealousy, ambition and forbidden romance . . . Fans of The Thorn Birds and Downton Abbey will love the epic scope of this novel' ALI MERCER 'I thoroughly enjoyed this immersive story which spans both generations and continents. The evocative details and impeccable research make for a delightful reading experience and I can pay it no greater compliment other than to say, I wish I'd written it' KATHRYN HUGHES 'This is an epic dual-time novel which draws the reader in right from the start and keeps you in thrall until the very last page. The writing is superb, the descriptions detailed, lush and evocative' CHRISTINA COURTENAY 'A gripping story full of family secrets: the price of love and loss within two generations . . . convincing and poignant' LEAH FLEMING 'Rich in evocative detail - the complex mystery kept me guessing right up to the last page' MUNA SHEHADI ........................................... England, 1919: Rose and Ivy board a ship bound for Australia. One is travelling there to marry a man she has never met. One is destined never to arrive. Australia, 2016: Amongst her late-grandmother's possessions, Molly uncovers a photograph of two girls dressed in First World War nurses' uniforms, labelled 'Rose and Ivy 1917', and a letter from her grandmother, asking her to find out what happened to her own mother, Rose, who disappeared in the 1960s. Compelled to carry out her grandmother's last wish, Molly embarks on a journey to England to unravel the mystery of the two girls whose photograph promised they'd be 'together forever' . . . ........................................... Readers LOVE The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay: 'This story was gripping and a joy to read' 'A touching and beautifully written story of friendship' 'I was totally gripped from the start, it was well written with good characters and I loved the dual timeline aspect. There was so much going on in this story and I just couldn't put it down' 'An emotional book . . . well written and interesting. I could imagine this book being discussed in book club' A book a treasures. A wealth of secrets. Look for Julie's next compelling novel, The Keepsake.

Powerless

Powerless
Author: Vicky Ball
Publisher: Burton Mayers Books
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2021-11-12
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 9781838345952

Beth is a teenager who has it all until an older man takes an interest in her. Then she disappears.