My reviews have got a little out of order, I’m afraid, because books I review for Shiny New Books have a necessary gap between reading and reviewing which is (usually) slightly longer than the gap on here. So, this was #20BooksOfSummer Book 7 and apart from being a really difficult book to photograph (the cover is meant to look like bark and then it has shiny wording – however you take the photograph it shines weirdly!) it was a very, very good read indeed, and hugely inspiring.

Here’s an excerpt from my review on the Shiny website – to read more, follow this link.

The book gives practical tools and tips for how to, for example, navigate a moonlit walk (did you know how long it takes your eyes to adjust to the dark?) or walk more quietly (not necessarily barefoot), backing it up with his own examples (watching badgers and being surprised by a Masai tracker creeping up on him, respectively) and also the science behind it (rods and cones explain why it takes your eyes that long, and the bare foot has many nerves and receptors).

… He makes it very clear that these skills are not special ones that we need to learn, but innate abilities we simply need to relearn; that our bodies and brains are set up to be able to do this stuff. (read more)

I’ve just finished reading Book 10, John-Paul Flintoff’s slightly patchy “Sew Your Own”, which will be reviewed next, as Book 9, Stuart Maconie’s excellent “Road from Jarrow” was also reviewed for Shiny and isn’t out quite yet. Anyway, as I’m just under half way through the 20 Books period, I’m keeping up nicely and on track. Having said that, I couldn’t wait to red Marian Keyes’ new book, “The Break” from NetGalley, so I’m currently on that and another non-20 Books read.

How are you getting on? Do you fancy a midnight walk?