Misc. Adventures x Adventurous Ink
We're gifting copies of our favourite nature book! Read on to find out more...
Hello! Sorry for the interruption to our regular schedule, but we wanted to tell you about something fun. As we briefly mentioned in last Friday’s digest, we have been asked to be the first ever guest curators of Adventurous Ink!
In case you don’t already know, Adventurous Ink is a book subscription club curated by Tim Frenneaux to help people discover the best adventure stories and nature writing every month. Tim does a wonderful job as curator and has built a strong community of folks connected by a love of good books and the great outdoors. Tim has been a longtime friend and supporter of Misc. Adventures so when we were asked to choose one of our favourite books to share with his community we were only too happy to take part.
Picking just one book to recommend to a community of avid readers feels like a big responsibility. We read A LOT of books about nature and the outdoors; everything from nature writing classics to contemporary conservation writing with plenty of field guides, natural history books and even a few academic textbooks in between.
Narrowing it down to one though was surprisingly easy.
Moving to the woods 11 years ago was completely life changing. For the first time we started to think more deeply about nature and how it made us feel. We started to look more closely at the plants and wildlife around us, consider interactions between species and think about why the landscape looks the way it does (why are there woods here, but not there?). Alongside learning by living and doing, we also sought the wisdom of those with more experience to help us make sense of the new things we were seeing and feeling by reading voraciously. One book stands out as being particularly influential, which brings us (finally) to our choice: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.
There are so many reasons why we have picked this book and why we think you should read it, and we’ll have plenty of time over the next few weeks to talk about it in detail. But briefly, this was the book that helped us to start seeing ourselves as part of nature, as equal members of the biotic community. It got us thinking about the relationships between nature and society, forcing us to consider whether “progress” was worth the cost to the living planet. Leopold’s direct, yet beautifully descriptive writing encouraged us to pay attention to the details in nature and to be inquisitive about the world around us.
This iconic book has inspired countless naturalists, conservationists, writers and activists and we think despite being written over 70 years it still has the potential to inspire you too…
The deal is this: we have a bunch of gift copies of the book to give away and once these have gone, there are a further batch of books that we can share at a reduced price of £4.99. All you need to do is head over to Adventurous Ink and sign up as a subscriber to get your copy. We’ll also be sharing thoughts, doing readings and talking about our book choice in a live interview with Tim between now and the end of May.
As a new subscriber, you’ll be reminded before any further payments are taken for future months and are welcome to change your mind at any point, or choose to continue with your subscription and receive carefully chosen nature and adventure books as often as you’d like!
Here’s hoping you get a copy and give it a read, or, if you’ve already read A Sand County Almanac then please do pass this on to anyone else who might interested in getting their hands on a copy!
Until Friday, when our regular digest will be landing in your inbox,
Warmest wishes and happy reading,
Andrew, Emma and Benji
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