An Irish Nature Year

By: Jane Powers

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

Call it a daily meditation on the world around us for nature-lovers and nature newbies alike, An Irish Nature Year gleefully explores the small mysteries of the seasons as they unfold – Who’s cutting perfect circles in your roses? Which birds wear feathery trousers? And what, exactly, is an amethyst deceiver?

An Irish Nature Year is an illustrated day book filled with plants, animals, birds and creepy-crawlies from all over the island of Ireland. With one short entry for every day of the year, nature columnist Jane Powers serves up 5 minutes’ worth of wonderment to enjoy on your coffee break, on your commute, or to relax with at bedtime.

From ‘weeds’ in the pavement cracks and surprising inhabitants of vacant lots, to unusual finds along our shoreline and hedgerows, you’ll find more of the natural world to admire right under your nose, and relish the little things that mark the passing of the seasons across the ever-changing Irish landscape.

©2020 Jane Powers (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘An Irish Nature Year by Jane Powers: you’ll love the cover…Very sweet day book filled with plants and animals and birds and creepy crawlies from all over the island of Ireland…really lovely’ – Ryan Tubridy

‘Written by the award-winning garden writer Jane Powers, now nature diarist for the Sunday Times, An Irish Nature Year is the perfect pocket-sized stocking filler for anyone with an interest in garden wildlife from speckled wood butterflies and summer snowflakes to spiders, swallows and field mice.’ – Irish Times

‘Jane’s knowledge of the wonders of nature all around her is immense… Developing such knowledge may take a lifetime, but dipping into the book during the months (it is published in diary form) will help us all to understand at least a small bit more of this rich tapestry’. – Irish Examiner

Wow!

Anyone with an interest in anything nature-related would be dead center target audience here: hikers, bird watchers, gardeners, etc. For the rest, including myself, material a bit overwhelming at times. However, that may be from reading (listening to) the material pretty much straight through as a book. Obviously, a library borrowing comes with restraints that way; but, if possible, it would likely be better to do a smaller amount per visit.

And, this is where the audio vs. print edition discussion kicks in... Narration struck me as, dare I say it, exquisite. Saying the reader "nailed" it would almost be an understatement (added bonus of hearing the Irish words pronounced), but as indicated the material threw a lot of unfamiliar terrain at me. So, there's a strong case for going the print route. I could see reading the entries daily over tea/coffee. Moreover, as a tradeoff from the perfect narration, I understand the illustrations are very well done! I might actually get a hardcopy as well, though a re-listen, say at the beginning of each month might be a solid plan as well (now I'm hearing my own words with the narrator's Irish accent).

Anyway, you want somewhere beautiful for an escape? You got it!