For this holiday we asked staff and students to contribute to SAC Seasonal Reads list -reccomendations for some downtime reading, or even to buy for friends and family as gifts. They also serve as an insight into the characters here at the school. We are running all the suggestions on our social media channels over the holidays. Thank you so much if you have contributed. All the submissions are below.
Professor Tracy Kivell
The Invention of Nature – Andrea Wulf
Head of School Tracy kivell explains her choice: My holiday book recommendation is “The Invention of Nature” by Andrea Wulf. She writes about the life of Alexander von Humboldt. Humboldt is a name many of us have heard of and maybe someone we even know a bit about as famous naturalist from the late 18th century. However, I had no idea of the amazing life that he led. This book has something for everyone… for geographers, conservationists, and anthropologists! He did it all!
E.C.S
The Snow Leopard – Peter Matthiessen
E.C.S (Environment, Conservation and Sustainability) reading recommendation would be “The Snow Leopard”, by Peter Matthiessen. It’s a powerfully peaceful read detailing the author’s travels with George Schaller, a (now world renowned) field biologist, through the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau. The story focuses far more on introspective travelling and wilderness than the snow leopard itself, although it does subtly underpin Mathiessen’s account.
MSc Conservation Project Management student Emily adds ‘Molecules of Emotion’ by Candace Pert to the list.
“We’ve heard of the phrase “mind body connection”, but did you know our emotions form that biomolecular link? Candace Pert was an incredible neuroscientist who overcame endless patriarchal boundaries throughout her academic journey. Her research has shown that the chemicals in our bodies form a dynamic network which shows that our emotions significantly impact our physical health and wellbeing. I love this book because it brings together science and spirituality in such a beautiful way that challenges the idea of why “hard” science is only valid when it is devoid of human emotion.”
Dr Sarah Johns
The Five – Hallie Rubenhold
Currently I am loving “The Five” by Hallie Rubenhold. It is an examination of the lives of Jack the Ripper’s victims. She’s not interested in the perpetrator (it’s not a whodunit) or the details of the murders – instead the book is really focussed on exploring the social history of women (and poor women in particular) in London at the end of the 19th century. Life was exceptionally hard, and women had little financial autonomy or control. So far it is a fascinating and absorbing read.
Dr David Roberts
Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa – Keith Somerville
“I would suggest for those students interested in the wildlife trade and politics ‘Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa’ by our very own Keith Somerville”
Jess Ryder – Student Support Officer
Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl
“I love sharing my childhood literary favourites with my children. Familiar and much-loved books are as cosy as a festive jumper!”
Lois Mitchell, a Conservation Project Management MSc and the Secretary of the Wellbeing subgroup for the Sustainability Working Group.
The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein.
“This is my favourite book I’ve ever read. It made me think about how I connect with people, what really matters in life and to never give up on your dreams. It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster but filled with funny moments. I recommend this to anyone who needs reminding that during rough times it’s worth pushing through the storm clouds to get to the Sun.”
Katie Hargrave-Smith, 3rd year Environmental Social Scientist and the Secretary of the Communications and Networking Subgroup
Reverie – Ryan La Sala
“The reason my selfie is with a phone is because I am an avid reader, but unfortunately my bank balance can’t keep up with me anymore. So I do most of my reading on my phone with the libby app. It is the library app for most of the UK, and lets you log into your local library and rent books and audio books for free. It is an incredibly affordable way to indulge in reading, and I use the audiobooks to help me sleep. (If you want help setting up the app, please feel free to message the SWG on insta and we can help!)
The book I am recommending is Reverie by Ryan La Sala. It is a recent release, and it was part of an online library book club. It is a fantasy novel about dream worlds colliding with reality, and has heavy LGBTQ+ representation, which was incredible to see as queer representation is still so limited in the mainstream literary world. While I think the representation could have gone further, I am looking forward to the future releases by La Sala.”
Myra Mansell, 3rd year WildCon student and part of SAC’s Sustainability Working Group
Flight Behaviour – Barbara Kingsolver
“Hi, I’m Myra! I’m a third year WildCon Student and part of SAC’s Sustainability Working Group. My holidays book recommendation is “Flight Behaviour” by Barbara Kingsolver. In this fiction novel, you will follow the life-changing findings of a 28-year-old discontented housewife as she immerses into the complexity of climate change. The former biologist will make you “think, believe and care – all at once”. There’s nothing better than learning while you enjoy a good book!”
Felicity Bennett, 2nd Year wildlife conservation BSc student, and secretary of the Waste subgroup for the Sustainability Working Group.
Amazons – John Man
“I’ve been reading more about the Chidera/Floss scandal today! There’s a lot to unpack about it.
A deep dive into the female warriors of Greek myth, exciting, empowering and compellingly written!”
James Kloda
How To Be A Brit: The George Mikes
Our Technical Support Officer for the School, and irrepressible news blog curator offered this suggestion:
“My recommendation for a ‘seasonal’ read is one perhaps peculiar to this particular December, the final month when the UK is a member state of the European Union. How To Be A Brit: The George Mikes omnibus collects the author’s three pithily humorous manuals on how to attain True Britishness. Mikes was a Hungarian-born journalist who was sent to London as a correspondent to cover the Munich crisis and subsequently decided to make England his home. During the Second World War, he broadcast for the BBC Hungarian Service and then continued to work as a freelancer critic, broadcaster and writer until his death in 198
In 1946, he published How To Be An Alien which established him as a humourist, the book eventually going into thirty editions. Broadly, it was an attempt to stomach what it meant to be British or, more to the point, English, from the perspective of an émigré, filled with observational musings on attitudes to the weather, the national drink (tea) and pastime (queueing), and epigrammatic statements on what differentiated ourselves to our neighbours: “Many continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game.” Not to mention swipes at the British art of compromise and sex itself: “Continental people have a sex life: the English have hot water bottles.” Mikes also compiled character sketches of both contemporaneous tropes – the Bloomsbury intellectual, the Mayfair playboy – and types recognisable today (the civil servant, the town planner
Thus was the popularity of this work, Mikes added two further “shrieks” to that first one: How To Be Inimitable (1960), where British influence had started to slip but we still had Empire and refused to acknowledge much change; and How To Be Decadent in 1977, two years after Britain had joined the E.E.C., its once-great Empire now los
What strikes me about this collection is how little has changed in the near 75 years since the publication of the first volume, not only in prevailing attitudes towards national exceptionalism and the Continent, but in the figureheads governing the nation state: “On the Continent, public orators try to learn to speak fluently and smoothly: in England, they take a special course in Oxonian stuttering
On the eve of Britain ‘taking back control’, you may take heed to ponder Mikes’ impressions of the British way of life. Whilst much still rings depressingly true, there are smiles to be raised in his jocular assertions about our peculiarities. For, after all, if there’s one thing the Brits are known for, it is our sense of humour. Whatever folly Brexit may bring in the New Year, at least we can have a wry chuckle at ourselves.”