I began with The Birdman's Wife by Melissa Ashley, a book of creative non-fiction based on the life of the very talented Elizabeth Gould, wife of the famous zoologist John Gould. The book traces Elizabeth's life, her marriage, children and her career as an artist and covers the couple's ornithological adventures around the world including in Tasmania. Beautifully written and extensively researched, this is a book I could certainly read again - I loved everything about it.
For a change of pace I then read Dregs by Norwegian author Jorn Lier Horst, one in a series of crime novels featuring Detective William Wisting. I can't wait to read more of Horst's work.
A friend lent me Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. I have spent the last year researching and writing about extinction and de-extinction and I seem to attract books that delve into these kinds of topics. This is one such book. It is historical fiction based on the life of Mary Anning who was a fossil hunter in the early 1800s. Wonderful story, fascinating topic.
And I have just begun the real challenge for the early part of this year; a biography of Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, famous for his biographies of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. Isaacson based the book on thousands of pages from Leonardo's notebooks and as I am a fan of da Vinci's work - not just his art but his studies of anatomy, fossils, botany, geology and of course his amazing inventions - I can't wait to get into it.
Happy New Year everyone - and good reading in 2018!
