Author:Kevin Oxlade,Rosemary Gasson,Andrew Gasson
Attention cat lovers, your prayers have finally been answered!
The Good Cat Food Guide is the definitive guide to what you should be feeding you feline friend. From tins to sachets, dried biscuits to meaty chunks, smelly fish to tasty chicken, the book will give you the low-down on every delicacy known to the feline tongue. Employing a crack team of tasters, the guide dishes out 'Paws and Claws' ratings to let you know what's hot and what's not.
Written in a witty, tongue-in-cheek style - without ever sacrificing accuracy or objectivity - and accompanied throughout by full-colour cartoons of the tasters at work and play, The Good Cat Food Guide is essential reading for anyone who cares about their pet.
Very funny and has some great pictures too
—— Woman's OwnAmusing and informative
—— Daily MailKean...reveal[s] how intracranial calamities have built neuroscience case by puzzled-out case, gross anatomy to consciousness. However pop the science, there is much to compel
—— NatureThe author's skill in illuminating how the brain functions and malfunctions manifest themselves in people's lives makes for absorbing reading....These avowals ultimately raise weighty, compelling questions about the nature of identity and what it means to be human
—— Wall Street JournalThis isn’t one of those natural science books that simply tells you things – it admits how much we don’t know.
—— Mark Mason , SpectatorGoulson combines enthusiasm with academic authority, addressing the amateur beekeeper and professional apiarist in well-judged proportion.
—— Iain Finlayson , The TimesGoulson's case for the importance of bumblebees will live long in my memory for its sheer passion and scientific detail.
—— Shami Chakrabarti , GuardianEntertaining and enlightening… Wholly engaging…A must for all gardeners.
—— Naomi Schillinger , Garden AnswersA very readable introduction to the remarkable world of bees and bee conservation.
—— Good Book GuideThis book will make you bee-conscious. You will learn a lot, not just about bumblebees, and you will never have a dull moment… So read this book. Do it for the bees.
—— Nicholas Lezard , GuardianA lovely book
—— Big IssueAs relief and instruction, I haven’t read a more entertaining and endearing book on matters biological than Dave Goulson’s
—— Nicholas Lezard , GuardianCunningly plaited and – almost – devastating… It deserves to sell shedloads and win prizes, it is naturalist writing of that spectacular quality that is literature too.
—— Angus Clarke , The TimesA wondrous book of loss and recovery… When [Macdonald] matches her factual know-how…with her poet’s eye, it is excellent… An exceptional book of twisted growth.
—— Tim Dee , NationalAbsorbing… This memoir is lit with flashes of that grace, a grace that sweeps down to the reader to hold her wrist tight with beautiful, terrible class. The discovery of the season.
—— Erica Wagner , The EconomistAstounding.
—— BooksellerPeople talk about books that change your life. I loved the fact that this book does something much more valuable. It doesn’t change anything. It leaves everything just where it was, only more so; more distinct, more itself. It opens your eyes. And it deepens what we have always known; that we live side by side with each other, as we do with the creatures around us.
—— Laura Beatty , Caught by the RiverA talon-sharp memoir that will thrill and chill you to the bone... Fascinating.
—— Craig Brown , Mail on SundayMesmerising, decisive and devastating… Her description of Mabel in flight should be etched into every birdwatcher's field guide... Macdonald is a nature writer supreme, arguably the best practitioner of this art form writing today.
—— Stuart Winter , Sunday ExpressA soaring triumph.
—— Christian House , Daily TelegraphBeautiful.
—— SportStrange yet compelling... Macdonald’s poetic prose soars… An uplifting message that…sends the heart soaring.
—— Gerard Henderson , Daily ExpressVivid and fascinating.
—— James Attlee , IndependentSoars beyond genres, and burns with emotional and intellectual intensity.
—— NatureWe can’t recommend this strange, clever, beautiful book highly enough.
—— Jarrold's Bookshop , Eastern Daily PressA soliloquy that sings from the pages. Truly beautiful.
—— Rufus the Hawk , TwitterHeartbreaking.
—— GraziaIn fifty years time – a hundred – H is for Hawk will still defy easy definition. Readers will see wildness a little differently and they will still finish with a silent cheer for a fellow human starting to re-engage with the world. File under classic.
—— Nigel Roby , We Love This BookPoetic, imaginative and richly persuasive prose. Macdonald’s sensitivity to English weather, landscape and natural habitat is extraordinary; she is a word-painter of the subtlest palette and an audio recorder of peerless quality.
—— Book OxygenMacdonald makes nature writing new.
—— For Books SakeExtraordinary… A searing study of bereavement and a meditation on man’s place in the natural world… Written with vigour, leavened with humour, it doesn’t just sing, it flies.
—— Maggie Ferguson , Intelligent LifeUnusual and incredibly moving.
—— Twin MagazineA masterpiece.
—— Metro , Patricia NicolVery rarely does a book reach out to its readers in such an immediate and engaging manner… A page-turning saga full of profound reflection… A truly remarkable achievement… This book transcends nature writing. Its quality of distinction is apparent before any exercise of critical faculty.
—— John Lister-Kaye , WOW247Macdonald is her father’s daughter; she takes photographs, but with words, brilliant ones. H is for Helen… G is for good.
—— John Lewis-Stempel , BBC CountryfileStrange and beautiful… An incredible achievement.
—— Kevin Jackson , Literary ReviewIt is in her descriptions of nature that Macdonald really excels… And…it’s the hawks themselves…which really come alive.
—— James Mcconnachie , SpectatorNever has the eye of a raptor assumed such fearful, beautiful meaning.
—— Philip Hoare , New StatesmanBig-hearted, joyful and blazing with gorgeous descriptions of nature, H is for Hawk is an unusual but very special memoir.
—— Good HousekeepingLyrical, headlong, humourous.
—— Iain Finlayson , New StatesmanAs phenomenal, unusual, moving and agile as a fearsome bird of prey.
—— MonocleHelen’s skill is to cover so much beneath the camouflage of ‘nature writing’ – with perceptive, far-reaching and rather beautiful results.
—— Galen O'Hanlon , SkinnyAn elegant, disturbing and heart-warming book.
—— Wharfedale ObserverA brilliantly beautiful evocation which interweaves her experiences as an austringer, a grieving daughter, an academic and simply a human being.
—— Allen Sleith , Belfast TelegraphDestined to be a nature classic.
—— Bath MagazineIt is moving and personal in a way that few books of this kind are.
—— Gabriel Smith , Cotswold LifeH is for Hawk is a mature, accomplished work: a touchstone for future memoirs, bibliomemoirs, and writing that deals with the natural environment and the self.
—— The Times Literary SupplementBeautifully written and interposed with literary references, it will captivate book lovers and bird lovers alike.
—— Catriona Gray , House and GardenLikely to leave a lasting impression.
—— Scotland OutdoorsThis is an encounter with a bird many of us only dream of seeing in the wild, so read this and fill a void.
—— John Miles , Bird WatchingYou won’t find a better nature book this year.
—— Fanny Blake , Woman and HomeThis part-memoir, part-history, part-nature combination could have gone dreadfully wrong but it doesn’t. In fact, like Mabel, it flies.
—— Alan Johnson MP , Radio TimesSomehow the book had rattled me so much that, even after finishing it, I couldn’t let it go.
—— Julie Myerson , GuardianHelen Macdonald’s book is a worthy and unusual winner; it’s part grief-memoir, part history of falconry.
—— Robbie Millen , The TImesH is for Hawk deserves its acclaim as a classic of its kind.
—— David Sexton , Evening StandardA great read.
—— Western Morning NewsMacdonald’s unusual approach and her resonant natural descriptions make it an outstanding book.
—— Sameer Rahim , TelegraphH is for Hawk…is the most “A for Amazing” book I've read in a long while.
—— Alan Johnson , SpectatorThe deserved winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, this is one of the most original works you’ll read this year.
—— Daily TelegraphThe passion and conviction with which Macdonald tells an extraordinary story transcends any fear that this will be another “nature story”. Instead it is fascinating, moving and gripping throughout.
—— Alex Larman , Daily ExpressWinner of 2014’s Samuel Johnson prize, this is a captivating nature book as well as a moving elegy on love and life.
—— Kate Figes , Mail on SundayThe book is almost faultless in its exploration of the relationship with one’s own consciousness as well as that of an animal.
—— Helen Davies , Sunday TimesI’ve never read anything like it before… The last lines brought tears to my eyes.
—— Ruth Rendell , GuardianI must agree with the judges of the Samuel Johnson prize. Helen Macdonald’s incredible H Is for Hawk…is a truly original mixture… It is, as the flyleaf predicts, destined to become a classic of nature writing.
—— Stephen Moss , GuardianH is for Hawk is an extraordinary achievement – and a salutary reminder that animals are not symbols, but co-tenants of our living landscape.
—— Melissa Harrison , The TimesHelen Macdonald’s prose streams on to the page with absolute clarity in this extraordinary book.
—— Pat Ashworth , Church TimesIt really has been a privilege to read this book.
—— Dovegreyreader scribbles (blog)Although grief is the engine of the story, its most exceptional aspect is the beauty and force of its descriptions of birds and landscape, and its real star is the goshawk.
—— Paul Laity , GuardianThe winner of this year's Samuel Johnson Prize is one of the most captivating books I've read.
—— Lucy Scholes , IndependentIt is in no way a misery memoir. It is uplifting, poetic, exhilarating.
—— Jackie Kay , ScotsmanWhat makes the book outstanding is the beauty of her prose. It rightly won the prize.
—— Alan Johnson , Mail on SundayCombining nature writing of the highest order…with a deeply affecting meditation on bereavement, this looks set to become a classic.
—— Mail on SundayOne of the most all-consumingly wonderful books I’ve read in ages.
—— Kate Kellaway , ObserverEmphatically my book of the year.
—— John Lister-Kay , ScotsmanI’ve read excerpts from this book and it sounds wild and strange and haunting.
—— Francesca Simon , UK Press SyndicationIt’s worthy winner most in that it shows how diverse non-fiction can be in itself.
—— Stuart Kelly , ScotsmanIt’s a treat – a truly original, if slightly mad, book.
—— Robbie Millen , The TimesI have never read anything that evokes the strange and broken landscape of bereavement more accurately.
—— Alexandra Blakemore , Times Higher EducationUltimately uplifting about the power of life, this has to be one of the best books of the year.
—— Bob Johnstone , NewstalkIt is a timeless classic that leaves you wondering how you did without it before.
—— Paul McNamee , Big IssueWonderful.
—— Bel Mooney , Daily MailThe book is unforgettable.
—— Michael McCarthy , IndependentHer book is so good that, at times, it hurt me to read it. It draws blood, in ways that seem curative.
—— Dwight Garner , New York TimesTo categorize this work as merely memoir, nature writing or spiritual writing would understate [Macdonald’s] achievement
—— Karin Altenberg , Wall Street Journal (Europe)Captivating and beautifully written, it’s a meditation on the bond between beasts and humans and the pain and beauty of being alive
—— People MagazineTo come across writing this good…is like spotting a swooping bird of prey on a woodland walk; it’s unexpected and thrilling, and the experience stays with you
—— David Evans, 5 stars , IndependentIt’s completely original
—— Peter Duncan , Daily ExpressMacdonald writes poignantly but avoids sentimentality on taking her reader on this journey of discovery and ultimately of liberation
—— Good Book GuideBoth sad and beautiful
—— Kate Phelan , VogueMacdonald’s nature writing is truly breathtaking… H is for Hawk is a work that beautifully explores the natural in the midst of the very personal
—— Ben Walter , Journeys Magazineprobably one of the most unusual non-fictions books I’ve read, but… one of the most heartfelt and intriguing ones
—— Reading Matterspoetic and intriguing
—— Louise Elliott , Living MagazineH is for Hawk, her memoir of loss, writing, recovery and nature, drawing ingeniously on the life and work of T.H. White, covered this territory with ferocious honesty and eloquence
—— Sarah Ditum , SpectatorCombines lyrical nature writing with moving introspection.
—— Radio TimesFiercely, grippingly brilliant.
—— James Macdonald , The Sunday TimesExceptionally well researched and written… It’s a wonderful book, it made me cry.
—— Phil Williams, BBC Radio 5 LiveMacdonald's is a book about grief, the churlish indifference of the natural world to human emotions and the solitude of failure, but it is also about a "return from this strange hedgerow ontology to more ordinary humanity". It is heartbreaking and affirming at the same time.
—— Peter J. Smith , Times Higher Education SupplementA lyrical, moving probe into both the process of mourning and our relationship with the natural world.
—— Martin Chilton, Olivia Petter and Ceri Radford , Independent, *Books of the Decade*One of the decade’s most arresting nature books
—— Andrew Holgate , Sunday Times, *Books of the Decade*