My Garden World: the Sunday Times bestseller

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From a very early age I loved the countryside as much as any garden and was fascinated by the life that I saw all around me from trees, wildflowers, birds, insects and mammals. He doesn't hold back from being blunt about the decline and endangerment of so many species, or about the reality of country life and pursuits like hunting or shooting but most of all, it is an ode to the natural world and the wonder and joy it so obviously brings to our lives, if we just take a minute to stop and look around us. If, in our own modest back yards, we can help preserve and treasure our natural world then we will make the world a better place -- not just for ourselves but for every living creature. This year has given us the enforced opportunity to learn more about the fascinating natural world around us.

It deals with the course of the natural year month by month, so is broken down into bite-sized chunks, which I like.he notices the little things that so many of us 'gardeners' and outdoor people notice and gives lots of interesting extra facts. this is a very timely and relevant celebration of the world immediately around us - at a time when we really need it. I bought it with the hope that it would be about Monty Don's garden and about gardening and plants but it is actually more about animals and wildlife which was ok, but not what I had hoped to read about. His new book is a celebration of the living world, through which he walks us, following the calendar year, pausing to observe everything from hares to hawthorn.

Love a bit of Monty - his encyclopedic knowledge of the countryside and it's inhabitants took me back to the days of Jack Hargreaves and "Out of town". Monty never wrotes that he is for the hunting of any animal (and in fact often states otherwise), but simply tries to explaon that the situation of conservation is more complicated than a yes or no answer. This book is personal, selective, and based on my own particular interests rather than trying to be a reference book of any kind. This book is an amazing naturalists account of all the many birds, plants, and mammals that are to be found at different times of the year and in all the many places, in and around farms, gardens, woodlands and environments both familiar, and unfamiliar. Whether you live in the countryside or the town, Monty’s observations and insights are relevant to each and every one of us.

Along with his home and garden in Long Meadow, there is a farm in Wales which provide endless opportunities to observe the comings and goings of plants and wildlife as the seasons change. All in all a worthy read and it certainly has made me watch what is going in my garden more closely.