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furny's review
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
For a year, Tiffany travels through different nightscapes across the UK and beyond. She experiences 24-hour daylight while swimming in the Gulf of Finland and visits Norway to witness the Northern Lights and speak to people who live in darkness for three months each year. She hikes through the haunted yew forests of Kingley Vale and embarks on a nocturnal sail down the River Dart.
As she travels, Tiffany explores how our relationship with darkness and the night sky has changed over time. In this personal and beautifully written nature memoir, Tiffany Francis-Baker investigates how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated our history, folklore, science, geography, art and literature.
As she travels, Tiffany explores how our relationship with darkness and the night sky has changed over time. In this personal and beautifully written nature memoir, Tiffany Francis-Baker investigates how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated our history, folklore, science, geography, art and literature.
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emelynreads's review
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Good if you're in the mood for a casual, reflective travelogue. I wish I learned more factual information and less about the author's relationship.
shakespearean_cat's review against another edition
1.0
I never write reviews but seeing how many people (including me) were disappointed that the book wasn't really about the night sky (or stars & constellations) and our relationship with it, I would like to HIGHLY recommend to you all the book “Beneath the Night: How The Stars Have Shaped The History Of Humankind” by Stuart Clark. It is EXACTLY what I think you're looking for.
seenai's review
medium-paced
3.0
a mix of very beautiful and very frustrating. a lack of research and further critical thought rly annoys me in places but the way she talks abt the wildlife even in a city is wonderful and makes me look out more for birfs etc!!
jessmaeshelley's review
3.0
Beautiful meditation on nature and some of the nocturnal landscape. However, felt a bit bummed as the premise/blurb didn't really match up with the content in the book. I came into this incredibly excited to collect inspiration like a magpie for my next project. But found it didn't delve into our relationship with the night sky as much as I'd hoped. It does touch on different nocturnal themes yet never fully delves into them. Still, I adored each chapter regardless. This was a lyrical and insightful piece - a heartfelt ode to nature, love & courage. And I've now collected a long list of places to travel. (Just what I needed admist the chaos of the world right now.)
ghiblireads's review
4.0
Despite this book not being what I expected, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Like many people, I thought the branding of it was a bit off what the contents were but I actually liked the mix of facts and anecdotes! It was a fun and educational read that I took my time with so I could take it all in. Personally I would have liked more focus on the night as the title suggests it would have, but I can overlook that as I did enjoy the book overall.
annayahp's review
3.0
Nice, relaxed book about nature. Includes travels across the UK and Europe, perfect chilled out bedtime reading.
*Slight Spoilers Below*
Although I will say, I picked up this book because the author mentions a break up on the first page. Instead of being about moving on independently, a lot of this book is about relationships and rekindling love, so if you're not looking for that sort of read right now potentially skip this. Still heartwarming though! Just not entirely what I was expecting.
*Slight Spoilers Below*
Although I will say, I picked up this book because the author mentions a break up on the first page. Instead of being about moving on independently, a lot of this book is about relationships and rekindling love, so if you're not looking for that sort of read right now potentially skip this. Still heartwarming though! Just not entirely what I was expecting.
amyglbarker's review
3.0
I’m pretty torn with this one & will say I hope Tiffany Francis-Baker continues to write because I would be intrigued to see how she develops & definitely think she has the talent and room for growth.
That being said, I was quite disappointed with this! I’m giving it 2.5 stars because she has a good knowledge of nature and literature, and picked interesting topics, but the actual writing was very amateur (for whatever genre it was supposed to be, which it didn’t achieve as it was too clunky and meandering.) Potentially interesting points were cut across by quite trite personal anecdotes, which I could have appreciated if they weren’t irrelevant to the story. A lot of the musings she brought up were extremely surface level and though I think she has the capacity for deeper thought, it wasn’t brought up here. Also I think my A Level English teacher would have chastised me for half the sentences she writes because they were quite shallow. I’m sorry I wanted to like this but I just!!!! Found myself disappointed!!!!
That being said, I was quite disappointed with this! I’m giving it 2.5 stars because she has a good knowledge of nature and literature, and picked interesting topics, but the actual writing was very amateur (for whatever genre it was supposed to be, which it didn’t achieve as it was too clunky and meandering.) Potentially interesting points were cut across by quite trite personal anecdotes, which I could have appreciated if they weren’t irrelevant to the story. A lot of the musings she brought up were extremely surface level and though I think she has the capacity for deeper thought, it wasn’t brought up here. Also I think my A Level English teacher would have chastised me for half the sentences she writes because they were quite shallow. I’m sorry I wanted to like this but I just!!!! Found myself disappointed!!!!
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