12 June 2026
Otherlands – Journeys in Earth’s Extinct Ecosystems – by Thomas Halliday
Described by the publishers as “a stirring, eye-opening journey into deep time, from the Ice Age to the first appearance of microbial life 550 million years ago, by a brilliant young paleobiologist. The past is past, but it does leave clues, and Thomas Halliday has used cutting-edge science to decipher them more completely than ever before. In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life on the page.”
This book is an exploration of the Earth as it used to exist, the changes that have occurred during its history, and the ways that life has found to adapt-or not. It gives readers a perspective on the current state of the planet. The thought that something as vast as the Great Barrier Reef, for example, with all its vibrant diversity, might one day soon be gone sounds improbable. But the fossil record shows us that this sort of wholesale change is not only possible but has repeatedly happened throughout Earth history.
The author brings us up close to the intricate relationships that defined these lost worlds and illustrates how ecosystems are formed; how species die out and are replaced; and how species migrate, adapt, and collaborate. It is a surprisingly gripping narrative about the persistence of life, the fragility of seemingly permanent ecosystems, and the scope of deep time.
Gardening can be Murder – by Marta McDowell
Something quite different that everyone will enjoy … This book takes a look at the surprising influence that gardens and gardening have had on mystery novels and their authors. With their deadly plants, razor-sharp shears, shady corners, and ready-made burial sites, gardens make an ideal scene for the perfect murder. But the outsize influence that gardens and gardening have had on the mystery genre has been underappreciated. Now, Marta McDowell, a writer and gardener with a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the genre, illuminates the many ways in which our greatest mystery writers, from Edgar Allen Poe to authors on today’s bestseller lists, have found inspiration in the sinister side of gardens.
From the cozy to the hardboiled, the literary to the pulp, and the classic to the contemporary, Gardening Can Be Murder is the first book to explore the mystery genre’s many surprising horticultural connections. Meet plant-obsessed detectives and spooky groundskeeper suspects, witness toxic teas served in foul play, and tour the gardens—both real and imagined—that have been the settings for fiction’s ghastliest misdeeds.
Amy, with her army of helpers, has got the bread shop cleaned up already. She has tested the oven, declared it to be “good enough to start with” and there are no leaks from the chimney that fill the shop with smoke. She decided to start cautiously, while she gets familiar with the facilities she has inherited. For now she is testing her hard-won skills, and the patience of her hoped-for customers, by starting with a once-a-week opening on Fridays (that was this morning in fact). This way her trial loaves don’t get wasted and some of the villagers will have fresh bread for the weekend. The early line-up was already starting to build when our artist stopped by with a sketch-pad. She hadn’t put much effort into advertising but the ladies on the church flower-rota don’t let much escape their notice and had been putting the word around – indeed, a photographer from a local newspaper arrived to capture the moment. No doubt hoping for future advertising income.. Although Amy has considerable experience working in a professional bakery she is the first to admit that there is a whole wide gulf to cross between the sort of high-tech ovens she learned her skills on and the old-fashioned wood-fired oven she inherited with the building. As the bakery is just across the square from the bookshop café, her Uncle Walter observed proceedings discreetly from behind our windows, “just to make sure it all goes well”.
Amy asked me to mention that she has not had many responses to her appeal last week for names suitable for the homeless terrier who has adopted her … “It’s going to be Terry the terrier” she said unless someone saves him from such an unimaginative name. She is pretty sure that he has some Airedale blood in him, but after that it’s anyone’s guess.
Something strange in the above photo caught my eye – the customer on the left in a brown jacket is the spitting image of my father, the way he is dressed and his posture and stance – but he’s been dead for over 20 years.
We have a logo for the bookshop … remember we are in what used to be the Old Lame Duck Public House, hence our calling the enterprise the OLD Bookshop Café. There is a budding artist in our community. He’s teenager hoping to to go to art school when he’s old enough in a year or two – and he likes reading. He has bought quite a few of your second hand books since we opened though I suspect the initial draw were the pastries Amy had been supplying us with. Anyway … he rather shyly offered me these, and I think they are splendid. He doesn’t really want his mates to know, so I will give him a nom-de-plume … something artistic. Thanks Pablo 👍 – a serious one for the bank manager, and a fun one for the rest of us.
Fenland Flower Discovery
A couple of days ago I was asked to guide some of the members of FAGS (St-Fenella Allotment and Gardening Society) on a walk around the Mirkmere Fen Nature Reserve to enjoy a couple of hours with the splendid wetland wild flowers that are at their very best this month. I had to close the shop for the morning abut as many of my growing band of customers were along for the walk anyway that didn’t matter much. A good time was had by all, with only one mishap when a lady got down on hands and knees to better examine an orchid and in her excitement tipped over and fell on her face – she laughed it off though – “A bit of mud does me no harm and I didn’t damage the flower” she exclaimed.
This leaflet is one we prepared to hand out to visitors to the Reserve – true botanists get excited by the many species of Sedge we have 🙃
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