BCF Bookclub 2025 - Part 4

[lunababymoonchild]

I’m opening nominations for the subject for the last group read of the year.

 

Nominations?

[Madeleine]

First book in a series?

[lunababymoonchild]

17 minutes ago, Madeleine said:

First book in a series?

 

There’s an idea!

[lunababymoonchild]

The only thing I can come up with is : the natural world 

[Hayley]

Ooooh, I love both of those ideas! 

 

I think I'm going to have to second The Natural World. Mainly because 'first book in a new series' sounds perfect for the new year!

[Madeleine]

Good idea, I'm happy to go with first book for the next read ie New Year.

[lunababymoonchild]

The Natural World it is.

By Natural World I mean you can read Brer Rabbit if you want. Or The Jungle Book etc. However you want to  interpret it.

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (because I’ve never read it and I forgot that I had it)

[France]

3 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Currently reading The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (because I’ve never read it and I forgot that I had it)

That was the book that made me realise that books didn't just tell stories, they  took you to somewhere totally magical.

[poppy]

8 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Currently reading The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (because I’ve never read it and I forgot that I had it)

 

I didn't read this until I was an adult, either, but absolutely love it and it's often on my re-read and listen to pile.

[Nataweeee]

heyyy, would i be able to jump in on this? the next book i was planning on starting happens to fit the theme lol.

[lunababymoonchild]

6 minutes ago, Nataweeee said:

heyyy, would i be able to jump in on this? the next book i was planning on starting happens to fit the theme lol.

Absolutely! You’re more than welcome. 

[Hayley]

I'm struggling to think of what to read for this one! I might go for The Mercies, which I believe is based on the true story of a terrible storm and its consequences.

[lunababymoonchild]

26 minutes ago, Hayley said:

I'm struggling to think of what to read for this one! I might go for The Mercies, which I believe is based on the true story of a terrible storm and its consequences.

Why not?

 

I have a Tarka the Otter omnibus and a James Herriot omnibus that I have my eye on - and no, that’s not why I chose the category 🙂

 

I read James Herriot as a teenager.
 

They will have to go some to beat The Wind in the Willows, though. 
 

I am also considering Watership Down.

[poppy]

Another suggestion is My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell or one of his other animal books. 

[Madeleine]

I can't think of anything for this category either.

[France]

Can I suggest Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (which I read before this topic started).  It's a wonderful account of how the author found a very young leveret and raised it, always aware that it was a wild animal and should not be a pet.  It's one of those books that stays with you.

[lunababymoonchild]

1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

I can't think of anything for this category either.

Moby Dick? As mentioned, I read James Herriot as a teen and he had me laughing out loud.  Animal Farm? Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson?

[Madeleine]

I don't fancy Moby Dick, I read Animal Farm at school, and read all the Herriot books when they first came out!

 

thanks for the suggestions but I think I'll give this category a miss.

[lunababymoonchild]

56 minutes ago, Madeleine said:

I don't fancy Moby Dick, I read Animal Farm at school, and read all the Herriot books when they first came out!

 

thanks for the suggestions but I think I'll give this category a miss.

I’m sorry to hear that. I hope that you’ll consider the next category in the new year.

[Madeleine]

Oh yes definitely, I do try to do most of them! In fact I've still got the folklore one outstanding, which I do intend to catch up with.

[Hayley]

I've decided to go for The Crow Garden by Alison Littlewood!

 

I have a suggestion to make it a little easier to choose for this category though. When we first started this challenge, we did say that the theme could simply connect to the book's cover (e.g. if we had the theme of snow, snow might not be a large part of the plot but might feature on the cover). So I think opening this up to include books which feature the natural world on their covers might be a good idea here!

 

And I'd like to add for the suggestions:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follett

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke (if you like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and want a really short one) 

Evil Roots or Weird Woods from the British Library's Tales of the Weird series 

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge 

 

And, for a short story, Autumntime by Anthony Lentini (you can find it for free in lots of places online).

 

 

 

 

On 11/7/2025 at 11:00 AM, Madeleine said:

I don't fancy Moby Dick

I agree with this - unless you're in the mood to read a lot of details about nineteenth century whaling 😅

[lunababymoonchild]

Good suggestions @Hayley.

 

I’m entering my current read : A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East, by Laszlo Krasznahorkai for this category. The title fits, the cover fits and the story contains much in the way of description of the natural world. This was not my intention when I chose this to read. Krasznahorkai is a favourite author of mine and I like to read him once a year, I just happened to have this one, and it’s short.