Instead, I have been reading about trees.

I didn't read a lot of books last month (I was revising and painting and things) and I've actually finished sadly few this month, too, but this is because the stack of cool books I meant to read and silly books I've read bits of got usurped by Oliver Rackham's Woodlands. I'm not even to page 100 yet (of over 5 with notes & things) but it's not the sort of book you read in a couple days, either. Just the sort of book for which I abandon Throne of the Crescent Moon, which I've been looking forward to since September-or-so, in the TBR pile with a bookmark after chapter two. (Don't worry, I'll get back to it.)

I first ran into Oliver Rackham (er, figuratively) from that post on the occasionally-updated Medieval Worldbuilding Info livejournal that talks about his Ancient Woodland: Its History, Vegetation and Uses in England (which, I learned after getting it through interlibrary loan, has also got an updated edition, with extra notes & photo inserts!) and I think I talked a bit about that when I had it. This is the non-academic version: a lifetime of information from someone who has studied woods and trees, distilled for people who want to know things about them. I am learning stuff. It is very cool.

There's cultural stuff: before the advent of industrial age tools, forestry was mainly devoted to keeping trees down to a manageable size.

There are pollen core & archeology based estimates of what trees there were in England at what times in what places: Robin Hood would not have been able to hide in the deep woods. Neither could outlaws in Roman days, for that matter.

And there's fascinating stuff about tree biology:

( cut for long quote which is long, but worth reading )

Instead, I have been reading about trees.

I didn't read a lot of books last month (I was revising and painting and things) and I've actually finished sadly few this month, too, but this is because the stack of cool books I meant to read and silly books I've read bits of got usurped by Oliver Rackham's Woodlands. I'm not even to page 100 yet (of over 5 with notes & things) but it's not the sort of book you read in a couple days, either. Just the sort of book for which I abandon Throne of the Crescent Moon, which I've been looking forward to since September-or-so, in the TBR pile with a bookmark after chapter two. (Don't worry, I'll get back to it.)

I first ran into Oliver Rackham (er, figuratively) from that post on the occasionally-updated Medieval Worldbuilding Info livejournal that talks about his Ancient Woodland: Its History, Vegetation and Uses in England (which, I learned after getting it through interlibrary loan, has also got an updated edition, with extra notes & photo inserts!) and I think I talked a bit about that when I had it. This is the non-academic version: a lifetime of information from someone who has studied woods and trees, distilled for people who want to know things about them. I am learning stuff. It is very cool.

There's cultural stuff: before the advent of industrial age tools, forestry was mainly devoted to keeping trees down to a manageable size.

There are pollen core & archeology based estimates of what trees there were in England at what times in what places: Robin Hood would not have been able to hide in the deep woods. Neither could outlaws in Roman days, for that matter.

And there's fascinating stuff about tree biology:

( cut for long quote which is long, but worth reading )

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