Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones by Hettie Judah

Returning Light: Thirty Years on the Island of Skellig Michael by Robert L. Harris

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/569677 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/569677] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Returning Light: Thirty Years on the Island of Skellig Michael Author: Robert L. Harris Narrator: Robert L. Harris Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 30 minutes Release date: July 18, 2023 Genres: Animals & Nature Publisher's Summary: The Acclaimed International Bestseller “It is impossible to do justice to the beauty of Returning Light. The whole book is a poem.” — New York Times Book Review By the lighthouse keeper on the remote, otherworldly Irish island of Skellig Michael, a ''profound memoir about the importance of place and what it really means to belong'' (Belfast Telegraph) “On Skellig Michael, thousands of birds appear and disappear, erecting towers, coming together in wings of movement which build and unravel over the empty sea. Often, no one else is there to stand beside me on the island. The mind wanders; links with the past are easily made; ancient ways of viewing things come alive.” In 1987, Robert Harris happened upon an unusual job posting in the local paper—a new warden service was being set up on the island of Skellig Michael, and the deadline was imminent. Just weeks later he was on his way to set up camp in one of Ireland’s most remote locations, unaware that he would be making that same journey every May for the next 30 years. Here he transports us to the otherworldly island, a place that is teeming with natural life, including curious puffins that like to visit his hut. From the precipice he has observed a coastline that is relatively unchanged for the last thousand years—a beacon of equilibrium in an ever-changing world. But the island can be fierce too. It’s inhabitable for only five months of the year, and solitude can quickly become isolation as bad weather rolls in to create a veil between Skellig Michael and the rest of the world, when the dizzying terrain can become a very real threat to life. A beautiful and evocative work of nature writing, Returning Light is an extraordinary memoir about the profound effect a place can have on us, and how a remote location can bring with it a great sense of belonging.

Breathe: Seven Ways to Win a Greener World by Sadiq Khan

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/575835 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/575835] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Breathe: Seven Ways to Win a Greener World Author: Sadiq Khan Narrator: Sadiq Khan Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 4 hours 46 minutes Release date: May 25, 2023 Genres: Animals & Nature Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. A seven-step guide to winning support for tough action on climate change - the first book from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan For many years, Sadiq wasn't fully aware of the dangers posed by air pollution, nor its connection with climate change. Then, at the age of 43, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with adult-onset asthma - brought on by the polluted London air he had been breathing for decades. Scandalised, Sadiq underwent a political transformation that would see him become one of the most prominent global politicians fighting (and winning) elections on green issues. Since becoming Mayor of London in 2016, he has declared a climate emergency, introduced the world's first Ultra-Low Emission Zone, built hundreds of kilometres of new cycle lanes, led a drive for affordable insulation in council homes, and turned London into the first ever 'National Park City'. But with every year bringing more wildfires, extreme temperatures and flooding - and with around 4,000 people still dying prematurely from London's polluted air every year, with older, working class and ethnic minority Londoners most affected - there is so much more to do. Now, Sadiq draws on his experiences to identify the seven ways environmental action gets blown off course. And he reveals how to get it back on track, by: - Proving to sceptics that the climate crisis is a health crisis too; - Overcoming voters' cynicism by building coalitions across the political spectrum; - Shaking hands with everyone from your fiercest opponents to the most steadfast climate activists (even if you're a bit worried they might superglue you). Breathe is a call to action demonstrating how anyone - whether voter, activist or politician - can win the argument on climate. It will help create a world where we can all breathe again. ©2023 Sadiq Khan (P)2023 Penguin Audio

British Woodland: How to explore the secret world of our forests by Ray Mears

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/566781 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/566781] to listen full audiobooks. Title: British Woodland: How to explore the secret world of our forests Author: Ray Mears Narrator: Ray Mears Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 22 minutes Release date: May 4, 2023 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 2 of Total 1 Genres: Animals & Nature Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. Nobody sees and understands woodland better than Ray Mears. With deep natural history knowledge and practical woodcraft skills, gained over a lifetime of learning from the world's last remaining indigenous peoples, Ray offers a different way to experience our wooded landscapes. He challenges the old concepts. He looks to our ancestors and shows how man's hand in shaping woodland is critical. We are not separate from nature, we just need to ensure that our interactions have a positive impact. With the emphasis on interaction, British Woodland is structured by usage. We learn that sycamore and clematis are among the best woods for burning, pine and oak help us navigate, and hawthorn and beech have edible leaves. Rope can be made from willow, utensils and tools from hazel, and historically, weapons were made from yew and wych elm. With Ray as our guide, encouraging this aboriginal sense of connection to individual trees, our appreciation of wooded landscapes will change. We can learn how to live inclusively in nature, for our own wellbeing and enjoyment, and also for the future of our planet. ©2023 Ray Mears (P)2023 Penguin Audio

The Frontier Below: The Past, Present and Future of Our Quest to Go Deeper Underwater by Jeff Maynard

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/578804 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/578804] to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Frontier Below: The Past, Present and Future of Our Quest to Go Deeper Underwater Author: Jeff Maynard Narrator: Adam Fitzgerald Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 10 hours 10 minutes Release date: April 13, 2023 Genres: Animals & Nature Publisher's Summary: Triumphs and disasters in the deep sea This is a journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and the future of our planet. We do not see the ocean when we look at the water that blankets more than two thirds of our planet. We only see the entrance to it. Beyond that entrance is a world hostile to humans, yet critical to our survival. The first divers to enter that world held their breath and splashed beneath the surface, often clutching rocks to pull them down. Over centuries, they invented wooden diving bells, clumsy diving suits, and unwieldy contraptions in attempts to go deeper and stay longer. But each advance was fraught with danger, as the intruders had to survive the crushing weight of water, or the deadly physiological effects of breathing compressed air. The vertical odyssey continued when explorers squeezed into heavy steel balls dangling on cables, or slung beneath floats filled with flammable gasoline. Plunging into the narrow trenches between the tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust, they eventually reached the bottom of the ocean in the same decade that men first walked on the moon. Today, as nations scramble to exploit the resources of the ocean floor, The Frontier Below recalls a story of human endeavour that took 2,000 years to travel seven miles, then investigates how we will explore the ocean in the future. Meticulously researched and drawing extensively on unpublished sources and personal interviews, The Frontier Below is the untold story of the pioneers who had the right stuff, but were forgotten because they went in the wrong direction.

Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones by Hettie Judah

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/570269 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/570269] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones Author: Hettie Judah Narrator: Nina Wadia Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 43 minutes Release date: March 7, 2023 Genres: Animals & Nature Publisher's Summary: Inspired by the lapidaries of the ancient world, this audiobook is a beautiful collection of true stories about sixty different stones that have influenced our shared history The earliest scientists ground and processed minerals in a centuries-long quest for a mythic stone that would prolong human life. Michelangelo climbed mountains in Tuscany searching for the sugar-white marble that would yield his sculptures. Catherine the Great wore the wealth of Russia stitched in gemstones onto the front of her bodices.   Through the realms of art, myth, geology, philosophy and power, the story of humanity can be told through the minerals and materials that have allowed us to evolve and create. From the Taiwanese national treasure known as the Meat-Shaped Stone to Malta’s prehistoric “fat lady” temples carved in globigerina limestone to the amethyst crystals still believed to have healing powers, Lapidarium is a jewel box of sixty far-flung stones and the stories that accompany them. Together, they explore how human culture has formed stone, and the roles stone has played in forming human culture.