Book Review: The Almanac by Lia Leendertz

This new book from Lia Leendertz is the second book I have bought from Unbound, the crowdfunding publishing company.  I first heard of the book via twitter and I looked it up on Unbound.  I knew it was my sort of book and so contributed.  This has two benefits, no three benefits:  firstly it means the book gets to be, this is a good thing.  Secondly I get my copy ahead of it arriving in the shops and thirdly there is often extra benefit such as this time I have received a signed copy and my name is listed in the back as a subscriber.

The book itself is a very handy size.  It is good to pick up and put down and you could pop it in a bag and take it with you if you were going somewhere.  Handy is good.

The book itself is beautifully illustrated by Emma Dibben.  The illustrations add additional charm to the book and bring its text even more to life.

But what you really need to know is what is this book about?  The subtitle explains it all - the Almanac is a 'seasonal guide to 2018'.  This is a proper, old fashioned, almanac taking you month by month through 2018.  Lia tells you when the sunrises and sets day by day.  There is a monthly guide to what the weather is usually like, the tides and indeed how cold/warm the sea might be.  There is a recipe or two each month (my birthday month's recipe is Eggs Benedict, always a favourite of mine so very well matched).  Lia tells us which crops might be glutting by month and what to look out in nature.  There are lists of religious/faith based events and some folk-lore.  It is a compendium of all things interesting that you might want to know as the seasons turn.  This is a superb fount of knowledge, each chapter a new month packed with information of what to look for and what to do. It is a book I know I will dip into as each new month arrives.

Now the quicker amongst you are already thinking: 'wait a second, if this book is for 2018 then it only has a limited shelf life?' It is undeniable that some of the information (sunrises etc) will be out of date once it becomes 2019, but maybe Lia will write an update??  Even if this is not the intention I know that I will not be throwing the book away on December 31st next year as apart from the sunrises etc the dates and information remains current.

and for those of us who might have a liking for the Kinks, the book comes with its own earworm which I start humming when I go anywhere near the book - enjoy....

The Almanac: A seasonal guide to 2018 is published by Unbound.