Strictly, Robert MacFarlane's books have no place on this blog. They are neither for children nor young adults. They are not fantasy, or even fiction. Yet I cannot recommend them strongly enough to anyone who admires and enjoys English prose writing of the highest order. And where a love of words is combined with one for adventure, the outdoors or the heritage of our natural world, then they are a must.
However it is his short essay The Gifts of Reading that has prompted this quick post. In it he writes most eloquently (as always) about the immeasurable value of giving books as gifts. It set me to hoping that my recommendations on this blog are a different way of giving books - perhaps to a few people I shall never know or meet. Please accept them, joyfully given as they are.