The Year in Books: April

Last month's choice - The Old Ways - has been truly enlightening. Although I've read a number of creative non-fiction books over the past year or so, Robert Macfarlane's prose seems so effortless whilst at the same time carefully crafted that he's shot up to be one of my favourite authors. You can pick up the book at any chapter and be ensconced in an exploratory world filled with lyrical descriptions of nature, and while I haven't quite finished the final section, I know that whatever journey it details will be one of passion and adventure. My favourite of his journeys details the 'deadliest path in Britain' on the east coast; when you read you are there with him, venturing out in the misty morning, not knowing what you will find.

I picked up Meadowland for April's reading when I visited the Peak District earlier in the month. It was actually in the Chatsworth gift shop (these places always have the best books for sale!). Promising a unique account of an English meadow throughout the months, it seems a fitting choice to follow on from The Old Ways. Any book that follows a journey through the months of the year (just like A Year in the Woods) appeals to my way of life, and I am looking forward to reading about the nuances of seasonal change over the next few weeks.

Whilst I love fiction, it is these stories of life, the natural world and the countryside that have hooked my interest recently, and keeping this month's choice company in my reading pile are a number of magazines and countryside-themed reference books. I'm interested - do you read non-fiction as much as or more than fiction? Which do you prefer? As always, head over to Circle of Pine Trees for more inspiration and to share your choice for the year in books.