An utterly charming account of the author's local urban wildlife, and a wonderful inspiration for people to interact more with their neighbourhood environment. The science communication here is excellent. I think it helps that Johnson isn't a scientist himself, as while he folds in science with his nature-watching it's leavened with a lot of other things - such as foraging for edible weeds.

The book does lose a point for the absolute irritation of three separate introductions; I actually shouted "Oh come on! Just get the fuck on with it!" this morning, turning the page after the second one. (The literary equivalent of watching the end of Return of the King.) I think perhaps the author may be using his introductions as a means of emphasising his argument that we should slow down and pay more attention to the world around us, but I'd have more time to pay attention to the world around me if I weren't spending all of it reading bloody introductions.