Look, the one-with-nature, stripped down, salt-of-the earth types of books are one of my biggest bread-and-butters in reading. I will never not be interested in a memoir that digs deep into what the natural world can teach us, which is why The Shepherd's Life was such a disappointment. What I hated most about this book was Rebanks' cold and distant attitude: I understand that your family's way of life and the traditions of farming - especially in the wake of tourism - is of immense importance to you. I certainly respect that and can feel that frustration. But when you position yourself as somehow better than the vast majority of people who don't / can't live the life you live, the whole notion of a humble life and upbringing is out the window. When you continue to hold yourself at an arm's distance from the reader, I literally don't know why the author even bothered to write a memoir in the first place.

Further, the way this book is set up is so bizarre to me and does the author (and the reader) a tremendous disservice. Breaking it out into four parts by season was great, but within each part were these stop-and-go vignettes (I guess? I'm not sure what they were) that never allowed the reader any traction. Rebanks is nowhere near talented and open enough of a writer to pull this off in his career yet, so this technique was lost on me entirely.

On to the next!