I wanted to like this book more than I did. There were bits here and there that were wonderful, but the focus seemed very scattered to me and the audience unclear. If it was meant to be a tale of how nature helped the author return from a nervous breakdown, there was too little of the author's story for that to work. If it was meant to be a guide to how to be a more scientific amateur naturalist, there were too many tangents for that to work. So one was left with chapters going in diverse directions and occasional interesting facts or observations. The book promised more than it delivered.