Our top picks for World Oceans Day!

Team Bookends has gone green this week for World Environment Day… but today we’re turning our attention to the deep blue instead to celebrate World Oceans Day – a day dedicated to making little changes which will help the oceans (and our planet!) in a big way.

From manuals on outdoor swimming to breathtaking romances set by the sea – these books will have you reaching for your wetsuit, and heading to the beach!

How To Live Plastic Free by the Marine Conservation Society

How to Live Plastic Free will teach you everything you need to know about reducing your plastic usage on a daily basis. The chapters start with a typical morning routine and take you through your day, giving you tips and practical advice for removing unnecessary plastic at every possible opportunity.

From the moment you wake up to the time you go to bed, you will learn how easy it can be to use plastic-free cosmetics, how to have plastic-free mealtimes, how to change your shopping habits and how to consider your use of plastic items at work.

These simple, practical methods will show that small changes to your lifestyle can make a huge change to the future of our planet.

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

THEIR STORY BEGINS WITH A GOODBYE.

Polly and Frank are young and in love, a lifetime together before them. But one evening in 1980, as the Texas sun sets over their shoulders, the world is suddenly pulled apart by a deadly virus. Within months, Frank is dying. Polly can save him, but only if she agrees to a radical plan: to time travel to 1993 for a corporation who can fund his life-saving treatment. She can only go forward, she cannot go back. And she must leave everything she loves behind, including Frank.

All they have is the promise of a future together: they will find each other again in twelve years’ time, in Galveston, Texas, where the sea begins.

‘An Ocean Of Minutes absolutely swept me away’ – Red Magazine

Swim Wild by Jack, Calum and Robbie Hudson

Brothers Jack, Calum and Robbie have been swimming together their whole lives, and have never lost the sense of wonder, excitement and relief that getting in open water brings.

In this book, we learn about their swimming feats, from tackling the 145km River Eden to setting the world record for swimming in the Arctic. They take us through their preparation for these expeditions, including sourcing wild spots in the heart of sprawling cities in which to train. They document the challenges they encounter and the successes often achieved in the most unexpected ways. And with everything they’ve learned, they give tips for those wanting to take on their own aquatic foray, whether a beginner or a seasoned swimmer.

At its core, this book will provide advice, reassurance and inspiration for anyone in search of something more joyful, peaceful and, ultimately, meaningful.

The World of Tides: A Journey Through the Coastal Waters of Planet Earth by William Thomson

In The Book of Tides, William Thomson took the reader on a mesmerising journey round the coast of Britain. Now, he sets out with his surfboard and tidal compass to encounter the waters of the world, charting his most extraordinary sights and experiences. These include the whirlpools of the Arctic circle, the world’s biggest ever surfed wave off Portugal, the strongest whirlpool in Norway and, in Australia, the most dangerous rapids known to us.

With the enticing combination of William’s passionate text and collectible mapping illustrations, this is a book for anyone who feels the pull of the tides and call of the sea.

The Sealwoman’s Gift by Sally Magnusson

In 1627 Barbary pirates raided the coast of Iceland and abducted some 400 of its people, including 250 from a tiny island off the mainland. Among the captives sold into slavery in Algiers were the island pastor, his wife and their three children. Although the raid itself is well documented, little is known about what happened to the women and children afterwards. It was a time when women everywhere were largely silent.

In this brilliant reimagining, Sally Magnusson gives a voice to Ásta, the pastor’s wife. Enslaved in an alien Arab culture Ásta meets  the loss of both her freedom and her children with the one thing she has brought from home: the stories in her head. Steeped in the sagas and folk tales of her northern homeland, she finds herself experiencing not just the separations and agonies of captivity, but the reassessments that come in any age when intelligent eyes are opened to other lives, other cultures and other kinds of loving.