W is for Watership Down and the Library Book Sale

is for Watership Down.

For this year's A to Z I'm featuring books I've read based on the Reading Challenge.

Today's book is a book with nonhuman characters: Watership Down by Richard Adams.

There's also a sequel, Tales from Watership Down.

Both books are about the adventures of a group of rabbits, led by two brothers called Fiver and Hazel, who are forced to leave their warren and find a new home. "The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese)" (from Amazon)

There's a brilliant recent interview with Adams in the Telegraph.

I also glanced at the Wikipedia entry for the book just now and learned that Adams participated in a Reddit Ask Me Anything last December. I missed it! If only I'd seen a notification for it on Twitter. Someone asked a Tolkien question:

"I'm a huge fan of your fantasy novels. Did you ever meet J. R. R. Tolkien? What did you think of The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies?

I never met Tolkien, and I can't say I've seen the films. I hear they're good. I think the Lord of the Rings is first class. Wonderful. There aren't enough novelists today writing stories. Not many novels nowadays are really stories - they concentrate on character and the relationships between characters. Sad love and happy love. But a story. "Once upon a time...". It's not sophisticated enough you see, but I think there' a real place for it."

I also learned that Adams co-authored a nonfiction book on a journey in Antartica, Voyage Through the Antarctic. That sounds fascinating! It's definitely difficult for me to resist adding books to my wishlists all the time.

Not only that, but I keep adding to my To Read pile... Last weekend the Library in English in Geneva hosted another book sale!

Purchases on the first day

The second day's haul

Which books with non-human characters would you recommend?