The Lyons Share

My book is out there in the wild

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Thursday, 26 February 2026 19:40

Although I have had copies of the book for about a month now (and I had a great day at Adastra a couple of weeks ago by way of a 'soft launch' selling almost all of the books I had), publication day was not until today. I suppose that means I am officially an author (what's so strange is, I really hated English at school - I just wanted to do maths, science and art). Yet I am so pleased with how it has come out. It was an immense amount of work on top of an already busy life as an entomologist which has been tough at times. A big shout out to Rachel Hudson for that amazing cover and to everyone at Pelagic - but especially the editor David Hawkins. Here's a quick flick through I did a few weeks ago.

I have had a few people say this book is like no other natural history book they've read, I'm really happy with that, as I am quite different myself and this was exactly what I was going for. I have tried to do many different things with this book and I hope I have achieved at least some of them. They are...

It's a guide to pan-species listing

Kinda obvious really, it even says it on the cover.

I have tried to write a book that's useful to all naturalists - not just pan-species listers

I have tried to write a book that will appeal to as many naturalists as possible, with or without an interest in PSL. Obviously, there's loads of stuff about PSL, but about half of the book (around 200 pages) is an extensive section on how to access each of the taxonomic groups in detail. This includes what books to get, keys to use, online resources, societies, FB groups to join, kit you'll need etc. I also start each group and sub-group with how many species are listed and how difficult that group/subgroup is to tackle. I have factored these together to make an 'accessibility' score to give a guide on how accessible each of them are. I wanted to write something I would have found useful 30 years ago - I hope I have achieved that. The hints and tips section will also be of help to any naturalist and/or biological recorder. I've also detailed PSL survey methods I have come up with that are proving very useful in my work.

It's part biographical, peppered with personal anecdotes and daft picture captions

The book is also biographical to some extent. I set the scene early on how my life and career have been intrinsically entwined with natural history and use personal anecdotes throughout. I am not personally a fan of nature writing (I just wanna be outside) but if you are, I have tried to make this book as readable as possible and I have had a surprising number of people tell me they couldn't put it own and read in a couple of days (I really wasn't expecting that).

A guide to being a naturalist/biological recorder in 21st Century Britain

It's also a guide to be being a biological recorder/naturalist in the 21st Century in Britain. The world of natural history is changing rapidly, and I have tried to show how to navigate your way through this as best I can. As a Xennial (the Goonies generation) who had an analogue childhood and a digital adulthood, I am lucky enough to walk between these two worlds, which give me a useful viewpoint. I discuss some difficult topics like representation and make a stand on a series of subjects that I know and expect not everyone will agree with me on - and that is OK. Yet, I am having my say here, as I have some skin in the game and plenty of relevant experience, and feel like this stuff isn't being said.

I want this book to help other neurodivergent naturalists

The chapter on ND was the last to be added but is really important to me, and early feedback is showing that this is doing exactly what I had hoped. REALLY helping other such naturalists be 'seen' and feel less alone, while allowing NT people to understand their ND friends a little more.

Finally, with c200 colour photos, it's a joyous celebration of British wildlife

I have been told that my excitement and love for natural history pours off every page of this book and I was perosnally surprised at just how fantastic the final product looks, Pelagic really have put this together well.

It's all very strange for me, the kid from a council estate who hated English and didn't even think they were a real person until they their 30s, yet here they are with a book they are really proud of. Sending this off to my two childhood mentors (who I dedicated it too) was one of the happiest moments of my life. 

You can buy the book directly from Pelagic here.

Now I need to get back to PSL year listing, I am already on 1,420 species!!! Oh one last thing, I am doing a talk at Exeter Street Hall (opposite the Chimney House and just around the corner from me) next Wed night from 7.30 to 8.30 pm. Beers after!

Posted in my first book, pan-species listing

2 Response to "My book is out there in the wild"

Peter Alfrey Says:

Congratulations Graeme- looking brilliant- just ordered my copy!

27 February 2026 at 10:55

Anonymous Says:

Hi Graeme!

I’ve just finished your book. It truly is a remarkable work, a real page-turner! Even though I’m not British, or have spent any time in the British Isles (apart from the odd trip to London in the 00:s where my main interest was chugging beer, buying records and going to clubs – though I did tick a few things like Grey Squirrel, Ring-necked Parakeet and, last and definitely least, Gulella io in a greenhouse at Kew!), I think it’s very useful for naturalists in general. I personally feel that it addresses a lot of the opinions, questions and concerns that I have when it comes to listing, recording etc.

Reading about your life story and development as a naturalist, I feel we have a lot in common, not only our age (also born in ’78) - even though I don’t consider myself neurodivergent (although I might have some traits...).

I live in Sweden, and here quite a few people have effectively been pan-species listing for some years (I compiled my first PS-list around 2012), even though we don’t have a particular name for it other than “kryssande” (ticking/twitching). It’s not as well-organised as in Britain, but it’s a real movement and the top listers are now over 15 000 species. One significant difference vs Britain is that the ranking in Sweden is based on a national recording database, Artportalen (www.artportalen.se, you can choose English language in the top right corner). This has both benefits and flaws, but the database has a quite powerful built-in list function with possibilities to show lists and rankings based on both geography and time. Most of the flaws of this approach have been eliminated in the system, e.g. records of dead organisms, droppings, tracks, molehills etc. don’t count on your lists, same goes for records made by other people but provided by you. So, the benefits outweigh the few remaining flaws, in my opinion. You MUST make records to climb in the ranks, and your ticks are directly available for science, conservation work etc. The developers of the database have explicitly said that that’s the main reason for the list functions.

Demographically, the movement in Sweden is very much like its British counterpart; very few women, even fewer people of colour, but probably an over-representation of neurodivergent people.

Cheers,
/Johan Svedholm, currently on 9603 species in Sweden (ranking #10), real number probably about 70 species more consisting of species not yet in the system, classified species that don’t show in the ranks (one of the remaining flaws in my opinion), a personal recording backlog etc.

8 April 2026 at 00:16