Kinda cute, it's delightful to see people being so obsessed about something and the author's freaking hilarious! The technical parts got boring at times. Tbh i won't recommend it except if you have a physical copy and are into cloudspotting. But despite the shortcomings, this book is dear to me and it definitely changes how i see the sky now; quite an unexpected and pleasant change, significantly lifted up my days lately. 3.5. ( )

An official publication of The Cloud Appreciation Society (www.cloudappreciationcociety.org)

I don't want to talk about it. ( )

I really enjoyed the quaint lore, but didn't finish every bit of it, preferring to consider this wonderful book a reference. I'm culling all my books but this one is a keeper. Very well done. ( )

Enjoyed this, in a kind of quintessentially-English way. The classification and science of clouds mixed in well with anecdotes, musings, and other cloud-related information kept things interesting, and now it's difficult to not keep looking up at the sky, even when it's grey and wet... ( )

A charming and moderately informative consideration of the visible atmosphere. 5+ stars for concept, 3 average for execution. The tone is a bit spotty with moments of grace. Worth it for the Morning Glory. Member #22860 ( )

It's no secret - I love to traipse around the countryside and identify things.
I managed to identify a yew tree in our garden thanks to Roger Phillips' book: identifying trees.
Hurray for me! One of the things one misses living in a city on a plain are the clouds and, this terrific book notwithstanding, I'll probably never be able to really tell them apart (I can't seem to judge the altitute of the formations properly) but I'll keep bumping into things whilst trying.

A lot of good information, but too many dumb jokes. A book about rainbows should be next ( )

This seems to be written for a 5 year old, and occasionally by one. Too many fabulously irrelevant tangents and uninteresting personal stories. There are some good bits, but there is too much bad stuff to wade trough. ( )

The Cloudspotter's Guide is an interesting premise, and one that I hoped would equip me ably to glance heavenwards and confidently see what was what, working as I do outdoors in all weathers - and yes - even perhaps "amaze my friends" (as neat tricks in my childhood always promised)!

The book starts well: copiously illustrated and nicely laid out with good summary introductions of each major cloud type encountered chapter by chapter. The author's style is necessarily informative and somewhat entertaining, though this latter trait becomes a trifle tiresome in places as I got the impression he was trying just a bit too hard to be funny. I enjoyed these early chapters (on the low altitude clouds) as I genuinely felt I was learning something (as was my hope) and the subject matter was all quite digestible. But as I progressed through the book, I felt by the midway point that it was all becoming a bit of a blur. I felt bogged down with the confusing explanations of physics, and convection, and.... other stuff. It seems that one cloud began to roll into another, and I found it challenging to tell my Nimbostratus from my Stratocumulus.

I think it's probably me - physics and chemistry were never my strongest subjects, and pretty much all of the science I've learnt as an adult has been tree-related. (But I have read popular science books with trees as the main subject matter that were well-written and not toobamboozling... So I know it can be done.) Finding myself becoming bored with the book, I've abandoned it to the bathroom window sill, where it will doubtless remain until our next epic storm or other freak weather event pushes me to reconsider just why Cumulonimbus occur! ( )

A lot of good information, but too many dumb jokes. A book about rainbows should be next ( )

Reading this book is like panning for gold: hard work, time consuming, with occasion flakes of treasure to keep you motivated. This took me months to read, but I finished because I kept hoping to find some more of those treasures hidden in this book. I will say that I look at the clouds differently, but the way this book is written did not help me retain very much knowledge about them. I would rate this one-star, except for the few really good bits that shined. Those parts (perhaps 10% of the book) are 4-1/2 star material. ( )

As a popular science book, this is obviously supposed to be jaunty fun. I mean, it's a cloud spotters guide right, and everyone knows that there are a few basic clouds. There's cumulus, cumulonimbus, er, stratus and, er, white, black and…grey. How can you spin a book out of that?

You can't, so it's lucky that there are actually many different types of cloud, starting with a ground mist that clings to your ankles when you are tromping across a deserted moor all the way up to those vapor trails that jet aeroplanes full of tourists leave as they criss-cross an otherwise pristine sky. And then there are the sub-sets of the different clouds. Looking up has never been so complicated.

The message here is that clouds are fun and interesting, much more interesting than dull old blue sky. They add drama and excitement and romance and rain and snow and sleet and hail and, as long as you like white, black and every shade of grey in-between, colour. OK, they go pink and red too at dawn and sunset. And yes, yes, I know about rainbows.

I certainly do, because what this book is not short on is facts. Fun facts to be sure, but facts just the same. And science too. There's a lot of science in the book. The only issue is that once you get past the basic science of clouds (which is essentially moisture and temperature) you're into the more esoteric and brain-hurtee stuff. This is where the book starts to unravel a little.

Because this is popular science and the author is trying to make the science fun. More than that, he is enthusiastic about his subject. Science can be fun, ask any chemist who makes his own crystal meth, but it's something of an art. Organised fun is never fun. And the people who try to organise fun are about one step below war criminals in the 'threat to mankind' stakes.

Science is fun when your science teacher is a scrumpy drinking nutter who thinks it is a great idea to set off the sort of explosion that would register on a seismograph as an introduction to his class and, while a schoolroom full of traumatised kids are busy screaming, bleeding, sitting in pools of their own wee, says 'who can tell me what made that compound unstable?'. This book, I fear, is a little too much like the sort of science teacher who has a badge that says 'science is fun' and tries just that little bit too hard to be matey, so coming off as just a wee bit creepy.

The science and the fun never mixed. Maybe that was why I found this such hard going, which is a shame because I was prepared to like it. It's a lovely edition, with some beautiful, atmospheric (ho ho) illustrations. But the author isn't a good enough teacher to convey the advanced stuff in a sufficiently straightforward manner, and the matey stuff just grates after a while.

There are two redeeming features. The first is that something must have gone in somewhere, because I now have a much greater understanding of what's happening over my head and that understanding has greatly aided appreciation. Not only can I now see shapes in the clouds, I can pretty much know what sort of precipitation they will bring. This is a huge leap forward in the appreciation of the natural world and gives one a bit of an insight into what motivates, say, birdwatchers, or storm-chasers. And this beauty is transient. I didn't quite appreciate just how short lived a cloud is. I mean, who actually looks at the sky? One glances up and that's it. Now, My glance lingers.

The second saving grace is the last chapter, the story of the search for the 'morning glory', a particular sort of cloud native to Australia and which glider pilots surf in, in the same way that surfers surf the ocean. It was fascinating stuff and got to the heart of what being a cloud spotter is actually all about. More stories like that, men (it’s always men) in search of atmospheric phenomenon, would be something. ( )

This book took me by surprise: I had asked my son for, 'the Cloud Collector's Handbook', for my birthday last year. Being a generous lad, he bought me both the desired tome and this one. I pawed through the Collector's Handbook, but rather unfeelingly, neglected this opus. It has sat upon my shelf starring at me reproachfully since last July and so, I eventually conceded and took it down to rifle through it, as I thought, in an afternoon. How wrong can a chap be?

This book is packed with information, not just about cloud formations, where and how they occur, but with fascinating details of references to them in classical literature. I spent a thoroughly enjoyable three days reading it and, I shall return to remind myself of some of the information which I shall doubtless forget over time. ( )

The Cloud Spotter’s Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney is a great book in on the science and history of clouds. The book goes into great detail about the different types of clouds and the various species inside those types. The book goes on to tell the reader which clouds produce rain or tropical rain storms and which ones are pretty harmless. It gives in great detail what you will see with what type of cloud, which is very helpful in identifying the different clouds. The book goes on to give the history behind each cloud and what different religious groups believed about the various types of clouds. The author of this book is the founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society. ( )

A beautiful concept. There are fact-files for the different types of clouds, which help with identification, as well as little anecdotes and asides that added much to my fascination. One of my favourites. ( )

What a fun book. Gavin Pretor-Pinney isn't a meteorologist, just a guy who really geeks out on clouds. He started The Cloud Appreciation Society, an amateur cloud watching and photographing group in England and online.

The book goes through each of the different types of cloud categorized by meteorologists and gives an explanation of what type of weather you're likely to see them in and what underlying atmospheric conditions cause them. He also peppers the text with religious, artistic, and historical context to various cloud types and does it all with dry British humour and obvious enthusiasm. Since I started reading this guide, I've become much more aware of the different clouds in the sky and much more appreciative. Mission accomplished Mr. Pretor-Pinney. ( )

Charming overview of those sky-borne spectres we tend to either romantically regard or blithely ignore. Pretor-Pinney, who set up the Cloud Appreciation Society, has written an informative and enjoyable book with enough science to satisfy but not too much to daunt casual readers. ( )

Big fun. Has me looking up at the clouds in new ways. ( )

A very british read. Informative, whimsical, humorous, filled with digressions, stories and quotes. A slight volume with great intellectual and emotional impact. A book to be savored as an absolutely essential read on an entirely ephemeral topic. ( )

I loved this book so much it made me a cloud photographer. Instead of driving "blindly" into town, my visor is up and I am constantly hitting the brakes to leap out of the car and catch the image. Don't panic, I live in the Australian countryside and rarely come across other vehicles until near the town!

My profile photo is one I took across our farm paddocks called Sky Poetry.

For countryfolk weather is vital, so learning about the clouds and their impact on rain was excellent knowledge and apart from the b & w pictures, the info Gavin has put together is entertaining and educational. I was really interested in his comments on con-trails and their potential to change the formation of rain clouds.

A really good read. Among my favourite long-term books. ( )

Not my usual kind of read, but it was actually quite interesting and I learnt lots about different clouds. ( )

I never knew how fascinating clouds could be. This isn't just a guide about clouds; it contains lots of stories woven in with the scientific details. ( )

I adored this book. It is informative, full of good science, and yet strangely whimsical. An inspired choice on the part of the publisher, since it was not an obvious best-seller. My admiration is perhaps inflated by the location in which I read it: West Cork, the bottom left-hand corner of Ireland, where cloud formations and changing skies are a subject of constant delight and/or angst. Hardback edition undermined only by the very poor quality of photographs. ( )

What a great book. The title alone has got to make you want it! I will reread this one for a long time... ( )