The Good Slug Guide: How to tackle the slugs and snails in your garden and help save the planet

The Good Slug Guide is a well written accessible monograph on slugs/snails/general biodiversity written and curated by Dr. Jo Kirby. Released 19th Nov 2024 by Gemini Books, it's 144 pages and is available in hardcover format. 

This is a layman accessible guide that takes the accepted advice about slug and snail control and turns it on its head in a lot of ways. The author uses current, accepted, peer-reviewed scientific research to refute (to a degree) the idea that attracting hedgehogs, toads, and frogs are always the gardener's best first line defense against gastropod (slug & snail) damage in the garden setting. It's true that they eat snails and slugs, but they also eat vast numbers of their natural enemies (beetles and predatory species of gastropod). 

The author has a chatty and warm style of writing and there's nothing dryly academic about the presentation. It's well annotated throughout and the chapter notes with reference links are likely worth the price of the book on their own. It's sparsely (but clearly) illustrated throughout. The author/publisher have also included some appendices, including a comprehensive species list, a cross-referenced index, and an abbreviated bibliography. 

It's important to note that this volume is slanted -very- heavily toward the various species (including introduced ones), growing conditions, and garden culture of the UK. It certainly has valuable relevance to gardeners outside the UK, but this must be taken into consideration by readers situated elsewhere. 

Five stars. It would be an excellent choice for public (or post-secondary school) library acquisition, for allotment/community garden groups, for the smallholder and home gardener, and for gift giving. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.