The Nature of Small Birds

The Nature of Small Birds: A Novel | Susie Finkbeiner

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This isn't a story with a lot of tension and highs and lows, instead, it's more of a stroll through a family's life showing love, judgement and everything in between. I enjoyed reading this and getting to know the characters. They all felt very real.

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TheAromaofBooks

The Nature of Small Birds: A Novel | Susie Finkbeiner

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I actually finished a book!! This one was a soft pick for me, but it may also have been the fact that a lack of reading time/chaotic week at work meant I only was able to read it in small bursts. Six days to finish a book this size is not my usual MO & I had trouble really getting into it. It's been a couple days since I finished it & I think part of my issue with this one is that almost nothing happens. There are three timelines - ⬇️

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) present day (2013) from the perspective of Bruce, now in his 60s; 1975 from the POV of his wife, Linda, during the time they were adopting their daughter from Vietnam's Operation Babylift; & a 1988 timeline from the POV of Bruce & Linda's older daughter, Sonny, when the girls are teens. I'm hardpressed to say which of these timelines was the primary story as all three just sort of ramble about. In 2013, the Vietnamese daughter, Mindy, ⬇ 3y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) has decided to try & find her birth family. At the same time, Bruce's mother suffers from a series of strokes & seems to be approaching the end of her life. Bruce's mother is basically a dreadful woman who apparently has been mean to Mindy her whole life because Bruce's brother died in Vietnam. The 1975 line interested me the most as we see how Mindy came to live with the family at the age of 4 & learned more about how Operation ⬇ 3y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) Babylift worked, while looking at some of the difficulties involved in adopting a child who has been completely traumatized & doesn't even speak your language. The 1988 line explores the fact that even though Mindy's family loves her & has accepted her (except apparently Bruce's mother), they can never really understand what it is like to be “different“ from everyone else around you, or what it is like to be adopted & have no idea about ⬇ 3y

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) your birth family or where you came from other than Vietnam.

At the end of the day, while I did enjoy a lot of this story & felt like it was sensitively written, I was left with a lot of questions concerning the way the family handled Bruce's mother's treatment of Mindy & why she wasn't ever really confronted about her behavior. It made me question the emphasis on how much Mindy's adopted family truly loved/accepted her when they ⬇ 3y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) let Bruce's mother get away with decidedly preferential treatment towards her not-adopted grandchildren, which soured me, at some level, on the whole story. But I did enjoy the rest of the story & learning about Operation Babylift. The author doesn't delve a great deal into the morality of removing children from their homes & home country, but she definitely doesn't present it as a universally good solution. As with everything ⬇ 3y

TheAromaofBooks (cont') including the war itself, there are many shades of grey & just wanting to do “good“ doesn't always make it easy to accomplish.

This got a little rambly, but basically I did like, but with some reservations. However, it's not one I see myself rereading, so if someone (in the US) would like to have this one, please let me know & I'd be happy to mail it your way!!

NB: I received this from the publisher, Revell, in exchange for a review. 3y

75 likes6 comments

TheAromaofBooks

The Nature of Small Birds: A Novel | Susie Finkbeiner

So I'm not doing great with my goal for the #LitsySummerCampReadathon thanks to peaches (seriously, we picked FIFTY BUSHELS OF PEACHES yesterday & probably will pick 50 more tomorrow!) but maybe I'll do better during #AwesomeAugust ?? I think I'm going to set the goal of 200pgs/day & see if I can even get close!! Thanks for hosting @Andrew65 !!

Andrew65 Great to have you with us. Good luck 😍 3y

53 likes1 comment

TheAromaofBooks

The Nature of Small Birds: A Novel | Susie Finkbeiner

Not sure how much time I will have to attend #LitsySummerCamp but I absolutely love this idea, so I am going to do my best to make it every day!! I'm also hoping to kick off August's reading by averaging 250pgs/day, plus a bonus 50 pages to make my chart even 😂 Thanks so much for hosting @ImperfectCJ !!!

ImperfectCJ I love your summer camp page! You're more organized about this camp than I am! 😆 3y

TheAromaofBooks @ImperfectCJ - If creating trackers was all it took to be organized, my life would be a lot further ahead than it is 😂 3y

catebutler Such a cute journal page!! 🌻 3y

TheAromaofBooks @catebutler - Thank you!! Some #LitsyLove member (I can't remember who!) included those stickers in a letter a while back and they just seemed perfect for this page!! 3y

74 likes4 comments

TheHeartlandBookFairy

The Nature of Small Birds: A Novel | Susie Finkbeiner

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Susie's books draw you in and hold you captive long beyond the end of the story! I've read every one of Susie's books and, I remember every single one! The stories, the character's, all the feels 💗

In the nature of small birds, we visit and learn more about an era that's not often written about. The mid 1970s. In 1975, 3000 children were airlifted out of Saigonn in what became known as the baby lift and, were (cont in comments)

TheHeartlandBookFairy adopted into Western homes. Mindy (Mihn) was one of those children. A story of Family, what makes a family, of growth. A story of differences… coming to terms with theim, understanding them, celebrating them. Told in 3 points of view from Mindy's mom- Linda, Dad- Bruce, and sister- Sonny, and over a span of years from the mid seventies to 2013. A story told with such authenticism that you can easily imagine you're reading (cont)

3y

TheHeartlandBookFairy reading a memoir and not a fictional story. When you commit to reading a Susie Finkbeiner story you are committing to falling in love with and caring for another family. You just can't help it! One of my favorite quotes from the book... ~it's the kind of day when I'm aware of how, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, "earth's crammed with heaven." The very thought just makes me smile! This book makes me smile ☺

3y

18 likes2 comments

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