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April #ReadingBracket2024 nonfiction update
Of the two I read this month, my favorite was Leg. But Better Living Through Birding is beating everyone for the whole quarter still 🐦

Like many (most? all?) other Litsy members, I have more lists and stacks of books than time for them all. This one was a Christmas present, though, and made its way to the top of my bedside stack. I am glad. Just finished it, and found it informative, thought provoking, and entertaining.

I'll be filling out both book bracket designs throughout the year to see if they yield different results, but probably just gonna post one each month here on Litsy.

Here's my nonfiction choice for January. This was no contest the winner. I love a good memoir any day but this one had that extra something to make it great. Maybe it was the bird songs sprinkled throughout 🐦😉
#ReadingBracket2024

This was such a beautiful memoir exploring race, sexuality, and societal pressures, all through the lens of nature, specifically birds. You might know Cooper from his viral racial experience in Central Park with a dog walker in 2020. In this book he chronicles his life leading up to that experience and how being a nerdy, gay, Black man obsessed with birds prepared him in ways he didn't expect.
His story is inspiring and lovely to listen to 🐦 5🌟

Loved it. So much more than I thought it would be. While the author is happy to describe birds and the adventures and process of birding, this memoir delves into not just experiences of racism which brought him to public attention, but also growing up a sci-fi nerd, coming out as gay, fleeting and romantic entanglements, gay and black activism, working at Marvel comics, relationships with and deaths of parents. A resiliently joyful read.

A fascinating life of an extraordinary man who clearly loves birds, nature, and storytelling. Glad I listened to the audiobook for the wealth of birdsong punctuating sections.

I really enjoyed this book. I would never have heard of Cooper if it were not for that Central Park incident, yet he‘s had an interesting life and tells it in an engaging manner. There are a couple of places where it gets a little slow, but not many. The sun came out today! #audiowalk I began Stephanie Land‘s Maid for my new walking book.

The birds had sense enough to stay out of the rain; I (and some other walkers and runners) did not! It got pretty wet by the send of the walk, and my pants and shoes got soaked. I should finish this book soon as I‘ve only got a little over 2 hours left. #audiowalk

You can‘t tell from the pictures, but it was drizzling while I was walking. I love my rain jacket that I bought for my trip to Canada; I didn‘t have to carry an umbrella. 😊 I‘ve got about 4 hours left in this book, and I‘m really enjoying it. #audiowalk

Cooper worked for Marvel and specifically worked on the issue of Alpha Flight where Northstar came out as gay! My husband and I read those comics and couldn‘t understand why this took so long. So that was an interesting perspective on that story. Love it when I run across something I‘m familiar with but don‘t expect to see in a book I‘m reading. The only thing I knew about Cooper before was that altercation in Central Park. #audiowalk

@BookmarkTavern posted a Book Riot quiz about finding the perfect autumnal book. I took it and got this. Since I like nature reading and my library had the audio, I decided to go with it for my #audiowalk book. You may remember Christian Cooper as the black birder who had a white woman threaten to call the cops on him in Central Park because he told her to leash her dog. I thought this would be about birding, but it‘s really a memoir.

Absolutely delightful!

Cooper pairs insights from his birding adventures and his journey as a queer black nerd (blerd!) to entertain and enlighten. Using stories from his past to illustrate his birding tips was interesting, but it did not make for a linear storyline. Cooper is generous in his retelling of the infamous Central Park incident, but it was my least favorite part of the work. Compelling and infectious makes for a 4 ⭐️ read.

More memoir than birding, but a good read. Cooper has a very interesting background and I‘m glad to see his book out. He makes birding look approachable and accessible to everyone and with his background makes blerds look pretty cool. Glad to meet him through his words.

#memoir

I loved this utterly charming audiobook, narrated by the author, a self-described “blerd” deeply involved in birding. Cooper is based in nyc but travels the world to experience nature, where he finds spiritual fulfillment. His trip to the Himalayan range is featured. He also happens to be gay, is involved in publishing comics, and was the Central Park birder, who‘s interaction with a dog-walker went viral. A calming and inspirational listen.