Welcome to Litsy!

This is not my vibe, this could be good for someone else, but it left me feeling a bit… and?? I think I need a solid story. Genuinely keen to hear other people‘s opinions

It‘s a lovely book and I really enjoyed reading about the everyday life and their adventures. But even though I feel I have a good grasp on the english language, I feel this book would be better enjoyed if I was a native english speaker. The details of the birds and wildlife in Australia was a bit wasted on me since it was so much I didn‘t understand. And as I read this on a beach in Lesvos, Greece I didn‘t have Google translate to rely on.

Elizabeth Gould must have been a strong #independentwoman - although a wife and mother, she also worked for her husband, producing hundreds of lithographs to illustrate John Gould's work. She even travelled with him to Van Dieman's land, leaving her children at home, so she could help in the documentation of Australia's bird life.

This copy is sans dust jacket and features her lithographs on the cover and fly sheets.

#augustgrrrls

Won this one in Writers Victoria's subscribathon. I'm a total bird-nerd, so best prize ever as far as I'm concerned, and that wren wrapping paper is amazing!

Got to hear Melissa Ashley talk about her new book yesterday. I took the opportunity to pick up a hard copy - it's an exquisite artefact with a number of Elizabeth's lithographs included in the flyleaf. This is wat it looks like without the beautiful dust jacket.

'A wonderful, fictionalised biography of an exceptional woman'

I got the prettiest book mail yesterday (budgie not included). I've already read this book but in digital format, which was a disappointment when I saw how lovely the book was in real life.
If you're planning on reading this, definitely get yourself a physical copy - you'll thank me for it later.

#bookmail

So excited, I'm going to a session with Melissa Ashley in a couple of weeks!!!

Back at my old job so less time for reading. Thank goodness for lunch breaks!

Planning book reviews and reading! Need to charge this bad boy up so I can keep reading at the gym this afternoon!

#thebirdmanswife #melissaashley #currentlyreading #bookblogger

When it's dead at work and you get to spend the night reading 👌#thebirdmanswife #melissaashley

This was a fascinating look at the life of Elizabeth Gould, a woman who has largely been overlooked in the annals of natural history in favour of her husband, John. Elizabeth was an artist, wife, mother, and a convention breaker. Although this is a fictionalised account of Elizabeth's life, Melissa Ashley has been meticulous in her research and her author's note at the end shows just how committed she was to portraying Elizabeth accurately.

"…Charles had found that the young budgerigars emerged from their shells in a fully helpless state. They were bereft of feathers and their eyes did not open for a week. The hen nestled her babies close, feeding them constantly and using her body to give warmth."
This book is reminding me of when two of my budgies were babies. So cute and sweet, and grew up into little jerks. But still cute.

This book has many taxidermied birds in it. To paraphrase Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, on behalf of my little friend here, "This is a lovely book of death".
(This bird is 100% alive, by the way.)

As a general rule, I really struggle with these novelisation-of-a-true-story books, but this one is genuinely interesting. The wife of a renowned ornithologist and a talented artist in her own right, Eliza Gould led such an interesting life that it reads like well-plotted fiction. Add to that the author's real talent for bringing Eliza's world to life in living, breathing, vibrant colour and you end up with a very readable book 🐦🐤🐧🎨

Sitting on the deck with a book, a coffee and a very relaxed cat. Finally starting to feel like springtime in this part of the world! ☀️

The fictionalised story of Elizabeth Gould, wife of John Gould who did a lot of work classifying Australia's birds. Elizabeth did a lot of work for her husband while also bringing 8 children into the world until her untimely death at the age of 37. This book is beautifully researched and written, and is a tribute to both an amazing woman and Australia's bird life.