pickJust a lovely time. Really all about one person's observations of the birds in her backyard. Wasn't sure what the tone would be from the preface, since it had a memoir feel, and mentioned her mother's repeated threats of self-harm, but the rest of the book is full of faithful reproductions of excerpted journal entries and truly gorgeous illustrations by the author.1/?
pickI have tried a few of Amy Tan‘s fiction books and didn‘t connect well with them. This journal and collection of drawings however was delightful!
She‘s an incredibly talented artist, and I found her observations and commentary on her backyard visitors funny and interesting. Highly recommend if you also like birdwatching or feeding your locals.
Oof, the entry packs a punch, but the ending sentence really knocked me out.
Hee hee. Spicy for birdy, not for squirrel! 🌶️
pick#Read2025
One of my #Roll100 Feb picks (#82 Any Non-Fiction) & also a #BlameItOnLitsy rec from @Kitta (on one of my posts about The Art Thief she recommended this one in the museum theft true crime genre). In this case a 20-year-old American flautist & fly-tying enthusiast steals 299 rare bird skins from a UK museum. I‘d have thought all the detail on fly-tying would have bored me but I found it & the crime fascinating. It reads like fiction.
We have 5 pairs of cardinals that have been visiting our feeders this year. It's impossible for me to get a good photo of them all at the same time. This one isn't bad though.
This morning Sneaky Casey stole a pillow and hid behind BIRDING WITH BENEFITS, which is a lot of fun so far. I love it when something that‘s marketed as a romcom is actually full of jokes and wacky hijinks! (Publishers do seem to be getting better about this.) I‘m excited to read more later this afternoon. Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow so the next person on the holds list gets a go.
bailedLove the idea, but it's just not working for me in execution. Moss gives far too broad an overview of each bird to engage me as a reader. If you have even the most basic knowledge of any of these birds, you are likely not going to learn anything new here. For me, this would have been more effective if it delved into one specific thing/story about each bird (kind of like Eight Bears did), rather than try to do a complete overview in 30-40 pages.
pickThis was recommended to me by one our best customers. I've heard about this book quite a lot, but thought it wasn't for me. When I started it, I still thought it wasn't for me. But the more I listened to the audio book, the more I got invested. It's interesting how the author mixes up memoir, biography and biology in one book. Without it being overloaded.
@PuddleJumper #roll100
⚠️animal death 15h