If you’re reading this - thank you! Thank you for such a stellar kick off month of Vogue[ish[! I wrote 6 emails during the year’s shortest month - 3 weekly emails, 2 bonus emails, and 1 bonus email for paid subscribers. I’ve loved reading and responding to each of your emails, comments, and messages. I see every time someone subscribers and I recognize a lot of those email addresses. Seriously, thank you!
-Sydney
The month of bird books!
In January I got an email about the Great Backyard Bird Count happening in February, an event I had in my calendar since learning about it last year. And all at once I had a genius idea: I should only read books about birds in February! And so that is what I did (mostly).
One of these books is not like the others. All books linked here. I make a commission when you purchase through my links. Thanks!
Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World by Noah Strycker. This is my 2nd time reading this book (re-reading is rare for me) and it was every bit as enjoyable as the 1st time. I’m a sucker for anyone doing anything for a set length of time and following Noah around as he traversed the globe for one full year in search of seeing the most bird species ever was just plain fun. If I were making a top favorite life list for books, this would be on it.
Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard by Joan E. Strassmann. This book is the opposite of the first one. She’s into getting to know your local birds up close and personal over the idea of making “lists” and checking birds off for numbers sake. I feel like there is room for both approaches! I started this at the beginning of the month and it took me a while to finish as it’s more text book-y than the others. You do get detailed information about specific birds and how you can observe them which I found helpful. It even inspired me to make a “dead hedge” - a creative use for all the stick piles in my yard that is functional and will create a bird habitat. Win win!
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. I went into Bird Month wanting facts, information, and scientific research on birds told in a fun, comical way. This book is not that, which I realized pretty quickly. It’s a memoir that centers around the death of Macdonald’s father, her resulting depression and purchase of a hawk to train, and coming out wiser on the other side. She parallels her own story of falconry with that of a dude from the 1800s who wrote his own memoir/book on his life and training hawks. Throughout the book you read his story about being a repressed gay man trying to suppress his sadistic leanings while knowing nothing about how to properly train a hawk. I also developed some negative feelings around people capturing wild hawks only to keep them in their homes to train them to hunt. What I really wanted to learn was how Macdonald got into falconry, how she was trained, what hawks were like, and that just wasn’t this book. It felt sad and not my cup of tea, but it did win a book award so maybe you’ll like it?
Under the Henfluence by Tove Danovich. Chickens!! Need I say more? Tove (pronounced Tov-ah) is a true chicken person, a chicken lover after my own heart. Part investigative journalism, part story of her own flock, this is a book anyone who wants, has or is interested in chickens should read. From how you can train a chicken- they’re so smart!, to therapy chickens, to adopting battery hens (hens who would otherwise be killed en mass once their egg laying years are behind them, typically only a year and a half), this is my kind of book. It’s filled with facts, information, and charming stories about chickens. It inspired us to watch the Chicken People documentary (all about poultry shows. Think: dog show but chickens) and I even tuned into a library talk Tove did last Saturday. When we got our own chickens two years ago, I had no idea that I would love them as much as I do and that I would discover just how charming they are. I think it’s entirely possible that if you read this book, it could inspire you, too, to get chickens!
My Penguin Year: Life Among the Emperors by Lindsay McCrae. Another year long epic adventure, this time in the cold and dark of Antartica for the sole purpose of filming the life cycle of Emperor penguins. Truth be told, I bawled through some sections of this book as McCrae chronicles the hardship of the Emperor penguin, including death, not by predators, but by nature itself which felt especially cruel. And it was equally amazing to learn about Antartica, the people that take on these types of remote research jobs, and, of course, the animals themselves. This book was the behind the scenes information of the reason McCrae was there: to film an episode for BBC Dynasties, which I promptly watched with Sean. He even teared up a bit (the book is more tear provoking than the documentary in my opinion). I dare you to watch or read this while keeping a dry eye!
Better Living Through Birds: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper. This was the surprise hit from Bird Month. You may remember Christian as the NYC Central Park birder who had a viral moment when a white woman called the cops claiming a Black man was threatening her life. Viral moment aside, this book was so much more. It’s a funny, witty memoir that follows Christian’s life growing up as a sci-fi nerd kid who liked to bird who was also gay and Black. He writes about being the first openly gay writer and editor at Marvel Comic, his travels around the world in search of birds, adventures and what he terms his nature-paganism, and yes, the Central Park incident. It’s part advocacy, part nature, part personal spiritual, all excellent. And as a sci-fi lover, I got all the Star Wars and Start Trek references!
House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas. Unless you’re counting angels or sprites as birds, no, this is not a bird book. It’s par for the course with the rest of Maas’ books - a fun, quick read despite being 800 pages, lots of sexy fairies (sorry mom), and the characters from her other series making appearances in this one. What more do you want from your books people?? No spoilers, but do we think there will be another book? I kinda think so.
Book I Loved the Most:
Better Living Through Birds - I didn’t expect what this turned out to be - a memoir style I like: quirky, funny, facts (so many good facts about birds!), and personal stories - and I loved it. Highly recommend.
Book I Would Add to My Collection:
Under the Henfluence - This is already sitting on my shelf. I had to!
Honorable Mentions:
All the bird books I haven’t gotten to yet, but are on my TBR (to be read) list:
12 Birds to Save Your Life: Nature’s Lessons in Happiness by Charlie Corbett
Imperial Dreams: Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker through the Wild Sierra Madre by Tim Gallagher
What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
YOUR TURN:
Have you read any of these? Which are you adding to your TBR (To Be Read pile)?
Definitely going to read some of these!