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wanderingmole's review against another edition
4.0
“It had been a year since the night of the black-backed gull flying past Emily’s downtown balcony, a year since I first became aware of another kind of New Zealand - these bird islands, this bird land. It was full to bursting with a life I had never known about.” (pp 148-149)
vincentkonrad's review against another edition
2.0
Think the short magazine column format doesn't translate v well.
mirias's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
A lovely little book celebrating birds and those who have a relationship with them
sarah_dietrich's review against another edition
3.0
Charming. Would have loved for it to be longer. Could have done without the story about the baby.
expendablemudge's review
3.0
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Book Report: Number 10 in The Ginger Series, published by a small Kiwi press called AWA, this is the personal year-long chronicle of award-winning journalist Steve Braunias's unexpected fascination with birds. One day, while standing on the balcony of his apartment, Braunias experiences a lovely moment familiar to many of us who live on islands: A seagull flies by, close enough for him to touch. What is for most of us a small moment of personal pleasure becomes, in Braunias's capable writerly hands, a meditation on the natural world and the odd, the eccentric, and the curmudgeonly folk who make it their business to describe and defend that world from their fellow men.
My Review: I don't think I have ever in all my life read so many books about birds as I have this year. (Two.) Oh no...does this mean I'm going to become a birder?!? Oh Noooooooo...but wait...after reading this book, I have a much higher opinion of birders than before. And please note, that is "birder," NOT "bird-watcher" which is a mildly pejorative and condescending term for unserious casual glancers.
Of course, this is a view of the New Zealand birding world, so isn't overly likely to be applicable to Long Island, New York. More's the pity. Braunias presents a cast of lovably obsessed if socially prickly monomaniacs, past and present, who sound as though they'd render any cocktail party chatter silent. But, if you're in the right frame of mind (ie, to learn), they're fascinating to listen in on. I found myself rooting for birds I've never seen and likely will never see to win their fight for survival.
Braunias's gift as a writer is the short, punchy anecdote...he's a columnist for Sunday Magazine, which appears to be a lot like the Sunday New York Times Magazine, so that makes sense...and this book is just exactly long enough to let him showcase his brightest turns about birds and birding to best advantage.
I love that the book is so physically attractive, too, with its heavy cover stock, its well-reproduced halftone photos inside, and its all-around crisp design. New Zealand press AWA Press has distribution in the USA, so I assume it's possible to buy one here. I'd encourage you to do so, because it's a delightful way to spend a few hours in good company.
The Book Report: Number 10 in The Ginger Series, published by a small Kiwi press called AWA, this is the personal year-long chronicle of award-winning journalist Steve Braunias's unexpected fascination with birds. One day, while standing on the balcony of his apartment, Braunias experiences a lovely moment familiar to many of us who live on islands: A seagull flies by, close enough for him to touch. What is for most of us a small moment of personal pleasure becomes, in Braunias's capable writerly hands, a meditation on the natural world and the odd, the eccentric, and the curmudgeonly folk who make it their business to describe and defend that world from their fellow men.
My Review: I don't think I have ever in all my life read so many books about birds as I have this year. (Two.) Oh no...does this mean I'm going to become a birder?!? Oh Noooooooo...but wait...after reading this book, I have a much higher opinion of birders than before. And please note, that is "birder," NOT "bird-watcher" which is a mildly pejorative and condescending term for unserious casual glancers.
Of course, this is a view of the New Zealand birding world, so isn't overly likely to be applicable to Long Island, New York. More's the pity. Braunias presents a cast of lovably obsessed if socially prickly monomaniacs, past and present, who sound as though they'd render any cocktail party chatter silent. But, if you're in the right frame of mind (ie, to learn), they're fascinating to listen in on. I found myself rooting for birds I've never seen and likely will never see to win their fight for survival.
Braunias's gift as a writer is the short, punchy anecdote...he's a columnist for Sunday Magazine, which appears to be a lot like the Sunday New York Times Magazine, so that makes sense...and this book is just exactly long enough to let him showcase his brightest turns about birds and birding to best advantage.
I love that the book is so physically attractive, too, with its heavy cover stock, its well-reproduced halftone photos inside, and its all-around crisp design. New Zealand press AWA Press has distribution in the USA, so I assume it's possible to buy one here. I'd encourage you to do so, because it's a delightful way to spend a few hours in good company.
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