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samanthamenzo's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
dcliz's review against another edition
3.0
A gem of a book that I read because my workplace book club selected it (I work for the Audubon Society). I enjoyed it, but did not find it engrossing, hence the three stars. It generated a good discussion. If you read it, come armed with post-it notes or another way to record some of the written treasures. There were many times I missed being able to "highlight" a profound sentence because I was not reading it on my eBook reader. I read much of it in an afternoon at a city pool. It's the type of book that is pleasant to read on a lounge chair outside.
toniclark's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely memoir about birds and birding, with lessons for art and life. Quiet and contemplative, Maclear makes you want to slow down, look more closely, reconnect with your inner life, and find beauty and meaning in the life around you. It would be hard to read this book without slowing down and breathing more deeply. A good book to reread and give to friends.
jellybird25's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
4.25
Set in Toronto! Well written and thought provoking. Interesting to try to process life along with the author
dcherry_pie's review against another edition
2.0
While objectively a good book, it just wasn’t for me! I almost didn’t finish but was close enough to see it through to the end. I really don’t care about birds so some of the descriptions and “lessons” were hard to get into. There were many quotes from/references to people I didn’t know which I found a little distracting. Some of the anecdotal morals were wonderful - others I was not convinced about.
saracat's review against another edition
3.0
Due to lots of things going on in my life, there was a lot of stopping and then coming back to this book after time had passed, so especially once over halfway, there were things referenced that I couldn’t remember. And I can’t remember the beginning of the book anymore so I am not left with any sense if there was a goal/point/direction that the book went in.
There were interesting passages and some lines that were quite poignant. But, it doesn’t inspire much in me, though that could potentially be because of when I read it in my life journey.
There were interesting passages and some lines that were quite poignant. But, it doesn’t inspire much in me, though that could potentially be because of when I read it in my life journey.
traceyo's review against another edition
5.0
Gorgeous! There were moments I wished I could soak in the words--hold them close--and somehow make them a part of me, like birds that come and go.
" ... if you listen to birds, every day will have a song in it."
" ... if you listen to birds, every day will have a song in it."
snickies's review against another edition
3.0
This book was good and the comparison with "H is for Hawk" is inevitable I think. However, I don't think this book is strong enough to withstand that comparison; "H is for Hawk" is by far the better book and I think if I hadn't read it first I would have enjoyed this book more.
This book is also very much made up of thing done for the purpose of writing the book and I wasn't a fan of the pervasiveness of the meta in the creation of the narrative. It might appeal to others more.
It was neat to read about local spots of nature in Toronto though.
This book is also very much made up of thing done for the purpose of writing the book and I wasn't a fan of the pervasiveness of the meta in the creation of the narrative. It might appeal to others more.
It was neat to read about local spots of nature in Toronto though.