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kpetroll's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
Book Club book - I really enjoyed this book and the author’s lyrical writing about nature and her life experiences. It made me pause and look up more information about the animals and plants that she wrote about of how we’re connected to nature. I especially loved the chapter about fireflies which brought up fond memories of childhood summer nights. Here’s a powerful passage for a call to action from the Southern Cassowary chapter:
“Suppose that boom shaking in our body can be a physical reminder that we are all connected-- that if the cassowary population decreases, so does the proliferation of fruit trees, and with that hundreds of animals and insects then become endangered. Boom, I want to tell the people at Siesta Key, whom I see dumping empty poptato chip bags into the shrubs of sea grapes from my blanket on the beach. Boom to the man in the truck in front of me of Highway 5, who tossed a whole empty fast food sack out his window and then, later, a couple of still-lit cigarettes. Boom, I want to say the family who left their empty plastic water bottles on a bench at Niagara Falls State Park, only to have two of them blow over and plummet into the falls. Don't you see? We are all connected. Boom.”
“Suppose that boom shaking in our body can be a physical reminder that we are all connected-- that if the cassowary population decreases, so does the proliferation of fruit trees, and with that hundreds of animals and insects then become endangered. Boom, I want to tell the people at Siesta Key, whom I see dumping empty poptato chip bags into the shrubs of sea grapes from my blanket on the beach. Boom to the man in the truck in front of me of Highway 5, who tossed a whole empty fast food sack out his window and then, later, a couple of still-lit cigarettes. Boom, I want to say the family who left their empty plastic water bottles on a bench at Niagara Falls State Park, only to have two of them blow over and plummet into the falls. Don't you see? We are all connected. Boom.”
laura_corsi's review
4.0
The writing was poetic and beautiful. The only problem being that I wanted more—more nature, more memoir, more beautiful writing. A perfect book for your bedside table.
dgrachel's review against another edition
I started this for my local indie bookstore's reading challenge. I had hoped for essays on nature. This is a memoir with animal facts woven into the stories from her childhood. I'm not a fan of memoir in general, and this suffers from disappointing expectations.
confettimama's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
alyssapusateri's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Kidnapping