Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by jdejonghe
Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration by Sara Dykman
3.0
I would give this 3.5. I'm not big on memoirs, but Sara is a pretty good writer and I enjoyed her descriptions of her bicycle journey and the folks she met along the way. She did a good job advocating for the monarch butterfly and explaining the reasons for their decline in a non-technical way. (She's already a bit outdated on the science, but that's not her fault, updates come all the time). Having done some long-distance hiking, I could relate to some of her experiences with that lifestyle and the comments you get from others who don't understand. I enjoyed those parts of the book a lot - her descriptions of how she found food, places to sleep, etc.
That being said, the writing dragged on in the middle and got repetitive, it took me a long time to finish. It felt at times a chore. You could tell that the author was often (understandably) angry about environmental concerns, but it took the form of her alternating between condescension toward say, car drivers, and a forced effort at optimism that didn't always ring true.
I'm impressed with her journey, and I'm glad I read the book. But I'm also glad that I'm finished.
That being said, the writing dragged on in the middle and got repetitive, it took me a long time to finish. It felt at times a chore. You could tell that the author was often (understandably) angry about environmental concerns, but it took the form of her alternating between condescension toward say, car drivers, and a forced effort at optimism that didn't always ring true.
I'm impressed with her journey, and I'm glad I read the book. But I'm also glad that I'm finished.