Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I also have an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
Vesper Flights (4 stars): “The switch in recognition is eerie: I go from seeing rushing patterns in the sky to the realisation that they are made of thousands of beating hearts and eyes and fragile frames of feather and bone. I watch the cranes scratching their beaks with their toes and think of how the startling flocks that pour into reed beds like grain turn all of a sudden into birds perching on bowed stems, bright-eyed, their feathers spangled with white spots that glow like small stars. I marvel at how confusion can be resolved by focusing on the things from which its made. The magic of flocks is this simple switch between geometry and family.”
Helen Macdonald has such a beautiful way with words. When you couple her love of animals and nature with her ability to observe the smallest details and her eloquence with words, you get these beautiful stories. These stories of nature, of birds are to be savored which means that you slow down as you read them and marvel in the beauty of nature.
“They used to think that we record a short term memory, then archive it later, move it to a different part of the brain to story it long term. But now they’ve discovered that the brain always records two tracks at once. That it is always taping two stories in parallel. Short-term memories, long-term memories, to tracks of running recollection, memory doubled. Always doubled.”
If you like nature and especially birds, this book is sure to sweep you away and make you appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature. You will not be disappointed.
with gratitude to netgalley and Grove Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Biggest Bluff (3.5 stars): I’m not a huge poker player but I really enjoyed my time with this book. It was quite interesting to see how you can go from someone who doesn’t play to someone who can achieve quite a lot with concerted effort, a LOT of practice, guidance from the pros, and self-mastery.
I find most nonfiction to be a little longer than necessary and this was no exception. It was still interesting the whole time
Faking Friends (3 stars): Fun, lightweight read about relationships, friendship, finding yourself and standing on your own two feet. I will say that while I enjoyed it as I was reading it, when I look back upon it, I am not feeling the warm fuzzy feelings you get with most of these light reading books. The characters were all pretty not-awesome and the way everyone treated each other was quite awful.
The Girl from Widow Hills (3 stars): Read this one in one sitting. Mystery with a twist in the end-ish. I liked the story and enjoyed my time with it. I seem to go between romance and mystery and some literary through this pandemic so this was my mystery of the week. It was fast paced and an easy read. I wish the characters were a bit more developed but nonetheless i enjoyed it.
The Henna Artist (4 stars): I really loved this story. I put off reading it for a long time because historical fiction never feels like my preference but then i always like the books.
Full Disclosure (3 stars): I really liked this YA novel about a girl with HIV. I had not read a novel with the main character (especially YA) having HIV. I also really enjoyed what I felt to be a more accurate representation of teenagers in general.
And there we go, grateful to be reading.
Books I Read this Week 2020 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2020 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
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