Spiegel & Grau
Comfort of Crows (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Backyard Year
Comfort of Crows (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Backyard Year
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REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"A beautiful love letter to nature and the world around us."--Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club September '24 Pick)
THE PERFECT GIFT FOR NATURE LOVERS, BIRDERS, AND GARDENERS, WITH ORIGINAL COLOR ART THROUGHOUT * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * INDIE NEXT PICK
From the beloved New York Times opinion writer: a luminous book that traces the passing of seasons, both personal and natural.
In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons--from a crow spied on New Year's Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year, to the lingering bluebirds of December, revisiting the nest box they used in spring--what develops is a portrait of joy and grief: joy in the ongoing pleasures of the natural world, and grief over winters that end too soon and songbirds that grow fewer and fewer.
Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with each passing day. And the natural world, now in visible flux, requires every ounce of hope and commitment from the author--and from us. For, as Renkl writes, "radiant things are bursting forth in the darkest places, in the smallest nooks and deepest cracks of the hidden world."
With fifty-two original color artworks by the author's brother, Billy Renkl, The Comfort of Crows is a lovely and deeply moving book from a cherished observer of the natural world.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9781954118461
EAN:
1954118465
Binding:
Hardcover
Pages:
288
Authors:
Margaret Renkl
Publisher:
Spiegel & Grau
Published Date: 2023-24-10
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Purchased it for a gift and got wrapped up in it. It is not a bird book - more like observations that will resonate with any bird/garden/nature lovers. Would also make a great vacation/camping read. Going to need another copy ;-)
This is a wonderful book, superbly written and illustrated. It encourages readers to observe more wisely and so with greater pleasure. It ranges from profundity to humor in lovely, fluid prose as it remarks on events week by week through the year, tracing light, weather, plants, animals and even bits of human life.
Haven’t read it yet but all reviewers are positive about it. Perfect gift for gardeners.
I loved this book so much that I bought two copies. I'd first read it through the library but knew I'd read it again. I also bought a copy for a friend who has since read and loved it.This book has made me more observant of my own backyard. It recounts the passage of a year in the life of her garden and surroundings. It's beautifully written and encourages the reader to close their eyes and get lost in the story. A beautiful book for anyone who loves nature or wants to better appreciate how the passage of time changes us all.
I grew up in Tennessee and my grandparents had a yard similar to the author's. I remember walking with my Papaw as he showed me his garden. Mamaw showing me the different plants. She knew every bird call and would tell me from her recliner. This book brought back those memories and made me long to go take a walk in the woods.
