Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing

This book is one of my favorites of all time! So beautiful and truly a meditative experience! I will never observe birds in the same way again! Im so grateful to have come across this book!

Today, I went to my local botanical garden. I sat by a pond, read, stared into space, saw ducks, and heard and saw birds-not that I could identify them but I thoroughly enjoyed leaving city life behind and experiencing nature. I left feeling so much better than when I arrived.Lili Taylor, a successful actor, has also come to enjoy spending time with and noticing birds. Here in beautiful essays, Taylor shares her observations with readers. They will be better for it. Hopefully, they will begin to pay attention too. They may even become acquainted with their "spark bird."Recommended to current and perspective nature lovers.Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

Birding has become a thing and seriously took off during the Covid pandemic when life slowed down. I read author Amy Tan's book on birding, which concentrated more on her drawings and observations. Lili Taylor's is more an emotional connection to the world of birding. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Taylor, and it really made me feel connected to the material.The title after the : is "The Power and Beauty of Noticing", and to me this is really the focus of the book. Taylor takes us on her journey of learning to really look at birds and notice the details of their life, and it is a fascinating journey. Maybe because of the star power she can lend to the Audobon Society, she is invited to many birding events and I enjoyed the details of these trips. But I most connected with the sentiment about noticing the small details. It is a truth in life that the more we see, the MORE we see. Details begat a greater understanding.Years ago when I took a watercolor class I learned to focus on the tiny details. A cloud is not just a white blob in a blue sky. Notice the edges. Are they wispy and grey or are they rimmed with the gold of the setting sun? Are they puffy like white cotton candy or trailing like a map of a string of islands. So it is with the birds. They have a story to tell, but you must observe. I especially found the chapter on Taylor's disdain for the introduction of sparrows to America, and specifically their effect on Taylor's bluebird houses to be interesting.For anyone who has either a fledling or deep-felt interest in birds, this book is a gem!

Turning to Birds, by acclaimed actress Lily Taylor, is a book of essays imploring readers to slow down and appreciate the beauty of nature. The author wants us to stop and ruminate on the birds as a meditation of sorts, and apply their way of living to our own. I love the idea of this. I feel in my soul that we as a society just need to slow down and if we can learn from anyone, why not the birds? However, the pill that is tough for me to swallow here, and the one that impacted my enjoyment of the book, is that Taylor does this on a break from acting. A voluntary break from her very well-paying job, which, ok…if I could just take a break from my own full time job I probably would be able to slow down and appreciate a whole lot, too. She seems out of touch when she talks about how she’d “been going from project to project without a break and felt depleted, so (she) retreated to (her) house in upstate New York.”So much of my stress and anxiety comes from the daily grind. The career, the 3 kids, their school stuff, their activities, mounting debt and bills, sick family members, and all the rest. I appreciate what I have, but it’s hectic af, and I have no choice but to keep grinding. I acknowledge that I’m not special in this way, and that most of you reading have the same busy lives. Perhaps it’s my decades–old struggle with authority, or the end of the school year madness that has made me particularly resistant to this type of advice from this type of person. But I cannot take life advice like this from someone who is living a completely different life.All that said, I wanted to like this! I did not register the author’s name when I got the book, and I am always seeking new inspiration for improving the chaos of my day to day. If you can get past who is writing, and the position she is in, there are some interesting points in the essays. Plus the cover and page art is gorgeous to look at. I don’t know, I think this one just found me at the wrong time and in the wrong place, but I think it might be a fantastic resource for somebody who is in a different spot in life.

Beautifully written. Would make a great gift. Makes you want to go for a walk and and at the same time!