The Midnight Feast

Finished November 8

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

This suspense novel moves between present day and several years earlier in the summer of 2010, with the earlier portion mainly told through diary entries. Set in a coastal English town, the present day is the summer solstice, opening weekend of a luxury resort called The Manor. Besides the main building with its rooms, bar, and restaurant, there are seaside cottages and 'Woodland Hutches' which are small cabins nestled in the surrounding woods. The primary owner is Francesca Meadows who inherited the property from her grandmother. Secondary investors include her two older brothers, Hugo and Oscar. Francesca has also recently married Owen Dacre, the up-and-coming architect she hired for the project. Owen is still working on the newest addition, Treehouse rooms in the woods. 

Most of the staff aren't local, but there are a few. Eddie is one of them. He works as a dishwasher, but has his eye on a bartender position. His parents' nearby farm isn't doing well, and he has plans that don't include it. The locals aren't fans of what Francesca has plans, and talk of the local tales of The Birds that come for those who have done evil or for whom someone has asked for vengeance on has started to grow. Even Francesca's grandfather warned her to be wary of The Birds before his death. 

In the summer of 2010, we see Francesca and her brothers choosing favourites among the summer people and locals, inviting them to the manor, and having select parties. Alison, spending the summer at the local trailer park with her parents and grandparents, is the girl Francesca (known as Frankie back then) has chosen. It is her diary we read. But Alison also meets some locals, at the beach and at the trailer park, and they too become part of the story.

We know something happened back in 2010, something Alison needs closure about, but it is something only revealed later in the story. What we do know, is that the morning after the big Solstice event, the hotel is on fire, and at least one person is dead.

I found the plot compelling and the characters well-drawn. Dark and with lots of surprises. 

The Feather Thief

Finished April 11

The Feather Thief: The Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson

This book was one I received as part of a book subscription. The author heard about the theft from a fly-fishing guide and was intrigued enough to follow-up, and spent years digging into it, travelling to interview and investigate and learning more about the story. 

Edwin Rist, a young American man studying in England at one of the best schools of music in the world was also obsessed with fly-fishing. He hatched a plan to break into one of the largest collection of birds in the world, take as many of the rare bird specimens that he could and get away. 

This is the kind of theft that police don't give the necessary attention to, as the items stolen are valuable only to science. Some of the birds stolen had been gathered more than a hundred years earlier and this kind of collection helped scientists study bird biology, evolution, and other areas of science related to these specimens. 

Fly-fishing has, from its beginnings, using bird feathers tied into 'flies' to use to attract fish. In more recent years, certain birds, due to their declining populations were prohibited from trade, including in their feathers. Interest in the creation of these 'flies has grown over the years, and many who don't even fish now compete in fly-fishing competitions, many timed. There is also passion for the more rare examples of feathers, some in birds endangered or extinct. Some collectors searched estate sales and auctions for old hats and other personal and home decor items for the feathers, but Edwin took things a step further.

His theft raised questions, about museum security, about whether he had help in the theft, about why the justice system doesn't treat this kind of theft with the seriousness the destruction of scientific knowledge should warrant. 

An interesting story that left this reader with more questions. 

The Sibyl in Her Grave

Finished June 17

The Sibyl in Her Grave by Sarah Caudwell (Hilary Tamar, #4)

This mystery is definitely on the odd side. Intellectual and with paranormal elements, it is set around a law professor (Hilary Tamar), lawyers they are friends with in London, and the aunt of one of the lawyers who lives in a small village in England. 

The aunt's story is told mostly through letters to her lawyer niece asking for advice on different legal issues that have arisen in her life, starting with one to do with taxes from investment income. It moves on to what may be murder, a sudden death of an unlikable woman who ran a fortune-telling business, to matters of inheritance, and more. 

There is a side-story of renovation work being done at one of the law firms, and the retirement decisions around an important client at that same firm. 

There is also a mysterious man who appears in the village, that may be a key clue in mysterious death. 

I enjoyed this mystery, with its explanations of legal issues, and the somewhat mysterious professor, who seems to have many contacts with former students. 

It is also interesting that we never know the gender of this professor, with their androgynous name and no other defining information beyond the university they teach at.  

The home of the fortuneteller is a very odd one, with the birds a particularly unsettling element. 

I would definitely be interested in reading more of this series. 

The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder

Finished April 28

The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris

This novel is told from the point of view of thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart, a young man who lives in a world of his own. Jasper is autistic and has both synaesthesia and face blindness. For Jasper, sounds are colours, and he recognizes people by the colours their voice makes and by memorizing their clothing. The latter method, of course, doesn't always work. Neither does the former when something is off about their voice, as in a sore throat causing raspiness, or if they speak in a whisper. 

The book moves back and forth in time from the present when Jasper is upset about his neighbour, Bee Larkham. Bee is relatively new to him as she only came back to deal with the house after her mother died. She is a musician and plays music at high volume, both her own and the recorded music she enjoys. Jasper is immediately taken by this, although many of the neighbours are not. Bee also wears colourful clothing and is naturally dramatic in her actions. 

After observing parakeets in her garden, Bee has set up feeders to attract them, and this is something else that appeals to Jasper, although again, not to all the neighbours. 

Jasper's mother died a few years ago, and his father left the armed forces and took a job in IT, so that he would be able to support Jasper daily rather than being away for long periods of time. Jasper misses him mom as she also had synaesthesia and helped him understand it.

One of Jasper's pleasures and coping mechanisms is to make sense of his world by painting it. and while his pictures look abstract to others, they represent the sounds and images that he saw at that moment in time. 

As Jasper struggles to understand what happened with Bee, he reviews his paintings from that time, but also recreates them from his memories, trying to get them right and capture the colours accurately to better understand them himself. 

Jasper is an outsider, not having any real friends at school and not connecting closely with his father. He describes his world as he experiences it and reacts strongly to perceived threats to things that he cares about. 

See this all from Jasper's point of view, as a child who struggles to be understood and to make sense of the world is key to this story. Jasper goes back to his first meeting with Bee to try to resurrect his memories and capture them as accurately as he can in new versions of his paintings. As we understand along with him, we see Bee's actions both as he does and as an average adult would, and we gradually learn of all the interactions between Bee and the others in the neighbourhood from the older men who live nearby, to the teenagers taking music lessons from her. These things make more sense to us than they do to Jasper at times, and we gradually see how he has misinterpreted their relationship and her intentions. 

I have always been interested in synaesthesia and how it is experienced, and that is what attracted me to this book in the first place, but it offers so much more. It reminds me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon in being a coming of age story of a young man who experiences the world differently from most of us, and that occurs around a serious incident where he is an important witness. 

An excellent read. 

Birds on Wishbone Street

Finished October 6

Birds on Wishbone Street by Suzanne Del Rizzo

This picture book is another lovely creation of Suzanne Del Rizzo. Her books are illustrated with her mixed media creations including a lot of polymer clay elements. This 3D effect really makes the pictures special and lively.

Here we have Moe (Maureen) who father immigrated to North America from Ireland. She is friends with many of the more recent immigrants on her street, who have come from a variety of places around the world. The most recent addition is Sami and his family who have come from Syria. Meo delivers a gift to Sami with winter mitts, hot cocoa and a feather. This is especially apt as Sami is a bird lover. He has a treasured pair of binoculars to watch to the birds and his box of treasures contains other bird-related items. When a female cardinal is found downed after a snowstorm, the children work with a local vet to ensure that she doesn't have injuries they can't see, and Moe learns that Sami had pigeons back home and can look after the cardinal until she is well enough to go back to her mate. 

This is a story of friendship, caring, and community told through one experience. A lovely story that will find a treasured place in many homes. 

The Blackhouse

Finished December 1

The Black House by Peter May

As always with May, I found so much more in this book than just the mystery. The main character here is Edinburgh detective Fin Macleod. Fin was born and grew up on the Isle of Lewis, one of the northernmost and remote parts of Scotland. Fin has been on leave for the past month after the death of his child Robbie. He is called in to be assigned a case, one that the computer system HOLMES has suggested him for. Earlier in the year, he had a case in Edinburgh that wasn't solved. Now a similar crime scene has turned up on Lewis, near where he grew up. 

The case takes Fin back to the island that he hasn't been to in years, since his maternal aunt died. It also takes him back to the people he knew then, the friends, the enemies, the people he loved and the people he hated. And it brings him back to the events that happened shortly before he left the island for university, ones that he still doesn't fully understand. 

Besides the very interesting character of Fin, this book acquainted me with the Isle of Lewis. The details of the landscape are drawn well by May, and provide a real sense of the island, as well as the lives lived there. There is also an event that happens annual that is specific to one village on the island and a small uninhabited island to the north. May relocates it slightly, but the event really happens and has its roots in antiquity. From at least the Iron Age, men from this village have been going each year to the small island and killing birds for food. They go for a couple of weeks, during nesting season and take birds of a specific age. The prepare the birds, plucking, burning off the pin feathers, and preserving them before bringing them home. The island is small and rocky, with precarious cliffs and only one landing spot for boats. There is an unmanned lighthouse with a small helipad, that is maintained a couple of times a year, and the island is otherwise protected by law. 

I found this particularly interesting, and after reading the passages in the book about this event, I found a video showing some of the real men who do this. It is fascinating. 

This book is dark and has much sadness in it, but it is also a book that brings people to the truth, and shows a community in all its complexity. A great read. This is the first book in a trilogy set around Lewis, and I look forward to reading the others.

Benjamin's Blue Feet

Finished September 3
Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney

This lovely picture book features Benjamin a young blue-footed booby, a bird native to the Galapagos Islands. Benjamin is a bird that like to gather items he's found and this aspect of the book is a great introduction into the vast amount of garbage littering our oceans. He calls his finds treasures and gives them names that describe them. It is when he finds a shiny object that reflects his image that he then compares himself to other birds that he sees around him, finding himself not measuring up to what he sees and likes in other creatures. His beak is too straight and long, unlike that of the Warbler. His wings are also long and wide with bristles, and he likes the penguin's sleek wings better. But his feet bring him more bad feelings, being large and blue and floppy, unlike the sticky clawed toes of the iguana.
When Benjamin uses his treasures to alter these parts of his appearance, he thinks he has improved himself, despite the laughter he now seems to generate from those who see him, but when he goes about his normal activities, he finds that his body the way it was designed is all as it should be, and what he saw as flaws are features that help him to survive and thrive in his environment. A great view on self-image, individualization, and body consciousness.
The book ends with a one-page statement about the issues raised in the book, particularly that of ocean trash. The front end papers also have wonderful drawing of other Galapagos creatures with their names. On the dedication page, the publisher also has a link to a downloadable glossary of information about the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands.
The illustrations here are lovely and eye-catching, and the expressions are perfect for each scenario. A lovely picture book for every child's collection.

Protecting Pollinators

Finished July 28
Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures That Feed Our World by Jodi Helmer

This book is full of information on the importance of pollinators and how we can act to help them survive. Pollinators are responsible for one-third of the crops that feed us, but half of their 200,000 species are threatened, some quite significantly. The percentage of pollinator-dependent food crops has increased 300 percent in the last 50 years, but despite this reliance, the pollinators themselves are more endangered than ever. This book is mostly focused on the United States, but as pollinators don't recognize borders, discussion sometimes goes beyond.
This book is organized into seven chapters. Within each chapter there are side columns that go deeper into certain aspects of the subject. Chapter One, Bees and Beyond tells us about the wide range of pollinators that exist, beyond just the ones that easily come to mind like bees and butterflys. Helmer gives information on the state of research into different pollinators and the public awareness of them. Side columns here are Plant Sex, The Rusty-Patched Bumblebee Made History, Raise Your Glass to Pollinating Bats (main pollinators of agave, from whence tequila), Are High-Tech Drones the Next-Generation Pollinators?, A Presidential Plea to Protect Pollinators (Obama administration), and Pollinators in Peril.
Chapter Two, No Place Like Home, talks about pollinator habitat and feeding needs. Here Helmer discusses the ways that habitat, even in small plots, can be added back to both urban and rural areas. Side columns here are Habitat Affects Honey Flavor (I love my buckwheat honey!), Pollinator Strips Might Not Work, A Cotton-Pickin' Boost for Pollinators, Could the Farm Bill Help Pollinators?, and Fireflies Are Burning Out.
Chapter Three, Taming Toxins brings into discussion the various chemicals, like pesticides and non-native flora and fauna, that have affected pollinators. Some are outright lethal, others are sublethal in that they affect the pollinator physiology and behaviour and make them less able to do their work. Side columns here are The Pests Decimating Honeybee Colonies, Harmful Herbicides, Neonics Not Welcome, White-Nose Syndrome and Pesticides, and Could Crop Insurance Promote Pesticide Use?
Chapter Four, The Need for Native Plants, looks at how the introduction of plants from other parts of the world have driven out some native plants the pollinators rely upon, or due to their different flowering cycle, changed their migratory habits. Side columns here are Venus Flytraps Control Their Appetites for Survival, Identifying Invasive Species, Ten Pollinator-Friendly Native Plants, Doggy Detective Keeps Bees Safe, Replacing Honeybees with Native Pollinators, Adopt a Trail, Eat the Invaders (some tasty invasive species can be eaten into extinction), and Caprine Cleaning Crew.
Chapter Five, Lessons from a Warming Planet discusses how climate change is affecting pollinators. In some cases the plants that pollinators rely on and the pollinators are in sync as the climate grows warmer, but in other cases they are not, which can mean the pollinator appears in the spring before or after their food source has, leading to population decline or possible extinction. Side columns here are Bats Help Save the Rainforest, Developing Mite-Resistant Bees, Climate Change Could Be Poisoning Monarchs, and Climate Change Helps Invasive Species Thrive.
Chapter Six, Helping Without Hurting, discusses how some things people are doing that they think are helping are not, and what they could do that is similar but different that would be a real help to the pollinators. Side columns here are Retailers Help Keep Gardens Neonic-Free, The Unexpected Consequence of Your Favorite Drink (more than you knew about almond milk), A Desire to Help the Bees Drives Honey Demand, Beekeepers Feel the Sting of Stolen Hives, Are Bee Hotels Bad for Bees?, and Don't Forget About Trees.
Chapter Seven, Stand Up and Be Counted discusses the huge impact that citizen scientists can have on data collection, observation, and positive change. Side columns are Putting Milkweed on the Map, Ten Principles of Citizen Science, Pollinators Seek Out Urban Addresses, Three Ways the Public Participates in Citizen Science, Citizen Scientists Honor the Stars, and the important Twenty-Nine Ways You Can Help Protect Pollinators.
There is also an extensive bibliography for those who want to learn more.
This is a great resource to learn about this important and critical subject.

When We Were Birds

Finished July 5
When We Were Birds: Stories by Maria Mutch

This collection of stories have a large element of fantasy about them. Elements of the natural world enter the lives of people in unusual and interesting ways. The book has three parts with a few stories in each. Prefacing each story is a photo or drawing, sometimes with a quotation that relates to that story. For instance, in the first story, the peregrine at the end of the world, the image is a diagram plate of a bird skeleton, and the story has a young female peregrine turn into a woman, but one is unsure whether she was a woman that turned into a peregrine, that turned back into a woman, and her fate remains unclear as well. I liked her though. There are also other images within the stories that add meaning.
Other stories include a theft that is both planned and unplanned and results in a different ending than the one the narrator imagined; a woman that believes people go missing and leave some sort of electrical presence behind, but her therapist lover doesn't agree; a hurricane's effect on a marriage; a woman who inexplicably begins to have small messages come out of her; and a man who runs from his lover after she is injured, not looking to help her.
Some stories are reimaginings of fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, or Bluebeard. Two involve Glenn Gould as a muse.
The stories are mesmerizing and I loved them.

A Catalog of Birds

Finished April 7
A Catalog of Birds by Laura Harrington

This novel takes place in 1970 with the main characters Billy Flynn and his younger sister Nell. Billy has an amazing affinity for birds. From a young age he watched them, drew them, and knew their sounds. He always wanted to fly, and when the war in Vietnam started, he signed up. He flew helicopters in the war, but has now returned home, damaged and hurting. His hearing has been affected, and his right arm, meaning that he can no longer draw like he did.
Billy's parents are supportive, and so is Nell. Nell's best friend was Billy's girlfriend, but she has suddenly gone missing, and no one seems to know where she is, or whether she left of her own accord. Billy's best friend Harlow also did his time in the war, and came back changed. He tried college, but now works as a mechanic at a local service station.
Billy and Nell both have their own secrets, and they hold them close. Billy has nightmares about his, and their father Jack tries to talk to him about it, citing his own period of nightmares following his stint in World War II. Billy and Nell's other siblings aren't as close, but they still play roles here.
This is a story of a bond between siblings, but also a story of coming of age, of the terrible effects of war, and of loss.  A beautiful read.

Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up

Finished February 9
Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up by Jane Whittingham, illustrated by Emma Pedersen

This engaging picture book uses word repetition, alliteration, imagery, and onomatopoeia to bring the story of this young bird and her family to life. As Queenie's parents and siblings rush around around, she keeps getting distracted by the interesting things around her, noticing other creatures, plants, and other bits of the world around her. It is only when her wider outlook on the world enables her to sense danger before the rest of her brood that they begin to value her unique way of being.
I liked the simple drawings which showed movement and a softness of detail. I especially liked the fat bumblebees. I also liked how the use of sizing, colour, and placement in the words of the story made the noises of the birds come to life, and drew the reader the emphasize the actions and urgings.
This is a delightful story of stopping to take delight in the world around us, and valuing the contributions that we may not always recognize as being helpful.
Lovely.

Four Fields

Finished December 31
Four Fields by Tim Dee

This book has the author look at four vastly different fields, noting their features, the creatures that inhabit them, and their history.
The first field, and one he returns to in different seasons later in the book is his home field, the fens near Cambridge. Dee lives very close, and often ventures into the fields, birdwatching, walking or bicycling, and noting the changes that have taken place since his last visit.
His second field is a field in Zambia, near the country his wife comes from, and where he went with a local man to follow honeyguides to wild bees.
His third field is one in Montana, where George Custer lost his life, a field rich in history, and in life. The last field is the Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl where he goes with researchers who annually take samples of local wildlife for testing. His job is to collect grasshoppers at each stop. This means that he pays attention to the noise of the life around him, to the activity on the ground, to the birds overhead.
This is a book of nature, of birds, of life going on, and life dying, and of history and the changes wrought over time, by both nature and man. A fascinating read.

Blue Lightning

Finished May 1
Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves

This mystery featuring Jimmy Perez of the Shetland police, takes place on Jimmy's home island of Fair Isle. Jimmy is visiting his parents with his fiance Fran. It is her introduction both to the island and to his parents. The weather is gearing up for a storm as they arrive, and the flight in is a bumpy one.
A lighthouse station at the north end of the island has automated and been renovated into a field centre for studying birds and plants. The head of station is Angela, with her husband Maurice doing most of the administrative work. Angela's assistant is Ben, and the cook and housekeeper for the centre is Jane. This is not a busy time for bird watchers, but there are four staying at the centre as this novel begins, two men and a married couple. Maurice's youngest daughter from his first marriage, Poppy, is also there.
Jimmy's parents have planned a party celebrating his engagement, and booked the field centre with Jane catering as the venue. The party goes well, but when a woman is found dead at the field centre the next morning, and the storm has hit in earnest, Jimmy finds himself investigating alone, something he isn't entirely comfortable with. It seems like the suspects are limited to those at the centre itself, but Angela's past behaviour and competitiveness have Jimmy looking into many motivations to make sense of the crime. When a second body is found, he knows that the killer is desperate and he must move quickly to prevent further deaths.
This is the fourth book in the series and seeing Jimmy back in his home island is interesting. I like both him and Fran as characters, and found the island fascinating.

The Evening Chorus

Finished March 19
The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys

This novel has two different sections, each set ten years apart, in 1940 and 1950. Within each section are narratives by a number of people, each telling of their experience, thoughts, and feelings.
The first narrative is by James Hunter, a RAF officer whose plane was shot down, and who was captured by the Germans. He tells of his life in the POW camp, the other men that he interacts with, and the bird-watching that begins to distract him from his situation. The second narrative is by his young wife Rose, back in England. She lives alone in the cottage they bought on the edge of Ashdown Forest, with a dog she bought for company and protection. She fills her days by looking after her Victory garden and her chickens and her evening round as a warden looking for blackout infringements. The two haven't been married long and don't know each other well, and Rose is lonely. She lives near her parents, but doesn't like her mother, a very bossy woman.
The third narrative is by Rose again, but with the introduction of Enid, James' sister, who worked in London until her lodgings were bombed, and who comes to stay with Rose. The woman get along better than either had thought they would, with Enid finding Rose a comfort as she gets over her losses.
The fourth narrative is Enid, as she reflects on the relationship with Rose, and Rose as she looks at the situation as it develops, creating a rift between them.
The fifth is Rose again as she readjusts to her solitary life, and by Toby another RAF officer, who tells of his last flight.
We then move to the second part of the novel, ten years later. The first narrative is Enid visiting James at his remote bird observation station on the coast. She is worried about him, and finds the house he lives in spartan. The two are close, and she manages to get him to talk about the issues he struggles with. We then move to Enid back in London where she works as a paste-up artist for a magazine. She works hard and enjoys the challenges of the job. We also learn of her personal life, a life she has not shared with her brother.
We then move back to Rose, in her unhappy circumstances. She lives a life dictated by others, a life she hates but sees no escape from. She often wonders what her life would be like if different things had happened, if she had made different choices.
The last narrative is one of a German officer who has received a package and message from James. The letter from James causes the officer to look back at the war years and his experiences and feelings. He makes a commitment based on this letter and wishes things could be changed.
The last narrative is from James, as he watches the birds that have become so much more than a distraction for him.
I liked how each narrative had the title for a bird, insect, or animal that has a role in the action in that section. This connection to nature is important, and part of the overall story. I always enjoy reading Humphrey's books and learning new things as well as reading beautiful writing.

Snapper

Finished May 20
Snapper by Brian Kimberling

This novel has the author reaching back into his childhood in Indiana. The main character, Nathan Lochmueller studied philosophy at university and got a job gathering primary bird research for universities and government use. It doesn't pay that well, but he enjoys the independent nature of the work and being outdoors. He drives a battered truck named Gypsy Moth and loves a woman named Lola that he met just after high school. The characters of his family and friends come alive here from Shane, his best friend growing up who became a family man and children's librarian, to Kia, the German shepherd who loves to sing along to bad country songs and once found a bone Nate doesn't know what to do with.
Above all are the birds, including his favourite, the woodthrush. His least favourite are the raptors, although he comes to work with them closely. This is a book that invokes place, the cities, the small towns, the sense of community, the prejudices that make settings come alive.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

Finished March 30
A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson
This novel moves back and forth between 1923 Kashgar and the Silk Road and the present day in England. In 1923 Evangeline has signed up as a missionary for the group Missionary Order of the Steadfast Face, along with her sister Elizabeth. They are led by Millicent, a forthright woman. Eva has brought her bicycle with her and hopes to write a book about her experiences. Elizabeth is an avid photographer and has brought her camera, but is often lost in a dreamy world of her own. When the small group of women encounter a girl in childbirth they try to help and end up being accused of a crime. Eva is asked to take care of the infant, and grows attached to her. But there is unrest in the area, and the women's position grows increasingly precarious. Eva must find the strength to survive and adjust to the new environment. Her bicycle has given her some independence and she is reluctant to leave it behind.
In the present day, a young man from Yemen, in England illegally is targeted after being seen drawing intricate pictures of birds on a wall. He leaves his home and in his wanderings encounters Frieda, a young woman working to understand young people from a variety of emerging nations. Frieda is going through change in her personal life and when she finds herself in charge of the personal possessions of a woman who has died, she struggles to make sense of them and find the connection between her and the woman, Irene.
I loved the bird theme that came through the novel and the sense of other. A wonderful read that takes you to another world.

Thoughtful Read

Finished January 16
Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day by Diane Ackerman
This is a book to take your time reading. From her two homes in Ithaca, New York and Palm Beach, Florida, Ackerman looks at her own experiences and observances of dawn through the seasons. Paying attention to birds, from cranes to hummingbirds, starlings to owls, she includes their actions and her reactions. Talking about art, from Monet to Hokusai and how they portrayed the natural world. Insects from bees to spiders are observed carefully and commented on. All of her writing connects one thing with another, in a way that you know is well thought out and yet somehow still feels like a stream of consciousness.
This book makes you sit back, take a deep breath and pay attention to what the world is doing around you. Which is something we all need to do more often.