The saving grace for The Dreamer is at the very end. I liked the “full circle” of the pig “admiring the birds” at the start and finish. The in-between is what I am not crazy about. The theme of “keep trying” and “making mistakes” has been done. Many times. The only difference here is that the friends and neighbors of the pig help him. Usually the “keep trying” is seen as a solo act. And the pig listens to the other animals. That seemed like […]
This Chicken is no chicken!
The Hen Who Sailed Around the World by Guirec Soudee is the true story of Soudee’s 3,400-mile sea voyage with his pet hen, Monique. That pretty much sums up the story. There are lots of wonderful photographs of Soudee with Monique. And lots of wonderful photographs of Monique by herself. Not to mention lots of wonderful photographs of some of the friends they meet along the way. And we cannot forget the lots and lots of photographs of ice. Lots and lots of ice. The […]
Nutcrackers are like Sherlock, snowy owls are like Bedouin herders, and fairy wrens have more sense than most world leaders
It’s been awhile since I’ve reviewed a book about birds, so I figured I’d better remedy that. I do quite a bit of reading about animals, zoology, and natural history in general and at times it can get repetitive. In The Thing with Feathers, Noah Strycker spices things up a bit by drawing parallels between birds and humans. Strycker takes the reader on a journey of body, mind, and spirit while dazzling with tales of amazing avians, from the tiny bee hummingbird of Cuba (which […]
Drama without Passion
This is a fairly well-written but slow-paced story that takes place in the tiny town of Witless Bay, Newfoundland, surrounding a handful of colorful characters who struggle to make sense of their lives with relatively little connection to the outside world. Touches of magical realism combine with a certain bleakness of spirit to make for a story which has fascinating aspects to it, but which ultimately left me somewhat cold. Fabian is the product of a faltering marriage, who early on discovers that his […]