Summer Reading: Reviews

Friends and readers have been suggesting so many good books I had to make a list, then start requesting them from the library. So many were on hold for others that I just requested them all, thinking they would appear sporadically. But no! Four books were available in one week, then two more, then another, so I have been ramping up my casual reading times to more than just before falling asleep. and if the book isn't grabbing me right away, back it goes. Here are some mini reviews (the book links are to Amazon).


Skinship: Short Stories by Yoon Choi. The stories are long enough so the reader can become immersed in the situations and familiar with the characters. The overarching theme is Korean and Korean-American interactions, be they between husband and wife, adult child and parent, siblings, cousins and more. Yoon Choi reels you in, then switches the stories around unpredictably. There are several difficult topics, but I liked the tone, the writing, and how the characters work out their issues.

The Feather Thief by Kirk W. Johnson. This is both a natural history and a true-crime story of a young, personable American man who became so obsessed with fly tying that he broke into and robbed a British natural history museum of priceless birds. I was gripped from the beginning and enjoyed the  twists and turns in the plot. Well written and informative as well. I learned about how birds were first collected, the fly-tying culture, and more.

The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer. No one recommended this one; it was on the shelf next to The Feather Thief and sounded interesting. Another birdy true crime book. This time, a 55-year-old man was stopped at an airport and found to have over a dozen viable Peregrine Falcon eggs strapped to his chest. His theft was part of an ongoing trafficking in birds to sell to the wealthy in the Middle East. Some of the history of Peregrines and bird collecting overlaps with the above book and with other books I've read about raptors, reinforcing what I have learned. Another look at an obsessed and compulsive personality, albeit a charming one.

The Hawk's Way by Sy Montgomery. This is billed (pun not intended, but accepted) as a new book, and there is new material in it, primarily photographs, but it is really a long essay from her previous book, Birdology, which I do recommend, where she learns to train and bond with various hawks, adding natural and scientific history along the way.

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris. It is thoughtful and funny, and of course he pushes out to the edges, and may cross one of your or my personal lines. I heard once that comedians love to be with other comedians because "there is no line." Sedaris has that (outrageous, perhaps, but hilarious) rapport with his siblings, particularly Amy (she's wonderful and perfect in The Mandalorian, BTW): they are both curious and like to poke at weak spots, conventions, style, and traditions. Near the end, though, are more difficult essays (particularly "Lady Marmalade") that deal with his boundary-crossing father. Sedaris is now in his sixties, still curious, but reflecting on life (and death) in a deep way. He loves a good and absurd story.  I loved the stories in his earlier book, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and now I love this new book as well. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. With the title supplied by his scientist brother, Green looks closely at a variety of human-centered events and creations, from songs sung at soccer matches to Lascaux cave paintings to scratch 'n' sniff stickers to Teddy bears and more, ranking them with stars at the end of each humorous and thoughtful essay. I heard about the book on comedian Mike Birbiglia's podcast, Workin' It Out, (I highly recommend it) where I enjoyed the interview with Green (between episodes 74/75, I'm not sure how that works!). He also reveals himself vulnerably, writing about his family and health issues as well. Green is a more-than-competent and engaging and entertaining writer, who used to write book reviews for Booklist, once upon a time.

Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez. This is Lopez's last book, having died in December of 2020. My attention wandered though, and I began to skim the book. The one essay that stood out to me is "14 Articles of Power," which is actually 14 paragraph-long stories where power is clear in the situation. I am a fan of the short form, flash fiction or creative nonfiction where the story has to be told beautifully, clearly, and tightly, as if every word cost a dollar. (Fun fact for bookmakers: book artist Charles Hobson knew Lopez and did a few books with him, see The Near Woods and The Mappist and the introduction to Hobson's catalogue.)

Horse by Geraldine Brooks. This book of historical fiction held my attention all the way through with its alternating short chapters and selected cast of characters involving a famous racehorse. Brooks features two running narratives about the horse, paintings of him, race, perceptions, enslavement, and class: one is set in the middle of the 1800s, the other in 2019. Natural History, Black History, Art History, Natural Science, Current Events, and Political Science: pick a major! The diction changes with the times and with the characters. Sometimes an interaction feels less grounded and a few teaching moments took me out of the story briefly, but overall it's entertaining and thoughtful reading and moves very well.

Fencing the Sky by James Galvin. I was looking forward to reading this one, but having reread his poetic nonfiction book, The Meadow, many times (and his lovely poetry), Galvin's book of fiction did not feel as poetic or as solid to me. The premise begins with a perhaps inadvertent murder and goes on from there as an excuse to introduce us to the land and the community. I was sad to have to put it aside after only a chapter or two. But I absolutely do recommend The Meadow and all of his poetry books.

An Immense World by Ed Yong. Yong bases the premise on the idea of umwelten (pronounced oomvelten), the unique perceptual and sensory environments that each animal and human inhabit. I learned of this book from an excerpt, in which Yong points out that humans are more concerned with fixing things we can personally experience and are less concerned, say, with light pollution in air that messes with birds (my words, not his), and sound pollution in the ocean that disrupts whales, but that both could be easily remedied with no real trouble to humans. He touches on a wide variety of animals and their senses, and what is important in their worlds. It's a very thick book, but the last one by the bed, and now I have to order it because the library wants it back. It is so popular that everyone else has put it on hold.

That's all for now. I have A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching by Rosemary Mosco waiting in the wings.


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