Book Reviews

I have finished two more books this last month or so.

The first book I recently finished was mentioned in an earlier post, "To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession" by Dan Koeppel. It is the biography of a "big lister," written by his son. Most "big listers" (those men and women who travel the world, counting birds, seeing and identifying thousands of species) are obsessed with counting birds (in addition to counting and logging other things). The son explains how his father's obsession grew and what drove him. It is often sad, but I found it interesting to see how a hobby of watching birds, beautiful and interesting creatures, can turn into an obsession with counting to the point that you now longer care about those creatures you are counting. It's all about the numbers.

Despite the somewhat sad nature of the big lister's obsession, I still find myself interesting in doing some counting of my own. About two years ago, with Brett's suggestion, I started a little birding notebook where I recorded the birds that came to our feeder each month. I am actually considering picking it up again and officially starting my own "yard list." What compels me to do this?. . . I have no idea. But I'm pretty sure it won't turn into an obsession. I'm not motivated.

The book I most recently finished was another fairy tale by Shannon Hale called "The Book of a Thousand Days." Like her young adult novel, "The Goose Girl," this book was loosely based on a Grimm's fairy tale called Maid Maleen. I thoroughly enjoyed reading both of these books. There are two other books in the "Goose Girl" series by Shannon Hale which I think I will have to go and read now.