“Use your eyes. Use them and have faith in them. Use your eyes and trust them. And go out and listen to the birds. Oh, if we would listen more often to the singing of the birds!” H.R. Sass, On the Wings of a Bird 1928
Red-headed Woodpecker
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
Brown Creeper
Eastern Painted Turtle (Yes, this is a reptile, but you don’t see them out sunning in February very often).
Eastern Bluebird
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-headed Cowbird
Our snowy morning brought many birds to the feeders. They didn’t all like to share as you can see by this sparrow’s greeting to the bluebird.
Goldfinches and brown-headed nuthatch
Pair of Barred Owls high in a pine tree.
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 119:14
“He taught me the difference between casual “birdwatching” and the more intense, focused “birding,” and urged me to go beyond identifying birds to noting their actions and behavior.” ― Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Chipping Sparrow
Pileated Woodpecker
Ruddy Duck
Pair of Hooded Mergansers
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Flicker
Pine Warbler
Hermit Thrush
Great Blue Heron
Brown Creeper
Brown-headed Nuthatch
“Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Psalm 149:2
“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female). An unusual visitor to my backyard as they only pass through in the spring and fall. I saw a juvenile male the next day.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Red-headed Woodpecker (juvenile)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (looks like he’s holding a Chee-to, but I suppose it’s not).
Wood Ducks (female)
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Flicker
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Red-Headed Woodpecker
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (juvenile)
Blue Jay
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Monarch Butterfly
“I exalt You, my God the King, and praise your name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:1
“Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From Your lofty abode You water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.”
Psalm 104:12-13
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Eastern Bluebird (fledgling)
Eastern Bluebird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Black & White Warbler
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Cape May Warbler
American Redstart
Scarlet Tanager (male) As you can see, he’s already exchanged his brilliant red for his winter green/yellow. Still a beautiful bird and was happy to see him feasting in my backyard.
Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Gulf Fritillary–No feathers but striking fall colors.
“The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.” ― Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night
Gaudy Night Dorothy Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #12) From a mystery series written back in the 1930’s, we meet Harriet Vane, a graduate of Shrewsbury College, Oxford and now a popular mystery writer, going back to attend the annual Gaudy celebration after ten years. While there, Harriet receives a poison pen letter, but goes back home thinking little of it. When other malicious and vandalous acts occur, Harriet is asked to come back to help the professors find out who is behind them, wanting to avoid calling in the police. Though Harriet agrees, she feels in over her head and eventually asks her friend, Lord Peter Wimsey, for help. This mystery is told with an engaging with and through many philosophical conversations. Several in my book club found it too long and wordy, but others (including myself) enjoyed the entertaining dialogue and the chance to improve our vocabulary. 4 stars
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson (audio—Robin Miles). (non-fiction) From 1915-1970, an exodus of almost six million black people left the South for a better life in the northern and western parts of the U.S. Wilkerson chose three very different people from different decades to illustrate the whys and hows of this migration. Ida Mae Gladney left sharecropping in Mississippi in 1937 and moved to Chicago. George Starling left Florida in 1945 for Harlem. A medical doctor, Robert Foster, left Louisiana in 1953 for California. Their struggles and successes and the changes these moves brought for their families has been well documented by Wilkerson with personal interviews and research. I listened to this on audio and though it got a bit long, I enjoyed it overall. Very interesting look at an important part of U.S. history. 4 stars
Finding Margaret Fuller Allison Pataki. (historical fiction) In 1836, Margaret Fuller was invited by Ralph Waldo Emerson to come to his home and meet his friends who will become known as the Transcendentalists. Fuller becomes close friends with Emerson as well as Thoreau, and eventually Nathaniel Hawthorne. She also meets the Alcott family and enjoys the company of their three young daughters including Louisa May. Fuller forges her own path through her writings and begins to host a women-only literary salon. Horace Greeley hires her to write for his newspaper, and soon sends her to Europe where she becomes the first female foreign correspondent. Fuller falls in love with Italy and a particular Italian noble. A fascinating, though tragic, tale of a woman who made history in many ways yet is rarely heard of today. 4 stars
These Silent Woods Kimi Cunningham Grant. For eight years, Cooper has been living with his daughter, Finch, in total isolation in a cabin in the Appalachian woods. They do have one neighbor who knows Cooper’s secret, but Cooper doesn’t trust him and doesn’t appreciate the way Scotland keeps an obvious eye on the two of them. Finch adores him, but since she knows only Scotland, Cooper, and the owner of the cabin, Jake, Finch’s approval doesn’t impress Cooper. Jake comes every year to bring them supplies, but one year he doesn’t show up. Cooper has some decisions to make. He knows he can’t stay there forever or keep Finch from the real world much longer. Though I was exasperated with Cooper and his decisions at times, overall, I enjoyed this one, especially the ending. 5 stars
The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce #10) Alan Bradley. The tenth book in the Flavia de Luce series. If you haven’t met Flavia before, I suggest you go back and read the whole series. You won’t be disappointed. This one opens at the wedding of Flavia’s sister, Ophelia. A beautiful wedding in a small English town in the 1950’s. Beautiful until Ophelia cuts into her wedding cake and screams. Not being your average 12-year old, Flavia is intrigued rather than alarmed and quickly takes charge of the situation. With the help of Dogger, estate gardener and expert in many things, Flavia begins an investigation which, of course, will eventually include murder. 4 stars
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons Peter S. Beagle. Dragon catcher/exterminator Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (please just call him Robert) has inherited the job from his father but his dream is to become a prince’s valet. He’s actually rather fond of some dragons. When he is called in to clean up the very infested castle of the king (whose daughter is desperate to impress a prince), the job leads to him meeting the prince’s valet. The valet needs a favor; a big favor concerning a dragon. Can Robert use this to his advantage? I loved these characters, and the way they came together to face their challenges. 5 stars
Vacationland Meg Mitchell Moore. A family drama set in Maine during the summer. Louisa comes to her parents’ home in Maine with her three children (who are just the best characters!) needing to finish her book and full of resentment over her husband’s seeming lack of commitment. Her father, a well-respected judge, is now suffering with Alzheimer’s, and her mother is trying to keep everything together. Kristie has also come to Maine following the death of her mother, trying to find answers concerning her past. Most family dramas seem to involve adult children, which is fine, but I greatly enjoyed hearing the voices of these three: Matty (age 12), Abigail (10), and Claire (7). Their wisdom, perspective, and charm added depth to the book and made even the darkest moments lighter. 5 stars
“As she reads these pages, something verging on magical happens, making her think for the very first time that books might be better than real life.” Clara Reads Proust Stephane Carlier
You may have thought by now that I didn’t finish any books in July, but, au contraire, I did complete quite a few books. Here are a few of them:
Poster Girls Meredith Ritchie. Historical fiction based on the Shell Assembly Plant which was built in Charlotte, NC during WWII. Maggie Slone has moved to Charlotte from Boston to be near her husband’s family while he is at war. Not wanting to totally depend on her in-laws, she gets a job at the plant though she does need her mother-in-law to help take care of her young twin daughters. Dropping off some books at the library, Maggie meets Kora Bell, whose husband is also in the war. Though Maggie is white and Kora, black, through their shared love of books, they become unlikely friends during the days of Jim Crow. Some interesting history about Charlotte that I was unaware of though I’ve lived her for over 30 years. Ritchie does a good job of showing the trials women went through during the war and what they did for themselves and their families as well as illustrating the racial tensions and misunderstandings that inevitably existed between neighbors and co-workers. 4 stars
Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food Ann Hood (essays). A group of essays centering around Hood’s life with food. Each comes with at least one recipe. Hood was raised in an Italian American family where her grandmother and mother were constantly cooking and keeping the family well-fed. Though she forged her own path, she never quite forgot her roots. No matter what life threw her, she always had cooking and sharing food to get through life’s toughest times. 4 stars
The Library Book Susan Orlean. (non-fiction) On April 29, 1986, a fire started in the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was over, 400,000 books were gone and 700,000 were damaged. Though investigators spent much time and energy trying to discover the cause, over thirty years later, it is still unknown who or what started the fire. Besides covering the fire itself, Orlean tells of the history of this particular library, her own love of libraries, and some of the colorful characters that made up the Los Angeles Public Library. 4 stars
Same Time Next Summer Annabel Monaghan. Sam and her doctor fiancé, Jack, have come to her family’s beach house on Long Island. Sam is anxious to show this side of her family to Jack; their laid-back side. Jack doesn’t do laid-back, so is not as impressed as Sam would like. However, he’s willing to check out a wedding venue there since it means so much to Sam. Sam’s plans for a relaxing few days at her childhood beach are quickly ruined when she finds out Wyatt, the boy who broke her heart when she was 17, is also in town. Can Sam lay things to rest with Wyatt? On top of that, Sam might be getting fired from her job in Manhattan. And she can’t decide if that’s a bad thing or not. My second book by Monaghan and it did not disappoint. 4 stars
My Life in France Julia Child (memoir). In the later years of her life, Julia Child shared her early life in France with her husband, Paul’s, nephew, giving us a close-up look of the woman who brought French cooking to America as well as being a forerunner of the now popular cooking shows. Child first came to France in 1948 with her husband, Paul, a diplomat for the U.S. Paul Child had lived in France and could speak French, but Julia could neither speak French nor knew anything about the country or culture. With her boundless enthusiasm, Julia began to get to know her new country by going to the marketplace and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu. The rest as they say, is history. I enjoyed hearing about Julia’s experiences in her own words as well as letters from family and friends. 4 stars
James Percival Everett (audio). A re-telling of Mark Twain’ s Huckleberry Finn, tells the story of the slave, Jim, who decides to run when he hears he is to be sold. The young Huck Finn decides to fake his death to escape his abusive father. Not knowing the other is running, they find each other on Jackson Island, and their flight from danger begins. Everett follows Twain’s story in many ways, but in this one, we see the intelligence of Jim and what he does to hide that from white men. A couple of other twists occur, making this a great one for book clubs. 4 stars
The Cartographers Peng Shepherd. Nell Young has always been fascinated with cartography and wants to do nothing else. Not so surprising since her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a well-known cartographer with a highly esteemed position with the New York Public Library. But, some years ago, Dr. Young fired his daughter from her job at the NYPL and made sure she would never work again in the field. Nell never learned why her father became so enraged over her finding of a cheap gas station highway map. And now, Dr. Young has been found dead in his office. When Nell finds the supposedly worthless map hidden in his desk, she has to investigate. What she finds leads her into danger and into a strange world where maps have secrets. I greatly enjoyed this fantasy where different worlds and secrets collide. 5 stars
Clara Reads Proust Stephane Carlier; translator-Polly MacKintosh (French). Clara is a hairdresser at Cindy Coiffure. Her job is okay for now, but she wonders if she couldn’t be doing more. When a customer leaves behind the first volume of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, Clara puts it away but when the customer never returns, she ends up picking it up and reading it. Clara becomes engrossed in a new world and suddenly cannot stop reading. How the book (and subsequent volumes) changes her life makes for a charming read. This is the only book by Carlier translated into English. I hope more of his books will be translated soon. 4 stars
What You Wish For Katherine Center (audio). Katherine Center is becoming one of my go-to authors when I want an entertaining romance, yet they are not shallow or fluffy. Just characters going through stuff and eventually finding love. In this one, Sam is a school librarian who is happy with her job. When the school announces the name of the new principal, Sam is not sure if she should be excited or dismayed. Duncan Carpenter is a name from her past, a fellow teacher from another school, an unrequited crush. But when Duncan shows up and begins immediately to establish new and more rigid rules, she wonders if her memory is faulty because this is not the fun and unpredictable Duncan she remembers. 4 stars
“Watching birds is good for mental health, the research tells us; it reduces anxiety, stress and depression and builds a well-being connection that might remain for life.” Miriam Darlington in Owl Sense.
Red-tailed Hawk
White-eyed Vireo
Barred Owl
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Barred Owl (doing a little fishing)
Pileated Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
(Another) Barred Owl
Prothonotary Warbler
Eastern Bluebird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (juvenile male; notice the tongue action)
Barn Swallows
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
“the strongest couples I know have grown together, supporting their partner’s changes rather than harnessing or fearing them. It’s a bit like growing roses—you don’t get to choose exactly which way the stems unfurl, but if you help them climb you get the pleasure of watching them flourish.” ― Olivia Ford, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (The Neapolitan Novels #3) Elena Ferrante; translated by Ann Goldstein. The third book which centers around the friendship of Elena and Lila, two young women who live in Italy in the 60’s and into the 70’s. As girls, Elena always looked up to Lila, but it is Elena who is able to continue her education and eventually publishes a successful novel while Lila married a boy from the neighborhood. The marriage is a disaster, and Lila’s life is going through some rough times. But, things are not always easy for Elena and somehow another boy from the neighborhood, Nino, keeps showing up in their lives. Elena is married now, but has never quite gotten over the attraction Nino has always had on her. These books are a great story of female friendship that is never easy but lasts for years. 4 stars
On Folly Beach Karen White. I’ve read a couple of books by Karen White that were just okay for me, so I was surprised at how much I liked this one. A dual time-line with one part of the story taking place in 1944 during WWII and the second in more present day (2009). Emmy Hamilton lives in Ohio and has recently lost her husband. Her mother is from Folly Beach, SC and now runs a bookstore. She has received some books for her bookstore from a store she remembers from her childhood in Folly Beach. She encourages Emmy to buy the bookstore down there, so she can have a new start in her life. Emmy is reluctant, but after finding some love letters in the box of books, she decides to give it a try. She is soon caught up in trying to solve the mystery of the letters, though the people who were related to the writers of the letters are not quite as excited for the truths to come out. 4 stars
The Break-Up Book Club Wendy Wax. Four women who are facing different types of break-ups in their relationships can make for some depressing reading, but the friendships they form (which start by meeting for a book club at a charming bookstore) keep this book from being too heavy on the heart. Jazmine is a sports agent and a single mother. Judith is an empty nester with a clueless and insensitive husband. Erin was engaged to her high school sweetheart who decided he didn’t want to get married after all. And Sara’s husband has been working out of town, leaving her saddled with his mother who knows her son could have done better. How these women work through their problems and support each other makes for heart-felt reading. 4 stars
The Golden Gate Amy Chua. Homicide Detective Al Sullivan is summoned to the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, California. It’s 1944 and presidential candidate Walter Wilkinson has been killed in one of the ritzy hotel’s rooms. Wilkinson has many enemies, but some of the chief suspects are the granddaughters of the Bainbridge family, one of the wealthiest and most influential in San Francisco. What do these three young socialites have to do with a presidential candidate old enough to be their father? And what does the tragic death of their seven year old sister/cousin ten years ago have to do with the case now? Sullivan is determined to untie the threads and find the answer. 4 stars
Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame Olivia Ford. Jenny and her husband, Bernard, have been married for 59 years. Though she loves her husband and her life, Jenny yearns to do something more while she still can. She decides to apply to be a contestant on Britain Bakes, but doesn’t tell Bernard until she has no choice. That’s not the only secret she keeps from Bernard though the other one is 60 years old. Can she find a way to deal with her secret while competing on a national platform? Though I felt a bit uncomfortable with Jenny’s secret keeping, I love finding stories with older protagonists and that this one involves food is icing on the cake. 4 stars
Deacon King Kong James McBride. New York in the 1960’s where two neighborhoods overlap—one black and the other of Italian descent. When a black deacon known as Sportcoat shoots a known drug dealer, everyone is shocked and also scared. Isn’t it hard enough to get along without looking for trouble? I enjoyed getting to know these characters (and they are characters in every sense of the word). Life is not easy for any of them, but somehow they live and work together; standing up for their neighbors and family even when some of them might get on their last nerve. 4 stars
Piglet Lottie Hazell (audio). I listened to this because I heard a couple of people I follow rave about the audio. It was okay, but it might have been better for me if I’d read it in print. I seemed to have missed a couple of important things in my listening, such as: how can an adult woman continue to let people call her Piglet? How can she have any relationship with her parents at all for calling her that in the first place? But, anyway, Piglet (as she is known) is a cookbook editor and she is preparing to marry Kit. Kit’s family is a bit more upper-class than her own, so there’s those tricky waters to traverse. Then Kit drops a bomb on her just two weeks before they’re to be married. He has been unfaithful but wants her to forgive him. Can she? Can she carry on like everything is still peachy? Or will she just eat herself into oblivion? 3 stars
The Kamogawa Food Detectives Hisashi Kashiwai; translated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood. A restaurant in Kyoto is not easy to find but if you make the effort, not only will you be served great food, but the father/daughter team also work as investigators and will find and create that special dish you remember from sometime in your past. Each chapter is about a different person who seeks out the Kamogawas to ask their help in recreating a dish that has a special meaning for them. I enjoyed reading about the different characters as well as the foods described which were mostly unfamiliar to me. 4 stars
Ladies’ Lunch and Other Stories (SS) Lore Segal. Lore Segal seems to have been writing forever. She had a story in a recent New Yorker, and she is now 96 years old. These stories mostly revolve around a group of friends who have been meeting for lunch for over 40 years. They’ve been friends long enough and have lived long enough to not hold anything back on what they think or how they feel. 4 stars
“And here is where nature mocks you absolutely. Birds don’t work on your schedule. They don’t care an iota for your plans or desires. They ridicule your fantasy that you are in control of what it is you see. They appear when they want to and disappear accordingly.” Julia Zarankin in Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder
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