I enjoyed this well enough, but I was surprised that there was no mention of Phoebe Snetsinger, whose remarkable life list is chronicled in her book Birding on Borrowed Time (Amazon will tell you it’s out of print, but it’s not). You might also enjoy Koeppel’s To See Every Bird on Earth, which was how I learned about Snetsinger. Ignore Blechman’s Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird. My reviews of The Big Year, Birding on Borrowed Time, and Pigeons are at shoshanapnw.livejournal.com.
He sure is funny but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Well, maybe I would 
on certain subjects, not all
Well I gave up on The devil in amber as it nosedived into utter crapness after a promising start, even though at the time I was on the tube and the only alternative was to play “snake” on my Nokia phone. So onto monarch bashing with Johann Hari, hopefully it’ll be more entertaining.
I just read a play called The Pillowman. It’s awesome. And creepy. And very short. Everyone should read it.
Bill Bryson is perpetually clueless. He very happily admits this and has made a career out of it. And I love him for it.
I just picked up a copy of Dawkin’s The God Delusion to get me through until Christmas.
Edit: (I meant that in a ‘give me something to read’ sense. Upon further consideration, that sentence made me chuckle).
An Amazon order came today, four hardcovers, loose in the box, no padding. If I was collecting, I’d be ticked – dust jackets bumped and one has a small tear.
Anyway, the books (chosen from an Amazon Best of 2007 list) are:
Down River by John Hart, a thriller about a man charged with murder. After he’s acquitted, he leaves town for several years but comes back, and stuff ensues.
The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston – small town kids get mixed up with some bad people.
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill – historical about a slave woman in Revolutionary War times. The UK title for this is The Book of Negroes. I’m a bit disappointed that the title was changed in the US. I’ve looked around but can’t find anything that explains the change. I’m assuming political correctness. Unless the publisher thinks Americans are so stoopid they’d see the title and think “It’s a catalog! We can buy Negroes again? Cool!”
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – epic series fantasy that I’ve heard a lot of good things about. High hopes.
I quite enjoyed it. I can’t wait until the next one. Please let me know what you think of it.
I’ll do that. I’ve been unhappy with the last few new fantasy novels I’ve tried. Hated Elantris and Octavian Nothing, wasn’t nuts about The Blade Itself (but I’ve heard that one gets better), thought Lies of Locke Lamora was overhyped. So fingers crossed for the Rothfuss!
I thought Lies of Locke Lamora had real potential. I was excited about it when I started it. But in the end I thought the follow-through was a let down. None-the-less I’m going to give the next one a try (I *think *it is out and it was on my Christmas list.)
I thought Lies was a little light, but that’s just me. I like my fantasy a bit darker, more intense. I never felt like anyone was in real danger with all those improbable capers, and I didn’t feel like I “knew” any of the characters. When one of them was finally killed, I should have cared, but I didn’t.
I did like Lynch’s writing style, which doesn’t make much sense, since I didn’t like the story. 
[QUOTE=delphica]
Recent reads:
Mystery Mile, Marjery Allingham. This was a lot of fun, I haven’t read anything by Allingham before. Classic British mystery – manor house, a vicar, wacky gentry. Usually when the back of mystery novel says something like “Dorothy Sayers fans will love this!” it is the kiss of death for me, because really, Dorothy Sayers is a very high standard and it generally sets me up for disappointment, but I ended up loving this and am excited because Allingham wrote about a million books.
I like Margery Allingham. Oh, they aren’t all good, but you’ve got the best ones still to come. FWIW, my favorites are Death of a Ghost, Dancers in Mourning, The Fashion in Shrouds. This is in roughly chronological order. They are more serious and better written than Mystery Mile, but not as playful. Like the diffrerence between Whose Body and Murder Must Advertise, but never as lyrical as The Nine Tailors.
If you like classic British mystery, have you ever read much Ngaio Marsh? It looks like some of hers are coming back into print in the US. I think she wrote about 50 or so…
But if you like looney humor, Edmund Crispin’s Gervaise Fen mysteries are wonderful. The Moving Toyshop is my favorite.
AuntiePam, have you tried Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy? I recently read and enjoyed The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls.
This post describes the current state of my Reading Pile.
Obviously, I’m on break. 
I just finished off Coraline by Neil Gaiman and You Suck by Christopher Moore, and now I’m angling for The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry. I’ve got Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan and the fourth book of the Unfortunate Events series, The Miserable Mill, on my shelf…
No, but I will. I keep hearing about her, and it’s all good.
I finished Mr. American, by George MacDonald Fraser. Very good, and for you Flashman fans, he makes some appearances in the story, at ages 87 and 92.
Today I will begin Cities of the Plain, Cormac McCarthy’s final installment in his Border Trilogy.
I picked up from my library rental pile: 21 balloons and am in the third chapter. I would have read more last night but the cat decided to crawl up on my chest and…well…that always puts me to sleep.
I forget if a Doper recommended this book, but whomever, thanks!
Omigod, that was one of my favorite books when I was a kid!
I loved 21 Balloons. Also try Peter Graves. It has antigravity devices. Getting off the ground was clearly a concern for this author.