The Secret Life of the Owl

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

so-so

Meh.

Swathes of factoids that might be gleaned from Wikipedia, padded out with a chunk of the Middle English poem "The Owl and the Nightingale", and with a couple of nods to "intelligent design" and creationism, I was underwhelmed and won't be bothering with anything else by this author. 2.5⭐

Lovely owl sketches by Beci Kelly, though.

Bookwomble While focused on one owl species rather than covering the range of species in Lewis-Stemple's book, I found the tagged work by Coulthard far more interesting and engaging.

The Book of the Barn Owl

10mo

34 likes1 comment

Bookwomble

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

"... evolved (or designed) ..."
Ok, just UNtagged this book as science ???
I'll keep it as non-fiction for now, but I'll be watching like a hawk! ?

Suet624 Wow. 13mo

Aimeesue Yikes. He could‘ve avoided that whole problem by rewording the sentence. Why would you not just say « Each species blends into the environment in which it lives? (edited) 13mo

SamAnne Ugh. . 13mo

Bookwomble @Aimeesue I don't know the writer, but I did wonder if perhaps it's a publisher's sop to pacify the "intelligent design" market. 13mo

Aimeesue @Bookwomble Oh, I‘d bet. Otherwise you‘d take it out. Sad what things have come to if we‘re pandering in "science" based books. 13mo

27 likes5 comments

Bookwomble

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

Found a lovely bookshop in Kirkcudbright today, Gallovidia Books, and came away these 😌
I thought I was going to read Maus next, as I haven't read it yet and this feels like a big omission, but I've read some heavy books recently, so I'm going to read about nature's silent killers - I mean nature's cute, fluffy feather-balls - instead 🦉😊

psalva I haven‘t listened to Billy Bragg in a while. That looks like a nice volume 13mo

Bookwomble @psalva He's on regular rotation with me 😊 It is a nice book, as his lyrics by themselves are usually meaningful and articulate, and this has an introduction and notes by Billy himself, which adds to those qualities. 13mo

34 likes2 comments

kaysworld1

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

pick

First book down for the #NovelNovember #Readathon
Short 2 hour audio book while studying.

Thank you @Andrew65 😊

Andrew65 Brilliant 👏👏👏 1y

AllDebooks Love owls and nature, stacked 1y

37 likes2 comments

Debblyliz

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

pick

A short but gorgeous book for anyone interested in owls but with very limited knowledge. The book first details the various owls before considering superstitions and rituals which surround the owl.

5 likes