The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year | 
pickI'm a sucker for this sort of combination of nature writing and personal essay, so it's no surprise that I loved this one. Renkl does a wonderful job of narrating, you can really feel the joy and wonder she finds in the natural world around her. But if I could go back and do it again I would probably choose print, and savour it slowly as it moves through the seasons. This is written as a sort of secular devotional, and is best treated as such.
"The world would count itself lucky if we were vultures or crows. An actual vulture turns death into feathers, and actual crow turns flesh into flight."
pickDue to an especially busy and draining spring semester, I didn't read nearly as much from @monalyisha ‘s #AuldLangSpine list as I would have liked in January/the first half of 2025. Hoping to make up for that in the second! This was so lovely. 💚 Many standout essays, and even though it‘s summer where I am, somehow the winter ones resonated most strongly, I think because of the moral winter we‘re living through right now. 😞
Liked it more than I thought I would.
pickDid I ever need this book right now! This was a quiet, contemplative read, almost meditative at times. I lost myself in the stories many times, especially when driving. I really enjoyed the audiobook, particularly so as the author read her own words. A good read at any time of year, but right now, as spring is emerging, it seemed very on point. 5/5⭐️
(April 14, 2025)
pickThis was a gentle quiet read. I would put it in a collection with Soil by Camille Dungy, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Lab Girl by Hope Jahren: stories of women reflecting their lives and histories in the natural world. But more than that, the natural world is more important than the author at times. Not feel good books, but closer to calls to action than memoirs.
“We are storytelling animals, and for us that indeterminate space is uncomfortable.”
I finished the wee fox and now am on to plans for Citizen Science Month.
I‘m home sick today but twitchy. This is a thoughtful, gentle rumination while I needle felt a prize for a friend.
I haven‘t been listening to books while walking because my sister has been with me on my last few walks. Here‘s what I‘m reading tonight. I‘d tried to listen to it before, but it just didn‘t work for me. I think it‘s one of those books that is better read as either a print or ebook.
so-soFifty-two essays about Margaret Renkl‘s love of nature and her backyard.
Walden ✨ Still ✨ Muse
I‘m not sure if this book is meant to be read all at once. I think a slower paced read would‘ve made me appreciate it more. I‘m also dying to know what the author‘s yard looks like!
bailedI sure am fussy. This one for me to page 124 and nope, can crawl no further inside. Time to pick up something else.
pickHow am I supposed to review this when Ann Patchett‘s already done the job perfectly? She calls it “a howling love letter to the world.” Take the word “comfort” from the book‘s title & the word “howling” from Patchett‘s blurb & you‘ve got the feeling exactly. Renkl‘s essays, which describe a year in her intentionally wild & native backyard, bring a profound sense of calm. But she never forgets (or lets you forget) about our current climate crisis.
“I took myself to the woods. Because sometimes the only cure for homesickness is to enlarge the definition of home.”
“This is crow light. Light that gleams on glossy black feathers and makes of the crow a breathing shadow, a living, winging, crow-talking god. The light that renders a crow incandescent in the afternoon is the same light that only minutes later renders the gift of twilight, when colors fade and all the world becomes a crow.”
“Oh, honey, we haven‘t read a book in fifty years.” 😂
pickThis book is gorgeous in style and content! One of my favorites of the year so far! Renkl organized this essay collection by weeks in a year. The focus here is nature: the essays are about specific species and moments of her life, featuring her grown sons and husband, all seasonal. I listened to Renkl narrate this which was a treat, but having the physical book to page through and enjoy the illustrations is a must!
I learned recently about a mistake that my mother made, something that‘s had reverberations throughout my family. While I‘m just as disappointed and heartsick as my siblings, I‘m also keenly aware that our time is not unlimited. We can‘t punish her for not recognizing that which is precious and irreplaceable in her life, by not recognizing that she is.
This passage is both timely and poignant.
Timely question. Like so many others, I am in a season of life with a flurry of mental & physical Post-it notes.
“We are gentle with the toads. They are soft as a great-grandmother you can hold in your hand.”
This might be the most “me” combination of books I‘ve ever been reading at the same time. 😅
#IndependentBookstoreDay #BookHaul
The middle two are mine and the other four are my husband‘s . He‘s not even a reader! I‘ll have to leave him home next time 😆😜
pickAs I listened to this beautiful book of linked essays this week, construction started in earnest to build two homes on a tiny lot of land behind my home. What was wild and untamed and unruly is now shredded and torn and barren. Even as I write this, the rock-splitting equipment forges ahead. The timing of the book in my life is impeccable, and the book itself is a testament to the straight line from heart to nature.So good! I loved every word.♥️🌳
Laugh out loud moment when Renkl mistakes a vacuum cleaner clog for a long sought after owl pellet.
A “Hoover pellet.” 🤣🤣
Happy Birthday to Me! 🎉
Asian Mall to stock up on pantry supplies. Bombay Pizza Kitchen for a tasty lunch. Magers & Quinn to stock up on books! Woot! 😄
Books for Christmas aren‘t a guarantee for me. Most of my family aren‘t big readers (husband included). But a friend surprised me with the tagged, out of the blue. I didn‘t tell them I wanted it. We never had a discussion about it. But if you‘d asked me to name the ONE book I was most hoping to receive, it would‘ve been this one.
That‘s what friends are for. 💞
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate (& a dose of winter sparkle to everyone else)!
Margaret Renkl has such a perfect way of describing the natural world of her Tennessee 😍
#Naturalitsy
pickThis beautiful book is a complete love note to the natural world and seasons. I love it. Definitely one for #NaturaLitsy and #Midwintersolace
#NetGalleyGroup #ARC
Most of my #bookspin #doublespin #bookbingo November list. More Nonfiction than normal for Nonfiction November. @TheAromaofBooks
Today‘s post-therapy pick-me-up was this book. Described as a “literary devotional,” taking you through seasons, creatures, plants, and the ebb and flow of human rhythms. It sounds wonderful. And each chapter includes beautiful art. Perhaps something #NaturaLitsy would like. I especially thought of you, @monalyisha
