so-soInformative, fair and measured in reporting, but overall sad in tone. Hammer does a decent job of presenting Lendrum's crimes within the broader context of the demand and attraction of theft and smuggling of rare/endangered/illegal bird's eggs, within Lendrum's own life which encompasses both some unfortunate circumstances, but mostly unfortunate choices,1/?
Okay, but I love that. 🐣🥚🧺🐇💚💜🩷
Took a day off today and walked my usual trail this morning. First time I‘ve ever seen one of these guys just sitting there so calm and unbothered!
pickThis was recommended to me by one our best customers. I've heard about this book quite a lot, but thought it wasn't for me. When I started it, I still thought it wasn't for me. But the more I listened to the audio book, the more I got invested. It's interesting how the author mixes up memoir, biography and biology in one book. Without it being overloaded.
@PuddleJumper #roll100
pickAn intriguing memoir blending the author's intense relationship with her new goshawk, learnings about falconry, and grief about the loss of her father; reflections on rural England; and the life of T.H. White, a fantasy writer who was also a falconer.This new take on White's troubled life intrigued me as a childhood reader, but MacDonald's developing relationship with her hawk amidst a complex life is what is most engaging.
#Nonfiction2024 #Kafka
#Bookspin January
1. Saving Time
2. The Future Is Disabled
3. Island of Forgetting
4. An Immense World
5. All the Devils
6. Sure, I‘ll Be Your Black Friend
7. The Prophets
8. Of Time and Turtles
9. It‘s Ok that you‘re not OK
10. How Much of These Hills
11. Greenwood
12. Swimming in the Dark
13. The Toronto Book Dead
14. The Cheese & The Worms
15. A Market
16. Constant Struggle
17. Ordinary Notes
18. Coming Out
19. Some People
20. The House Sea
I think of the complex histories that landscapes have, and how easy it is to put easier, safer histories in their place. The fields in Cambridge, farmed organically, are teeming with life. These are not. The big animals are here: the deer, the foxes, the rabbits; the fields look the same, and the trees, too, but this land is empty. There are few plants other than crops, and few bees, or butterflies, for the soil sprayed with chemicals that kill.
It's obviously an area that needs improvement, because the crimes are still happening, with the resulting death the endangerment and death of living creatures for at least partially a monetary gain alongside possible thrill-seeking and compulsive motives, 3w
The author quotes those who remark on the fact that Lendrum's skills could have been incredibly useful in science or conservation, and it seems tragic that Lendrum never found a successful rehabilitative path in that 3w
I'm glad that McWilliams' team exists, but he definitely feels like a somewhat sidelined force for good, rather than a true narrative foil. The amount that prosecuted bird collectors kept in touch with him post-arrest further underlines that some form of mandatory rehabilitation involving community outreach 3w
This is as close to true crime as I want to wander in non-fiction, and as even-keeled (versus a possibly more salacious accounting of events) as it was, it pretty much validates my opinion that such stories are major bummers and involve delving into real people's personal lives in a manner that makes me uncomfortable.
⚠️animal abuse, animal death 3w