Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing - Lev Parikian

This is the miracle of flight as you’ve never seen it before: the evolutionary story of life on the wing.

A bird flits overhead. It’s an everyday occurrence, repeated hundreds, thousands, millions of times daily by creatures across the world. It’s something so normal, so entirely taken for granted, that sometimes we forget how extraordinary it is. But take that in for a moment. This animal flies. It. Flies. The miracle of flight has evolved in hugely diverse ways, with countless variations of flapping and gliding, hovering and diving, murmurating and migrating.

Conjuring lost worlds, ancient species and ever-shifting ecologies, this exhilarating new book is a mesmerising encounter with fourteen flying species: from the first fluttering insect of 300 million years ago to the crested pterosaurs of the Mesozoic Era, from hummingbirds that co-evolved with rainforest flowers to the wonders of dragonfly, albatross, pipistrelle and monarch butterfly with which we share the planet today.

Taking Flight is a mind-expanding feat of the imagination, a close encounter with flight in its myriad forms, urging us to look up and drink in the spectacle of these gravity-defying marvels that continue to shape life on Earth.

 

What did I think?

Taking Flight is as stunning on the inside as it is on the outside; the cover actually shimmers with the image of a mayfly spread over the front and back cover.  I think it is one of the most accessible and enjoyable non-fiction books I have ever read.  Lev Parikian could be a comedian; I don't think I have ever laughed so much when reading and I'm including humorous books in that statement.

There is a lot of information covered in the 14 chapters and it's a book you could dip in and out of, but it is so entertaining to read (especially the hilarious footnotes) that I couldn't help but read 'just one more chapter'.  I learned so much about flight and I have never felt more insignificant as a human being when reading about these fascinating species.

The chapters cover: mayfly, dragonfly, beetle, fly, bee, butterfly, pterosaur, archaeopteryx, penguin, goose, hummingbird, albatross, pigeon and bat.  Every single chapter is fascinating and I learned something new in each one from the amazing journey of the butterfly to the best way to catch a fly (it really works - thanks, Lev!).

Informative, entertaining and engrossing, Taking Flight is simply magnificent and I can't recommend it highly enough.  It's an easy five stars and it's a book that is going on my 'to be read again' shelf, which doesn't happen often with non-fiction.  

Many thanks to Elliott & Thompson for sending me a beautiful hardback that I chose to read; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: Effin' Birds: A Field Guide to Identification - Aaron Reynolds

Have you ever looked a bird dead in the eye and wondered what it was thinking?

With Effin Birds, the most eagerly anticipated new volume in the noble avocation of bird identification, you can venture into nature with confidence. This farcical field guide will help you identify over 200 birds, but more importantly, for the first time in history, it will also help you understand what these birds are thinking:

• The vainglorious grebe is acutely aware of its own magnificence.
  
• The hipster pelican thinks the world is a sh*tbarge.
  
• The overbearing heron wishes you better luck next time, f*cknuts.
  
• The counsellor swallow wants you to maybe try not being a d*ckhead.

Alongside beautiful, scientifically accurate illustrations and a whole lot of swearing is incisive commentary on modern life and the world we, as humans, must navigate. Or maybe it s just some pictures of effin birds, okay?

What did I think?

As soon as I saw the cover of Effin' Birds, I knew I had to read it and what a refreshing change of pace this was in my reading schedule. Described as 'pictures of birds with curse words', I sniggered and snorted my way through this book as it really appealed to my sense of humour.   I have to say, it really doesn't have a lot to do with birds so if you're an ornithologist, look away now.  

There are indeed lots of pictures of birds with curse words but there are also some funny descriptions of fictional bird breeds, describing their habitat and identifying characteristics.  I bet I wasn't the only reader trying to identify themselves or their colleagues in some of these hilarious sections.  If you're wondering, I'd be a Peevish Ringneck as I do like a good eye roll now and again.

Joking aside for just one moment, the illustrations are absolutely breathtaking and it makes the cursing even funnier as Aaron Reynolds imagines what the birds are thinking.  I mean have you ever wondered what a peacock was thinking as it strutted around shaking its feathers?  Well that mystery and more have now been solved.

Anyone who has a sense of humour will love this book; it's more of a snort your drink through your nose than a big belly laugh kind of book but it's highly entertaining.  If the first thing you did in French class was look up the rude words in the dictionary then you must buy this book.  I couldn't get enough of Effin' Birds and I'm delighted to see more illustrations on Twitter at @EffinBirds so make sure you follow Aaron Reynolds too!

Hilarious in its vulgarity, Effin' Birds reawakens your inner giggling schoolchild and puts a smile on your face.  It would make a fabulous gift for that impossible-to-buy-for person, as long as they have a good sense of humour.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Aaron Reynolds is the writer of @EffinBirds and @swear_trek, and the curator of @BatLabels. 

He is also a software instructor, which is where most of his elfin' inspiration comes from.

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A Sweet, Wild Note: What We Hear When the Birds Sing - Richard Smyth

Birdsong is woven into our culture, our emotions, our landscape; it is the soundtrack to our world. We have tried to capture this fleeting, ephemeral beauty, and the feelings it inspires, for millennia.

In this fascinating account, Richard Smyth asks what it is about birdsong that we so love. Exploring the myriad ways in which it has influenced literature, music, science and our very ideas of what it means to be British, Smyth’s nuanced investigation shows that what we hear says as much about us, our dreams and desires, as it does about the birds and their songs.

At a time when our birdsong is growing quieter, with fewer voices, more thinly spread, A Sweet, Wild Note is a celebration of the complex relationships between birds, people and the land; it is also a passionate call to arms lest our trees and hedgerows fall silent.

What did I think?

Something magical happened whilst I was reading A Sweet, Wild Note: I felt more attuned to birdsong than I had ever been before.  I admit it was the start of spring but I suddenly started to notice the chirrup of the sparrow building its nest in our garden hedge and I don't believe I would have noticed it had I not been reading this delightful book.

So I had a few preconceptions of a book about birdsong but when faced with the most unexpected and hilarious opening line in Chapter 1, my preconceptions flew out of the window.  I'm not going to say what it is as I don't want to spoil it for other readers but kudos to Richard Smyth for delivering such a cracking opening line.  It managed to set the tone of book as being factual but fun and made me more eager to read it than at first expected.

The book comprises only six chapters as we investigate birdsong and its place in music, literature and our own lives.  I was fascinated by the cellist Beatrice Harrison who was recorded playing her cello in a Surrey bluebell wood accompanied by the pure warbling notes of a nightingale.  This had me whizzing off to google to listen for myself and you can listen to it here on YouTube.

As spring began to take hold whilst I was reading A Sweet, Wild Note I only had to lift my gaze out of the window to see the birds' nests taking shape in the trees.  I watched a pair of magpies, carrying impossibly sized twigs in their beaks, building a nest so huge it could house a whole mischief of magpies.  At first I was disappointed that magpies had chosen this prime spot in front of my window: I'm a Sunderland fan so anything black and white makes me look like I'm sucking a lemon, but of all the birds to build a nest it had to be the thieving Bill Sykes of birds!  Richard Smyth managed to make me see magpies in a new light as a necessary cog in nature's wheel and I'm now looking forward to seeing the magpie family's new additions...until they wake me up at 5am on a Sunday!

An absolute must for any bird lover, A Sweet, Wild Note is completely enlightening and absolutely fascinating. 

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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The Aviary (Colouring Book) - Claire Scully & Richard Merritt

The Aviary is filled with an array of beautiful birds to colour and complete.

Each wonderfully detailed piece is a work of art to be treasured by keen colourers and bird lovers alike.

The cover is fully foiled, and makes this book a wonderful gift for anyone who loves colouring.

A follow up to The Menagerie: Animal Portraits to Colour.

What did I think?

With a mesmerising metallic blue jay on the cover, I couldn't wait to turn the pages of The Aviary and get my colouring pencils out. There is such an excellent variety of birds in this colouring book and each drawing is so highly detailed that it will always result in the most breathtaking finished picture.

Within the book, there are 31 birds to colour: Atlantic puffin, barn swallows, Indian peafowl, macaw, grey crowned crane, bald eagle, swallow-tailed hummingbird, mallard ducks, brown pelican, Welsummer chicken, lovebirds, southern cassowary, South American great horned owl, red-billed toucan, swan, blue jay, emperor penguin chick, Victoria crowned pigeon, greater flamingo, Queen Victoria's riflebird, raven, white-capped albatross, common kingfisher, common ostrich, great blue herons, Major Mitchell's cockatoo, long-legged buzzard, red-bellied woodpecker, hoopoe, pheasant and blue-footed boobies.

There really is something for everyone in The Aviary; whether your favourite is the wise owl, colourful peafowl, majestic eagle, or the comical blue-footed boobies.  I chose the Indian peafowl as my first bird to colour and, due to the amazing attention to detail in the drawings, I found that I could really let my imagination run away with me.  I found that, although I started colouring in the traditional colours of the bird, the drawing was crying out for something a bit more unusual.  I'm not the most imaginative of folk, but out came the pink, purple and red pencils and I'm delighted with the result.

I'm relatively new to adult colouring books, but I certainly find it to be a very relaxing and rewarding activity on a cold and wet summer's day in the North East of England.

The only limit in The Aviary is your own imagination.

I received this book from the publisher, Michael O'Mara Books, in exchange for an honest review.

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