The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds, by John Yow
The Armchair Birder is about a niche topic that is written so well, and with such charm and wit, it would captivate the most bird-indifferent imagination. For birders, especially the casual and recreational, Yow is the bee's knees.
The great thing about Yow’s book is that it’s all about familiar birds—what we see and hear about everyday, not the exotic: Bluejays, woodpeckers, mourning doves, eagles, wild turkeys, owls.
The anecdotes alone make for a memoir not soon forgotten. Yow talks about bird feelings and behaviors— you'll recognize some personalities from your own human family! It was as if the birds themselves were talking to Yow and sharing all their secrets.
The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal: The Secret Lives of Birds of the Southeastern Shore, by John Yow
The sequel to The Armchair Birder, The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal is an example of the "sequel that outdoes itself." Yow's great wit and dry humor strikes again!
I will NEVER judge seagulls the same way again— I feel like I’ve been much too hard on them. Yow wrote such a sympathetic chapter on seagulls, it made me feel... like a bad person.
Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, by Susan Ware
This is one of those books about a legend— the whole time you’re reading it you’re thinking, “Wow, Billie Jean is AWESOME.”
Game, Set, Match is a biography about Billie Jean King, the woman who "made" women’s tennis, and helped bring the world’s attention to women’s sports.
She was also a closeted lesbian for a long time, and then later came out, before it was the least bit fashionable. Balls!
A great under-dog story, fantastic build up, with a satisfying ending.
Narrated by Donna Postel, who voices another of my favorite books, The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability.
Border War: Fighting Over Slavery Before the Civil War, by Stanley Harrold
If you’ve ever seen a popular film or TV series about the Civil War, this book is catnip.
Border War delves into how the border southern states had the highest slave runaway rates, so they came up with the most bizarre laws to stop it, and the ensuing struggles and debates were ferocious.
There's plenty of action, and the "back-in-the-day" atrocities are rivetting, if you have the stomach for it.
Narrated by Brian Holsopple.
Making Marriage Work: A History of Marriage and Divorce in the 20th-Century United States, by Kristin Celello
The book that blows the lid off of the whole divorce “crisis.”
Remember Laura Kipnis’ Love Polemic? It was a diatribe of romance and monogamy. But Making Marriage Work is a great balance— tremendous research and investigation, but it’s not out there to judge you.
It has a wealth of information that will make you think about how the idea of marriage has evolved and been changed by political, environmental, religious, and cultural influences. This is a book that will be nodded to, for a long time to come.
Work is about how marriage has been defined not nearly so much by romance as by labor… a wonderfully provocative idea.
Narrated by Tamara Marston.
The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss, by Charles W. Eagles
This book is like the “college version” of Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington.
The Price of Defiance sets the scene of the white college life in Mississippi during the early 1960s: beauty queens, sororities & fraternities, keg parties, football, etc.
Might sound familiar to a lot of colleges today? Except only white students were allowed to enroll at the University of Mississippi, or as they called it, "Ole Miss."
Everything hit the fan with the integration push in 1962 to allow African Americans to enroll at Ole Miss— a total page turner with unforgettable heroes to cheer for!
James Meredith was the first African American to enroll, and the day before the first day of school was so explosive, fatal riots ensued.
The children and grandchildren of alumni during those years can recount their stories in complete detail. It impacted the community, for generations, right up to today.
Author Charles Eagles, a Mississippi historian, writes Defiance like a screenplay— great plots, characters, action. Is there a movie deal yet?
Music From the True Vine: Mike Seeger’s Life and Musical Journey, by Bill C. Malone
An audiobook for music-lovers. Mike Seeger, founding member of the influential folk revival band New Lost City Ramblers, along with his brother Pete Seeger transformed American music, from the grass roots up.
From the Introduction:
Who is Mike Seeger?
I was asked that question far too often after mentioning that I was writing his biography. And a second question frequently followed: "Is he related to Pete Seeger?" Trying not to show my irritation, I generally responded with, "Yes, he's his half brother, but he's a much more talented musican than Pete."
It is difficult to provide an adequate conversational, sound-bite assessment of Mike, though, when most people are very aware of the almost iconic status that his brother Pete occupies in American popular culture. Mike, on the other hand, always went about his work quietly and mostly below the radar of public recognition.
There’s not ONE American folk or country music fan, there’s not one American rock or pop critic, who hasn’t paid homage to this man or fallen in love with his many songs and musicial discoveries.
Finally, we have a biography that has all the humor, warmth, and campfire-style storytelling that captures everything Mike Seeger has brought to the table of American culture.
Narrated by Joe Geoffrey.
--Aretha Bright
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