Hi. How is everyone doing? I hope you are enjoying the holiday season. I have been off the blog for a while due to my knee replacement surgery last week. I came home from the hospital on Friday afternoon and I’m getting my bearings. All is fine and I’m on the road to recovery, which right now includes strengthening exercises and plenty of icing. I’m still working to get the swelling down, but it’s coming. My husband and sister-in-law from Vancouver deserve a lot of credit for getting me through. And thanks to all of you for the encouragement and thoughts you sent beforehand. It was much appreciated.
Before the hospital, I picked out a Christmas tree and we plan to decorate it this weekend. Hopefully the next post will be a bit more Christmassy. I still need to get more into the holiday spirit. I don’t even know where November went?!
In terms of shows lately, we’ve still been alternating episodes of the TV series Lessons in Chemistry (starring Brie Larson) with The Diplomat (starring Keri Russell) along with Bosch: Legacy (Season 2). All three shows are pretty good. I haven’t decided if we’ll return to watching the final season of The Crown (after four episodes) because reliving what happened to Princess Diana in that sad chapter is not really something I’m gravitating to right now.
Meanwhile in book news, it seems the judges of the Booker Prize surprised a lot of people (me included) when they awarded Irish author Paul Lynch with this year’s Booker Prize for his novel Prophet Song. Oh my, I had to quickly look up what the novel was even about. I guess I was so sure Paul Murray would win for The Bee Sting since those who read it praised it so highly.
But no! It went to Prophet Song instead, which is a slow-burn dystopian novel about a woman’s struggle to protect her family as Ireland collapses into totalitarianism and war. The book only became available in North America today, Dec. 5, so perhaps it’s no wonder not many knew too much about it here. From what I’ve read, I think it has its backers and those who don’t think too much about it. But I’m putting the novel on my list for 2024. Its theme of a democracy falling into an authoritarian state seems timely and one we should all fear and work our hardest to prevent.
And now I’ll leave you with a review of the only book I finished lately.
Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper / Random House / 304 pages / 2023
I listened to this nonfiction book narrated by the author and I was taken by his enthusiasm for telling his story and his passion for birding. He covers a lot of ground and at first I didn’t even realize the book would be mainly a memoir of his life story … about his family, his coming out gay, his time at Harvard, his career working at Marvel and such. The book is also a bit of a travelogue about his far-off adventures (he’s traveled widely), and other parts include his birding and tips, as well as his Black activist work on civil rights. So the birding aspect is just one facet in a book with many.
People might remember Christian Cooper for the awful incident he had in Central Park in May 2020 with a white woman who crazily accused him of threatening her life (when he only asked her to put her dog on a leash since they were in a protected area of the park), but his book is so much more than that one incident. It gives us a great introduction to him as a thoughtful, bright person who seems terrific. Along the way, I liked his strength, courage … and insights about birding and civil rights these days.
People might have once thought that a black man in NYC being a passionate birder might be a total novelty, but Cooper says that is improving now. More African Americans and other races and ages are getting into birding and wildlife watching, and that’s good for everyone. Thanks to Christian Cooper and others like him. It’s certainly refreshing.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this book and if so, what did you think? How is your reading going lately?
I have “Prophet Song” on my TBR list and will probably get to it sometime in the new year. I’m a great admirer of Christian Cooper as an important ambassador for birding but I probably won’t read his book. I seldom read memoirs. Fiction is my game.
Hi Dorothy, Yeah Christian Cooper has been good for birding. I think he even has a show now on National Geographic channel … I’d like to see if I can find that to watch an episode. I didn’t realize his book would be more of a memoir than a birders guide book. But still pleased to have gotten to it.
I’ll have to get on the wait list for Prophet Song too. Have a great week!
The Booker certainly surprised me. My money was on The Bee Sting. I’m not sure I’ll be reading the winner. This memoir sounds endearing—birding, traveling, civil rights activism… there’s lots to like. My reading has slowed down to a crawl; I have been on the same one since Nov 23, and before that I managed only one book in November, the challenging This Other Eden. I haven’t reviewed it yet.
I hope you recover quickly and completely. Keep up with the therapy and icing and you’ll soon get into the holiday spirit. Happy reading!
Thanks Carmen. I’m hoping for a speedy recovery – I’m already walking unassisted around the house one week after the surgery. Woo woo.
But my reading is also at a crawl, so I can relate. I have a few short books to read yet my concentration has been far away lately. I hope you can get back your reading mojo! It’ll come – do not despair. Just read what interests you.
I see Prophet Song had mixed reviews… though I’ll likely eventually get to it — being dystopian. We will see. Hope you have a good week. Next week I’ll turn up the Christmas spirit. **
I read a review about its overindulgent prose, while some well known authors raved about it. Guess I might read it if you get to it and like it. I’m reading The End of Drum-Time, which I think you read because I saw your review on GR and I didn’t remember reading about on this blog.
Hi Carmen, yeah I read that article you sent me on GR about Prophet Song and those saying it’s wordy and such. So I’ll be forewarned about its overindulgent prose LoL. And I’m not good with prose like that. It makes things soupy or a bit fake but we will see. I probably wont touch it for a couple months.
I read Drum Time for PW so I don’t get to blog about it unfortunately. I liked some aspects of it and then other parts not so much. I found it a bit uneven. But I liked the world it conjures of the North & the Laps and reindeer etc.
I am glad to hear that all is going well with your knew replacement. It sounds very daunting to me, I guess anything related to a hospital stay scares me.
I enjoyed your review of Better Living through Birding, and now I will have to read it, sometime in 2024. I like birds but have never been a birder, but I have read books about birding and enjoy them. Plus, since this is really more than that and tells about other aspects of his life, that sounds really good too. I don’t think I ever heard about the book until I read an earlier post on your blog.
TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery
Hi Tracy, thanks for stopping by. Yeah the surgery and being in the hospital were very scary to me as well. I’m glad to have that part over with.
And I’m trying to remember where I first heard about Christian Cooper’s birding/memoir book … I think it was when the LA Times Book section picked it in August for their author & book discussion YouTube chat. So I decided to check it out. Hope you have a great week.
Happy to hear your surgery went well and your recovery is coming along. Ice will help as will those exercises!
I am almost done with Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano and it’s very engaging. Had not heard of the Prophet Song.
The Lessons in Chemistry is one I would like to get as soon as our library has it on DVD, does it follow the book well?
Hi Tina, So far I think the Lessons in Chemistry show follows the novel closely but others say it will diverge soon, hmm. I think you might like it.
I also was looking to get to Ann Napolitano’s book this month … so you read my mind for what to read. I’m glad you are liking it! I also hope to squeeze in In Memorium by Alice Winn. Those are two novels I think that might help me decide my best books of the year list. Hmm.
We will see how much reading I can do this month. Hope you are well. Cheers.
So glad the surgery went well and is behind you – now comes the hard work of rehab! When my daughter had ACL surgery, she an icing contraption that consisted of a small cooler with tubes to a knee wrap that pumped ice cold water. I’m sure they have improved over the past decade, but that one made the rounds to post-knee surgery family and friends. Everyone said following the exercise/PT instructions was key, too.
The Booker was a big surprise! Like everyone else, I was expecting The Bee Sting to win. Better Living Through Birding is already on my list, but I’ll switch it over to the audio list. I love it when author’s narrate their own work.
Beautiful photo! Good luck with the recovery.
Thanks JoAnn. Funny … but I am using the same kind of icing contraption, LOL! I’m attached to a cooler with straps around my knee area. It seems to help. I need to keep doing the PT but the knee feels pretty tight to bend so far. I will keep trying.
I think you will enjoy Cooper’s audio of his birding book. But my, I didn’t realize it would be his full life story. Still he’s a Harvard grad and has plenty to say.
And the Booker always tries to be a surprise right? Picking something out in left field. But I think I will add it to my list. Happy holiday season to you!
Glad your knee surgery went so well! And that Christian Cooper memoir sounds so interesting. Another one for my TBR list! I’m hoping to read more nonfiction next year. So fingers crossed I’ll get to this one sooner rather than later. 😀
Hi Lark. thanks trying to manage the holidays on one leg. lol. but the recovery is going well so far.
I try to read about 10 nonfiction a year …. but my heart is with fiction. I think you’re mostly a fiction buff as well. Yay! Have a great weekend.
Hi Susan, I am glad to hear your knee surgery is over and went well. I have heard people say about this kind of surgery that after they recover they are so glad they had it done. Hope you feel better soon.
Everyone seems to be publishing dystopian books right now. It’s not my favorite genre but about two years ago I read a very well done science fiction classic in this field Earth Abides by George Stewart published in the 1940’s. So powerful.
Must check out the Christian Cooper book. He’s had a fascinating life and maybe he can give us tips about how to get into birding and why he loves it so because it sounds like a great way to get out in nature.
Thanks Kathy, I’m trying to stay positive about the surgery and see if it will pan out well. It might be a long road back… but at least I’ve started.
Glad you mention the Earth Abides book. I have not heard of it but I plan to see if the library has it. It might be a good one too for my husband.
And I think Cooper thinks birding can help our perceptions about the world and get us into nature. He has some pretty easy tips about it though I’m not sure I knew many of the birds he was talking about and there were no photos. Hmm.
Wishing you a happy holiday season!
It sounds like that Booker Prize winner has something to say to us here in America. I hope you will get a chance to read it and share your thoughts about it next year.
Our naturalist group is making a strong effort to reach out to people who have not, in the past, traditionally joined our organization, especially young people and people of color. I’d like to read this man’s story and see how he came to be a birder.
I do hope your recovery from surgery goes well.
Thanks Deb. I think I’ll try to grin & bear it — this knee recovery — as best as possible. Still quite a bit of pain.
Great to hear about your naturalist group trying to reach out to newcomers. I think it can make a world of difference. And Cooper is a great advocate.
I read that the Booker winner was inspired to write about his dystopian tale of Ireland based in part on the implosion of Syria … hmm which is food for thought but it also seems like it has warnings for the U.S. in 2024. I hope to get to it.
Have a great holiday season!
Good luck with a continuing quick recovery, and with not being too bored by the necessary rehab exercises. I’ll be interested when you and others start reviewing this year’s Booker winner. With a few exceptions, I’ve usually been disappointed in the Booker list, and so I don’t really see them as reading I want to do.
I was interested in the story of Cooper’s encounter with the miserable, self-entitled person who falsely accused him. I thought he was subsequently very generous about not having her prosecuted. I hope that will be a lesson for others who try to leverage racism for their selfish purposes. Your description of his memoir is very tempting: maybe I’ll read it too.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks Mae. I agree it was admirable how Cooper did not try to prosecute his park accuser. He realized, it seems, he made his point and that the park incident made an impact with others. She lost her job by her actions … and should have directly apologized to him after the incident.
I’m already bored with the knee exercises argh. I’ll try to carry on doing.
I heard the Booker winner is a bit of a wordy novel … I’ll see what I think of it in 2024. Cheers. Happy holiday season!
Glad to hear you’re back on your feet, literally. Enjoy decorating and the rest of the holiday season.
Thanks Harvee. I appreciate it. I’m sort of on my feet, ha. Right now I’m on the couch with the ice machine on my knee. But I’ve been making progress with walking around. Hope your holidays are nice too!
I’ll be waiting on Prophet Song for a good while, but the one thing that makes me kind of doubt my reaction to it is the bunch of comments I’ve seen elsewhere about holes and inconsistency in its plotting. Others acknowledge the same “holes,” however and say that it really didn’t distract them all that much or subtract from their enjoyment. Guess we’ll see.
I was living in London (Richmond) when Diana died so tragically, and I have vivid memories still of how intense and emotional an experience that was for even an outsider like me. I honestly don’t think I could watch those episodes of The Crown either.
Glad to hear that the surgery went so well. Keep working at it now, and you’ll be better than ever.
Thanks Sam. I’ve gone bionic so I hope the knee will eventually be better than normal. Lol.
I’ve also seen mixed things about Prophet Song so not sure what to expect. But I probably won’t get to it for a long while as I’m #200+ on the library list. You might get to it sooner. Perhaps The Bee Sting was robbed a bit eh?
How long did you live in Richmond, London for? That must have been nice. I don’t think I need to revisit the loss of Diana either, too much tragedy.
Enjoy your week.
Ack! I am so far behind in my blog visiting!
You are watching shows that I have seen and enjoyed! I will watch the final season of the Crown (I have a thing where I need to watch shows to the end). Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Helen, you are busy in SB! See what you think of the Crown’s final season. The first four episodes in November were a bit tough … poor Diana. Gosh I still wish her accident could be changed. Take it all back what happened.
Enjoy your weekend too.
I hope your healing is going well! I would like to watch The Diplomate since I love Keri Russell and Rufus Sewel. The Prophet Song does sound like a relevant topic to our reality even with it being fiction! I do remember that incident in the park, but didn’t remember the man’s name. Sounds like a great read.
Hi Rachel, I need to get back to more episodes of The Diplomat … Keri Russell is pretty awesome (especially in The Americans) … but so far I’ve seen only 1 or 2 episodes of The Diplomat. The plot seems a bit complicated but I will get back to it to understand better.
I hope The Prophet Song doesn’t come true in the U.S. Since the novel won the Booker, I think I’m like #241 on the library wait list. Lol. But it’ll come.
Happy Holidays to you!
Glad to hear your knee surgery went well, I hope your way to full recovery will be speedy. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised by The Prophet Song winning the Booker Prize. It seems to have the kind of topical political message, which the Booker tends to like. Having said that, I haven’t read it and probably won’t. Beautiful sunset photo!
Thanks Stargazer, the knee is holding up so far. And we often get good sunsets here. I’ve taken too many pics of them on my phone.
I often seem to be a fool for dystopian novels and I pick them up — so I’ll likely try The Prophet Song. I hadn’t even looked at the book before the Prize was announced. I was so sure it’d be The Bee Sting. Ha. wrong. You are a bit more astute about the Booker. Wishing you happy holidays!
Susan I’m so sorry I’m just now catching up but I hope your recovery from your surgery is going really well! I always love hearing about the Women’s Prize, Booker prize, etc. and one of these days I tell myself I will read the books from the long (or at least the short) list but maybe when I’m retired! haha.. Anyway hope you are taking care and enjoying the holiday season!
Oh no problem Iliana, thanks. I’m pleased so far how the surgery went and that I’ve been able to cope and improve a little. I actually expected it to be much worse so I’m happy not to be in pain and to be on my way to a recovery. I’m now post-op three weeks and will be in a physio group starting in January, fingers crossed. The Booker announcement surprised me but I hope to check out the winner in 2024. Cheers. Happy Holidays.