The Secret Life of the Owl

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

so-so

Meh.

Swathes of factoids that might be gleaned from Wikipedia, padded out with a chunk of the Middle English poem "The Owl and the Nightingale", and with a couple of nods to "intelligent design" and creationism, I was underwhelmed and won't be bothering with anything else by this author. 2.5⭐

Lovely owl sketches by Beci Kelly, though.

Bookwomble While focused on one owl species rather than covering the range of species in Lewis-Stemple's book, I found the tagged work by Coulthard far more interesting and engaging.

The Book of the Barn Owl

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Bookwomble

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

"... evolved (or designed) ..."
Ok, just UNtagged this book as science ???
I'll keep it as non-fiction for now, but I'll be watching like a hawk! ?

Suet624 Wow. 2y

Aimeesue Yikes. He could‘ve avoided that whole problem by rewording the sentence. Why would you not just say « Each species blends into the environment in which it lives? (edited) 2y

SamAnne Ugh. . 2y

Bookwomble @Aimeesue I don't know the writer, but I did wonder if perhaps it's a publisher's sop to pacify the "intelligent design" market. 2y

Aimeesue @Bookwomble Oh, I‘d bet. Otherwise you‘d take it out. Sad what things have come to if we‘re pandering in "science" based books. 2y

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Bookwomble

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

Found a lovely bookshop in Kirkcudbright today, Gallovidia Books, and came away these 😌
I thought I was going to read Maus next, as I haven't read it yet and this feels like a big omission, but I've read some heavy books recently, so I'm going to read about nature's silent killers - I mean nature's cute, fluffy feather-balls - instead 🦉😊

psalva I haven‘t listened to Billy Bragg in a while. That looks like a nice volume 2y

Bookwomble @psalva He's on regular rotation with me 😊 It is a nice book, as his lyrics by themselves are usually meaningful and articulate, and this has an introduction and notes by Billy himself, which adds to those qualities. 2y

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kaysworld1

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

pick

First book down for the #NovelNovember #Readathon
Short 2 hour audio book while studying.

Thank you @Andrew65 😊

Andrew65 Brilliant 👏👏👏 2y

AllDebooks Love owls and nature, stacked 2y

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Debblyliz

The Secret Life of the Owl | John Lewis-Stempel

pick

A short but gorgeous book for anyone interested in owls but with very limited knowledge. The book first details the various owls before considering superstitions and rituals which surround the owl.

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