The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London | 
My May pick for #12Booksin2024. This was such a great look at the Tower of London Ravens and their care.
pickThis was a great listen. Skaife takes us through his life with the ravens at the Tower of London. You can tell how much he cares for and admires the birds. I learned quite a bit about not just the history of the ravens but of ravens as a species.
This was my April #doublespin
so-soLet's get the uncomfortable truths out of the way. This man had a military career including being a British soldier in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. While his love and care for the ravens is clear, they are captive to the tower as a direct result of his actions: trimmed flight feathers being a part of the 'tradition'. These are realities I can't personally support.
1/?
Merlina makes her own fun! ☺️
Adding that one to the vocabulary. 🏙️
Go Munin! 🐦⬛🕷️
'Can you imagine what it would be like to be able to take off and swoop and glide wherever you wanted, spiraling in the sky without a care in the world, watching the earth below shrink into insignificance, entirely in control of your own destiny? It is one of the great sadnesses of my life that I will never know what it's like to fly.'
If you are curious about what it would be like to be the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London, Christopher Skaife tells you all about it from first-hand experience. Lots of photos, too! #LetterR #alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Fun and fascinating memoir by Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, Ravenmaster at Her Majesty‘s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London.
#Palace #SavvySettings
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
pickSuper fun book by and about the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London. I learned about this one from Effin Birds on IG and got the audiobook when I found out it was read by the author. I periodically think it would be cool to keep a hawk or a raven and was rearranging furniture and thinking just this when I heard Chris Skaife say how if you keep a corvid, there will be chaos every time you move anything in your house. So, maybe a hawk instead.
Here you go @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks - all my 5 🌟 reads of the year so far! Have tagged my favourite favourite of them all - I've even gifted it to a friend (not on Litsy).
pickThis book is fantastic. I listened to the audiobook which included some raven sounds every so often. The author is funny, personable, knowledgeable, and a great story teller. It‘s not exactly chronological, but the way he tells it made the winding path not so much of a problem for me. Enjoyable information about ravens, his life as a British soldier, and the Tower of London and its history. Highly recommend if you like British culture and history.
I‘m so sad to hear of the disappearance and presumed death of raven Merlina. The ravens fascinated me when I visited the Tower of London in 2018 and I highly recommend the tagged book, written by the current Ravenmaster, Chris Skaife.
pickIf you have ever been to the Tower of London, read this book. If you are interested in the corvids: crows, raven, jays, magpies, read this book. If you are an Anglophile, read this book. Written by the man who is currently the Ravenmaster at the Tower, it is part history and part memoir, and all interesting. Short but packed with info. Made me want to visit London again. Five stars.
Today is the first time I‘ve set foot in my local library since March, and I just about cried y‘all. #thesehappymasks
pickAn utterly delightful memoir by the current Ravenmaster at The Tower of London. Skaife shares his journey to becoming the Ravenmaster, glimpses of day-to-day life with the ravens, and the legends and literary connections behind the ravens. I was entranced and completely taken into another world.
pickI loved this on audio. Read by the author, it felt like a conversation in a pub that you don‘t want to end with someone you never thought you would find so interesting. Skaiefe is the Yeoman Warder who oversees the care of the ravens at the Tower of London and he tells about their upkeep, personalities, and how he came to be the Ravenmaster. I wish I had read this book before I visited the Tower but it has certainly made me excited to go again.
pickEnjoyable book by a serving Yeomen Warder, current Ravenmaster of the Tower of London and a hell of a story teller. Part biography, part history of the tower and the birds association with it, part guide to the care of Ravens, part rumination on life lessons learnt from his care of the birds. A book which leaves you wanting to buy the author a few pints so that he can tell you more stories from his life and experiences.
pickThis book made me laugh and cry. It was informative and very much like sitting down and listening to a man talk about what he loves, with some old or odd stories tossed in for measure.
Never ever underestimate the ravens.
Books read February 2020
Kicking off this snowy, wet, long weekend in the best way. Learning more about the tower ravens with my little cuddle cat. I actually suggested naming her Raven, but was shot down by my other half. 🤷🏻♀️ #lennox #catsoflitsy
While visiting London in the fall, we spent half a day at the Tower of London and I picked up this book from the Raven Store. I‘ve always been fascinated by birds, ravens and crows in particular. The ravens are my favorite (or should I say favourite?) part of visiting the tower. I could watch them for hours. This book is fantastic so far! Highly recommend it for anyone interested in ravens or tower life. The ravenmaster tells a great tale.
#chillingphotochallenge #raven
There are ravens living in the Tower of London that, if they leave, will prophecy the end of the English monarchy and Britain.
#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon @Clwojick 1 point (40 total)
#chillingphotochallenge @Clwojick #Raven makes me think of the ravens at the Tower of London. It‘s said that if they ever leave then England will fall.
Completely charming. I was only overseas during the student trip I took when I was 17 but now I want to see the Tower again.
pickI saw the ravens of the Tower of London last year, so this book was very fun (I ❤️ an “I‘ve been there!” book). I appreciated the obvious affection Christopher Skaife has towards the Tower ravens, and the humaneness he tries to show them. There is clearly a measure of captivity, but Skaife‘s up front about it while conveying that he believes the birds allow him to care for them, and that he owes more to them than they to him. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
There are no simply words for how inexplicably stupid human beings are.
pick(Disclaimer: I listened to Audio) The legend of the ravens at the Tower of London goes back centuries, and this book sheds light on the history and modern day life of the ravens and those who take care of them, as told by the current Ravenmaster. While I am sure the book is splendid (probably has pictures, too), the audio is performed by the author, adding his British accent to the story in a way that written text never can. A quick, fun read.
Beyoncé in the background and ravens in the front? Excited to finally start this one. Nonfiction. This guy does something with ravens at the Tower of London.
#libraryhaul what should I read first
pickA fascinating look at the ravens who live at the Tower of London, and the man who is primarily responsible for their welfare. Now I want to read more about birds and go back to the Tower for a tour! (We did the self-guided option when I went last time.)
pickThis is fun to pick up if you‘ve been to the Tower of London especially, but even if you were just curious. Went in April ‘18 and got the tour from ‘Shady‘ who gets a mention in these pages. I‘m SUPER jealous of the beefeaters and their families who get to live here (even with the odd creepy ghost)!
pick#remindsyouofyourhappyplace
I wanted to read this before my second trip to England next month, but I wish it had been published before my visit to The Tower of London last year.
It is a fascinating memoir of the Ravenmaster of the ToL. I never thought I would care about a bunch of birds but I fell in love with them and I was able to determine that the raven that I had an up close encounter with during my visit is Jubilee! #booked2019
Still trying to beat this 2019 winter book lull.
Starting this audiobook tonight. Fingers crossed!
#memoir #audiobook
The Tower ravens are big, unpredictable #creatures, with a powerful bite, who roam freely about the Tower and who have the ability to fly off at any moment if they so desire. #QuotsyJan19
pickRumor has it that if a raven from the Tower should ever leave, the city of London will fall. Everything you wanted to know about the diet, social structure, grooming, legend, history, health, and pecking order of corvids as well as the answer to another burning question: how does one become a Ravenmaster? The book strikes a good balance of being personable, candid, conversational, and fascinating. Ravens - who knew?
Like his modern approach to keeping the ravens at the Tower of London. His approach sounds like a labor of love. ❤️ Learning a lot about birds and ravens. Good book so far!
pickA cute book relating anecdotes from the Ravenmaster and legends regarding the Tower of London and the resident ravens. It was like a 6 hour audiotour.
pickThe Tower of London is such a fascinating historic site. This short book was an interesting look at the work of protecting the ravens and life at the Tower. #nonfiction2018
