I picked up Effin Birds at the library (although the Literate Plover said I wouldn't find it there) to add some humor into my life. I'm not usually one for this much vulgarity, but if you don't take it too seriously, the notes underneath the headlines are very funny. I love the artwork and found it delightful that some of it quite unexpectedly was beautifully rendered in color. I do think this probably plays better on social media rather than reading from front to back. Maybe leave it on the table to pick up for a chuckle now and then. ( )

A coworker waved this at me as it was passing through on its way to a library patron, so I ordered a copy for myself. Paging through it for a few seconds and landing on random pages made me laugh more than reading it cover to cover, but it was entertaining enough and a quick read.
The artwork, taken from Birds of America and History of British Birds, is rather pretty, especially the color artwork, a funny contrast to the sweary captions and horrible (imaginary) personalities of the birds. I liked the Literate Plover, whose chirps are interpreted as “Go to the fucking library,” because the description says, “Let’s be real: there’s no way you found this book at the library,” (Ha!) and then encourages the reader to go to the library and “get some books that aren’t just a bunch of pictures of birds and swear words.”
It was possibly more fun for Reynolds to write than it is to read for 161 pages, but it will probably still make you giggle like a 12-year-old if you’re not completely offended by it. ( )

Soixante cartes postales de noms d'oiseaux... à offrir ( )

This is hilarious - if you've seen any of the art on Twitter or IG and found it funny, you should check out the book! The bird descriptions are great, I love the creativity of the foul language -or should I say fowl language 🤣- and I definitely definitely personally identify with a few descriptions. This is a great coffee table book and one that's worth flipping through any time you need a chuckle. ( )

Nature writing seems to be the in thing to be reading at the moment. Wander into your local bookshop and you will find lots of recently published books by people who have recently discovered the healing benefits of nature, or who are extolling the virtues of putting the screen down and looking at something else.

When you have ventured outside, it helps to have a guide to the things that you might see. These have always been popular, especially when it comes to identifying the LBJ’s (little brown jobs) that make up a large number of small brown passerine birds, many of which are notoriously difficult to distinguish, even for experts.

This though is a guide with a difference. It is filled with beautiful sketches that are so much like the art of Thomas Berwick, but rather than having details of regular birds, Reynolds has gathered details of birds like the Hipster Pelican, the Enervated Eagle and Buff Petrel, not forgetting the Snub Gull and the Fatalistic Falcon.

Astute Owls

As much as you don’t want an astute owl to be correct, the astute owl is correct

Habitat: Lurking nearby whenever you make a mistake

Identifying Characteristics: An unnerving sense of timing

As you might have guessed from the above, this is a humorous bird identification book. It gives a peek into the characteristics of these new birds and a fairly (ok, very) broadminded insight into what they might be thinking. I really liked the imaginative bird names and the thought he’d put into their habits and characters. The images are excellent too, in particular, the colour ones, they portray the bird and also show the aloof, contemptuous or angry look that the artist and author were aiming for. There is a lot of swearing in here, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea. ( )