In Christian Cooper's memoir, Better Living Through Birding--longlisted for the Carnegie Medal--he shares his lifelong passion for birds, including childhood Sunday morning bird walks on Long Island, and his decades of birding in New York City's Central Park. He also describes his experience as a queer Black man: his gradual acceptance of his own identity, his years at Harvard, and his history of activism. (Fellow nerds will especially enjoy Cooper's memories of his time at Marvel Comics, where he helped introduce several groundbreaking gay characters.)
With a keen eye for detail, Cooper presents to readers the birds of Central Park and some of his fellow birding humans, plus a sprinkling of birding tips for novices and what Cooper dubs "the Pleasures of Birding": the joy of sighting an unusual species, the satisfaction of puzzling out a bird's identification, the peace of being out in nature. Cooper skillfully draws together a range of topics and fits them together under the umbrella of birding, savoring nature, and paying attention. Part memoir, part love letter to birding, Better Living Through Birding is a compelling journey in the hands of a capable guide. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams