'Wild Notes' by Mike Lubow

[yasr_overall_rating]

It's spring and it's slowly but surely getting warmer. So if you're looking for your next book to take to the beach or on a plane on vacation, Wild Notes is it. In the book, Mike Lubow, a writer, former ad exec and bird watcher, compiles notes he has written during his bird watching excursions. The book serves as a commentary, not just on bird watching but on how it does and doesn't parallel real life as well.

This book isn't exactly what I would call a page turner. It isn't something you can just sit down to and devour in a couple of hours. In a way, I don't think it was meant to be. The book is a series of vignettes about nature, which can be very still, slow and uneventful--something Lubow acknowledges. Reading simulates a walk in nature, which is appropriate considering Lubow was writing about his experiences walking, driving and simply existing in nature. Some of it is quiet and monotonous and doesn't seem to come to a productive end. Other parts of the book make interesting points that make you see life in a new way--kind of like seeing a rare bird or animal that makes you wonder about the majesty of the outdoors. Instead of attempting with every short note to draw unlikely parallels and connections between the wild and the real world, Lubow acknowledges in some places how different the two can be, suggesting that this separation is what makes both worlds beautiful.

I imagine that this book would be hugely fascinating to someone who enjoys bird watching or a similar hobby. Since I do not engage in bird watching or anything like it, I will admit that there were moments as I read where I found myself getting a bit bored and some of the vignettes did blur together for me. I also didn't completely get what the purpose was of Lubow not listing the vignettes in the order in which they occurred. But I ultimately understood and appreciated the picture Lubow was trying to paint. I learned a bit more about birds than I knew before and even though the book didn't exactly make me want to go out and buy a pair of binoculars, I definitely have a deepened respect for bird watching and the eye of a bird watcher. I believe Lubow was right in one of the early sections of his book when he said, "[B]ird watching is an interesting pursuit, even on days when it's not a rugged one."