Feather Brained by Bob Tarte

I reviewed Feather Brained by Bob Tarte at Goodreads and Amazon (the latter at the author's request) so I felt a little tapped out on reviewing the book after that first round. Sorry, Bob. I don't cut and paste. All three reviews are a shade different. Of course, I had to review it here for my permanent records, once I got over myself.

A door had burst open to reveal a secret world that had been hiding in plain sight. These birds were the mouthpieces for the seasons. They were what we had lost when we learned to speak. They were themselves and nothing more in the same way that we were ourselves and something less. Just by being, they made me happy. 

~p. 50

All of this new information about birds was a good news/bad news thing. The good news was that habitat, behavior, species migration dates, and thousand-mile detours all played major roles in birding, so that finding birds wasn't just a matter of blundering into them. The bad news was that habitat, behavior, species migration dates, and thousand-mile detours all played major roles in birding, and with so much to absorb, I was better off just hoping to blunder into birds. 

~p. 65

Feather Brained is a memoir that tells of author Bob Tarte's interest in birds, how it developed, and why it took him several attempts before he regularly began going on field trips to locate interesting birds while hunting for a rare bird (not a specific rare bird but any rare bird). It took me a long time to read the book because I kept stopping to Google various birds as I was reading about them. Fortunately, about halfway through the book, Bob informed me that he has a photo section dedicated to the birds he discusses in the book at his website. Here's the easy link:

Feather Brained photo section at Bob Tarte's website

Each link takes you to two chapters' worth of photos. Fortunately, what I'd already read was so vividly described that I had no trouble remembering what the chapters were about when I belatedly flipped through the photo sections.

I've read some of Bob Tarte's other books and loved them, so I was thrilled when Bob asked if I'd like to review Feather Brained. 

Feather Brained is lighthearted, informative, and filled with Bob's trademark humor. In Feather Brained, he admires the encyclopedic knowledge of birders while describing his own efforts to learn and making it sound like he's a complete disaster. I've been following Bob on Facebook for a while and I'm impressed with his knowledge of birds, so don't let him fool you.

The two things I loved most about Feather Brained were his growing understanding of animal life  (something I've mentioned in reviews of his other books) -- the surprising intelligence and memory of birds, for example, which were aided by his wife's agreement to help with bird rehabbing -- and his relationships with his wife, Linda, and his somewhat curmudgeonly friend, Bill (whom he refers to as "book character Bill Holm" on Facebook). I was well into adulthood before I got over my misunderstanding of animals as purely creatures of instinct, myself, so I always appreciate reading about Bob's learning experience, which bears some similarities to my own. I also absolutely adored what amounted to Bob and Linda's love story. And, Bill Holm is a hoot. While Bill is a little wary of the obsessive side of birding, Bob seems gobsmacked by birders' knowledge. He does, however, share some hilarious interactions with them, which are not always flattering but definitely will make you smile.

Recommended - Subdued by comparison with Bob's other books, humor-wise, but every bit as entertaining, Feather Brained made me appreciate the effort that goes into identifying birds. And, it made me feel better about never being quite sure what kind of hawk I'm looking at, if they don't have the obvious red tail. Whew! I feel so much better about that.

Scanning the frozen wastes with binocs I caught a ripple of brown and white on the ground. Gotta be a bunting, I decided. Switching to the scope, I twiddled with the focus knob to sharpen the view of a Snickers wrapper impaled on a twig.

~p. 106 

Ha! I guess that's similar to the hawks I've spotted that turned out, upon closer observation with the use of a 300mm camera lens, to be plastic bags snagged on a high branch. You might be surprised how often that happens.

Click through to read my reviews of past books by Bob Tarte:

Enslaved by Ducks
Kitty Cornered

I have not yet read Fowl Weather, even though I mentioned wanting to, when I reviewed Enslaved by Ducks. That's because it's partly about dealing with his mother's Alzheimer's and I was so stung by my mother's death that I couldn't bear to read about a mother in decline, for a long time. It was long enough ago, though, that it's no longer an issue. I really need to track down a copy of Fowl Weather.

Also of note, there is a set of discussion questions in the back of the book, and that's where Bob really let his sense of humor run loose. I closed the book laughing at the final question:

Bob says about his favorite bird, "No bird was a better bird than a bird I saw with Linda." Isn't he a prince? What is the extent of your injuries from swooning over this line? 

What a great way to end a book!


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Kitty Cornered by Bob Tarte

Title: Kitty Cornered: How Frannie and Five Other Incorrigible Cats Seized Control of Our House and Made It Their Home by Bob Tarte

Copyright: 2012

Published By: Algonquin Books

Length: 285 pp.

Reason for Reading: I am a cat fanatic and loved the author's first book.

Brief Summary: In the third memoir about his pets, Bob Tarte focuses on the cats that have invaded his home and heart. The Tartes have 6 cats, all of whom were rescued in some way. The author begins by describing a cat who charmed him more than most and then goes back to describe how each of the cats entered his family. Although they have many other pets, the birds take a backseat in this book. But, if you've read either of his other books, you'll appreciate the occasional references to them.

A side note: The author wrote to me and asked if I'd be willing to review this book. I generally try to avoid accepting books directly from authors, but I absolutely loved Enslaved by Ducks and the fact that the book is about cats would have probably been enough to sway me.

What I loved about Kitty Cornered:

I found myself relating to the author's joys and frustrations with cat ownership. The six cats are named Agnes, Frannie, Lucy, Maynard, Moobie and Tina. He talks about their individual personalities, how they interact with each other and how each cat became a part of the family plus loads of anecdotes about how the Tartes have had to alter their lives to fit cats into the equation. In the front of the book, the author has nicely provided a schematic of the main floor of his home that includes labels showing such things as the location of an inconveniently-placed litterbox, the chair that has been commandeered by one of the cats, the stairs where another routinely trips the author, etc.

There is also a "Cats of Characters" list. Haha. There's an example of the author's sense of humor, for you. Since there are so many cats and the house is almost a character in and of itself, both the floor plan and descriptions of the cats are very helpful. I routinely flipped back to remind myself which cat was which, although eventually you do get to know them as individuals and the cast reference is no longer necessary.

Kitty Cornered is heartwarming and lively. The author acknowledges the intelligence of cats and beautifully describes their individual personalities with affection and humor. Although he sometimes longs for them to behave just a little different, he respects their personalities. The story does jump backward in time after describing Frannie's arrival, but it's handled well. By the time you've gotten to know Frannie, you'll be eager to hear how Bob and his wife Linda ended up with so many cats in the first place.

Cat-owner notes:

Our cats have all been rescues. Miss Spooky came from the Humane Society; Sunshine, aka "Shiny", was a stray who was foisted on us by my eldest son's teacher; Fiona was fostered and displayed at a Petsmart (where we like to say she found and adopted us); and, Isabel was dumped outside our veterinary clinic and held for me by one of the vet techs, who knew I wanted a companion for Fiona.

Bob Tarte's cats came to him in similar fashion. One of them was rejected by his owner's boyfriend, which is exactly what happened to Fiona. She was found by a highway, fostered, adopted, unadopted because of a boyfriend, fostered again, and then adopted us. So, it's only natural that I found myself relating to Bob's stories and appreciating his deep compassion for the cats in his life.

What I disliked about Kitty Cornered:

I mentioned in my review of Enslaved by Ducks that the author's sense of humor occasionally got on my nerves. He's a pretty silly guy and writes very much like I used to write (my own sense of humor actually irritates me -- weird, but true). This time, I didn't ever feel like I needed to set the book aside to take a break from it, but I still did find his sense of humor a little overwhelming. That is a very minor complaint, though. The cat stories are too enjoyable to let such a little thing turn me off.

Another frustration -- something that has only become a frustration in recent years -- is the fact that the author's cats are indoor/outdoor pets. Spooky and Sunshine were both allowed outdoors because I was raised with cats that spent a great deal of their time outside. However, Shiny eventually decided the outdoor world was too frightening, while Miss Spooky insisted on outdoor time to the end of her days and was, in fact, injured several times. Spooky's injuries were enough to convince me that cats belong indoors. It didn't occur to me, as a younger pet owner, that cats can be perfectly happy indoors. Now, I'm rather opinionated about the need to keep cats indoors and dogs behind fences for the safety of both.

Update: The author has noted the fact that his cats are now kept indoors, in a comment to this post. Wahoo! I'm very excited about that. Having fallen a little bit in love with his kitties, I'm thrilled to know that they're in a safer place and have adjusted nicely. Thanks for the update, Bob!

Recommendation:

4/5 - Recommended especially to cat lovers, people who enjoy reading true tales about animals (pets or otherwise) and folks who like memoirs with a very light, entertaining writing style. Kitty Cornered will be released April 10, 2012.

I missed out on a great cat shot, today. Isabel and Fiona were curled up next to each other on my bed with Izzy's nose tucked under Fi's chin. Unfortunately, if the camera isn't handy there's no way I can capture them in any pose. The moment I rise they're awake and following me. Darn. Fiona at least satisfied my urge to snap by exploring the printer shelf. Good kitty.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.