2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas – revisited

I liked this book so much I wanted to re-read it – this time on paper. "2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas" is one of my favorite fictions, one of the best I have read. What did I like so much about this book? It’s about jazz: my favorite music; this is a jazz book, with music noodling throughout. It’s, in a way, cozy: you feel like you’re hanging out with friends at a house party, in a music club, at a restaurant, walking down the street. Its style, the time frame, shows normal people on a normal day intersecting in a way much more interesting than normal, funny and sad at the same time, and everything in between. The paperback edition has extra features, including Q&A with the author, and a playlist that will be the perfect accompaniment to this fun and delightful read.

Owls

Following my review of Scott Rashid's “The Great Horned Owl”, another book about these awesome birds. The species I know are here: Barn, Barred, and Great Horned (with a different sentiment than in the previous book), yet no Screech Owls. With all the biodiversity, even a sampling of 50 species can only cover so much. I am mostly familiar with birds of North America, so I get excited to learn of different species from other continents. Unlike most other guides, the birds in this little book are organized by habitat (woodland, tropical, wilderness, desert), not taxonomically or geographically.

The Great Horned Owl

As is said in the eloquent introduction to this book, the author’s hours and hours spent observing and rehabilitating these animals, combined with the presentation of his artwork, gives the reader an “in-depth” feel for what these birds are like. You can catch his excitement and sense of wonder. I too am amazed at how the owls camouflage with their surroundings, for example. I couldn’t really grasp the huge size of these birds until I saw the picture of a house finch next to a Great Horned Owl, who didn’t look like it cared at all that the other, smaller bird was there. As it turns out, they will eat pretty much anything their size or smaller. “The Great Horned Owl” by Scott Rashid is a great natural history of a fascinating and beautiful bird species.

The Underground Girls of Kabul

I had wanted to read this book for a while, and I am so glad I finally did. “The Underground Girls of Kabul” is so much more than what I expected – maybe I didn’t even know what to expect. Two of my biggest impressions, overall are 1) this is excellent journalism, and very nice and refreshing to read something so unbiased, yet personal  at the same time, and 2) this is a really interesting, mind-opening story.