Interesting book with short informative essays. Excellent pictures. If you love birds, this would be a great addition to your library.

a lot of beautiful pictures of birds, and would make a great coffee table book. Expected a bit more images though, but they are artistically done. Would recommend as a simple book to page through.

Roost Books is one of my favorite publishers, their offerings always beautifully written and produced. So I was thrilled to receive an ARC for CLOSE TO BIRDS, which is equally stunning. The photos are among the most gorgeous nature shots I have ever seen, with insightful essays on these magical creatures and their lives. Highly highly recommended!

Pub Date 22 Oct 2019.

Thanks to the authors, Roost Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#CloseToBirds #NetGalley

I love this book! It is filled with information and gorgeous
bird photos! I think it would make a wonderful coffee-table
book!

Thank you so much, NetGalley for giving me an early copy of
this book to review!

These Swedish authors and photographers have produced a beautiful book that would be a great fit for any coffee table.  It is filled with beautiful photos of birds and some basic information on flight, migration and a bit about some of the different species contained within.  "Why birds?  The photographs in this book give one obvious answer:  birds are beautiful."

Among the most unique and gorgeous bird photography that I have encountered.

The way the birds are captured on film in this book is remarkable. Artistically speaking, the photos (and the birds, of course!) are beautiful. The level of visual detail is enhanced by the stark white backgrounds, and the photographer did well at capturing each bird’s individual personality.

But beautiful as it may be, this was more than just a nature photography book. Though the text is relatively minimal to keep the reader’s focus primarily on the images, it is also an important component of the book. Succinctly yet cleverly written, the texts takes on an informed but slightly wry tone, which is exactly how I would imagine birds themselves would write their story if they were so inclined.

And the bonobo story in the opening pages of the book has been keeping a smile on my face since I opened the book.

A definite must for all bird and nature lovers.

Genuinely lovely book with stunning photography that I imagine will look downright glorious in a physical copy. Close to Birds covers a wide variety of species as one would expect, but perhaps what makes this stand out from other bird guides is how the information is delivered anecdotally, and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversational style of the book.

Would have maybe liked to have seen more types of birds within the pages but it's a small quibble.

Highly recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and Roost Books for the ARC.

This is a gorgeous book. The photographs of the birds are delightful and full of detail, and they exude a miraculous sense of life. The text is very anecdotal, quoting multiple bird lovers' personal impressions and experiences with certain birds who regularly visit Northern Europe. Plenty of guidebooks exist to identify birds but this book is designed to awaken an interest in these fabulous creatures in anyone who even just casually peruses its contents but also enchant hard-core bird lovers.

Goodreads Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

Containing brief mini-essays about the birds and a unique aspect of their lives, supplemented with gorgeous close-ups on the birds, this was a fun book to dip in and out of. The authors wanted to focus on the beauty and unique qualities of birds, regardless of how commonplace or "dull" they might be considered, and they succeeded in positively portraying all the birds. The only reason I'm giving this a lower rating is because I wish some of the essays had been a bit more in-depth, and that all the birds photographed had essays accompanying them.

A coffee table book for certain, due to the gorgeous (sometimes silly) photos of the birds, but also worthy of a spot on the birding shelf for the fun facts contained within the essays. The only thing that felt missing was a bibliography (as opposed to the works cited list) at the end to steer readers to more in-depth works about the birds.

This would be a lovely gift book for the birder and/or photographer!

I absolutely love the bird shots! They are just so gorgeous and I know our library birders will adore this one. I've added a couple copies to my purchase list already. Thank you so much!

I received this arc from Netgalley for an honest review. As a birdwatcher and lover of birds I was thrilled to receive this book. Included are great photographs and information about specific birds. I disliked the stark white backgrounds for the birds and I’m guessing the authors are English as most of those birds aren’t common in the US.

WoW.........WoW.......Close to Birds BY Mats Ottosson and Asa Ottosson is just an amazing bird book with beautiful close up photo's of our birds we all love to watch and listen to.
The detail of all of these photo's of these birds just take your breath away. I just loved it.

It would be a great Christmas present for someone special or your dad on Fathers day. This book would look great on your coffee table as a show piece and when its a dull rainy windy day, you can sit and look through this wonderful book with a coffee or a cup of tea or even something stronger and see if you can spot any of these birds etc.

Big 5 Fat Stars from me.........I know my dad would love this book and be a great Christmas Present for him.

Big Thank you to Netgalley for letting me review this book and leave a review.

Just beautiful throughout this book is. I loved it.

I've been craving non-fiction recently so I had to request this book all about birds from Netgalley and I was accepted for an e-arc. The book focuses on various birds including essays, thoughts and facts about each bird along with detailed photographs of the birds. Let's start with the main negative and it might be minor to some but the photographs are just 'plain' featuring the bird and a white background...I personally think it would have been much more interesting to photograph the bird in it's natural environment to give more context. Apart from that negative, I think it's a great and easy to read book for those who want to learn more about birds. I did learn more and I think I will definitely return to this e-arc in the future as a reference book. I'd definitely recommend it but I think it could have been more engaging and far more visually appealing than it was!

This isn't your standard bird guide book, but rather a celebration of birds. The photos throughout are beautifully shot, showing details well and many are action shots which adds to their interest. I loved reading through and learning about different birds, some of which I see often though didn't previously know much about. This definitely makes me look at birds differently. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in nature.

Thank you to Roost Books and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Having recently begun taking the time to notice the myriad moments of beauty offered by nature in the form of birds, I was thrilled to discover Ottosson’s Close to Birds. This book is not a technical description of rarely seen birds for the lifelong birder, but rather a celebration of birds for people like me-those who are finally learning to stop focusing solely on themselves long enough to begin to appreciate the beauty that surrounds them.
The photos in the book are playful and unique, often depicting the birds mid-step or in the process of landing or flying. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the section on pheasants. This especially made me smile in its comparison of the sound of a pheasant to a poorly-running old Volvo. Living near a pheasant hunting field I identified with the author’s humorous reflection on this beautiful species. This book is clearly written from a European setting, and as a US resident, I’d love to see a follow up book with common US birds, such as bluebirds, cardinals, blue jays, robins, etc.
Thank you for a book that makes me smile!

The information within the pages is sound and well written, but it might take a few run through to work that out.
Mainly because the photos will take your breath, and heart, away. I have never seen such stunning photos of such majestic birds. It’s perfect for any animal lover, and could even turn an apathetic person.