Enjoyable quick read. I might be partial since I can relate to the story and interest in birding but the stories were enjoyable and the writers personal journey was a joy to learn about.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. As a bird watcher, this title caught my attention, and liked how the story went back and forth between her birding stories and her life stories.

I enjoyed the parts of this audiobook that I listened to, but unfortunately, I did not get through the whole thing.

There's some interesting stuff in here but ultimately I didn't really feel like the memoir followed a path. Everything felt disconnected. I was worried this would have too much about birding but, in the end, I felt myself wanting more about the hobby. I was left wondering what the purpose of the memoir was. Who is this for? Ultimately, not my cup of tea. It's inarguably beautifully written, just not for me.

As an unintentional birder myself, I really enjoyed this account of how one woman discovered the joys of observing and identifying birds in their natural habitats. The essays show how far she went as she discovered what kind of birder she wanted to be.

Nan McNamara brought the audiobook to life and I think that her narration made the story more lively.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and it has gotten me back into birdwatching again after a bit of a hiatus because of small kids at home. It was interesting to hear of someone who came to this hobby from a background I wouldn't have expected- non scientist with an academic background in the arts. Something else that set this book apart from other birding books is that she was a rank beginner and not a lister which was refreshing. Many other of these type of books really emphasize the listing aspect of birding and it all sounds the same after a while. I also really enjoyed hearing about her immigrant background and showed how such a hobby was quite unlikely for her. The narrator did a fine job and it was nice hearing the Russian words pronounced.

This is a sweet memoir. My favorite aspects were the hilarious descriptions of birding paraphernalia and bird-themed clothing, and the heartfelt story of how the author lost a close friend in the birding community.

The aspects of the book that I didn’t like as much included the constant self-doubt the author wrote of, particularly juxtaposed with not-so-subtle brags about the numerous talents the author possesses (speaks several languages fluently, plays piano, etc etc). It grew tiresome. I also felt the narrative dragged along in parts. I found myself wanting it to move along, many times, and since I listened to the audio version, that was not really an option unless I wanted to skip whole chapters.

In conclusion, this is a nice memoir, though I think I learned a lot more about birders than I did about birds.

Thank you #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for the ARC!

There are birders and there are the rest of us. Julia Zarankin fits into the second slot. But that’s okay. This is her memoir and she states in the title that she is an “unintentional birder.” So if you’re looking for a book about a true, blue, birder, this is not for you. But if you’re looking for a book about someone having a desire to become a birder and working hard at it, have a go at this one and you won’t be disappointed.

I really like that subgenre where a person takes up a somewhat unusual hobby to deal with a traumatic life event-- "H is for Hawk," "The Way Through the Woods," "Running Home," etc--so I was interested to see what Julia Zarankin's "Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder" would bring to that niche book category. In this particular case, however, the traumatic event (a divorce after a short-lived early marriage that made Zarankin question whether a later relationship would last) didn't fully resonate with me as her primary impetus for birdwatching. The early balance of the book, moreover, tilted a little too heavily toward autobiography for my tastes, but I'm happy to say that the balance swings more toward birdwatching in roughly the second half of the book, which I consequently found much more interesting and informative. I do wish Zarankin could have resisted the temptation to pepper the book with alliteration, as well as to call hairstyles "coiffures" and refer to herself as an "epistolophiliac"--a writing style that is not particularly conducive to the audiobook format, which is what I listened to--because when she manages to strip away what she might refer to as her "predilection for punchy prose," her writing can be very moving, particularly in a section about a snowy owl trip with a woman named Bronwyn. This is just a personal preference, however, and for readers who are considering taking up birding, "Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder" might provide just the push they need.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for providing an ARC of this audiobook in return for my honest review.

I don't care for memoirs that aren't narrated by the author. If I'd noticed that, I wouldn't have requested this one. With that being said, the narrator did a decent job. I'll just never know if she read it as the author intends, which bugs me.

Overall this is an enjoyable memoir that intertwines personal anecdotes from the author's life with ones from her birding observations. I'm an amateur birder so that appealed to me and I could understand where she was coming from. The writing is sharp and witty. I appreciate how open she is about finding joy in the small moments of life.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I chose to listen to this audiobook release of Julia Zarankin’s Field Notes of an Unintentional Birder. The narrator, Nan McNamara sounded like she enjoyed the book as much as I did. At times you could hear the amusement in her voice as our intrepid rookie birder Julia discovers the unique world of bird identification and bird watching enthusiasts.

Zarankin offers many life lessons as she explores the world of birds and their followers.
I liked the way she draws parallels between bird behaviour and human behavior like the need for migration which lays deep in a bird’s genetic makeup versus forced human migration as experienced by the author's family with their Russian Jewish background. Those moments which really made you think about life are balanced with humourous moments of a rookie birder learning the ropes from hard core devotees in the birding world.

Nemesis birds, banding stations, travels to parks all over the province, the continent, the world to add elusive sightings to lists, birdathons, memorable birders and helpful guides to help the least observant fans among us. I had no idea how many types of warblers pass through my region each May, my part of the world’s spring migration pathway.

An entertaining audiobook and well worth a listen if you are looking for a new hobby and or obsession.

Audiobook file received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

Julia's story is more than just a birders. The story of birding and birds, women into her life and narrative, was thoughtful and informative. I'm going to need a good pair of binocular after this.

This was such a sweet read. As an amateur bird watcher (from my office window, thanks to working from home), I found the bird aspects of this fascinating. Zarankin's life stories and anecdotes mixed in made it all the more delightful.

I was attracted to this book because it insinuated itself as a whimsical story about discovering birding and falling in love with it. In actuality, it's more about the author's crippling feelings of inadequacy about everything she attempts, even though she is evidently a good writer, is really good with languages, has a great analytical mind and can take complicated notes about bird data. Instead, she chooses to focus on every single thing she can't master and when she finally settles on birding after a couple of false starts, she makes it into a competition she has to win against people who are blissfully unaware of this fact. Zarankin seems to be perfectly aware of the ridiculousness of her constant need for external validation, and I'm just glad she has her husband by her side.

There's some birding in this book, but most of it is mingled with her disappointment about having missed a sighting or misidentified a bird, and only a little about the joy she gets out of it. I did like how she related to migratory birds because of her own immigration story, but I thought that dwelling on the fact that she never had children in spite of trying was kind of bizarre, when the only reason she seemed to want children was because she was expected to and not because she actually wanted them.

I appreciate the character growth Zarankin undergoes, taking up new things, finally, just because she wants to do them, and not out of a deep seated need to impress everybody around her.

I really enjoyed the narration in this book, Nan McNamara did a fantastic job.

I love reading books by people who are incredibly passionate about one small part of the natural world. Reading about Zarankin's path to becoming a birder was fascinating. Her passion for birds is catching, and inspired me to pull out my Field Guide to Birds of North American to identify the cardinal in my backyard as a Northern Cardinal. Reading it brought back fond memories of my grandmother teaching me the names of the common backyard birds in the area I grew up: blue birds, blue jays, chickadees, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, cardinal, and robins. I don't think I'll ever become a birder, but listening to this book has certainly served as a reminder to pay more attention to the world around me and to appreciate the majesty of birds.

Field Notes from an Unintentionally Birder
By Julia Zarankin


A delightful book of a woman who finds the
meaning of life through birds.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
Julia Zarankin became curious about birding at the age of thirty-five, but she never expect that it would change her life. Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder is Zarankin’s story of finding meaning in her life through birds. Zarankin learns more from birds than she ever anticipated. Not only would she eventually come to identify proudly as a birder, but birding would ultimately lead her to find love, uncover a new language and lay down her roots.

REVIEW
Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder was intriguing because I feel much the way Julia did about birding at the beginning of her book. I am curious, I wish I knew more, but I’m not real keen on that multi-pocketed khaki vest. This book really gave me an eye opening look at the realities of birding.

The book is not so much a story, as a collection of Zarankin’s life and bird experiences, hence the title. There are tidbits about the people she met while birding and unique birds sights. Her writing was casual, interesting and informative. It was easy to read and her descriptions of the birds and the areas she was birding were highly visual. She cleverly tied her life experiences, her marriage, and her relationships with her stories about birds and birding.

Zarankin’s descriptions of the bird characteristics that she came to admire and even envy were delightful. She shares about the confidence and proudness she saw in the the Ross’s goose, the soft and silky hair of the cedar waxwing and the beautiful singing voice of the wood thrush. Her litany of the admired and enviable traits for other birds was thoroughly enjoyable, and nudged me to pull out my old binoculars.


Zarankin also shares about the down and dirty side of birding. It’s not all about walking in a beautiful park and gazing skyward. She encounter freezing temperatures, landfills, early mornings, and sewer lagoons to find birds. This part actually cemented my birding decision. Despite the joy of new discoveries and surprising pleasures in spotting elusive birds shared by Zarankin, I just don’t think I can handle the sewage lagoons (or the multi-pockets khaki vest).

Nature enthusiasts, and readers who enjoy memoirs of self-discovery will truly appreciate Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder. Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher Dreamscape Media
Published January 5, 2021
Narrated Nan McNamara
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

In Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder, a Toronto-based writer reveals how a casual bird-watching hobby evolved into a decade long passion.

This memoir was fun to listen to especially as I took walks and started paying more attention to the birds in my own neighborhood. This book was much more than just a woman who starts a birding hobby but how she found a community of people within this hobby, fell in love with her city (Toronto) and discovered the joy of pushing herself outside of her own comfort zone. Although I personally don't have any interest in bird watching (and honestly this book didn't change my mind on that), I love a story on a hobby changing someone's life.

This is so BIZARRE. So many moments I was like "what the hell is this even about?" and other times I was just like "wow, I love this".

I do not care about birds at all but am literally giving this book a 4 star because this author is ironically bizarre.

These kinds of memoirs are my favorite. “Field Notes From An Unintentional Birder” will find a spot on my shelves next to “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating” and “Prodigal Summer,” two of my favorite books that speak to the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, and what we can learn from the natural world and its inhabitants.

Zen Birder is one of my favorite chapters in the book. What a journey the author goes on in just four years of birding, and a testament to how much can change.

* What I Love *

- Seeing how life-changing birding has been for the author

- The hopefulness and optimism

- The full circle-ness of some things, like practicing piano again

- The open circle-ness of some things, like how the author will always be a perpetual birding student

- Seeing how birding can provide clarity to other aspects of one’s life, like how we perceive ourselves and our relationships

- I love how Zarankin wrote about both feeling like you belong in a group to being comfortable on your own and independent - that chapter had some of my favorite quotes

“Did you tell them everything you know about the woodcock?” made me laugh out loud

* What I Didn’t Love *

- The audiobook could use a bit more differentiation when topics change. There was a pause, but my preference is for a longer pause or sometimes a sound, if it’s not jarring.

* Overall *

- A valuable journey that many of us can relate to. You don’t need to be a birder either, to enjoy and understand the memoir.

- I would like to own this book so I can underline favorite passages and also make it part of my collection of nature books, and I can think of at least two people on my holiday shopping list who would enjoy this book too. Bonus!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. These are my honest thoughts.

Field Notes From an Unintentional Birder by Julia Zarankin was probably written just for me. Birding? Russian culture? Really practical marriage lessons? Nature analogies? Yup, definitely written for me.

I'm an aspiring birder, mostly attending Audubon and local conservation fundraising events, but I so loved following Zarankin's journey into the hobby. She's so encouraging! She never makes it sound like it's easy, but she definitely emphasizes that anyone who wants to can support and watch birds.

She sprinkled personal anecdotes from her childhood and family culture through the book, such as her family's immigration experience in the Soviet Union, as well as her first unsuccessful marriage and current wonderful marriage. She likens the differences between her current husband and herself to the stark contrast between birds of prey and colorful songbirds; that there's so much room within the species for differences and yet they are all necessary and wonderful. How beautiful and right is that?!

It's nonfiction but so approachable. The writing is so well paced, and for the audio, the narration is excellent: clear and easy to listen to even at a high speed.

Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.