This one hovered between a 3 and 4 star book for me, and I settled on 4 because of the author, the writing and the fabulous illustrations. When it fell to a 3 in my reading, it was really due to me and my interest level in the topic rather than the book itself. Would recommend to people who like Robin Wall Kimmer.

When’s the last time you stopped & observed nature for a few minutes?

Margaret Renkl’s latest work is a thought-provoking look at all four seasons in her Tennessee backyard. Interspersed with anecdotes, literary quotes, life changes, & visits to various other wooded areas & parks, the book is broken down into a chapter for each week of the year & is delightfully illustrated by the author’s brother. It is both lovely & heartbreaking to follow along with the plants, wildlife, & insects throughout the year.

I loved reading about the great outdoors through the eyes of someone who is so obviously passionate about nature, though it was difficult reading about the climate change worries & disappearing green spaces. I enjoyed how the author endorses using the natural world as a way to balance oneself when the evening news doesn’t have anything good on it. Pick up this book & be amazed at the wonders of the environment around you.

Thank you to NetGalley & Spiegel & Grau for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"We were never cast out of Eden. We merely turned from it and shut our eyes. To return and be welcomed, cleansed and redeemed, we are only obliged to look."

Five-plus stars for Margaret Renkl's beautiful new book 'The Comfort of Crows."

This is a much needed balm for the soul in these troubled times. This peaceful plea reminds us of the healing power of nature and the cycle of life and death. Renkl helps us to learn to see the creatures and plants around us, reminds us that imperfection is better than perfection, and gently urges us not just to see the natural world but to do what we can to protect it.

Times are troubling, but the natural world is a great healer. This book reminded me over and over of one of my favorite quotes from Albert Einstein, 'Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.'

Renkl adds to her words with beautiful art from her brother, Billy.

I will find a special place on my shelves for this book, and know I will reach for it over and over.





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I loved this book. It felt like talking to a valued elder, as a mom in her 30’s, I am in my 2nd third of life, as she calls it. And I feel all kinds of ways about raising my kids during climate chaos.

I see her grief, her sadness, and her hope as she enters the last third of her life. And I feel like it is a glimpse into my future as someone with many of the same opinions and proclivities.

I connected with this piece in a way that felt poignant to me, and if you are someone who loves animals, and has experienced the pain and grief of waiting their habitat whittle away, I highly recommend this book.

I also love her husband, Hayward. I swear, my husband has looked at me as I made food for snails and said “yep” and kept moving. I know hers was for tadpoles, but same premise. Everyone needs a Hayward in their life.

Thank you for this memoir. I read it cover to cover, and I am so glad I did.

Thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for the opportunity to read The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl.

What a truly thoughtful, lovely book. The perfect Christmas gift this year for people I love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Comfort of Crows by @margaret.renkl is the best book I could have picked up before my backpacking trip starts tomorrow. It’s a salve to the soul, a love letter to nature, and an ode to language.

Margaret takes us through the seasons, week by week, reflecting on the beauty around us and its impact on our lives. The language is poetic and allows you to think deeply about how you choose to live.

I’m so glad this will soon exist for everyone to read! Preorder it now! @marylauraphilpott @parnassusbooks @netgalley

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Margaret Renkl chronicles a year of garden stories from her backyard. Birds, a fox, her family, losses, love, and the joy found in nature are mourned and celebrated.

This thoughtful book sometimes had me looking up from my reading just to take in my surrounding environment, which is an apt memory to resurface while reflecting on The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year. I appreciated the turning of the seasons that guided these introspective short stories/essays from author Margaret Renkl. I also appreciated her use of quotes from mostly female creatives at the beginning of a new "week". Her meditations on both nature and grief helped me to look a little deeper at my own humanity. Thank you to Margaret Renkl for this meditative experience. Thank you as well to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau, from whom I received a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Comfort of Crows has been so comforting. Brilliant writing. This was like a peaceful and calming meditation in and for nature, everything that belongs to mother nature. So well written. Thank you, Margaret Renkl!

This is a very inspiring read. This book is filled with short stories that are heartwarming. They are simple daily observations that shed light on a tender moment. Enjoyed so much I preordered a book to give as a gift for my friend to read. I was given an advanced reader copy of this very well written book by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

A graceful literary devotional, with 52 chapters focusing on plants and creatures in the author's backyard over one year, as well as her personal journey during that time. Includes exquisite artwork by her brother, Billy Renkl. Don't miss!

I enjoyed the reflections on nature and the seasons. I loved the descriptions of things happening on nature and correlating them to daily life. First book by this author and will be looking up others.

A beautiful collection of essays about the wonders of nature and the possibility of one's own backyard.
Written as observations that follow the seasons of the year, almost as if we are reading a diary. It would be interesting to start at the beginning of the year and follow the seasons with the author as they pass in real life.
A book not just about birds, but a book about hope, sometimes heartbreak, and the magic in every day life if one takes the chance to appreciate it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl is a stunning collection of prose, accompanied by gorgeous illustrations by the author's brother, Billy Renkl. Renkl's essays follow the four seasons and how her 'yard' survives, flourishes and thrives from winter to fall. But beyond celebrating in nature and ecosystems, Renkl explores love and grief, both unflinchingly. Thus, The Comfort of Crows becomes a comfort itself to read and savour.

And to savour is the best way to enjoy this book. If I had the patience I might even have read each essay alongside the week of the year, with each section being split equally into 13 weeks. Renkl's writing style is poetic, honest and enlightening. I learned as much about the flora and fauna of Tennessee as I did about myself, and about humanity and how close we truly are related to our 'wild neighbours' as Renkl calls them.

There is also a quality added to this collection by the fact it was constructed pre- and post-pandemic; a time when, for many of us, our personal outside spaces became a way to cope and preserve hope. Renkl notes how differently things she once experienced feel since because of how drastically life changed, particularly in her experience with her sons returning to the 'nest' in lockdowns only to leave it for a second time. Her essays highlight how, in a way, we were gifted with the chance to appreciate everything we had long taken for granted.

Appreciation is what I took away from The Comfort of Crows; an appreciation for stunning writing, nature and our wild neighbours.

I totally loved "The Comfort of Crows". The essays, mixed with awesome artwork by Billy Renkl, hit me right in the feels. This book, man! It seriously left a mark on my soul, like I can't even explain. The emotions were so damn real. I swear, I was laughing, crying, and just straight-up contemplating life's deep stuff all through the damn journey. This book is legit a testament to the power of storytelling, and I'm shook by how much it affected me. Can't even put it into words, but trust me, you gotta read. I'm definitely going to come back to this gem year after year, soaking in the vibes of every season.

Big shoutout to NetGalley and the publisher for hooking me up with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Comfort of Crows was insightful book in a few different ways. Renkl's knowledge and descriptions of the plants and animals were enchanting. Living in the desert in Texas, this book gave me a window to experience a whole different region.

My absolute favorite part of The Comfort of Crows was the way Renkl's yard and garden support so many different species of plants and animals. I've read about pollinator gardens, but this book took my knowledge to a whole other level. She made connections between different parts of the ecosystem in her garden and how certain plants supported insects and animals. It encouraged me consider how I can create habitats or provide sources of food in my own yard.

I also enjoyed how Renkl took elements and events occurring in her garden as a lens to consider her own life events. There were meditations on memories of the past, changes occurring in the present, and contemplation on what's in store for her future. The cyclical nature of this book reflects how human life also follows a cycle. I appreciated the moments of introspection throughout the book.

The essays that constitute The Comfort of Crows are lovely meditations on the natural world, and our place in it. Admittedly, I am the target audience for this book (like Renkl, I have a pollinator’s garden, carry spiders outside, spend hours watching birds, etc.), and it is a niche offering that likely will only appeal to readers of similar mind and perspective, but that makes its message no less timely. The accompanying illustrations were hard to appreciate in ebook form, but I assume the physical copies will delight the reader.

Margaret Renkl's book, The Comfort of Crows, is a love story to the natural world. And humans are the antagonists. In fact, her final call to action is to use our gifts to prevent the environment's destruction from climate change..Don't discount the amount of environmental education she packages as beautiful writing.
At the same time, the book is funny and hopeful. As a person who is usually in her head, Renkl's prose is a lesson in staying in the present moment. Otherwise, I might miss a snake moving in the grass, or the color of a crow in the autumn. A glorious read.

I was solicited to read this book ARC by NetGalley, probably based on my interests and past reviews. I have a biology degree and while not pursuing biology as a vocation, I have participated in citizen science and fieldwork as a volunteer and hobbyist.
I have enjoyed reading Ms. Renkl’s columns in the New York Times, both on nature and environmental politics. I have also read many other science and nature essay collections. I was drawn to this book both due to the subject matter and to the format, which is as an almanac of fifty two weekly entries for a year of seasons. The structure grounds you as to what to expect in that essay, and you can pick up and read anywhere, yet you know the direction the pieces will follow as the seasons turn. Each essay is highlighted by small collages of nature related art. The essays appear to be new ones, at least not ones I am familiar with from her other publications, and revolve around her current residence in Nashville.
I wound up liking the essays, and learning some small things that she expounded upon in them. If you were not as familiar with nature, this would be a great way to start, as she makes the subject as approachable as your backyard. I agreed with how she said nature has beauty as it is ravaged, down to the very end. I would call this a long tail, such that humans see the beauty slowly ebb, and don’t know how much there had been previously. She also makes some interesting observations about camera use, in that manipulating a camera can draw you out of the moment, and that selfies show human’s narcissistic side, not nature who should be the star.
Overall, the book read well but I was disappointed in the prose as it did not rise to the level of a Helen MacDonald for instance, it was just okay. The artwork was hard to see on my devices, being really dark, and frankly, boring. And with all the angst about nature losing ground to humanity, the book became depressing. I didn’t read all 52 entries, I’ll admit. I’d recommend this book to someone who wants to learn about nature and what to see from their own backyard.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5607102880

I am so grateful that I read this book during the hellish week of nonstop fireworks blasting in Michigan. Renkl's collection of 52 short essays, one for each week, more or less chronicling her pollinator garden, her life, was a true blessing as I needed to feel connected with something humane. I love her observations, her admittance of errors, her frustration with developers, leaf blowers, and neighbors who don't appreciate how she rakes. Renkl reminds us why it's so important to be an advocate for wildlife, something that left me devastated as I fretted about the baby birds in my yard, the rabbits, chipmunks, opossums, squirrels, and the fish ending up with all those toxic fireworks. I have turned most of my yard into a pollinator garden also, but it takes until plants are three feet tall before I start wondering, is this a weed, and one I should keep? Unlike me, Renkl knows her trees plants and birds. I feel more connected to humanity and more motivated to identify more plants and birds.