This is an enchanting book, and a perfect Christmas present! From Italy to Peru, to India, to West Africa, the author takes us into the hearts and hands of incredible craftspeople, some of the last of their kind. This book preserves their lives and skills in words, and makes us wander what else we are losing without knowing it existed in the first place.

This book is a journey around the globe, introducing you to fascinating aspects of cultures, traditions, history, and the dedicated individuals preserving long-held customs.

I love nonfiction books like this because they are not only informative and engaging, but they can also be enjoyed in one sitting or in small doses, as each section covers a different topic. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been savoring this book bit by bit, rather than rushing through it.

It’s quite poignant to realize how few people are left to keep some ancient traditions and customs alive. Many traditions have likely been lost over the years without our knowledge. This book shines a light on some of the traditions that are still remembered and maintained, with the hope that they will continue for many more years.

While I won’t repeat the traditions discussed in the book - you can read the synopsis for that - a few of my favorites include the world’s rarest pasta, the last Scandinavian night watchman, and the secret ingredient in Japan’s 700-year-old soy sauce recipe. Not every topic captivated me equally, and that’s perfectly fine. I still learned a great deal and deeply respect the extensive research and effort that went into each subject.

I believe any nonfiction enthusiast would appreciate this book, but it might be especially intriguing for those interested in cultural studies or anthropology.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for sending me an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
I found this book really fascinating and each of the chapters covered something completely new to me. Each chapter goes really into depth about one custom or tradition. I think they are best digested one chapter at a time as this is not a book to rush through. Thank you for sharing these little-known people to the world.

Although it was thoroughly researched, it didn’t flow particularly well from one topic to the next and was a bit stilted. Also, many of the sources did not seem as eminently qualified (and were not the end-all, be-all “last of their kind” authorities) as the author might have us believe. That took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the complimentary ARC. All opinions are my own.

While very well written and researched, this felt rather disjointed and some of the "custodians" seemed a stretch as the "last of their kind". I picked it up to learn about the Incan bridges in preparation for a trip to Peru, and that chapter lived up to my hopes. Not that the other chapters weren't good, but several did not hold my interest nearly as well.

A fsscinating look at ten people from various cultures maintaining practices that are dying out due to the
changes in the world and the lack of interest from younger people to take over, given the work and hardships
involved. No one knows what the future will hold for the traditions when these ten people pass.
#CustodiansofWonder #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

I adored this book, and I am envious of Stein for the far-flung places he has been able to go to and the stories he has been able to hear firsthand. It’s incredible to have so much history and tradition told directly by those carrying it on.

I learned so much from this book. For one, I have never tried real soy sauce – and now I really, really want to. I had some trouble at times grasping the concept of what was being described. From making su filindeu to building an Incan bridge, you have to see it to understand it. Luckily there are YouTube videos of these crafts to help you.

When I reached the chapter on telling the bees, I was skeptical and also thought it simply did not fit in the book because it’s not a learned craft and doesn’t require any special skill, but by the end of the chapter, Stein had me fully convinced of this ancient tradition and wanting to do it myself.

This book will become a classic. It’s one of the last portals we have into what life used to be like for centuries. I mourn for these dying customs and skills, so I can only imagine how the people from these cultures and the people themselves who are the last people alive participating in them must feel.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I absolutely love learning new things, and this book, whew, hit the mark and then some. Compelling to read, each and every chapter is full of amazing, vividly detailed stories. I read this slowly, enjoying each chapter.

As I was reading this, I kept wishing I could send this to my dad for Christmas. He would have found this as fascinating as I did, and I know that we would have enjoyed talking about our favorite chapters.

This is one I’ll be buying a physical copy of for my own bookshelves.

A truly excellent book, and one I strongly recommend.



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

I liked that this book actually looked and found more offbeat individuals to interview and learn from than most books of this style. There are some very unique jobs in the world and you'll learn about some of them in here. I think this book could provide a number of possibilities for people writing fantasy novels to jump off from.

I received this book in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own.

A New York musician with west African roots. A bridge builder in the high Andes. A mirror maker in India. What do these people have in common? They, and others featured in this book are practitioners of ancient, and, in many cases, dying arts. The author traveled the globe to talk to these people about their lives, their skills, and what it means to their communities. The man in the Andes makes grass bridges in the ancient Incan tradition. The building of the bridge is a community affair, with the local populace coming together to gather the materials and braid the grass under his supervision. A woman in rural India is one of the few people who knows how to make valkannadi mirrors, an important component of many Hindu rituals. The musician is part of the African griot tradition of story telling and singing going back for centuries.
The author is respectful of the artists and artisans he talks to. He assures his subjects that he won't reveal anything without their stated approval (and one of those subjects smiles and tells him she didn't tell him everything, but she appreciates his promise). This book is a peek into world cultures, what they value, and what may be lost.
Recommended for medium to large public libraries, and where in interest in world cultures is high.

A beautiful, well-written, compelling read that made me realize there is so much going on in the world that I don't know anything about, and also that some of those things have and may yet disappear forever.

Eliot Stein's writing is clear, lyrical, and evocative. I want to visit every place and meet every person, and know all the things. I did have to shave my rating down (I would rate it a 4.5 but only whole stars are allowed), only because each chapter was deceptively long. There were several times when I thought I was almost done with a chapter and it turned out to have quite a few more pages to go. This speaks to Stein's amazing attention to detail, but it did mean I had to stop in the middle sometimes and come back to finish the chapter later, which meant I probably lost some details as I went.

But I stand by this book as a fantastic idea and wonderful execution, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an ARC of this book.

I thought the concept of this was interesting and it was well-written, though it could be long-winded at times. Each chapter could've been a little shorter and still gotten the point across. That said, I will recommend it to people who like history and anthropology, and are interested in disappearing cultural artifacts/practices. It had a lot of interesting information and I definitely learned a lot!

Custodians of Wonder has fascinating stories of people all over the world keeping traditions alive. You are sure to find a few favorites. For me "Where Bees Are a Part of the Family" and "The Most Romantic Job in Europe" were my favorite chapters. Eliot Stein does a very thorough job of writing about each of these very different people and traditions. I would have loved to see photos with the stories but the Kindle version didn't have them. I was able to do a search and found many though.
This would make a lovely gift for someone who loves trivia or unique facts.
I was gifted an ARC by NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Custodians of Wonder begins by waxing bittersweet about the fact that many young people are leaving their ancestral homes, and by consequence, many ancient practices are dying out as there are no longer new generations to learn them and keep the traditions alive. With this melancholy tone sufficiently set, each chapter tells a tale in journalistic style about the author visiting a relatively remote area to experience a specific rare tradition. From bridges to pasta and many other unique practices, the author experiences the tradition firsthand and offers a brief history of each. Each chapter ends by wondering what will happen if no child steps forward to inherit the skills necessary to keep the unique cultural practice alive.

This book has a lot of fascinating information. In some ways, it's a world tour that skips over the most common tourist attractions and explores the rare treasures that can only be found in remote or rural areas. The historical piece is told in an engaging manner, and it was fun getting to experience people and places alongside the author. In my opinion, there's a little bit too much self-insert by the author (for example, I didn't really care about which travelers got tummy aches in Africa). It's the sort of fluff that bores me when I watch travel documentaries or instructional videos. The overall tone of the book put me in a bad mood as well, thinking about how the world is constantly changing and what was once common practice has become lost. I can't really fix the sad losses that this book explores, so it's a bit of a bummer constantly hearing about how cool they are, only to be reminded of the fact that they're disappearing. This book is an honest and interesting look at some remarkable people, places, and events. and it's well worth the read if you're the sort of person who likes rare wonders (and is prepared to feel sad that you'll likely never experience them).

This book. I absolutely loved it. Each chapter is a fascinating account of an individual who is devoted to preserving a cultural tradition. I had no idea of the existence of most of these traditions, which is why I read this book as a series of wonderful surprises. I didn't look at the table of contents, and so I'd read a chapter and think, "ok, this book can not get any more interesting", then bam - the next chapter fascinated me even more all over again. Stein tells such interesting stories about individual people and how they have maintained their traditions, but he places them in the context of the geography, history, politics, etc. of where the tradition takes place. For me personally, the last chapter was extra special, as it took place about 2 and a 1/2 hours away from where my dad grew up in Germany. I was nodding my head as I related to Stein's descriptions of the German people's love for nature and the forest.

Eliot Stein's book reminds me that every single person has a story to tell. I get so caught up in the news stories posted every day, and they often leave me feeling a little hopeless. Eliot Stein's book is a wonderful beacon of hope despite the fact that many of the stories are about traditions that might have no one left to keep them going. However, it's the quiet devotion of and love that each of these individuals have for their craft that leaves me inspired and hopeful.

Thanks so much to #netgalley and St Martin's Press for the Advanced Reading Copy.

Something for everyone. Custodians of Wonder reminds me of the books my kids loved when they were young; unusual facts that were fun conversation starters. I loved the collection of people the author chose to document. I think everyone will have a different favorite, mine was the magic mirror maker in India who's mirrors reveal one's true self.
I do wish the chapters were a little shorter, occasionally there was a little too much background and history I wanted more depth from the custodians, that said, this would be a great gift book for a curious friend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
What a delightful book. For Fans of the CBS Sundays morning tv show this book features quirky characters performing a function that while once popular is now no longer needed. They are the last artisans of their trade. My favorite stories were the night watch, and the whisperer of bees. Not sure if the published version has photos - but my copy didn’t so I found myself looking up some of the places or artistry mentioned to see what it looked like.
Recommend

This was a fantastic read! I loved every single chapter, and found something new and interesting on pretty much every page. I can't wait to have a physical copy of this book to re-read and pull out more of my favorite passages. This book is ideal for anyone who is interested in things that are almost lost and want inspiration for their own lives in a way that surprises you.

This book is incredible. Thorough in its descriptions, thought-provoking, and deeply immersive. What a wondrous book! It made me feel like I was watching a delicately crafted documentary - that's the level of immersion we were dealing with. There were parts where I did get a BIT lost in the details, but it did not in any way detract from the experience. What a rare find.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book for a genuine review.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Wow. As someone who has lived internationally, this book was such an incredible reminder of the power of learning about the beautiful cultures, traditions and people in this world. I loved how the book was set up, written, and researched. Truly such a joy to read!