Thank you to IVP and NetGalley for an advanced audio copy of Looking Up by Courtney Ellis.

This book is part memoir, part inspiration, and part encouragement for anyone dealing with loss and questioning God’s presence and goodness. Ellis uses her expertise as a pastor, but also shares her vulnerability as a granddaughter facing the loss of her grandfather. Throughout the pandemic and especially during this season of grief, she takes comfort in bird watching, a practice which she uses to calm her spirit and remind her of God’s constant provision. Each chapter is a correlation between a different bird and how we humans tackle loss, grief, and disappointment. As she shares personal stories of how she and her family lived through and processed the life and death of her grandfather, Ellis describes how “looking up” to the birds strengthened her heart and encouraged her that she is never alone.

Beautifully written, Looking Up is perfect for anyone experiencing grief or questioning God’s promise for their life.

As a bird enthusiast, I LOVED this book. The author did such a great job narrating. The book cover is STUNNING. It was so fun to have the bird song recordings from Cornell woven throughout as well!

While I thoroughly enjoyed parts of this book, I found other sections to be a bit naive and far too saccharine. For example—perhaps if you’ve been spared from experiencing too much grief close to home, you have the privilege of shielding your young ones from learning about the brokenness of the world at a young age—but that’s just not an option for everyone.

Also—prior to listening to this book, it never occurred to me that something as sweet as birding could be tied to politics, but this book managed to do just that.

While I don’t share all the same beliefs and certainly cannot relate to all the life experiences of Ellis, I still enjoyed many parts of this book. I can’t recommend this to everyone, but there are many who will get a lot out of this book

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Looking Up, and heaved a deep sigh of satisfaction when the last chapter ended. The author is a pastor, and makes many references to bible texts and passages, as well as from works of great writers of yore.

It was really fascinating to learn about her journey into birding, and the way she so beautifully describes bird features and wraps up that prose in a colorful bouquet of literary flowers, pleasing both the ear and soul.

I received this audiobook as an ARC from NetGalley, and I am grateful to them for it. I am quite confident that it will be a bestseller!

I highly recommend the Audiobook version because the publishers have collaborated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which has shared bird call sounds that have been played throughout the narration. It's a surreal experience for anyone, amateur birders and experienced alike, to listen to a bird call in the background when the author is talking about it!

I won’t be rating or reviewing this title outside of NetGalley, as I chose not to finish it.

When I began listening, I immediately felt a personal connection to the experiences of the forward writer, who described noticing birds outside the window that they had never noticed before after being forced to slow down during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the book soon shifted focus toward the author’s and foreword writer’s relationships with God, which are central to the narrative. I hadn’t realized when requesting this title that it was so deeply rooted in Christian faith. While I respect the meaningfulness this perspective may hold for others and appreciate the book’s intention to deepen our relationship with the natural world, it ultimately wasn’t the right fit for me.

I do, however, feel that the presentation of the book is somewhat misleading. Based on the description, I expected a much stronger emphasis on birds, birding, and our relationship with the natural world. Instead, those themes often took a backseat to reflections on grief, spirituality, and the author’s personal experiences. That said, it’s possible that my own oversight contributed to these mismatched expectations, or that these elements became more prominent in parts of the book that come after I chose to step away.

Thank you to NetGalley and IVP Audiobooks for the advance copy for review. Opinions are my own.

This book has an interesting perspective, and a bit of a different take on things. I listened to the audio version, read by the author. On the positive side, there is hope, and it's not the same old thing! :) On the negative side, I didn't agree completely with all the author said-differences of theology between us, and I didn't see the need for any "swear words" in the book.
Overall, the author has a pretty good perspective. It's also interesting to learn more about some of the birds! I also like to hear the author read their own book, usually, and this was no exception!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance audio copy of this book! all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

There is a genre of books about birding where a person decides to beat a record, sets out to travel for a period of time, ticks a certain number of boxes on a checklist, and is done. I've read a few—they're fun, but they lose their appeal after just a few, formulaic as they are. Not much interested in any number-based records myself, I've started looking for books about birding that are closer to my own experience and interest in the process—books about the meaning derived from these encounters and the discoveries about the world based on interactions with birds. Amy Tan's The Backyard Bird Chronicles is one such book I liked recently, and Courtney Ellis's Looking Up also works in the same vein.

Courtney Ellis is a Presbyterian pastor from California and the author of several books before this one, who got into birding during the pandemic. Since then, this interest of hers has informed new ways of marveling at the world around her and has also provided metaphors for exploring spiritual journeys. Going into this book, I realized from the outset that there might be quite a bit of discussion of the religious tradition that I probably wouldn’t care much for. But despite the clearly very different places of spirituality in the author's and my life, there was quite a lot in this book that resonated with me—not only in those passages more directly concerned with birds and birding experiences, but also in those related to her personal, familial, and professional life. All of this is very nicely interwoven in the book. Most importantly, I think, it hits somewhere very close to home in its balance between marveling at natural abundance and grieving its loss: yes, we are most likely all doomed, but may I please get to see these amazing creatures with my own mortal eyes before doomsday? (A very imprecise quote from memory.)

I checked out a library copy to alternate with the audiobook version I received as an ARC, but I ended up listening to most of it. I appreciated the chance to get acquainted with this very personal story in Courtney Ellis's own voice and tone. (Though a text version would clearly have made it easier to skim through the more specifically faith-themed passages that were of less interest to me.)

Thanks to IVP Audiobooks and NetGalley for the free audiobook ARC. The opinion above is my own.

I love how Courtney Ellis love her tail of grieving her grandfather with the hopefulness of looking up and remembering God’s creation through birding. I loved that she was real and raw about her faith and her grief.

I had expectations that this book was mostly about birds, and while there are delightful bird stories/facts, this book is way more about grief and the author's personal stories, with the through line of her grandfather dying. As a female pastor, her faith is very much a part of her story. Unfortunately, this book didn't really match my expectations, but I finished it anyways, mostly because Courtney Ellis has a wonderfully, soothing voice that is calming to listen to!

I enjoyed listening to this story. I found this very interesting and informative since I love birds. Take the time to read Looking Up!

This nonfiction book on grief focuses on the faith of the author and her journey through Covid and losses in her personal life and community. She uses her burgeoning love of birds as a background while she glorifies the Lord and enjoys backyard nature through the time of lockdown. Enjoyable as an audiobook with bird songs. Themes of hope, peace and rest. Enjoyable book.

I received a copy of this audiobook from netGalley for a honest review.

I enjoyed this look at birding through grief, illness and a pandemic. I liked how she took different types of birds and their characteristics to make each chapter. I cried and laughed at the author describing her life during this time in her life and really felt the emotion of that time. I also like that she came to birding later in life and found such comfort in it. The appendix gave a lot of helpful information on how to start looking up and birding.

Last week I attended a holiness institute, and on the long drive there I listened to ‘Looking Up’ by @courtneyellis____ . Touted as “a birder’s guide to hope through grief”, I found this meditation to also be a guide to hope through parenting, through ministry, through mid-life — truly through the experience of being human.

As a woman pastor serving alongside her husband far from extended family, navigating co-parenting and co-ministering and the joys and burdens these bring, I have never felt so seen and validated as I did listening to Courtney’s experiences. Honestly, I came for the birding (@merlin.bird.id and I are getting very friendly these days) but what I found was just what my soul needed.

Thanks to @ivpress and @netgalley for a complimentary listening copy. All thoughts are my own.

I am so, so glad I chose to listen to this when I did. It wasn't saccharine or overly sentimental like I feared. The author is not afraid to look grief in the face and name it what it is. In the middle of my grief for my dad, and just a few years after the death of a beloved grandparent (like the author), it was comforting and helpful to hear this perspective on how nature can be part of our faith and healing.

It was much less purely about birds than I had thought, but the author clearly states this in the first couple minutes of the book, so hopefully nobody would think they were getting into a full-blown birding book. Instead, it was part memoir, part commentary on birds and what they mean to us, part meditation on what it means to be faithful and loved in a world full of such incredible grief - personal and societal. A faith-centered book about grief in all its complexities, and finding hope in creation. It was read with love and care by the author, and with accompanying bird song at the start of each chapter, which was a nice addition.

Thanks NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook.

Grief has a way of shrinking your world. After losing both of my grandparents just eleven months apart, I’ve been walking through that fog—heavy, quiet, and at times, deeply lonely. Picking up Looking Up by Courtney Ellis felt like someone reaching through the haze to gently take my hand.

Ellis writes with such warmth, humor, and honesty, weaving her own stories with spiritual insight in a way that doesn’t demand anything of you, but gently invites you to hope. To see again. To look up.

This book reminded me that even in seasons of loss and sadness, there are glimmers of goodness—tiny flickers of light in the ordinary. We just have to pause long enough to notice. Grief hasn’t disappeared, but Looking Up helped me feel less alone in it, and that’s a gift indeed!

If you’re walking through your own season of sorrow or just need a gentle nudge back toward joy, this one’s for you.

5 stars

The audiobook for Looking Up was incredible! The narration truly brought the story to life, making the characters' emotions and experiences even more vivid. The storytelling was heartfelt, and I was hooked from the start. It’s an emotional and inspiring journey that I couldn’t get enough of. Highly recommend!

What a great reminder to Look Up! The author does a great job reminding us that in the hustle of our daily lives we have our focus on the things right in front of us. We forget to Look Up and see that there is a whole world happening. From the birds in the sky to our great God and His creation, there are so many more things going on. The author does a great job reflecting on her journey through the pandemic and the death of her grandfather to help others through their grief as well.

Because of this audiobook I have now downloaded a bird app and have been enthusiastically identifying all the birds around me!

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for this advanced copy of the audiobook!

I loved this book so much that I immediately purchased a physical copy for my shelves.
The audiobook is wonderfully calming to listen to even though the subject matter is at times difficult. It is filled with faith, family, heart and encouragement to look up and look at the birds when life gets a little too heavy. There are many references to passages from the Bible as well as writers like Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry. Each chapter focusses on one bird and the audiobook includes the birdsong of that bird.
The author creatively weaves her personal story in with the most interesting facts about the many birds she adores.
Highly Recommend!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to experience this lovely book in exchange for my honest opinions!
Thanks