The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl is a lovely book about the seasons and nature. There are 52 chapters that follow the plants and animals throughout the year. It is a lovely reminder to stop and notice the beauty around you all throughout the year. "What if resting, all by itself, is the real act of holiness? What if honoring the gift of our only life in this gorgeous world means taking time every week to slow down? To sleep? To breathe? The natural world has never needed us more than it needs us now, but we can't be of much use to it if we remain in a perpetual state of exhaustion and despair." Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read The Comfort of Crows, written by Margaret Renkle.
This book tells a year-long story of the happenings in the author's yard, and I loved listening to it. The Comfort of Crows is a love story to nature. It shares what one can notice when slowing down, watching, listening. The evolution of seasons, the bugs, the birds, the light.
I've grown a greater appreciation for nature writing, and would group this with the poetry of Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and the insight of Katherine May.

Thank you to Net Galley and Spiegel & Grau for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. These lovely essays contemplate the natural world, family and culture. Most are observations of the every day mundane outside her windows translated into the beautiful way she sees the world. She has an appreciation of the circle of life and witnesses it as she cares for all creatures, prey and predator. She has inspired me to have a pollinator garden instead of focusing on a fruit and vegetable garden. I love the way she observes the stillness in nature and so beautiful puts in down on paper. She also relates her observations of birds to her own family, and her own empty nest - the loss when the baby birds when they disappear from the nest as they're supposed to. Also, she tries to bring awareness for how were damaging the natural world such as when we spray pesticides in our yards, kill predators and pests. How can we live alongside all the many creatures that make up nature? She is one of my favorite writers of this genre. I highly recommend this!

Margaret Renkl's THE COMFORT OF CROWS is a poetic, thought-provoking meditation on the world around us through the year of observations in her own surroundings. I felt like I was with her, delighting in the change of seasons, the particular sights and scents that strike her, how she wove what she saw into a larger perspective on life, living, and being present to your own experience. This book felt like poetry, like a wonderful escape into quiet and calm, slowing my monkey mind to see what I see and enjoy the world we share. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Reading books by nature writers is always such a refreshing palate cleanser from the fast pace of current events and social media. I thoroughly enjoyed Renkl’s collection of observations and reflections on the wildlife on her residential plot of land. Some of my favorite takeaways: the value of an untidy garden, the antidepressant properties of freshly turned soil, and the tragedy of life imperiled by green lawns for fashion’s sake. As Renkl notes, we can’t single-handedly change America or solve climate change, but we can plant a garden. Renkl has been the custodian of her yard for decades, where she has provided a habitat for wildlife, raised her kids, and loved her spouse. The wisdom she’s gained in the process is brimming with meaning and value. Thank you to NetGalley and the the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the experience of reading Margaret Renkl's "The Comfort of Crows." The book is a collection of short essays structured around the passing of a year. It carries with it the feeling of a journey through nature and time with frequent stops as suddenly you come upon a deep insight lying there in the path, or an idea you want to mull over, consider again and again, before moving on.

The essays are structured like a devotional, stepping through the year and pausing in each one to observe closely, be surprised, delight in something, or feel a grief. Throughout, Renkl challenges herself to do better as a steward of the natural world in her backyard, and invites you in to share those experiences of tending to some creature, or failing to save it, or feeling amazed as life's complexity reveals itself. The world, and its mysteries and joy and grief, all in a back yard, or right out the window, or in a trip to another well-loved house.

This is a book that invites re-reading, in whole or in snippets. The language is precise and rich, and the observations are sharp. The vision, even in these small places, is wide.

Thanks to #netgalley and #Spiegel&Grau for the ARC.

Nature lover and self-proclaimed backyard enthusiast Margaret Renkl has joined with her brother Billy to create a series of essays and illustrations taking a reader through a year of birds, animals, plants, and insects in her backyard. With 52 essays, readers will travel through the seasons week by week as the buds arrive on the trees, the birds visit the feeders, or the day it is time to rake the fallen leaves.

Renkl’s backyard in Tennessee may be different from mine, but I still found comfort in the joy of my first robin sighting in late winter as she talked about robins working the ground for worms. Even though our temperatures may not completely match up, our seasons do and I found comfort in her musings on life in her backyard.

Renkl also mentions another season in her essays, the season of empty nesting. I have entered this new season of life as well and I found her words about the quiet house and “nesting in reverse”, giving away and cleaning out rooms and closets of grown children, to be a reminder to find the peace and joy of living in this new season.

I imagine Renkl’s backyard to be full of blooms in the summer and birds visiting her feeders year-round. Maybe a deer walking by or a squirrel burying an acorn for winter but always some sort of activity. Her detailed descriptions offer an image to appear in my mind and the illustrations by her brother at the end of every essay offer a beautiful wrapup to the week.

I related to Renkl’s statement, “So much of what I do in the yard is only ever an exercise in hope“. In the fall I plant a bulb with the hope it will push up and bloom in the spring. This summer, I hung out a new hummingbird feeder in the hopes of attracting them. They didn’t stop by this year, but there is hope again for next year.

For nature lovers, those entering a new season of life, or those who enjoy the beauty of their surroundings, I highly recommend this quiet book of weekly reflections. Who doesn’t have a few minutes each week to pause and reflect on the beauty of a sunset or the joy of a bird catching a worm? Renkel shares how they passed on their regular dishes to their sons and now eat on their wedding dishes for the first time as empty nesters in their quiet house. What kind of simple beauty can be added to your day?

Shop early for holidays and birthdays as I believe this is a wonderful gift idea. The author’s final paragraph states her hope for those who read her book:

“It is my dearest hope that you will do the same for your own wild neighbors. Rejoice and grieve. Do your best to help. Bear witness when you can’t. Remember the crows, who tell us that we belong to one another, and to them.”

Step outside and stop, ponder, and listen to the sounds and see the beauty of your own backyard, a local park, or a neighbor’s flower garden. If you wait for the perfect day, you might just miss something beautiful.

"Who wouldn't want to start the new year watched over by crows? They're smart and brave and loyal . . . "

It was a cruel, cruel summer nature-wise in my own backyard. It started in early June when I returned one morning from the dog walk, and startled a little sparrow who flew into our sliding glass door. While I was standing on the patio chanting, "Please don't be dead, please don't be dead," a hawk swooped down less than five feet from me, grabbed the maybe-dead, maybe-not-dead Schrödinger's bird, gave me a "It's MINE!" glare, and took off with an easy meal. In July, I found our beloved pond frog literally dissected, and left discarded in the middle of the backyard. And, over the course of three months, a bloodthirsty chipmunk killed seven birds, one right in front of me, leaving their little headless corpses lying right by the feeders.

Fortunately, there were a few lovely moments to be found, as well, such as sitting outdoors, enjoying a book and a glass of iced tea whilst hummingbirds whistled dangerously close to my head in their attempts to lay claim to ALL of the feeders out back. It also helped to read about the cycles of birth, life, and death by nature writers like Margaret Renkl. Here she takes us through the seasons, sharing her observations and thoughts about the wildlife near her suburban home in Tennessee. It's good to be reminded that our control over nature is sometimes limited. Rescue attempts may not always succeed, but wild creatures seem to know what they're doing even without our help.

This is a lovely, and, indeed, comforting book, and one I look forward to reading again.

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year is a poem to nature. Each chapter takes you through one week of each season for a total of 52 chapters to round out a whole year. Go from winter to spring to summer and then fall, learning about the animals and plant life that abound during these times, and how the author cares for nature in her own backyard. Each chapter also has its own beautiful work of art that encompasses what the chapter is about.

This is a book for people who find themselves in the winter of their own lives. This is a book for nature lovers. This is a book about birth and rebirth, cycles, and love.

Read a chapter a week and spread out the book through a whole year. Or devour each chapter, as I did, enjoying the pictures the author paints of the changing seasons.

The Comfort of Crows is published by Spiegel & Grau and will be available to purchase tomorrow (October 24, 2023). I received a free e-ARC.

What a sweet sweet book. I love all the nature insights, thoughts and feelings that the writer has recorded. Would love to have my own hardback copy and see the illustrations which weren't available in the format I received. I will be rereading this book and totally recommend it.
Thank you to net galley for allowing me to read this book. The opinions are entirely my own.

A lyrical appreciation of the natural world by NYTimes columnist Margaret Renkl. She pens a weekly essay through the four seasons with her knowledgeable observations of plant and animal life. The lovely illustrations are by her brother.

She is sometimes appreciative, sometimes astounded, often discouraged by human blundering with chemicals and habitat encroachment, but always astute. A beautiful book and one to be slowly savored. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Margaret Renkl's The Comfort of Crows. I don't often read nonfiction, but I was immediately drawn to the premise of this book. Renkl's writing style is poetic and comforting. It felt like a conversation with a friend. The artwork was equally stunning. You could read this in a few sittings or break it up over the course of weeks or months.

A beautiful book for exactly this time, filled with wonderful illustrations and thoughtful meditations. The epigraphs were well chosen and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Part memoir, part nature book, this collection of 52 essays is what it say it is- an observation of life in a garden through a year (although this does cover certain things over a period of years). There are sharp observations and gentle commentary especially about life during the pandemic. I read this over a period of weeks- one or two essays at a time- which worked beautifully. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Would recommend reading this in hard copy to fully appreciate the photos and to make it easier to dip in and out.

A year's worth of lovely nature essays from Margaret Renkl with original artwork from her son Billy. I could relate to so much of what she has written, having lived for many years on a half-acre of land that led down to a creek where nature abounded. Our daughters have so many wonderful memories of their childhood experiences!

This would make a wonderful gift for nature lovers on your list. I'll look forward to watching to see my first bird on the first day of the new year which will set the tone for my next twelve months. According to Renkl, that's a birding tradition and now it will be mine.

I received an arc of this new essay collection from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks! My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

“The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year” (Spiegel and Grau, 2023) is a book bursting with multitudes. Margaret Renkl gently marinates her narrative in fifty-two thoughtful weekly contemplations of nature, the life cycle, wonder, aging, and grief.

Renkl, “New York Times” contributing opinion writer, entreaties her readers to pay attention. Go outside. Marvel at the slugs and sugar ants underfoot. The twigs at mid or eye-level poking at your arm or sleeve. The sensorial Adventureland in your backyard or at your window.

Beginning with winter, Renkl walks us through a year, week-by-week, in her backyard observations, which include visits with a fox, coyote, barred owls, rat snakes, tadpoles, Cooper’s Hawk, irises, and so many more, including her crow.

Interspersed with treatises on nature and awe are moments of increasing clarity about her remaining time with loved ones, her family, and the interplay of grief in the life cycle.

A surprising (sibling talent!!) bonus? The vivid illustrations by Billy Renkl (Professor of Illustration and Drawing at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN) contribute to the seasonal awe and daily joys Margaret Renkl finely details.

For example, in “Praise for the Unloved Animals” (Summer Week 3) Margaret Renkl writes lovingly on the positive qualities of animals many people begrudge and others kill outright: opossums, vultures, mosquitoes. She applauds vultures for their contribution to the life cycle of other animals. Billy Renkl’s accompanying artwork depicts a vulture through Margaret Renkl’s compassionate and generous lens.

Thank you to Margaret Renkl, Spiegel & Grau, and NetGalley for the eARC!

I loved Margaret Renkl's collection of essays documenting a year in her yard, easing through the transitions and marking both the melancholy and the luminous. They have the same ease and movement readers might remember from her columns in The New York Times, but are grouped around the calendar. It is a primer on how to pay attention and how to mark the constant change around us (both the welcomed change of seasons and the horrifying pressure of climate change). Renkl writes that "The world will always be beautiful to those who look for beauty," and that's what this book does best--encourage to keep looking, to fend off distraction and despair, and look some more. It's not always pretty--nestlings are lost, climate disruption encroaches, older neighbors die and their yards and houses are replaced by bland development meant only for humans. In fact, sometimes it is a call to arms.

I read it over the course of weeks, but I plan to return to it over the course of a year, being reminded to keep looking throughout the turn of the seasons. Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for my earc in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are all my own.

Absolutely loved this one ! I brought it along with me to the park and I read an essay every time. I definitely feel like it needs to be read in nature. The book is broken into the seasons and I think it would be fun to read this one throughout the year, coinciding with the seasons. Thank you so much for the ARC!!

3.5/5. Gorgeous writing and beautiful illustrations. If it were 50% shorter, it would've had a 5 star review, but this is just my personal preference. I can see how this type of reflective writing appeals to a subset of people--I just don't happen to be in that subset and I would've liked to see a quicker pace.

I have no regrets in reading this. It's been a month into city life and I do yearn for the grass and the sky and the critters. Reminds me of all the exceptional things beyond the concrete skyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for the eARC. All thoughts were my own.

This is way too beautiful!
I want to hibernate and accidentally catch a possum in a trap and help foxes.

I love the photos and all the stories.