Such a sweet book. I loved the illustrations. There is so much to be found in our own backyards. Highly recommend this book.

This is such a lovely book! Love the story from the artist as she tells the reader of how she came to watch, track/document birds in her backyard. Beautifu essays and drawn illustrations . One of my favorite books of 2023. A very special Thank you to Knopf via NetGalley for the advanced ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the drawings and some of the writing, though it felt a little off as a diary - I kept feeling like there wasn't a great cohesive whole, that there should have been more plot or something, so for me the journaling aspect didn't work all that well. But still some insightful moments and the illustrations are wonderful

Amy Tan writes about birds seen in her backyard in a journal format. She is a talented artist, and includes color sketches of many of the species. At the end of the book, she lists every species she has identified. This book may be of special interest to those who enjoy birdwatching as a hobby, but possibly less interesting to the general reader. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Many of you likely know Amy Tan. She is a phenomenal writer who has been around a minute. This, however, is not her normal style of book.

Beginning before she knew anything about birds to being able to identify and sketch an impressive variety. However, this is not a dry, scientific nature journal. This book allows you to grow with the author as she learns what she can about birds, even finding facts about them herself through observation and impromptu experiments. You also get a sense of who the author is on a deeper level than perhaps her works of fiction.

Between 2017 and 2022, you can see the constant evolving improvement of her artwork, and through these, you get a taste of her sense of humor as she interprets actions into emotions and conversations.

Now, I rather enjoyed this book. The Big Year with Steve Martin and Jack Black is one of my favorite movies. I have watched it numerous times, and sometimes when I just need to destress, that is my go-to movie. I have been subscribed to ABC for years, and recently was turned on to eBird by an environmental science course at OSU. I am not a birder by any stretch of the word, but I do love to see them. So, this book immediately grabbed my interest and did not disappoint.

I love that it felt like Amy Tan invited the reader into her world, into her obsession/hobby. I could imagine perhaps standing on her porch, still as a statue, watching the birds on the suet cages, in the birdbaths, in the feeders, and on the windowsills, as she quietly pointed out the different species and varieties.

I appreciated the fact that she did not take the sides of certain birds over others when it came to natural predator/prey scenarios, and how vehemently she disagreed with certain societal norms in petkeeping. I could also empathize with her grief over birds that met ill fates. She rarely named the birds because the number and types and individuals varied from year to year, season to season, day to day, but she never fails to give them personalities.

One of the most endearing things about this book is her endless curiosity. She states she began birding at the age of 64, and that made my heart just absolutely soar because reading these journals and the little blurbs she puts next to the sketches truly shows her child-like wonder at these magnificent creatures. She never stops asking questions, and she doesn't let the "poobahs" on the Facebook birding groups who put her down for asking questions get her down.

I absolutely adored this book, and I am so glad she decided to allow us a glimpse into her world by publishing this.

A truly wholesome and beautiful book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles would be a lovely addition to your bird-book collection.

Amy Tan guides us through the her persinal stages of birding and drawing them.

Thank you #NetGalley for #TheBackyardBirdChronicles

I cannot express enough how wholesome and warm this book is. Reading this curled up on the couch, periodically looking out my window at the wildlife around me, I felt like I was so content.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan depicts drawings and journal entries from her time learning about birding. And yes, it's THAT Amy Tan. Her drawings and sketches of birds and her hilarious accounts of all that comes with bird watching were so much fun to read. You can tell by reading it just how much she cares about birds, nature, and being one with her surroundings. I'm trying to get more into bird watching, and so this book was the perfect book for me to pick up. I had such a good time reading it and will absolutely be getting a physical copy for myself when it is released!

5/5 stars!!!!!

Well I already love Amy Tan and have ushered myself into my birding era, so I was thrilled to see The Backyard Bird Chronicles was on NetGalley. This was an absolutely wonderful book, and is something that I would definitely buy as a physical copy. The ebook doesn't do her wonderful art justice.

Thanks very much to Knopf for making this title available to review through NetGalley.

This book reminds of the kind of book your grandfather reads, loves, and recommends to you. You ignore ole gramps and then pick it up in a moment of guilt, realize that it's actually fascinating, and you let your grandfather know it was a great suggestion.

He asks if you'd like to go birding, you accept, you have fallen into the birding trap and now argue on internet forums about Yellow Bellied Tits. You and Gramps are closer than ever.

All in all, a fantastic read and I'm off to begin my birding journey!

Well written, of course. Very interesting if you're into birding. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I want to firstly thank the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy/ARC of this title!

As a fellow lover of birds, I was immediately drawn into the premise of a journal chronicling the everyday behaviors of backyard birds, and this book was everything I thought it would be and more! Tan delivers a delightful read detailing the fascinating and quirky exploits of a variety of common backyard birds in her own Californian backyard, and I found myself learning so much throughout her entries.

I particularly enjoyed considering all of the questions Tan voiced as she observed the birds, even those to which she had no answers, as I often find myself doing the same when watching my own backyard birds. Yet, despite the fact that we will probably never know all the answers, Tan’s obvious love of and for birds showcases how much of a privilege it is to simply enjoy and bask in the beauty of our birds.

Despite the pangs of heartbreak in a handful of journal entries, it makes me all the more inspired to learn as much as I can about how I can help birds thrive in my own backyard. Her poignant, and often humorous, observations, coupled with her stunning sketches (I cannot wait to read this book in print to appreciate her sketches even more in color!) makes me want to start journaling my own backyard bird chronicles.

I would highly recommend this book to bird lovers everywhere, as well as to those who appreciate the beauty of nature and harbor a curiosity about the amazing creatures who call it home.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which narrates the last few years in the author's backyard as she meets a varied crew of feathered friends. Interspersed with the text are pages directly from her nature journal, which showcase not only her artistic ability but also her sense of humor. Some entries become somewhat repetitive, but seeing the connections drawn from year to year can be useful and interesting too.

Amy Tan is already extremely well-known in the writing world and has been as long as I can remember, so it's fun to see her exploring a skill new to her and embracing curiosity and the experience of being an amateur. As a nature journaler myself, I found this book to be inspiring. It would make the perfect gift for your birdwatching friends.

As a birder myself, I was excited to read this, and I was intrigued by the fact that Amy Tan was the author. I enjoyed this collection of journal entries featuring the birds from her backyard. There were lows (sick and injured birds) and highs (sightings of rare birds or of behavior not often observed). There were observations about the behavior of the different species, and there was humor too, especially in the captions accompanying the illustrations.

I recommend this to any nature lover but especially to fellow birders. Thank you NetGalley for the early read.

I love this so much! It is gorgeous! Amy Tan did something we could all do with little time and talent and maybe a lot more talent. She documented her backyard bird visitors and her excitement was infectious. I am a bird person but this is next level bird love. The sketches are wonderful too!

I was looking out my kitchen window and saw a flock of tiny birds pecking at the ground. It made me think of Amy Tan's journaling of birds that visit her yard throughout the year. Her excitement at seeing her visitors is contagious. I'm wanting to know what I saw in my garden. Chickadees? Maybe. I need to confirm it by doing some research. Having read Tan's journal covering several years, she has obviously done much research and is diligent about putting out food that her visitors like. Her sketches of the birds are good. She writes much about the birds' behavior, their likes, their dislikes, getting good closeups of the birds to sketch along with some humorous notations. I enjoyed reading about her thoughts and feelings as well as her sharing about her visitors. Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher for the advanced reader's edition.

Thanks so much for the review copy. This book is different from her works of fiction. I liked the sketches.

I picked up this book on a whim since I’ve been a big fan of Amy Tan’s novels. I knew I might be disappointed since this is clearly nonfiction and about her personal journey into sketching birds and becoming a birder – two things which I am not. What a little gem this book turned out to be.
Ms Tan has a gift for touching the common spirit we all have. She shares her life, frailties and successes in this book, creating something enjoyable to read just as she does with her fiction. The book is entirely what it is described to be: a recap of how she became a backyard birder along with her sketches. But along the way, she writes a bit about her life as an author and her need for personal enrichment.
California birders might find this more interesting as those are the birds she sketches and discusses. But I found joy in reading her journey into discovering new beauty in her own backyard and how it enriched her life.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a prerelease copy.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles
by Amy Tan

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Seeking solace from a troubling world growing ever more divisive, Amy Tan turns to the natural wonders fluttering in her backyard. In The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Tan shares her musings, observations and drawings of her avian visitors. It is a thoughtful and charming collection created from excerpts of her personal journals dating back to 2016. Tan states that what began as an amusing distraction from her writing became an obsession of sorts. The stories range from humorous to heartbreaking, personal to scientific. In her writing, we witness the shift in her perceptions through exploration, the recapturing of her childlike wonder and curiosity of the natural world, and her growth as an artist.

Tan’s personal reflections are very readable, relatable and complemented by her collection of artistic renderings. I feel a twinship with the author as she marvels at a bird who playfully swings seemingly for no other purpose than pleasure, or another who pauses when it is eating, looks and acknowledges that she is there. Through The Backyard Bird Chronicles, I also appreciated a closer and more personal look at an otherwise unknown aspect of an author whose literary works I have long admired. Don’t pass up the appendix containing Tan’s backyard bird catalogue, recommended readings including how-to-guides for bird illustrations and other resources provided for further exploration.

I’d like to thank the author @AmyTanWriter, @AAKnop and @NetGalley Audio for the pleasure of reading this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Look for it! Pub Date: 23 Apr 2024

Renowned bestselling author of “The Joy Luck Club” (among numerous other novels), Amy Tan, is also an exceptional artist and amateur ornithologist who demonstrates her prowess for both in her nonfiction book, “Backyard Bird Chronicles,” that is awe-inspiring in its beautifully illustrated and sensitively rendered full-color avian artwork; poetically crafted educational text; and humorously annotated and depicted quick sketches of daily habits of birds around her home.

The daughter of an ornithologist, Tan notes that her father encouraged her and her brother to observe, study, classify and draw birds from the time they were toddlers capable of drawing and writing. Drawing is an activity that Tan states that she has always enjoyed, but never took lessons for until she was in her early sixties.

From the exquisitely detailed artworks presented in “Chronicles,” Tan demonstrates her rare gift as a nature artist with bird portraits to rival those of great American Naturalist John J. Audubon. Tan’s details of bird feathering, ruffling crests, eye contact, and color patterns is stunning.

She also shares how she and her husband, Lou, created a nature habitat in their backyard specifically to attract a large variety of bird visitors. Tan provides instructions on feeding and watering birds; offers ideas for making homemade bird baths and hummingbird feeders; suggests bird box ideas and much, much more.

This is a treasure for every BIRDER friend and family member! Amy Tan is one of my all-time favorite authors. Now, she is one of my favorite artists and naturalists.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author and Artist Amy Tan, and Publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

This beautiful book was written and illustrated by Amy Tan who wrote The Joy Luck Club. I absolutely love birdwatching so I found this book fascinating and relatable. Very well written.