“Beachcombing has helped me to place my imagination in the sea and has encouraged me to seek an understanding of its workings; to notice the way the tides respond to the phases of the moon.”

DNF at 17%. Man I tried. I really did. But if I’m being honest this book was very repetitive and so boring. It made me not even want to pick it up to read. I just could not get invested in this author’s story.

Thank you anyway to Netaglley, HarperOne, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I loved this atmospheric love story to the ocean. The author writes a engaging story of her search for a elusive sea bean on the north shores of Europe and life suffering with chronic pain. I applaud the author for writing honestly of the dislike of childbirth and the awful health consequences for women with chronic pain and the trauma for chronic pain patients. Its time women write honestly of this trauma so that other women with chronic pain can understand . She writes honestly and that is always appreciated by readers.
She writes of one living with chronic pain as so many of us do. She utilizes the ocean for healing both her body and her mind. The journey is beautiful and will lead you to your local beaches with a new perspective and appreciation of the healing powers of our oceans. Well done to the author. I loved this book.

DNF'd at 16%. After what felt like the 20th time in just a few chapters, the author mentioned how lost her identity had become by being a mother. I have so many problems with this attitude and the degradation it has done to an entire generation of women. There are many books to be read out in the world. No need to continue wasting my time here.

If you like Katherine May's or Sy Montgomery's writing, you will like Sea Bean: A Beachcomber's Search for a Magical Charm by Sally Huband.

I love this kind of book—one part memoir and one part nature writing. Sally Huband lives on Shetland and combs the beaches looking for a sea bean, a hard seed that has floated to the island from a tropical place and is often used as a good luck or magical charm. On her journey, we learn about her struggles with chronic illness, we learn about life on remote islands, and also about the birds and other wild inhabitants of the Atlantic and her shorelines. Huband has a scientific background and writes about local science projects, the local history of sea beans, and the hobby of sending messages in bottles.

The book encouraged me to see my nearby beach, Point No Point, in a new light and look closer at our little stretch. It is lovely living so close to the ocean, and I'm looking a bit closer now to what washes up on our shore here.

I felt left short at times by the author in the writing of this memoir. She writes of a horrific sea journey, but all I felt was the darkness of the cabin. At other times I wondered why she included certain past histories that seemed to have nothing to do with the story. Her interactions with others seem to be only a footnote. She loves walking along the beach, looking, searching, finding. I just could not get into this book, I just felt stranded at the shore. I thank NetGalley and Harper One for the advance read,