It is the end of 2024 - so time for a bit of a wrap-up!  Lyzy Lusterman, owner of Buteo Books, joined me to talk about some favorites, some trends, and books to look forward to in 2025. 

Buteo Books is a family-owned and operated business based on the firm belief that independent booksellers are a vital component of our social and cultural landscape.  Their brick-and-mortar store is in San Rafael, California but can also be found online (Instagram; TikTok)

Don't forget to check-out Buteo Books for holiday gifts!  Use discount code: BIRDNERDBOOKCLUB to receive 5% off your orders.

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Tessa Boase's Etta Lemon is a gripping narrative exploring two formidable heroines and their rival, overlapping campaigns. Moving from the feather workers’ slums to high society, from the first female political rally to the rise of the eco-feminist, it restores Etta Lemon to her rightful place in history – the extraordinary woman who saved the birds.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Most birders keep lists of the species birds they have seen, but do any keep a list of pub birds, that is birds on pub signs and in pub names? John Lawton's Inn Search of Birds is about these pub birds, their natural histories, folk-histories and those of the pubs that bear their names, some of the people involved in the story, and the memories that pub birds have evoked over a birding lifetime. This may appear to be a niche aspect of birding but before the advent of modern technology, pubs in ‘good birding spots' were often the best place to find out from other birders “What's about?”, preferably over a pint.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Lillian Stokes and Matt Young's The Stokes Guide to Finches of the United States and Canada has everything you could possibly want to know about the finches of North America (including Hawaii!) and Canada. Learn all you need to know about identifying and attracting finches with this comprehensive, gloriously colorful field guide from America’s foremost authorities on birds and nature.

Following the extraordinary finch superflight of 2020-2021, birders across the country became obsessed with finches. With The Stokes Guide to Finches of the United States and Canada, you can gain expert knowledge on these beautiful birds and bring them into your own yard. This fully illustrated guide tells you all you need to know about attracting, observing, and protecting finches.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Randi Minetor's The Complete Language of Birds dives into an unusual dimension of historical and arcane knowledge with the study of birds. A collection of fun and interesting facts about birds gathered from science and culture, the stunning illustrations and lively descriptions make this an engaging guide you’ll return to again and again.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Sophie Osborn's Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds is the story of one woman’s remarkable work with a trio of charismatic, endangered bird species—and her discoveries about the devastating threats that imperil them.

A wildlife biologist and birder, Osborn reveals how the harmful environmental choices we’ve made—including pesticide use, the introduction of invasive species, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction—have decimated Peregrine Falcons, Hawaiian Crows, and California Condors.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Geoff Wisner's A Year of Birds is a work of art as well as a work of literature. With 150 watercolors and field sketches by renowned bird artist Barry Van Dusen and a foreword by celebrated naturalist Peter Alden, the author of numerous Audubon Field Guides, Henry David Thoreau's writings on birds are showcased in a way never seen before. Unlike previous collections, the observations in A YEAR OF BIRDS are arranged by the day of the year, emphasizing the relationship of birds with their environment and the spiritual significance of the seasons. On any given day, curious readers might step into their yards and compare the birds they observe with those that Thoreau saw and heard.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Website: http://www.gobirdingpodcast.com

Sarah T. Dubb's, Birding with Benefits, published by Gallery Books is a romance novel about a divorcée who embarks on her “year of yes” and crosses paths with a shy and sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life.

Newly divorced, almost-empty-nester Celeste is finally seeking adventure and putting herself first, clichés be damned. So when a friend asks her to “partner” with his buddy John for an event, Celeste throws herself into the role of his temporary girlfriend. But quiet cinnamon roll John isn’t looking for love, just birds—he needs a partner for Tucson’s biggest bird-watching contest if he’s ever going to launch his own guiding business. By the time they untangle their crossed signals, they’ve become teammates…and thanks to his meddling friends, a fake couple.

Celeste can’t tell a sparrow from a swallow, but John is a great teacher, and the hours they spend hiking in the Arizona wilderness feed Celeste’s hunger for new adventures while giving John a chance to practice his dream job. As the two spend more time together, they end up watching more than just the birds, and their chemistry becomes undeniable.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Jeff Ollerton's Birds and Flowers explores the relationships between plants and birds which first emerged at least 50 million years ago and over time have influenced the evolution of both groups.

This groundbreaking book is the first to deal with pollinating birds in all their diversity, involving almost 1,390 avian species interacting with tens of thousands of different plants. It rescues them from being novelties of natural history and explores these interactions in all their evolutionary and ecological significance. Pollinating birds have intricate lives that are often highly dependent on flowers, and the plants themselves are at the whim of birds for their reproduction. This makes them important players within many ecosystems, including tropical rainforests, dry grasslands, temperate woodlands, coastal mangroves and oceanic islands.

Bird–flower relationships are threatened by disease, habitat destruction and climate change. Some of the birds are already extinct. Yet there are optimistic stories to be told about conservation and restoration projects that reveal the commitment of people to preserving these vital ecological connections. In addition, as a source of cultural inspiration with a history stretching back millennia, pollinating birds and their flowers are part of the ongoing relationship between humanity and the rest of nature.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Gretchen Newberry's The Nighthawk Evening focuses on the bird itself—its complex conservation status and cultural significance—and the larger, often hidden world of nocturnal animals. Along the way, she gives readers insight into the daily life of a scientist, especially one who works primarily at night. The Nighthawk’s Evening uses one scientist and one species to explore the challenges, disappointments, and successes of scientific research and conservation efforts.

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IG: @Hannahgoesbirding and @Erikgoesbirding
Facebook: @HannahandErikGoBirding
Email us at [email protected]
Website: http://www.gobirdingpodcast.com

Support the show

Connect with me at...

GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
IG: @Hannahgoesbirding
Facebook: @HannahandErikGoBirding
Email us at [email protected]
Website: http://www.gobirdingpodcast.com