The Backyard Bird Chronicles

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 538 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 01-10-2025


Top reviews from the United States

Costumer
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024
I will be buying more copies for good friends and relatives. As a second generation Californian who loves to take nature walks, this book is a true joy to read!!! I am not an expert on birds, but love to watch them in my yard and in the wild. Amy Tan has become an excellent artist! I believe this is partly (or mainly) because of her association with John Muir Laws, who has written several wonderful books on how to draw birds and nature journaling. (Amy Tan wrote the preface to one of these.) Very happy to receive the book today - hot off the press!
quality1
4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024
I preordered this book. It was delivered to my mailbox, but the packaging wasn’t sufficient to protect the. Over from getting wrinkled a bit. When I pay for a new book, I expect it to look new.
Also, did Amazon sell a lesser quality of this book to me? I paid for a hard cover, but it is very, very thin.
The book as written is very good.
The Queen Mother
5.0 out of 5 stars Amy Tan’s new naturalist chronicle!
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
Wonderful! Mom loves birds and she loves reading. It is the PERFECT Mother’s Day present!
Mary Ellen
3.0 out of 5 stars Gift
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024
Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for allowing me to read and review The Backyard Bird Chronicles on NetGalley.

Published: 04/23/24

Stars: 3.5

Detailed.

This is too much for me. I was looking for a story. This is a thorough fact driven book. I appreciated Tan sharing her failures with feeders, etc., her concern over feed and at one point she gave it all away fearful she would hurt a species. The Hummingbirds grabbed my attention. Immediately I could visualize them. But, by the time she finished with the ins and outs of their feeders I knew I was in trouble. Bored was settling in.

Tan is studying her backyard. The details are important to her. And in all awkward fairness if you want to feed birds her tips may be helpful.

If I knew someone who lived in an ice/snow region I may gift them the book, letting them experience something different. I would consider gifting this to someone who reads a few pages of nonfiction, it's not a novel.
NM grandma
4.0 out of 5 stars Like the book but not the shipping.
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
I very much like this,book but purchased as a gift and it arrived with the dust jacket damaged.???? I don't have time to replace it.
Customer image
NM grandma
4.0 out of 5 stars Like the book but not the shipping.
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
I very much like this,book but purchased as a gift and it arrived with the dust jacket damaged.???? I don't have time to replace it.
Images in this review
Customer image
Rae
5.0 out of 5 stars Through the eyes of a bird lover
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2024
Oh the wonder of wild backyard birds! Learning so much of a birds life through the eyes of Amy Tan was remarkable. How they eat, what they eat, how they live, how they interact with different species, which includes human beings. So many different ways of nesting and where they like to nest. The different types of feeders and why some birds differ in their opinions of which feeder they will use. Also how some hide food for later use called caching. How they protect one another from harmful attacks. What I found interesting was how they interacted with Amy Tan.

Amy Tan what a remarkable book you have written. So many of us have in interest in feeding wild birds, like me. I learned so much about all the birds in your yard. This journel you wrote is a grand idea. And I thank the person who encouraged you to do a book to be published on your wonder of birds. Your drawings are amazing too.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to get to read before publishing. I learned so much from Amy Tan
Hannah Stansel
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for the Bird Lovers in your life!
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2024
This is truly a case of the right book, finding the right person, at the right time. I am a newbie bird watcher, so when I saw Amy Tan’s, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, was available from PRHaudio I jumped at the chance to listen to it, and friends, if you enjoy birds like I do, this is definitely one you need to have on your radar.

I listen to the majority of my audiobooks on daily walks around my neighborhood. It was something special to share in Amy Tan’s love of birds while watching my own neighborhood birds around me as I walked. And getting to listen to Amy narrate it herself was such a treat. I enjoyed her stories, learned a thing or two, and it fueled my passion for my own bird watching hobby. This was one I really enjoyed listening to but I do want to get my hands on the physical copy to see all the beautiful illustrations and how they go along with her journal entries.

Pick this one up if you like:

-Bird Watching
-Audiobooks read by the author
-Nonfiction
-Journal Entry Format
-Connecting with Nature
She Treads Softly
5.0 out of 5 stars love story dedicated to birds and bird watching
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024
The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan is a delightful illustrated love story dedicated to birds and bird watching. It is very highly recommended. This is an amazing book and I can't wait to buy a hardcover copy.

In 2016 Amy Tan began keeping journals with drawings about the birds she observed in her northern California backyard. The Backyard Bird Chronicles represents material from nine journals full of observations from September 16, 2017 to December 15, 2022. Most of the entries are observations or lighthearted notes, but a few more serious events are also included, like the 2017 salmonellosis outbreak among Pine Siskins. She observes and identifies the many birds, the problems like squirrels, crows, cats, etc. At the end is a list of all the birds she has seen in her backyard as of Dec 2022, and a selected reading list.

This is a spectacular book! I can't even explain how much I adored this book. I loved the charming personal, reflective, humorous observations about the birds, the information, and especially the sketches of the birds she seeing. Tan is the daughter of an ornithologist, which explains some of her knowledge, but she also adores watching the birds.

Her devotion to feeding them, providing water, and creating a welcoming habitat for a wide variety of birds is inspiring. David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, wrote the foreword and writes that this is a "collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words." Thanks to Knopf Doubleday for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Best Sellers in

 
 

Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 651
18.8
 
 

In the Spell of the Barkley: Unravelling the Mystery of the World's Toughest Ultramarathon

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 81
13.36
 
 

Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 6145
6.55
 
 

With Winning in Mind: 3rd Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2425
13.08
 
 

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 8793
11.03
 
 

MOX

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 3205
18.8
 
 

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 283
15.75
 
 

A Book of Five Rings: The Strategy of Musashi

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 740
3.67