Well this was an unexpected pleasure. This charming little book is about Rory McGrath's adventures in birdwatching. No, stop yawning, this is actually a very funny, informative and in the end quite touching book. McGrath takes us from his days at Cambridge, where his fascination with a girl in the local bookshop leads him to learn all the Latin names of the birds of Britain to impress her. He falls head over heels for her but it all ends badly and then there's a leap forward of 25 years or so and we catch up with him again with his second wife and their forays into the world of 'twitching'.

McGrath also ropes in his chain-smoking, hard drinking friend, Danny, to try and get him to stop smoking and take up bird-watching instead. Easy to read, wittily written and with loads of really quite informative stuff on British birds, this is well worth a read. There's even a twist at the end which reveals McGrath to be an inveterate romantic.

Recommended. ( )

An enjoyable and very different read. Plenty of humour, as you'd expect from Rory McGrath, but also one or two surprises in there too. Some delightful bird stories, and his passion for bird watching comes through strongly! 3.5 Stars. ( )

04 May 2011 - charity shop

An autobiography of sorts, but based around birdwatching so a long section in Cambridge when he starts off the hobby, then skips through the years. Great and engaging when he talks about the bird, Latin names, etc., but a bit silly in places too. But not as silly as I thought it'd be, and a rather good read. ( )

Drivel. ( )

Part autobiography, part birding memoir, this is a light-hearted, funny glimpse into the world of British birding as seen through the eyes of the author, a TV comedian and bird devotee. A great mix of amusing anecdotes, Linnean cleassification and tales of teenage angst, with a denoument that I guarantee will send you off smiling. An excellent book, well worth a read. ( )