Birds by the Shore, Jennifer Ackerman
Birds by the Shore, Jennifer Ackerman
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Birds by the Shore
Observing the Natural Life of the Atlantic Coast

Author: Jennifer Ackerman

Narrator: Jennifer Ackerman

Unabridged: 5 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 05/07/2019


Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Genius of Birds, the revised and reissued edition of her beloved book of essays describing her forays along the Delaware shore

For three years, Jennifer Ackerman lived in the small coastal town of Lewes, Delaware, in the sort of blue-water, white-sand landscape that draws summer crowds up and down the eastern seaboard. Birds by the Shore is a book about discovering the natural life at the ocean's edge: the habits of shorebirds and seabirds, the movement of sand and water, the wealth of creatures that survive amid storm and surf. Against this landscape's rhythms, Ackerman revisits her own history--her mother's death, her father's illness and her hopes to have children of her own.

This portrait of life at the ocean's edge will be relished by anyone who has walked a beach at sunset, or watched a hawk hover over a winter marsh, and felt part of the natural world. With a quiet passion and friendly, generous intelligence, it explores the way that landscape shapes our thoughts and perceptions and shows that home ground is often where we feel the deepest response to the planet.

About The Author

JENNIFER ACKERMAN has been writing about science, nature, and human biology for almost three decades. Her most recent books include The Genius of Birds, Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body; Ah-Choo: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold; Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity; and Notes from the Shore. A contributor to Scientific American, National Geographic, The New York Times, and many other publications, Ackerman is the recipient of an National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction, a Bunting Fellowship, and a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Pam

It is a bit unusual for a book to be called Birds By The Shore, have a beautiful picture of an Oystercatcher on its cover, and then not to be altogether about birds. Yes, the book is about the shore, particularly the Delaware shore where Ackerman lived for three years. But does it matter that it is o......more

Goodreads review by Krista

I discovered in nature the same appeal I found in books. Both were engrossing, filled with the richness of particularities and yet mysteriously universal. Both were the stuff of perspective. I didn't realise that my brand new ARC of Birds by the Shore (to be released May of 2019) is actually a sl......more

Goodreads review by Bethany

My 2 star review is not to be harsh, but to be a warning to future readers that this book is NOT ABOUT BIRDS. Jennifer Ackerman is a good writer & explains things in very interesting ways. However this book jumps from one subject to another so quickly that I got so confused so many times & found mys......more


Quotes

“Arresting and provocative… A joy to read”—The Washington Post

“Ackerman’s glimpses of the Delaware shore are full of the kind of fascinating detail that makes good nature writing as engaging as any fiction.”—Smithsonian Magazine

“Like walking along an ocean beach with a knowledgeable, articulate friend, reading this personalized natural history is a restorative experience.”—Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review

“A lyrical meditation on the scientific and philosophical meaning to be found in one short stretch of Delaware coastline… Poetic, precise, intelligent, thoughtful. A lovely book.”—Kirkus

“Serene and loving, Ackerman’s deeply personal take on the world around her constitutes nature writing at its best.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A celebration of finding a home, wherever that may be.”—People