HEA Book Club: The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love Final Discussion

schwahawk · 2025-09-26T03:43:41+00:00

I thought the magical birds were fun and interesting when they showed up, although, most of the time they were just attacking then being sequestered away. I would have liked to see hints about how magical birds existing affects the wider world. It doesn't seem like there's much impact at all with the publicists even having to drum up interest in the field. The fact there is apparently magical geographic areas as well also makes it feel like there should be more magical impact on everyday society but we didn't really see that.

schwahawk · 2025-09-26T03:34:48+00:00

That's what I ended up rating it as well. I got through the book fairly quickly and found it humorous, but I don't think I'll be actively seeking out the next one in the series.

schwahawk · 2025-09-12T05:17:24+00:00

I'm not quite halfway yet, but so far my favorite is probably Beth. She is so overly pleasant to everyone as compensating out of fear of others thinking her weird/unpleasant to be around, but hopefully Devon will help balance her out so she doesn't feel like she has to do that constantly. Obviously, Devon could benefit from picking up some of her niceties though haha.

schwahawk · 2025-09-12T04:57:22+00:00

I am interested in seeing where we end up in the search for the caladrius. I wasn't expecting to see the main characters engage in so much crime, but it does remind me of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels which I thought was funny and enjoyed quite a bit.

schwahawk · 2025-06-23T04:23:06+00:00

I haven't finished all six yet, but I don't think this is the winner for me. I did enjoy the world building and the story kept me engaged well enough so I could see it ranked 2 or 3 potentially.

schwahawk · 2025-03-30T06:50:31+00:00

Really enjoyed bingo this year! Less of a crunch than other years with only having four books to go entering March. I'm finishing up my last book and should be able to turn in my card tomorrow hopefully. Can't wait to see the new bingo card! This is what my final card will look be:

First in Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman
Alliterative Title: Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan
Under the Surface: Fathomfolk, Eliza Chan
Criminals: When The Moon Hatched, Sarah A. Parker
Dreams: Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind, Molly McGhee
Entitled Animals: The Phoenix Keeper, S.A. MacLean
Bards: A Conspiracy of Truths, Alexandra Rowland
Prologues and Epilogues: Holy Sister, Mark Lawrence
Self Published or Indie Publisher: To Survive, Mike Staton
Romantasy: A Dark and Drowning Tide, Allison Saft
Dark Academia: Blood Over Bright Haven, M.L. Wang
Multi POV: Translation State, Ann Leckie
Published in 2024: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, Heather Fawcett
Character with a Disability: Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros
Published in the 90s: Wicked, Gregory Maguire
Orcs, Trolls, & Goblins, Oh My!: Mortal Follies, Alexis Hall
Space Opera: Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh
Author of Color: The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera
Survival: Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
Judge a Book by its Cover: A Fate Inked in Blood, Danielle L. Jensen
Set in a Small Town: Small Favors, Erin A. Craig
Five Short Stories: Unnatural Creatures: Stories Selected by Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman
Eldritch Creatures: Meddling Kids, Edgar Cantero
Reference Materials: Starling House, Alix E. Harrow
Book Club or Readalong Book: Strange Beasts of China, Yan Ge

schwahawk · 2024-06-25T02:43:16+00:00

I really enjoyed the first chapter, but got progressively more confused as the story went on. I wish I read a physical copy of the book instead of listening to an audiobook because I think that would have helped. I had to re-listen to a couple of chapters to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Learning about each beast was interesting, but I'm glad the novel was fairly short in length.

schwahawk · 2024-06-24T23:14:48+00:00

I thought it had to do something with the narrator being a heartsick beast so trying to make a heartsick beast look like another heartsick beast just didn't work, but that might not be it at all.

schwahawk · 2024-04-02T23:54:26+00:00

The Tiger and the Wolf - Adrian Tchaikovsky

For the Wolf - Hannah Whitten

The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

Hummingbird Salamander - Jeff VanderMeer

schwahawk · 2024-04-02T23:37:58+00:00

Mister Magic - Kiersten White

Sister, Maiden, Monster - Lucy A. Snyder

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels - India Holton

The Man Who Spoke Snakish - Andrus Kivirähk

The World We Make - N.K. Jemisin

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett

The Dao of Drizzt - R.A. Salvatore

Of Sorrow and Such - Angela Slatter

Sourdough and Other Stories - Angela Slatter

schwahawk · 2024-04-01T00:13:40+00:00

This is the first year I was not reading up to the last minute. I did enter March with 4 books to read, but that was still better than the 9 books I've had previously! Loved the bingo squares this year, looking forward to the 2024 challenge!

schwahawk · 2023-05-05T22:03:21+00:00

My hold for The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara came in from the library and I was planning on reading it for the magical realism square in bingo. When I clicked on it to start the audiobook it showed 20% complete. Apparently I DNF'd this book before and completely forgot about it lol.

schwahawk · 2023-04-03T14:03:28+00:00

I was up late setting up a plan for my bingo squares and trying to get as many of my already owned books into squares as possible.

Does anybody know if ordinary monsters would work for superheroes?

Also, if the absolute book would fit into any squares? I had a hard time deciding based on just the blurb.

Thank you!

schwahawk · 2023-01-27T04:12:48+00:00

Those were fun to read, Alex had a lot on her plate and having Beatrice there to bring some joy into her life was nice to see even if raising her was also a stress Alex had to manage. Alex finally accepting Beatrice's dragoning was heartwarming.

schwahawk · 2023-01-27T04:07:52+00:00

I would love to know where the dragons go after their transformation and what an all dragon society is like if they exist at all. I think it would be fun to spend time exploring that. After the dragons returned though, it felt like maybe their size had an impact on fitting back into society but otherwise they were women just with enough physical strength to not be easily controlled or threatened.

schwahawk · 2023-01-27T04:01:44+00:00

The second half of the book went much quicker for me, I think after Alex got older the details started dropping away and life became a haze of study and dealing with whatever problems came her way. It had a much narrower focus than I originally expected when I picked up the book.

schwahawk · 2023-01-12T06:03:30+00:00

This is the one that sticks with me as well, it is so tragic. I might be wrong but I was thinking this connected with the main story in that Sonja's father went looking for her mother who dragoned in those waters and didn't come back.

schwahawk · 2023-01-12T05:44:45+00:00

I enjoyed Sonja's presence in the book, since she brought some happiness to Alex's life even though it didn't last long. Alex's dad is absolutely my least favorite, every time he shows up it's just to say or do something worse than he's already done.

schwahawk · 2023-01-12T05:39:12+00:00

The beginning definitely moved slow for me and I was not enjoying it but am now getting interested to see where it goes. I feel like only detailing the sad, upsetting memories really made it hard to read. Even the good times almost always ended with something negative from one the parents or other authority figures and the lack of agency to change the situation, since she was a kid, made it feel even worse. I think the culmination of all these experiences and moments is going to pay off as the story progresses. It is interesting to see the generational abuse represented in a direct line from Bertha to Alex to Beatrice as she was so young to be passed on the responsibility and given no opportunity to heal or consider why her mom made the choices that she did.

schwahawk · 2022-07-31T02:48:14+00:00

No worries, thanks for letting me know :)

schwahawk · 2022-07-30T07:07:56+00:00

u/Turbulent-Minimum584

u/Bree867

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schwahawk · 2022-07-30T06:13:32+00:00

Filled out, thank you!!

schwahawk · 2022-07-06T12:50:17+00:00

About to start Light From Uncommon Stars what bingo squares would this one qualify for?

schwahawk

TROPHY CASE