I read 75 adult books this year. These were my 5 stars.

YA

Birding Basics: Tips, Tools & Techniques for Great Bird-Watching by Noah Strycker. 5 stars. 256 pages, pub. 2022

Targeted to beginners and beyond, National Geographic’s fun, inspiring guide to the art, craft, and science of bird-watching combines practical know-how and expert knowledge. Browsable and bursting with helpful illustrations and photographs, Birding Basics offers new ideas for when, where, and how to get to know the birds in your world.

Not a field guide but a primer in best practices, authored by birding expert Noah Strycker, this breezy book features easy-to-follow advice on what to look and listen for, how to use field guides and birding apps, the best equipment to start with, and ways to engage with other birders around the world. Filled with fun facts and seasoned advice, this useful book will help you attract birds to your backyard, master bird identification, name a bird by its song, and witness the magic of migration. Sidebars feature fun facts, identification tips, and easy projects for exploring the world on the wing. from Goodreads

Gage and I have become a little obsessed with our backyard birds in the last few years and this book is going to help us take it to the next level. This book is full of gorgeous photos and information to turn you from a bird-watcher to a birder or bird nerd. It recommends field guides and how to use them. I’ve already downloaded the two recommended apps (Merlin & eBird) and have several websites marked to visit. The middle section where it talks about how to track and identify the birds you see was so helpful.

Even though there are over 10,000 species of birds, only around 700 are found in North America. Gage and I have been using a midwest bird guide for our backyard birds, but we’ll definitely talk about the different ways to track what we see and buy a more comprehensive guide for when we travel. I’m excited to make this part of our homeschool curriculum.

A few quick tips: when birding don’t point and don’t wear white. If you want to keep the squirrels out of your feeder sprinkle the food with chili powder. Birds don’t taste the spice, but the squirrels do.

I can’t recommend this enough for bird enthusiasts.

I want to thank TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be part of the book tour and sending me a copy of the book!

Well, covid finally showed up at our house and it hasn’t been great. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I spent 2-3 days in bed with a fever before transitioning into different yuckiness for about 9 full days. I finally tested negative on day 10. Gage joined me in isolation on day 4 and he’s pretty much run the same schedule, but he’s had chest discomfort. He’s on day 9. He’s bummed that he’s missing his last art class today and his last nature class tomorrow, but the doctor said he shouldn’t go even if he tests negative. Jason managed to not get it. Covid has really put the Christmas cheer and shopping in jeopardy this year.

Needless to say, I’m behind on a few reviews, so let’s get to the first one. I LOVED this one.

Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe, second edition, by National Geographic, 320 pages, 2022

Few experiences are as satisfying as a chance to explore the world through food. Compiled from the expert travel writers at National Geographic, Food Journeys of a Lifetime scours the globe for the world’s best dishes, markets, and restaurants that are worth traveling far and wide to savor.
In this fully revised and updated edition, find the best of the best, including:

Tokyo’s famed fish market and its 226 Michelin-starred restaurants–the most of any city in the world
The ultimate Philly cheesesteak from the city of brotherly love
The perfect cup of tea in China
The spice markets of Marrakech
The juiciest cuts of beef in Argentina
The freshest pasta in Italy
And the ultimate Swiss wine route
Featuring more than 60 new bites and destinations, this book is the key to building a foodie traveler’s ultimate bucket list. Within the flavors and tastes of every cuisine, you’ll find unique stories about the places, cultures, climates, and chefs that produce these extraordinary dishes. A wide selection of recipes invite you to try new cooking techniques and obtain flavors from abroad at home; top 10 lists offer side trips from chocolate factories to champagne bars.

Filled with a dazzling array of diverse recommendations, each page of this inspiring book will make your mouth water–and spur your next gourmet vacation. from Goodreads

If you are looking for the perfect gift for the foodie and or traveler in your life, look no further (Amazon can have it delivered to your door by Friday!). It’s a beautiful book to have on your coffee table or in your kitchen. When I was sent the book, I was expecting restaurants in different countries and while it has that, it’s so much more. It’s full of all of the wonderful things you’d expect from National Geographic. Gorgeous photos, exotic locales, and the details to bring the food alive.

It has lots of Top 10 lists, like Top 10 Places to Catch Your Supper and Top 10 Unusual Food and Drink Festivals. If you want to live vicariously there’s even a list for Bank-Breaking Cocktail Bars. Anyone want to join me in Northern Ireland for $105 Singapore Sling at the Merchant Hotel? All of my fellow Clevelanders will be happy to know that Heinan’s downtown made it on the 10 Historic Food Shops list!

The categories range from Great Food Towns to Specialties & Ingredients and you visit so many gorgeous places. We are planning a trip overseas next year and you can be sure that I’ll be using this for the planning. It also has lots of American mentions so I guess I should check it for our next road trip too.

There are so many sections with phot spreads and so many lists. I’m pretty sure we’ll be reading this for months to come. Honestly, this is on of my favorites from National Geographic.

I want to thank TLC Book Tours for sending me the book!