The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

I love every part of this book and it made me think about the environment around me. Well written book.

Exceptional and exquisite. Renkl taps into the natural world with both empathy and clear headedness. I read one chapter per week as a journey throughout the year. Even sitting in my inner city condo, in my mind I could get out and feel the warm breezes, hear the chatter of birds, and know that flowers and insects were working together to create bounty. The art work is beautiful and twines nicely with the text. It was a lovely reading experience.

Comfort of Crows" isn’t the type of book I’d usually pick up, but it turned out to be amazing. It’s a beautiful meditation on the changing seasons in nature, filled with vivid and colorful illustrations that bring the content to life. The book is divided into 52 chapters, one for each week of the year, making it a perfect companion throughout the seasons. This is definitely a book that’s better enjoyed as a hard copy rather than an audiobook or e-reader. Highly recommend for nature lovers and anyone seeking a thoughtful, reflective read.

I ordered this book, I enjoy reading these essays, memories and love of life. For some time there were crows all around my neighborhood. I heard their caw, cawing. Now they are gone somewhere else, These crows are so intelligent, know much about their world. They are so big and noisy they frighten the smaller songbirds. I can't say enough about Mrs. Renkl's book even though parts are sad, but true. The book contains what goes on in one year in Margaret Renkl's backyard and in a rented cabin on the Cumberland Plateau. The book goes over the four seasons from Winter until Autumn. There are many lovely pictures through the book by Mrs. Renkl's brother Billy Renkl, an artist. These pictures bring readers into the world of nature. The book, beautifully written and worded, is sad, tells of time long passed, people long gone, children who are now grownups. What once was and what is now. Mother Nature will do whatever she wants though so many do not agree. People keep fighting against her. Mrs. Renkl agrees with Nature. She loves all the natural world around her in Tennessee as she loved being a child in southern Alabama and being surrounded by nature where she could run free and get to know trees, flowers, everything else she could about what she loves. She hasn't changed. She loves the tiny creatures and does what she do to help them survive. She is their friend, as they are hers. Mrs. Renkl's mother loved nature and taught her daughter to love and respect the natural world as she did. Margaret learned well. As for dying leaves, they make good food for growing other trees. Winter, cold and dark, still beautiful when the land goes to sleep, closes down. Spring when the land wakes up and everything begins to grow, to come alive. Summer, hot and sleepy. Then comes the most beautiful season of the year, Autumn, when everything is so bright, leaves so colorful, fall, he air is cool and crisp. I am glad I did read this book. It makes me so happy. Get out in nature and enjoy. I still don't like what is being taken away from future generations. they need nature and wild country to enjoy and care about.

A fantastic book for poetry and nature lovers. It is the closest thing to Mary Oliver’s poetry I’ve found.