Books, Nature
I enjoyed this book immensely. I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was a middle-aged woman with a slower, more monotone voice. I did find myself drifting off from time to time, but nevertheless I enjoyed it. This book is about a naturalist’s exploration of different species that can be found in urban environments, specifically those found in the Seattle area. Chock full of nature facts that I could then spew at others, which is always fun. I loved the idea of exploring nature around you. It definitely made me feel more curious about my own backyard and also inspired me to bring my mini magnifying glass on a recent camping trip. Though I’ve lost the slides so it’s more or less useless. (And by I lost the slides I mean a certain child of mine lost the slides.)
I had the book on in the car driving a lot, and I expected my daughter to complain and ask me to change it to music or something, but she found the plant and bug and animal facts just as interesting as I did. I’d really like to go to Seattle and see the gardens mentioned in this book. It was fun to journey with the author all over the Seattle area and learn about the creatures there.
Also, the author. I looked her up and was surprised to find her a much younger woman than I expected (based on the narrator). She apparently used to have a blog where she wrote about her observations and thoughts, but took it down because AI stole her articles for its letter-grinding machine and all her traffic as well. (Why go out and read an article when the AI can summarize it for you?) I’m quite sad. This is quite a loss.
Also, since publication of the book in 2020, she changed her name from Kelly Brenner to Saimi Hanma and now lives in Japan. I have so many questions. How did she end up in Japan? Does she like living there? Why did she change her name (and not just her first but also her last!) to a Japanese name? I’m especially intrigued because I know I’d like to eventually spend some time in Japan.
I’m going to send her an email with my impertinent questions. I don’t think I would have without this blog, but now I feel like this mystery has been expressed and written and I just have to know the answer. Stay tuned. If I ever do receive a response, I’m going to write about it.