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I'm late at this again - but I didn't forget! :-p I'm a part of a little book club group that tries to meet once a month to talk about favorite books and media. Last month this was one of the books I shared and wanted to talk about. And I find it interesting because it's connected to my grandfather.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/book-review-gifts-of-the-crow-by-john-marzluff-and-tony-angell/

This was a book I bought a few years ago while down in Columbus during covid. I went with my ex because we originally had planned a trip out of state but couldn't do that anymore with the pandemic so we did a trip a few hours away and while in Columbus went to a bookstore where I picked up a few books, this one being one of them. And I read it quickly after I bought it. I heard of this book before, so I was glad when I found it.
What I enjoyed best was the different stories from it. All over the world they discussed different stories of crows and their interactions with each other - with us. How intelligent they are, making tools to use, how they communicate with each other, how they know the difference with us humans. It was an eye opener of a book. I always knew they were smart creatures but to dive deeper into the subject and learn more just made me happy. It took my mind off of a difficult part in my life, gave me something new to think about and appreciate. I remember a time when I took my lunch break and sat outside at a playground reading this book with the thought that I might see a crow any moment since I was just outside reading away. I don't remember seeing one. But just being outside with this book is a nice peaceful memory. If anyone is interested in birds in general I recommend this book!
An finally - the way this book is connected to my grandfather - Raymond Slaby - is because he talked about wanting to come back as a crow after he passed away. He loved birds and who knows, maybe crows were his favorite? I have some funny stories to share about him and this topic but I'm not sure I'll share in this post. But whenever I see a crow, raven or similar bird I think of grandfather and smile to myself.
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Today while at work and deep in thought while cleaning I came up with an idea - each month I'm going to suggest a book for you guys. Just one. Since I missed last month I'll do two this month. I'll still write about what I am reading as I read those books but I thought this would be nice, too.

"Let the great world spin" By: Colum McCann

This book was published in 2009 and I picked it up at one of the many library book sales. Before that I already owned a book by Colum McCann but never read it. I decided to read this one first because it felt like a better choice at the time. I read it around the time of 2018/2019 I recall.
It covers different characters over a set of time in 1974 in New York city and how their lives are on different paths but also cross from time to time as fate strings them together for certain, unexpected events. Even if they haven't met - they still in strange ways are connected. The name of that is called 'non-linear fashion' and this is the first time I've heard of it and I think it may be my favorite writing style now.
I absolutely love how Colum McCann writes. His sentences are captivating. It's beautiful. It's heartbreaking. It's raw. It's powerful. I love stories that are tragic and real and this one marks all of the boxes for what I love in a story. There are parts of this story that as I read I got goose bumps, tears, couldn't put the book down - and if I did have to put the book down I found the quickest way to pick it back up again. I think it took me just a week or two to read this book. And that is unusual for me since I usually take sometimes up to a month to read a book about it's length - which was over 300 pages.

https://www.nationalbook.org/books/let-the-great-world-spin/

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