I found the language and imagery in 'They' to be very touching and the ending bittersweet. I suspect it could feel ambiguous to some, and I feel that those who have dealt with the death of a close loved one might garner more from the ending than others.

Also, I really liked the comparison between being blinded by physiology and blinded by greed that the scene with Turpin implied.

Four of Blackwood's best horror stories. 

While The Listner's ending is not as effective in this day and age, the story still builds an admirable sense of foreboding. 

The Willows and The Wendigo both touch beautifully on our relationship with nature and the wild places where humans are not always a welcome element. 

The Empty House is a story said to be based on Blackwood's own experiences with the paranornal and is a good study in the power of fear.

A very well performed collection of several classic horror stories. 

I highly recommend this collection for fans of gothic horror and/or for people wanting to discover the gothic horror genre.

A fascinating read for birders and non-birders alike. Highly informative, the book covers a range of biological and physiological topics, from feeding to flight. 

Clearly written for an American audience, it only gives temperatures in Fahrenheit and speeds/distance in miles so readers may want to keep a conversion table on hand. 

I did skip over the metabolic section as the numbers/maths was too difficult for me to follow, but that was a 'me' issue and not necessarily a failing of the book. 

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in birds.

A lot of the book is dedicated to genetics and evolution, which I hadn't expected from the title, but I found the entire thing interesting.

Some stories should be read, but others should be told.

This story should be heard.

I first tried to read this book over a year ago and found it very difficult to enjoy. I *wanted* to enjoy it, but it just wasn't happening, so I gave up on it.

Today, I came across the audiobook narrated by Robin Miles and thought I would give it another shot - and I am so glad that I did!

Where reading the story myself felt awkward and chore-like, listening to Miles was the complete opposite. Her narration was lyrical and inviting. I was instantly captivated by her performance and the story.

As such, I highly recommend the audiobook version of this book.

Well-written and intriguing, but it dragged on a bit in several places. 

I also found Cormac's chapters more interesting than Ashling's, and by the end, I was speed reading through Ashling's chapters.

While I can appreciate how well this book is written, the complexity of the world building, and the quality of its political intrigue, the Orientalism was painful.

This was a nice, easy read with some interesting bits of knowledge and history. However, I often found the author would allude to something but then not go into any detail about it. For instance, she spoke about techniques for hand pollinating (I forget the actual term) vanilla orchids and how a 12 year old found a better technique which is still in use today but then failed to tell us anything about that technique. She would often mention something of interest or allude to some sort of progressive technique and then end the chapter without telling us anything about it. I found this really irritating.

This book is an emotive opinion piece, so don't expect the inclusion of sources or the most scientifically based information.

This book has some really good advice but I found the strong focus on how other people view your home / what guests would think bizarre since a) our home is about our comfort, not other peoples and b) our friends aren't judgemental so we have no reason to worry about them judging how our home looks.

The external motivation wasn't something I could relate to, but I did find some useful tips and ideas.