Middle Sister's Mid-Month Review

 I've had a lot of chances to read this month--hooray! Here's a bonus mid-month review on two new titles.

The Hummingbird Handbook by John Shewey Living as I do in the hummingbird capital of the US, and being an avid albeit lousy birder as I am, and owning half a bookshelf of bird identification books as I do, naturally I wanted to read this new book about hummingbirds. I am very glad I did. It's a great addition to any birder's shelf, and a great introduction to birding--and this particular little bird--for novices. The photographs are great: large and clear and plentiful. There are some pocket bird books that are useful, but the illustrations are not, and that's why most birders carry huge backpacks--because we're carrying our books as well as using our phone apps to id on the wing, The prose is a plus as well. Shewey's enthusiasm for hummers is apparent and his style engaging. I love that he included how he built several of his own gardens to attract hummingbirds as examples, with photos. His descriptions contrasting different species, and instructions on where to look in order to distinguish between similar species, were perfect, being as I am one of those birders who is never looking at the right part of the bird to find the distinguishing mark. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to birders and naturalists. Net Galley

Public Trust by Tess Shepherd Generally I am not a fan of romance novels, and I usually avoid romance novels gussied up with some mystery or a murder to appeal to multi-genre readers like the plague. But I liked the cover of this book, and I've been consciously trying to read other genres during this plague, er, pandemic to give myself something new to think about. And I am pleased to say that while this is not my favorite cup of tea, it defied my bad expectations. Oh, I still hate romance books, but the mystery was grittier than I expected and centered on a serial murderer. I wasn't expecting that; I thought we'd have a cosy with sex. We still got the sex (and if you like soft porn, there's plenty for you in this book; if you like squeaky clean books, pass this one by), but the serial killer aspect belied the cute cosy cover. I liked how the author set up the storyline, including the introduction of the murderer's point of view half way through to help the reader solve the whodunnit along with Jacob and Lola. This first in the series is going to follow the framework of another, older series (which I can't remember now, of course) where each book involves a different person out of a group--either as amateur detective or victim. This solves two issues mystery readers often encounter: it allows the reader to stay with a person or group of characters they like, but doesn't run into the Cabot Cove/Jessica Fletcher/unbelievable stretching problem that author's eventually have to face of trying to figure out ways to get the main character involved in yet another murder. Next up: Jacob's sister gets her change at romance and mystery. Fast, fast read ( took me three hours), perfect beach read. Net Galley