I got this fair-condition softcover from Better World Books. It's a memoir about the author's experiences with a rescued baby sparrow, and while I have less sympathy for English sparrows (aka "house sparrows") than most other birds - they are quite numerous and often take over habitat from native birds - I did find the author's observations of this one particular bird interesting and touching. (OK, a bit over the top, too; there's an entire chapter on the issues of bird-poop in the upstairs rooms where sparrow B, and a growing collection of other rescued birds, are allowed free rein. It's quite amusing, but doesn't make me want to have a bird-room in my own house.)

There are sad bits, of course - not every attempted-rescue works out well - and there are personal ups and downs, and a near-fatal bird-hiding-in-the-wrong-place incident that was quite dramatic. But overall it's rather sweet.

This edition does include the sad postscript about B's end, which occurred shortly after the hardcover first came out... Still, it seems he had a good life, for a sparrow, and certainly touched his people's hearts.

I'm sending this to BCer glade1 in NC as part of the US/Canada wishlist tag game. Enjoy!

*** Released for the 2018 Oh the Places We Can Go release challenge. ***

Received in yesterday's mail. Thanks, GoryDetails!

What a wonderful little book! It is mostly a story about B and his man, but includes snippets of family life, other birds, history of birds, and more. Chris Chester was a man with a black cloud over his head but B brought out the best in him.

I read that Chester died in 2007 (?), and I am sad that he will not write any more books, because I do like his style. I like that he and his wife lived to their own inner guides and not as much to what society thought. (Although I also read that they were divorced before he died.) I think B's lifetime what Chester's high point.

I'm going to hold on to this book for a while longer, thinking I'd like to dip into it a bit more...