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Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood in Books

May 29, 2018  
FT
Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood
Terry Masear | 2015
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Full disclosure: I don't like birds. They terrify me.

Hummingbirds being the exception, and even more so now that I've devoured this book.
(I've read it three times in the past year!)

Fastest Things on Wings is a rare glimpse into this hidden wonderland of the lives of hummingbirds, and a California woman's heroic efforts to rescue and rehabilitate them. The care, compassion and love Terry has for these almost mythical creatures is astounding, and my heart is ten times bigger after reading of some of these stories, including that of Garbriel, a male rescued in the middle of Rodeo Drive, and female hummingbird Pepper, who was injured on a movie set. You come to admire these tiny little birds stories of tenacity and strength, mixed in with dash of science, a whole lot of heart and honestly, a bit of magic.

It takes a lot of time, energy and strength to rehabilitate any animal. There are some very sad losses, but some delightful, and charming wins throughout this book and you relish in the fact that this type of job actually exists, and how quickly you are pulled in and charmed by it's tight knit community.
I learned so much about the migration, mating, and eating habits of these creatures, and it has me hungry to learn more about this splendid, beautiful bird that enamors so many.

5 Stars - without a doubt.
  
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David McK (3663 KP) rated Waylander in Books

Jan 19, 2019 (Updated Dec 31, 2019)  
Waylander
Waylander
David Gemmell | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
“There is evil in all of us, and it is the mark of a man how he defies the evil within.”

The third of David Gemmell's Drenai books, this is also chronologically the first, set (as it is) centuries before the events of Legend.

I think I first read this in the mid-to-late 90s, not that long after discovering Gemmell as an author.

As an early work by Gemmell, this also has several of what-would-become-known-as his trademark: the main character of Waylander himself, for instance (who he would return to twice more in Waylander II and Hero in the Shadows) is not a clean-cut hero (perhaps more of an anti-hero), only rescuing the priest Dardalian (who would go on to have a VERY important impact on the history of the Drenai) at the very start of the novel as the renegades who are torturing that priest have also stolen Waylander's horse.

Full of powerful imagery (Waylander standing alone against the robbers in the dusk with the sun setting behind him for one, not that long after this rescue) and Gemmell's contemplation on the Source, Waylander would become - I feel - second only to Druss amongst his most popular creations.


That's not to say this is perfect: like Legend, the romance between Waylander and Danyal does seemingly come out of nowhere, although Gemmell is (was) getting better at organically growing those relationships compared to his first work.