allisonrb's review against another edition
Didn’t finish it before it was due back at the library.
hannahbrette's review against another edition
5.0
I first heard of Margaret Renkl when I listened to her read “Be A Weed” on the radio in March. That essay changed my perspective - continues to change my perspective months later - about what to make of the hard news days, how to find a way when it feels like there is none. This perspective has come in handy during a year where hard news days come, it seems, more often than not here in Nashville.
Naturally, I became a Margaret Renkl mega-fan after listening to that interview without having read a single other piece of her work. I’m glad I finally got around to changing that this October. And while “Be A Weed” is always going to mean a little bit more to me, resonate a little bit deeper, than the other essays in this book, those essays are every bit as special.
Plus, let’s be honest: as a child that lived in Alabama and an adult that now lives in Nashville myself, anyone who writes about the “GO TO CHURCH OR THE DEVIL WILL GET YOU” sign on the interstate just past Prattville and the lake where a bald eagle occasionally fishes (which I can only assume is the same Nashville lake I also sometimes visit to try and catch a glimpse of the bald eagle fishing) will have a special place in my heart.
Naturally, I became a Margaret Renkl mega-fan after listening to that interview without having read a single other piece of her work. I’m glad I finally got around to changing that this October. And while “Be A Weed” is always going to mean a little bit more to me, resonate a little bit deeper, than the other essays in this book, those essays are every bit as special.
Plus, let’s be honest: as a child that lived in Alabama and an adult that now lives in Nashville myself, anyone who writes about the “GO TO CHURCH OR THE DEVIL WILL GET YOU” sign on the interstate just past Prattville and the lake where a bald eagle occasionally fishes (which I can only assume is the same Nashville lake I also sometimes visit to try and catch a glimpse of the bald eagle fishing) will have a special place in my heart.
rossjenc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
dmturner's review against another edition
5.0
A book about grief and the cruelty of nature, with lovely illustrations.
As someone who has lived long enough to grieve and to understand its inevitability, I found the book a little uncomfortable, but worth reading.
As someone who has lived long enough to grieve and to understand its inevitability, I found the book a little uncomfortable, but worth reading.