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Open Letters Review

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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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April 10, 2025

Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor

April 10, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor

Actress Lili Taylor recounts some of her adventures with birds

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April 10, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Turning to Birds, Lili Taylor, nature, nature writing, birds
November 05, 2024

The Courage of Birds by Pete Dunne

November 05, 2024/ Steve Donoghue
The Courage of Birds by Pete Dunne

An illustrated book about the strategies birds use to deal with cold weather

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November 05, 2024/ Steve Donoghue/
Pete Dunn, The Courage of Birds, birds, nature, nature writing
October 05, 2023

The Birds of Yellowstone

October 05, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
The Birds of Yellowstone

A beautifully illustrated overview of the birds of the Yellowstone region.

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October 05, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Yellowstone's Birds: Diversity and Abundance in the World's First National Park, Douglas Smith, Lauren Walker, Katharine Duffy, John Taliaferro, Yellowstone National Park, natural history, nature, birds, Steve Donoghue, 2023
June 22, 2023

What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman

June 22, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman

The author of “The Genius of Birds” turns her attention to some of the most iconic of all birds.

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June 22, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Bird, nature, natural history, owls, birds, Jennifer Ackerman, Steve Donoghue, 2023
July 11, 2021

Birdpedia by Christopher Leahy

July 11, 2021/ Steve Donoghue
Birdpedia by Christopher Leahy

An ornithologist provides a handy guide for everything from bird calls to bird plumage to bird poop.

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July 11, 2021/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Birdpedia, Christopher Leahy, birds, natural history, Steve Donoghue
November 24, 2020

The Gull Next Door by Marianne Taylor

November 24, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Gull Next Door by Marianne Taylor

A gull-smitten writer takes on the thankless task of defending the world’s least-liked bird.

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November 24, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
The Gull Next Door, sea gulls, natural history, herring gulls, Marianne Taylor, birds, Steve Donoghue
May 26, 2020

The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman

May 26, 2020/ Olive Fellows
The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman

Jennifer Ackerman, author of “The Genius of Birds,” returns with another book about the wonders of the avian world.

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May 26, 2020/ Olive Fellows/
Animals & Nature
Jennifer Ackerman, nature writing, birds, birding guides, Olive Fellows
April 30, 2020

What It's Like To Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley

April 30, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
What It's Like To Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley

David Allen Sibley’s latest bird book is a beautifully-illustrated oversized volume on the behavior of a few dozen well-known species.

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April 30, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
David Allen Sibley, birds, nature, nature writing, ornithology, Steve Donoghue
April 25, 2020

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (second edition)

April 25, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (second edition)

The legendary Peterson field guide gets a long-awaited new edition.

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April 25, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
roger tory peterson, Peterson's Field Guide to Birds of North America, nature, birds, birding guides, Steve Donoghue
February 06, 2020

The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer

February 06, 2020/ Olive Fellows
The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer

The bizarre black market for rare bird eggs is the subject of Joshua Hammer’s new book.

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February 06, 2020/ Olive Fellows/
Literary Fiction
joshua hammer, birds, literary fiction, Olive Fellows
September 19, 2019

Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay By Julie Zickefoose

September 19, 2019/ Olive Fellows
Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay By Julie Zickefoose

We don’t simply get to know Jemima; we get to be Jemima as we are welcomed into Julie’s family home.

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September 19, 2019/ Olive Fellows/
Animals & Nature
Julie Zickafoose, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, birds, nature, nonfiction, Olive Fellows
September 06, 2019

Birds in Winter by Roger F. Pasquier

September 06, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Birds in Winter by Roger F. Pasquier

Birds in Winter is extensively illustrated and a perfect pitch between professional-level scientific detail and popular-level general interest.

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September 06, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Roger F. Pasquier, Princeton University Press, birds, ornithology, Steve Donoghue
March 16, 2019

How To Know the Birds by Ted Floyd

March 16, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
How To Know the Birds by Ted Floyd

A “storybook for bird lovers” organized by season and general type of birding experience.

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March 16, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Ted Floyd, birds, birdwatching, Steve Donoghue, National Geographic
November 23, 2018

The End of the End of the Earth: Essays by Jonathan Franzen

November 23, 2018/ Alex Sorondo
The End of the End of the Earth: Essays by Jonathan Franzen

Communicates a compelling voice from a speaker who’s well-intentioned, well-studied and considerate, but hopelessly aloof.

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November 23, 2018/ Alex Sorondo/
Essays, Animals & Nature
Jonathan Franzen, Alex Sorondo, environment, environmental movement, birds, Farrar Straus Giroux Books, MacMillan Publishers, essays
July 25, 2018

The Wonderful Mr. Willughby by Tim Birkhead

July 25, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Wonderful Mr. Willughby by Tim Birkhead

Birkhead has done all the traditional biographer's legwork that so few have bothered to do before him.

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July 25, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, Science/Technology, Animals & Nature
Tim Birkhead, Bloomsbury, ornithology, birds, biography, Historia Plantarum, History of Fishes, Steve Donoghue
May 08, 2018

Author Interview: Daniel Lewis

May 08, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Author Interview: Daniel Lewis

Daniel Lewis, author of Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai'i recently talked with Open Letters.

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May 08, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Books & Authors
Author Interview, Daniel Lewis, birds, Hawaii, invasive species, disequilibrium, biology, Steve Donoghue
April 29, 2018

Belonging on an Island by Daniel Lewis

April 29, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Belonging on an Island by Daniel Lewis

A rich natural history of Hawaiian birds that challenges existing ideas about the concept of belonging.

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April 29, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Science/Technology, Animals & Nature
birds, ornithology, nature, conservation, ecology, Daniel Lewis, Steve Donoghue
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
____________________

Eric Karl Anderson
Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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