Monday, June 12, 2017

Odd Birds



I have never watched Pretty Little Liars, and my twenty-something daughter has assured me that I will not like it, but I did find a book by one of the stars, Ian Harding, absolutely delightful.

Odd Birds by Ian Harding is a memoir of a birder.  He's young, a mere thirty years old, which I think lends to the overall charm of the book.  I love it when people own up to their nerdy passions and reach out to share their experiences with others.  Harding was a birder from a young age, and then fell out of practice when he hit puberty. It was only after college, after moving to LA to pursue an acting career, that a chance spotting of a hooded merganser reignited the latent birder in him.



I enjoyed reading about his trips around southern California looking for birds and he found a few of my personal favorites--the yellow-billed magpie (which we both spotted near Pinnacles National Park while looking for condors), kestrels, American dippers, and acorn woodpeckers.

I also enjoyed reading about his acting life.  Every so often it's a real treat to get a behind-the-scenes look at all that goes into producing a TV series--from auditions, to make up, to wardrobe, read-throughs, sets, and co-stars.  I love learning about how an industry functions.

Harding is self-effacing, modest, grateful, and enthusiastic about life, friends, family, and nature. Odd Birds is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and Harding seems like a likable person with a bright future.

3 comments:

  1. This sounds good. I like walking in natural setting and my wife and I often engage in informal wildlife observing and photography. Engaging ion some Birding sounds interesting and fun.

    I am also unfamiliar with the television program.

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  2. Who would have guessed Ian Harding's a birder? How funny. This book sounds awesome. I will definitely be checking this one out. :)

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  3. I have never seen Pretty Little Liars either but your review has me interested in Ian Harding. Sounds like he's a good writer too. The acting life is tough and so it's great that he has two other passions, birding and writing to get him through auditions, waiting by the phone etc. A lesson for all of us.

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