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You’ve probably seen the previews for the Red Sparrow movie, and may be as surprised as I was to learn that it was a book first (and part of a trilogy, which is always a nice discovery)! I was able to borrow the book from a friend, with the promise that we’d go to the movie together and complain about all the parts they messed up 🙂

I’ve read a decent amount of the mystery and thriller genre, but this book (written by a former CIA officer) is incredibly detailed with historical case names, methods of communication, and a ton of CIA jargon and acronyms. I didn’t enjoy all that quite as much as the actual story, which was about two agents supposed to “recruit” the other into betraying their country but of course, they end up falling for each other. There’s A LOT more involved, with lots of action, travel, resisting interrogation techniques, and a creepy “executioner” guy with a milky white blind eye. If you are a fan of spy novels, check this one out!

From Goodreads:
“In the grand spy-tale tradition of John le Carré comes this shocking thriller written with insider detail known only to a veteran CIA officer.

In present-day Russia, ruled by blue-eyed, unblinking President Vladimir Putin, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the post-Soviet intelligence jungle. Ordered against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained seductress, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA officer who handles the Agency’s most important Russian mole.

Packed with insider detail and written with brio, this tour-de-force novel brims with Matthews’s life experience, including his knowledge of espionage, counterintelligence, surveillance tradecraft, spy recruitment, cyber-warfare, the Russian use of “spy dust,” and covert communications.”

Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World, by Noah Strycker

We love to read books, and to talk about books. Check out our entire series here! Need more book chatting and suggestions in your life? Listen to our Books and Beverages podcast!

I just found this on a shelf at the library and picked it up. I’m not a huge bird fan, but by brother is interested in birds and taking photographs of them. (Apparently it’s a huge year for snow owls!) So I thought I should learn more about birds, and I always like books about adventures. I will read almost anything that people write that has the basic plot of “I took a year and did this thing!” This book is about a guy who takes what bird people call The Big Year – taking a year to travel the world and see as many birds as possible. It’s a pretty good adventure!

From Amazon: “In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world’s birds in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled across forty-one countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species—by far the biggest birding year on record.

This is no travelogue or glorified checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the globe. By pursuing the freest creatures on the planet, Noah gains a unique perspective on the world they share with us—and offers a hopeful message that even as many birds face an uncertain future, more people than ever are working to protect them.”