hobby: review for Flight Paths

content/hobbies/reading/reviews/2024.md

@@ -474,10 +474,31 @@ This novel just did not have the flair of Hemingway's other classics.
 
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+## *Flight Paths*
+
+**Rebecca Heisman** <br>
+Rating: 2.5 / 5
+
+I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it was underwhelming.
+To begin, the writing itself is mediocre and it seems like the author did most of her journalism through Twitter.
+The number of references to tweets and other messages on Twitter was almost as if the author thought this information on sourcing would interest the reader.
+For me, it had the opposite effect, instead coming off as lazy and amateurish (likely because I despise and have become disillusioned by the "news" articles with the headline "Twitter users say...").
+Then there was the unnecessary distractions the author included, in particular on COVID and other random political-adjacent comments.
+I understand the attraction of including mentions of COVID (e.g. someone wearing a mask, meeting over video call) because it was such a big event, but I don't think it ages well – even just a few years on, I find it distracting and uninteresting (I understand an author's desire to make references, but editors should really know better).
+Then there were miscellaneous political statements, such as explaining why the author would use "community scientist" instead of "citizen scientist" (to then quote a source that used the horrible, no-good, very-bad latter phrase just a few paragraphs later – comes off as a bit condescending).
+I think the only people who actually care about the distinction spend too much time on Twitter, which brings me back to my initial critique.
+
+But all of that would be dismissible were the scientific content of the book more engaging.
+I was really hoping for more detail of the technologies and techniques mentioned in the book on the study of bird migration.
+Instead, there was more description on the people, settings of particular outings, etc. making the book feel shallow.
+I think the author was going for a style akin to John McPhee, but didn't get the balance of adventure and information right.
+
+I want to finish by clarifying (for the above statements are harsh) that I did not hate the book and harbor no ill-will towards the author.
+I think this was a great concept for a book and she has the subject-matter expertise to write it, I am just providing my honest opinions.
+
 ---
 
 **Currently reading:**
 
-1. *Flight Paths* by Rebecca Heisman
-2. *Across the River and Into the Trees* by Ernest Hemingway
-3. *Eight Little Piggies* by Stephen J. Gould
+1. *The Power of Habit* by Charles Duhigg
+2. *Eight Little Piggies* by Stephen J. Gould