2024: Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper

Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself.

Why Better Living Through Birding?

~“Identifying himself as a ’Black gay activist birder,’ Cooper recounts his longtime love for the winged creatures, nurtured during his Long Island childhood and college years at Harvard. With colorful and sometimes snarky commentary… Cooper reflects on how his hobby provided skills…that have helped him navigate the world as a gay Black man… His passion for birding could make hobbyists of even the mostavian-agnostic. This rewarding memoir adds heft and heart to the headlines.” – PW Starred Review

~This title offers a variety of topics and themes which lend themselves to programming and book discussions: birding, Marvel comics, Star Trek, travel, LGBTQ+ issues, racial justice, national parks, conservation, and more.

~The book is available in hardcover, ebook, and downloadable audiobook formats.

Thank you to the Long Island Reads Committee for their hard work in making this selection! 

Long Island Reads will honor Christian Cooper at a ceremony at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library on April 21, 2024, at 2 pm, tickets will be available beginning April 1.