This book interested me from the mysterious sounding blurb and the title. It changes between two different times to tell the story of The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, the only one of its kind ever found which was only to go missing again for over 200 years. It tells the story of the people surrounding it, before it was first discovered and the story of the people who are looking for it despite all the odds pointing to it's non-existence. I enjoyed this book, it was neither very bad nor very good, but a pleasant way to pass the time. The title was rather too fanciful for the content - The Conjuror's Bird, yet there is no magical element in this book at all nor is there anyone who could possibly be a "conjuror." I liked reading the character's stories, although the two main characters weren't what I expected. I expected Fitz "who has lost too much" to be a hardened, no-nonsense, straight-talking rebel and yet he was written more childishly, more in-between; he was more indecisive than direct. I expected Joseph Banks to be a young, naive yet enthusiastic sensitive man with a thirst for knowledge and a loving, unselfish nature. He was that at the beginning and yet there were things I liked in him and things I disliked, the latter eventually outweighing the former as the book went on and he got more and more egotistical, selfish and hypocritical. He seemed to change very quickly, one minute thinking one thing and then he'd fly by the seat of his pants and change his mind, and a supposed independant woman seemed okay with this. But I did enjoy the blossoming romance, even if it wasn't exactly Disney-esque. Overall, an average book and an enjoyable yet not brilliantly engaging read and plot. It managed to keep my interest (more than the last book I read) for the duration of the book and I'm not at all interested in stuffed birds, exotic, extinct or otherwise, so the author must have done something right. ( )

Compelling premise and a compelling read. The portions of the book set in the 18th century were some of the best parts -- while the mystery story set in the present day was a page-turner, it was in some ways predictable and cliched. ( )

The book was sublimely stirring but I was not carried away by the streams the author conjured. I loved the subject matter; that of exploration of the beauty found in common misplaced things.
I found the author's appreciation of the arts a refreshing viewpoint. However, I never got to that moment where I lost myself in the words of the author. The moments of surprise were deadened. I wanted to really like this book, but found myself asleep on the coach. ( )

Lib book discussion for January ( )

This is just my kind of book: historical setting, unusual plot which involves a mystery of some kind with parallel story lines set in two different time periods which coincide. An enjoyable read which revolves around a fascinating extinct bird. ( )