Entertaining story of a successful businessman who longs to ask out the leader of the weekly birdwatching group he goes to. Unfortunately a former schoolmate returns to Kenya and also wishes to ask Rose out and they end up competing to spot the most birds within a week. ( )

This was for me one of the most enjoyable reads of the year so far. It is described by Joanne Harris as "a book of immense charm; a sort of P. G. Wodehouse meets Alexander McCall Smith." I'm not familiar enough with Wodehouse to know if that part fits, but I would certainly agree that this is a charming novel and that this AMS fan loved it.

Two men who attended the same school are brought back together in late middle age when they both attend an outing of a birdwatching society in Nairobi, in their native Kenya. Both set on inviting the group leader to the annual hunt ball, they enter into a wager to determine which of them should be permitted to make the invitation. The winner will be the one who can record the larger number of sitings of different bird species in the space of a week without leaving Kenya. The story charts the ups and downs faced by the two men as the race progresses.

It is at times very funny and at other times quite touching. The central character, Malik, is a delightfully honest and self-effacing character. The biggest regret in his life is the way he treated his son, who died a few years earlier, but it has led him to make amends by regularly visiting the sick in his local hospital. Lest he seem too good to be true, this factory-owner who in his youth had aspirations towards a journalistic career, has a secret-life penning a popular column in one of the Nairobi papers which, whilst disguised as a feature on a nature in actual fact lifts the lid on the widespread corruption amongst the ruling elite.

Trivia enthusiasts might also be interested in this book's claim that 87.4% of birdwatchers worldwide use English as their first language. This is despite the fact that about 60% of bird species are not found in English speaking countries. Assuming these facts to be true, why should it be I wonder that English speakers are so disproportionately drawn towards "twitching"?

The author Nicholas Drayson is clearly a birdwatcher himself. I for one am immensely pleased that he laid aside his binoculars for long-enough to write this delightful tale. ( )

No great literary heights intended in this unlikely romantic adventure, but it reads easy and will certainly charm those with an affection for Kenya and/or birding. A little taste from the narrator: "If you want to identify birds the best time is usually dawn because that is when they are at their most vocal. According to modern Western ornithology they are singing to establish or maintain territories, attract mates, reinforce species recognition and social dominance patterns, or communicate feeding opportunities. According to local African tradition, they are singing to greet the sun." ( )

I loved this book. It is a charming, quiet story. Mr. Malik, a man of many facets, is a member of bird group which goes for walkson Tuesdays, led by Rose Mbikwa, the object of Malik's affections. On one outing, a stranger appears, Harry Kahn, a man who taunted Malik when they were children. He too, is interested in Rose. To decide who may ask her to the hunt ball, a contest is devised, with strict rules, whereby the winner will have seen the most bird species within the time period. Each chapter is headed with a drawing of a bird and during the course of the contest, we learn about Mr. Malik, Nairobi, Kenya and Mr Malik's employee, Benjamin, among others. We find that he writes a popular column for the newspaper under an assumed name, that his son died of AIDS and that he now volunteers with AIDS patients. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will love this book. ( )

A gentle romance & some arm-chair birdwatching; all-in-all a very enjoyable book! ( )