Kelly Brenner

In this enormously charming book, Brenner celebrates the nature that can be found in urban areas. Specifically, she focuses on her own city of Seattle, and the book's sixteen or so short chapters each focus on a particular organism or family of organisms (mostly fairly overlooked ones, from mosses and tardigrades to slime molds and lichens) that can be found somewhere in Seattle: some in Brenner's backyard, some in the pond she installed there, and others in Seattle's assorted parks and coast. Along the way she weaves in research that has been conducted on each of the organisms.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It's arranged into four seasonally-oriented sections, and it's really readable: each chapter is on the order of ten to twelve pages, so the chapters/essays move pretty quickly. Brenner's enthusiasm for the natural world is palpable, and it's just a really good time. This was another of my library's recommendations, and they definitely delivered on this one.… (more)

Kelly Brenner is curious about all the creatures around her, from the smallest to the largest. In Nature Obscura, she focuses mostly on those we don't spend too much or thought on, like flies, moths and moss but she has tame for hummingbirds and crows as well. I had not known that the two species of hummingbirds we see every summer are not indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, but more importantly, her chapter on Anna's hummingbirds inspired me to get a hummingbird feeding station set up for next summer--it's already almost too late for them. Crows have long been an interest of mine, if you've been to this part of the world you'll understand why, but Brenner takes the time to follow the murders to their jam-packed roosting sites and explain why they congregate in such numbers. Her fascination with small plants and animals similarly fascinated me in slime molds and dragonflies, moths and moss. When I go out of my house next, I am going to be looking at nature much more closely and intently. That's the best review of this book, that it moved me to get closer to nature.… (more)