A reliable reviewer needs to offer a concise summary of what the book is about. I was trying to explain to a friend what Courtney Ellis’s fine new book is about. “It’s about birds, but it’s not really a bird book,” I explained. “It’s about grief, but not just about grief.” “It’s about hope but more than hope.” “Oh, and each chapter describes a different species of bird.” My friend said, “A Christian bird book about hope through grief. Sounds like a pretty narrow niche!” But it’s really not a narrow niche; the beauty of this book is that the whole is much bigger than the sum of its parts.

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