O'Connor worked her way up the ranks from apprentice to master falconer by being both an avid learner and a passionate birder. Nothing prepared her, however, for Anakin, her peregrine falcon, considered the prize hunting animal of the sport. Dismissive of many of the older, crueler ways falconers have used to tame their raptors for centuries, she approaches hers as an equal. Recommended for anyone interested in bird hunting or wildlife, this fascinating memoir makes the occasional misstep when it strays too far from the subject of falconry, but O'Connor's love of the hawks infuses the story with an addictive, violent intensity.—E.B.

Novelist and nature reference author O’Connor (Falcon’s Return) crafts a lyrical tribute to the spiritual connection between humans and birds in this memoir of the excruciating, transformative process of training a peregrine falcon: “Falconry is a religion, a way of thinking, a means of experiencing life.” Indeed, readers will find almost as much spiritual content as natural. Despite O’Connor’s icy-clear voice, her descriptions of training a young male falcon are fascinating for bird lovers and civilians alike: “when the falcon connects a high-speed dive… the duck remains a piece of the sky and only its body careens to earth.” Surprisingly, periodic flashbacks to a troubled childhood—an abusive stepfather, an absentee mother—bolster her story rather than distract, turning a falcon’s “serious and unmerciful” eye back on her own life, and discovering inexplicable wells of generosity and forgiveness for the family who wronged her. O’Connor packs a lot of intelligence, poise and feeling into a few pages, making this a consistently rewarding read. (Nov.)