Charlie Gilmour finds himself an unwitting and, at first, unwilling caretaker of a bird in Featherhood: A Memoir of Two Fathers and a Magpie. He is gradually won over by the bird’s mischievous personality, and I dare you not to be charmed as well. The serendipitous timing of the magpie’s appearance in Charlie’s life also comes at a moment when he is rebuilding his relationship with his biological father and contemplating starting his own family. Read on to learn how Charlie’s journey through featherhood teaches him what it means to be a father.

Whenever someone learns that I work in a library, this question inevitably follows: what’s your favorite book? It’s like Sophie’s Choice, impossible to answer. So when it came time for me to review a recently published memoir, I couldn’t pick just one. Following are a few of my favorites from this year. Written by four…