Martin Schneider writes:

Emdashes is pleased to be hosting giving away three copies of Life List, a biography of Phoebe Snetsinger by Olivia Gentile that was released just a few days ago. The term "life list" signifies a list of the birds a person has seen in the wild, as all birders are aware. (Here is my life list, for instance.) The book is about a very unusual twitcher (birders' term for a birdwatcher who is perhaps unduly concerned with adding new birds to his or her life list), and it sounds marvelous. I can't wait to read it.

Here are favorable notices the book has received from two well-known people:

Except for one thing, this book would rate as a great adventure novel and fictional psychological portrait, about a woman's obsession with bird-watching, its effect on her relationships with her husband and her four children, and the horrifying mishaps that she survived on each continent—until the last mishap. But the book isn't that great novel, because instead it's a great true story: the biography of Phoebe Snetsinger, who set the world record for bird species seen, after growing up in an era when American women weren't supposed to be competitive or have careers. Whether or not you pretend that it's a novel, you'll enjoy this powerful, moving story.

—Jared Diamond

Gentile's tale of a desperate but determined housewife with a passion for birds and adventure is engrossing, sharp, and affecting—a touching portrait and great read.

—Susan Orlean

If you have not seen the author's entertaining and striking website, you should.

Here are the rules: Drop us an email, subject line "BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER," and please include your name and full mailing address. We'll take all entries until 8:00 pm EST on Sunday, April 19, and then the Random Number Generator will intervene with its trademark dispassion. Good luck to all entrants!