Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • 12 Birds to Save Your Life

  • Nature's Lessons on Happiness
  • By: Charlie Corbett
  • Narrated by: Charlie Corbett
  • Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (38 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

12 Birds to Save Your Life

By: Charlie Corbett
Narrated by: Charlie Corbett
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Discover the healing power of nature through the stories of these characterful birds.

Can you recognise the cheerful chirrups of the house sparrow? A song thrush singing out at winter's darkest hour? Or the beautiful, haunting call of the curlew?

At a time of great anxiety and uncertainty, while coping with the untimely death of his mother, Charlie Corbett realised his perspective on life was slipping. In a moment of despair, he found himself - somewhat damp - lying on the side of a lonely hill staring up at a leaden sky, a melancholy drizzle seeping into his bones.

Suddenly he hears the song of a single skylark - that soaring, tinkling, joyous sound - and he is transported away from the drizzle and dark thoughts. Grounded by the beauty of nature, perspective dawns. No longer the leading role in his own private melodrama, but merely a minor part in nature's great epic.

Such is the power of these creatures to raise you from life's periodic depths. Through 12 characterful birds, Charlie show us that there is joy to be found in the very smallest of events - if we know where to look and how to listen. From solitary skylarks to squabbling sparrows, he explores the place of these birds in our history, culture and landscape, noting what they look like and where you're most likely to meet them.

By reconnecting with the wildlife all around him, through learning to understand, love, and begin to move with the rhythms of the natural world outside his door, Charlie discovered nature's powerful ability to heal.

These birds can help you too. Every day.

©2021 Charlie Corbett (P)2021 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Reflections cover art
A Complete Guide to British Birds cover art
Be a Birder cover art
Don’t Die in Autumn cover art
The Hedgehog Diaries cover art
I Can Hear the Cuckoo cover art
Swifts and Us cover art
If Women Rose Rooted cover art
Forget Me Not cover art
Cornerstones cover art
Tweet of the Day cover art
The Stubborn Light of Things cover art
Journal of a Solitude cover art
An Extra Pair of Hands cover art
Hermit cover art
Next to Nature cover art

What listeners say about 12 Birds to Save Your Life

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this book more than I can say

It’s not often I finish a book and then go straight back to the beginning and listen again. Warm, funny and made me cry a river over the loss of my own mum. Wonderful book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enchanting

I have read this whilst being a full time carer for a terminally ill relative. It has moved and inspired me. I can’t remember who recommended it but they were spot on. In my shrunken world I am appreciating this years baby birds with their constant noise and enthusiasm.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Moving and informing

Wonderfully written and narrated, a moving tale of loss and anxiety with ways to pull yourself through. Put down the phone, grab a dog and head into the countryside, listening as you go.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

This is a fabulous book!! I want to buy copies for everyone I know .. if you do nothing else today download and listen!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Made my heart soar!

A beautiful book, even better when read by the author.
Love the title too!
Highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartfelt and inspiring

Enjoyed the personal narrative interwoven with information about different birds. Moving, brave, and it definitely fuelled my love of birds. This work is a reminder how a connection with nature is so important for our mental health and for its survival.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

12 birds to save your life

the author/narrator was brilliant. I couldn't stop listening. really recommend. especially for nature lovers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly recommended

As a lifelong lover of watching and appreciating birds, listening to this book brought back many memories of my own experiences. It crystallises many ideas that are becoming increasingly recognised around the value of appreciating the beauty of the world around us in improving the quality of human life. Over the past few years I have spent a lot of time at home and watching and listening to birds in my own back garden has kept me sane. Stop, look and listen wherever you are and you will be amazed what you will find. My apologies to the author but I think I would have preferred a different narrator with a slightly softer voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It pulls you under it’s magical spell

This has become one of my favourite audiobooks that I return to time and time again. Beautiful narrated by the author it speaks of love, joy, families, wondrous nature, sorrow and hope. Stunning ❤️

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too sad

Beautiful regarding the birds but ohh so depressing. Why does it have to focus so much on illness and misery. Not uplifting 😢

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!