Intelligencer - Amy Tan’s Guide to Birding

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Earlier this year, Amy Tan released a book about birding. Former senior editor (and huge fan) Kiki Aranita was intrigued and reached out to Tan, asking if she’d expand a little more on the things she used to bird-watch and draw in her garden. And expand Tan did — on the 15 feeders she has placed around her backyard; the lightweight pocket binoculars she brings everywhere; the faux dead crows she uses to keep bigger birds away; and the colored pencils she uses to sketch that have just “exactly the right degree of smoothness and waxiness.” Read the rest of her picks here.

Also on the site: Emma Wartzman picked her favorite Japanese cookware from Just One Cookbook’s new online shop (like this adorable kingfisher-shaped soy-sauce dispenser); contributor Juno DeMelo told us about the three-week vacation she took to northern Italy with her 7-year-old; and there’s a lot of deeply discounted Everlane winter stuff at Gilt, of all places. —Ashley Wolfgang, newsletter editor