I picked this book up (from a thrift shop) because of the illustrations. I recognized the lively, sketchy style immediately and wondered if it was the same illustrator who had made drawings for an old childhood favorite of mine, Summer Pony by Jean Slaughter Doty. So I brought it home. It was. In this case, the illustrator is also the author. After finishing The World According to Horses, I was in the mood to read another horsey book, and this was it.
When I reserved this book at the library, I didn't realize it was a juvenile version of Budiansky's other book, The Nature of Horses. Still, I had it in hand while kiddo was involved in a library activity, so I started to read. It was pretty interesting, and well-written (not "dumbed down"). And it's been long enough since I read The Nature of Horses that the information in The World According to Horses felt fresh and new again. The book describes different aspects of horse behavior, biology and evolutionary history, answering the why's and how's. At the end of each chapter there's also a segment explaining methods the scientists used to answer their questions, which is just as interesting, and a final chapter brings up more questions that science hasn't answered yet, while encouraging young readers in the pursuit of scientific inquiry. Some of the things addressed in the book are how horses changed the course of human history when they were domesticated, how the natural social bonding between horses makes it easy for people to interact with them, the intelligence of horses, their communication methods, how their vision is different from ours, and why their physical conformation makes them good endurance runners. Any young reader interested in horses is sure to enjoy this book.
When she was a kid, Rafkin dreamed of being a spy for the CIA. As an adult, she got a degree in journalism, but ended up more often employed at something she had a natural knack for: cleaning houses. She turned it into a specialty, cleaning homes for a string of rich clientele. This book wraps it all together- her penchant for cleaning, her skills as a writer, and her inclination to snoop through stuff and figure out stories about her clients' lives. Other People's Dirt is the full scoop on housecleaners. What her pet peeves are, her favorite cleaning products, her critique of vacuum cleaner models. What she's learned on the job, and her forays into the lives of other kinds of housecleaners: agencies that employ teams of maids (usually poorly paid in the end), services that provide housecleaners who mostly pretend to dust and scrub while scantily clad, even a spiritual group in Japan that cleans toilets as a form of humble service. At one point she seeks out the woman who used to clean her own house when she was a kid, but communication is nil (her mom's housecleaner never learned English) and she doesn't get the revelations or make the bond she was seeking. This book reminded me a lot of Nickel and Dimed, and the breezy tone similar to that in Confessions of a Slacker Mom. At first I was enjoying it a lot, but then got annoyed at the times Rafkin would hint at some secret she knew about her employers, then refuse to tell. Or this blatant typo: "my need to tow the politically correct line" (it should be part of your foot, not a method of hauling)- usually I can gloss right over errors and ignore them but in a short book, it leaps right out and irritates me. And the final chapter, about her time in Japan, just became confusing. So in the end the story kind of fizzled, but I did like it most of the way through.
Two middle-aged men, university professors and housemates, found a pregnant stray dog hiding under their backyard toolshed. Although they didn't want the responsibility of pets, they didn't have the heart to oust the dog, and let her stay. She was feral and unapproachable, but eventually they managed to gain her trust and took in the mother dog and one of her puppies (the rest were found new homes). The dogs became an inseparable part of their lives, changing them forever. The Dogs Who Came to Stay is a heartwarming true story; alternately humorous and sad, and deeply emotional. Following the slowly unfolding relationship between the men and their dogs, from the first overtures of trust, to travels together, and tending them in their old age, makes an engaging read. Photographs and drawings illustrate the story nicely.
This is an excellent book. The pictures are stunning, the text is easy to understand and well-written in a conversational way, not just simply informative. It covers the art and design of bonsai, techniques and methods used to shape the trees, their care, feeding and health. But there's far more than that. Growing and Displaying Bonsai also tells the reader what the function is of each part of the plant, so you know exactly what effect you're having on it when you trim and prune, and understand why certain tasks must be done in certain seasons. There's also information on how to set up a display, pick out good trees from a nursery, and grow your own stock. I especially appreciated all the extra tips, like how to make do with what you have already on hand until you can afford specialized bonsai tools, how to redesign a plant you're dissatisfied with, or even when to give up and start over. Aside from their beauty, the pictures are particularly useful because they show each stage of a bonsai's training, and often plants showed at a very early stage are pictured later in the book, after several years' development (the author stresses keeping a yearly photographic record of your plants!)
This is just as wonderful as the other two Heyerdahl books I've read. It's about the year he spent on a remote island in the Marquesas, as a young man. With his new wife Liv, Thor wanted to escape modern civilization and see if he could live purely as a part of nature- no modern conveniences, little clothing, eating off the land, etc. For a while they found paradise on Fatu-Hiva where the local natives allowed them to live on a plot of land in the jungle that used to be the cultivated garden of an island king. At first their time on the island was blissful, they reveled in the natural beauty and fresh fruit, collected specimens of local insects and archeological finds for Thor's studies back home and learned about the island's cultural history from the locals. More and more Thor became convinced that the islands had been first populated by seafaring people from Peru, a theory he later tested (described in the other books).
I first heard about Christian the lion when Jenny mentioned the YouTube video to me (in a comment), which I hadn't seen before. When I found the book at the public library, I snatched it up right away, and read through it avidly. A Lion Called Christian is the story of two Australian men visiting London who bought a lion cub from a department store (which professed to sell everything; at the time wild animal sales were not yet illegal). The young lion, whom they named Christian, had been born in a zoo in England. He was raised by Bourke and Rendall in an upscale furniture shop in London (where he was quite the local celebrity) until he grew too large. It became difficult to find room to exercise him and even though he was quite gentle, some customers were too frightened by his appearance in the window to enter the shop! Luckily, two actors who had been involved in the filming of Born Free visited the shop one day, were introduced to Christian the lion, and told the men about a project George Adamson was doing to rehabilitate lions in Africa and release them into the wild. Determined to give Christian the best life possible, not willing to stick him in a zoo or the entertainment business, they flew Christian to Africa (at great expense) and there for the first time in his life he was introduced to other lions and allowed to roam free. Eventually, although there were some bumps in the road, Christian learned to hunt and fend for himself, and wandered off into the bush to make his own life as a free lion. When Bourke and Rendall revisited the area a year after leaving Christian in Adamson's care, they were met with a huge affectionate welcome, which has become the video sensation. Two documentaries have been made of Christian's life in London, his reintroduction into the wild, and Adamson's work with lions. I'm eager to see them someday as well.
Anais Nin was a famous feminist writer. She lived in France, and had a long friendship with Henry Miller. From an early age she knew she wanted to be a writer, and began writing poetry and short stories. She became famous for her erotic writing and is well-known for her extensive diaries, which she began at age 11 and continued for sixty years. At the time I read the first few volumes of her diaries, I really didn't know much about her, or why her writing was famous. All I knew was that I was reading the innermost thoughts and aspirations of a young girl who was a fabulous writer. She has a beautiful way with words that I still remember impressing me greatly, even though I can't recall any particulars now about the events described in the diaries.
I'm not sure what made me pick up the first volume of Anias Nin's diaries, which I first borrowed from the library as a teen, and later sought out further volumes at used bookstores. (I no longer have any of them). I know I had a goal in mind to read through them all, and took particular pains to search out the early volumes, so I could read them in chronological order. I never made it to the main volumes, which were published first, and start at the point where Nin was recently married to her first husband and about to meet Henry Miller. I made it through the first two early volumes, and perhaps part of the third. I'm not sure now what made me stop. Perhaps my interest lagged. Perhaps the hint of erotica to come unsettled me- sensuality in books could make me very uncomfortable as a teen.
Anais Nin's diaries are among those books I'm sure I didn't fully appreciate as a teenager, and think about revisiting someday. Have any of you read her diaries? What did you think? Should I try them again, or attempt some of her fictional works?
Imagine a dog could tell her story, via a letter to one of her littermates. Pit's words gives us the barest outline of her life, but the illustrations show much more, in graphic detail. I found the artwork to be harsh, bloody and pretty disturbing, but the style fit perfectly with the brutality depicted. In the beginning, the dog's life was simple, all she wanted to do was love her boy Pat. But Pat himself struggled to find love and acceptance, living in an abusive home. The boy's father gets angry when the dog fails in a hunting trip, and separates the two. Then Pit wanders the streets, viewing all kinds of atrocities and unkindnesses humans wreak upon each other- violence, rape, cruelty to the homeless, etc. She ends up in an animal shelter and then a laboratory where the awful experiments are described in more detail than you want to know. Ironically, the boy the dog once loved is now a scientist at the very lab where Pit is now a subject. 
Here's a book I read a many years ago, as a child browsing in the public library. It's about a girl in Roman times who is a slave. Her dream is to save up enough money to buy her family's freedom. She works as a performer, driving and riding horses. As her skills improve, she passes through the hands of several different masters, until she finds herself about to perform for Nero himself in Rome. In an effort to make the best show ever, she attempts more complicated and dangerous stunts with the horses, doing things no one has ever tried before, even going against the advice of her trainer. Teaching herself dangerous new skills is not the only obstacle to freedom; she also runs up against corrupt and dishonest people, including her own master. I seem to remember that she wanted to buy the horses and own them herself, but I'm not clear on that. Has anyone else read Four Horses for Tishtry? I'd love it if you could remind me of some of the other details!
The Rumpelstiltskin story, says the author, is full of holes. Think about it. Why would the miller lie about his daughter's ability, when the consequences could be dire? Why does Rumpelstiltskin want a baby in the first place? why would he trade for the princess's ring, when he can spin any amount of gold he wants? To fill in the gaps, Velde retells the story six different ways, each with a new twist and an explanation to the briefer version we're all familiar with. In one story, Rumpelstiltstkin wants to eat the baby. In another he's a witch, then a hero, or a beautiful elf. Different personalities for the miller's daughter are here too: she's a fanatic fan of the king, she's bullied by her own daughter, she's smart, she's lazy, she's confused. In one story she falls in love with Rumpelstiltskin himself! My favorite is the one where he was an elf and she slipped sideways through a magic gap to meet him. All the tales are brief, but intriguing and thought-provoking. If you like fairy-tale retellings, be sure to look for this one!
“... Jack Horner pulling a plum out of a pie-- why did he stick his thumb in rather than his pointer finger? Presumably just in order to rhyme with plum-- but then what was a plum pie and how good could that have been? And why did dismembering the pie make him a good boy?” )Sometimes the writing got a bit convoluted and I would have to read a sentence several times to figure out what it meant. Other times the author wanders off into a side-topic for pages- but those were usually interesting too, so I didn't mind too much. For the most part, it was easy to read, made me think about all sorts of things and kept me laughing, especially the author's footnotes and asides. That's a sure way to make me read a book to the end, even when it's dry or confusing in parts- make me laugh, and spark my curiosity. A pretty good book, if you're interested in the evolution and structure of languages, or the original meanings of words.
I hardly know where to start with this book. Arctic Dreams is an overwhelming examination of the arctic landscape and what it has meant to various peoples throughout history, at once detailed in particulars and sweeping in scope. The chapters range from nature writing about animals and their movements across the land to explanations of how soil composition changes the further north you go; the phenomena of the aurora borealis, mirages and other light effects and the many different forms ice takes. There are sections that read like history, and others written purely from the author's personal encounters with wildlife and native people. Human ventures into the forbidding land are described, from explorers trying to find the Northwest passage, mapmakers seeking new coasts, adventurers trying to reach the North Pole, men simply looking for economic opportunities (furs, oil, etc) or even, more recently, scientists conducting various studies. Many of the early ventures failed, as the men didn't understand the land or how to survive in it (compared to the tenacity and skills of the native Eskimos). Some of this got tedious, especially the part about expeditions and missing parties, which not only dealt with how the men struggled to survive when stranded in the ice (more interesting) but also the politics and economics involved in backing the expeditions, and in rescue efforts (dull, with too much information). And I found the section explaining sun halos, mirages, arcs, etc difficult to understand, although at first fascinating (it was hard to picture what was being described. Perhaps some photographs would have helped). My favorite chapters were those about animals and how they live in the cold: polar bears, muskoxen, seals, narwhals, migrating birds etc. There's even a chapter about how the quality of light and immense grandeur of icebergs inspired artists, with descriptions of particular paintings. Aside from the difficult parts, an astounding book. It describes the landscape as an immense living entity, that requires respect on its own terms. Makes me want to read more about the arctic, and look for more books by Barry Lopez.
This is a book that didn't quite live up to the expectations, for me. I got it through a swap site, thinking it looked like a good little gardening book. With a forward by Truman Capote (who was a friend of the author) and line drawings illustrating the pages by one Cecil Beaton. It's a friendly book, charming in its own way. It presents a simple introduction to gardening with some basic instructions on everything from roses, vegetables, fruit trees, bulbs and houseplants to lawns (the recommendation here being just to leave it alone, no-one has a perfect lawn!) The diagrams on how to plant shrubs, prune roses and espalier fruit trees look very useful, but as I am not growing those plants yet I can't put them into practice. For the rest, it didn't really give me any new information and I found most of the sections too brief to be helpful- encouraging for a new beginner but without the useful tips on problems or engaging humor and descriptive flair I've enjoyed in other gardening books. And the drawings, while lovely, are a bit too large for the pages- they felt almost crude at that size, and I wished for some more delicate line work, or at least a bit of color. O well. First Garden just isn't quite the book for me. I read through it in one sitting, and that's about it.
A delightful book of short stories based on the author's childhood, that tell of his boyish exploits and adventures among a large Armenian immigrant family living in small-town southern California. Each story focuses on a certain event or person, but they all have a common thread of family and community, of the boy's troublemaking and what he learns from his relatives about life and the larger world. In one chapter, Aram and his cousin borrow a neighbor's horse (without asking permission) and ride around fantasizing great adventures. In another, he helps his uncle make plans (largely unrealistic) to turn part of the desert into an orchard of pomegranate trees. Aram watches his family members bicker, argue and support each other. He listens in on their discussions about religion, and gets exposed to people of many different backgrounds- making friends with Native Americans, meeting immigrants from other countries (one chapter is about an Arab man who stays for dinner, subjected to Aram's endless questions) and mixing with traveling circus people. In a way, Aram's character reminds me a lot of Tom Sawyer, and like Twain's stories, often had me laughing out loud. My Name Is Aram is a fun and thoughtful portrait of American life, seen through the eyes of the boy of an immigrant family, with a mixture of culture, humor and outright joy of life.
When this book was written, people were still routinely controlling predators by killing them off. Coyotes had filled the gap left when wolves were gone from national parks, but they were also considered vermin and people made every effort to exterminate them as well. Murie conducted one of the very first studies of coyotes in the wild. No-one used radio collars then, so a lot of the data was painstakingly gathered. He examined the contents of their scat, remains of animals they had killed, and other signs that gave him information on population densities and a complete picture of how coyotes interacted with other species. Piecing together these signs with what he learned from directly observing coyote behavior, Murie concluded that coyotes were not decimating the numbers of prey animals (deer and elk) that men wanted to hunt themselves and in fact, were probably beneficial to their numbers. His book was pretty controversial at the time; most people didn't believe or didn't want to hear that predators were good for keeping populations of prey animals in balance and healthy. Some if it is dry reading, but I liked reading about the coyote behavior, especially how they interacted with ravens. An interesting book, if you can find it! I read this copy in the San Francisco public library quite a number of years ago; if I remember rightly it was one of those books you could request from the page desk, but not check out. I think I might have gone back a few days in a row just to finish it.
In this delightful book, the author describes her travels to observe wildlife up close with some bat naturalists, alligator researchers, whale enthusiasts, and penguin biologists. She steps into bat caves, helps tie up alligators on muddy riverbanks (so the researchers can take blood samples) and stands awestruck in a protected cover where mother whales nurse their babies. I thought at first the penguin chapter would be a little disappointing, as it starts out in a penguin nursery at Sea World in San Diego but after the first few pages Ackerman takes the reader along on a cruise ship to view wildlife in Antarctica- not only penguins but also sea lions, leopard seals and myriads of birds. Every chapter is replete with personal experiences as well as interesting facts on the animals. The writing is lyrical and wonderfully descriptive; I felt sometimes like I was actually there, squatting among the penguin colonies, touching the textured alligator's skin, feeling the whale's breath on my face. I learned more about bats and alligators in this one book of essays than I ever did reading America's Neighborhood Bats or Alligators and Crocodiles- perhaps because the personal writing made the information more accessible to my brain- it sticks better when I'm enjoying it more. If you like nature writing, or are interested in any of the four animals highlighted here, I highly recommend this book. It doesn't get much better than The Moon by Whale Light.
This book is about how animals are treated in labs, particularly chimpanzees. It discusses why animals are used in experiments, the deplorable conditions they live in, how their capture from the wild depletes wild populations, and some (new at the time) programs attempting to give them better living conditions which would encourage them to reproduce, thus replenishing their numbers for science (taking pressure off wild populations).
I think the title is misleading. This is not a book of useful tips, not in the sense that a book like Trowel and Error is. Instead, it's an overview of the art of growing bonsai, arranged in very short numbered statements (I really don't understand why it was arranged this way). For someone like me, entirely new to the art, Bonsai: 101 Essential Tips gave me a rough idea of what growing bonsai can entail, but without the detailed instructions or troubleshooting help that would really get me started. (I'm still leering of grabbing clippers and engaging in what, to me, appears to be nothing less than plant mutilation and torture! although the results are beautiful) Still, I now have a general idea of what creating and tending bonsai entails, and the photos are simply lovely. I especially liked that the book has a short of gallery of many plants that are suitable for bonsai, with brief description of their particular care. There is also quite a bit of info about the design principles involved in creating an elegant, aesthetically pleasing plant. It is a nice and handy little book, actually- I just think it could have a better title, and do without every little paragraph being numbered inanely.
Friendly and informative sums up Thalassa Cruso's book about houseplant care and propagation. She starts off with the basics, and I was abashed to learned I've been doing so many things wrong it's a wonder all my houseplants haven't keeled over! For instance, I never even thought about the difference between using clay and plastic pots, and I had never heard of crocking them to improve the drainage. That's just a sample of the very abundant, useful and practical advice in Making Things Grow, everything from how to properly water and feed your plants, to getting rid of pests, repotting, growing new plants from seeds or cuttings, and how to keep them going solo if you're on vacation. I now have a nice list of plants that are reliably recommended to do well in my low-lit, evenly heated house, and have learned the identity of many familiar ones that my mother grew or that I've seen around in public buildings, always recognizing their faces but never knowing their names. If you have any houseplants, or want to get started keeping a few, this book is invaluable.
In 1946 Kenya's first wildlife park was formed, the Nairobi National Park, where animals were protected and the public could come to view and photograph them. Ric Garvey worked at the animal orphanage there, where injured and orphaned wildlife were cared for until they could be released, or found a new home in a zoo (a few remained at the orphanage their entire lives) Animal Orphanage not only tells about the author's experiences at the orphanage and the various animals they raised, but also of wildlife frequently observed in the surrounding area. Like No Room in the Ark, their opinions of the animals were often biased- the lion was considered noble, the camel haughty, the wild dog vile. 
This short book is about a vet who set up the first hospital and rehabilitation center specifically for wildlife, in Wisconsin during the 1980s. At the time there was no training available for wildlife vets; he learned as he went by studying books about the different species' anatomy and applying his knowledge of veterinary science. It all started when a fawn was struck by a car and someone brought it to the animal hospital. Up until then Dr. Foster had only treated the usual dogs, cats and other pets, but he was willing to help out this injured wild creature. Foster and his wife raised the fawn in their house, eventually setting it free to live in the wild. More and more people began bringing him wildlife in need of care, until he realized he had more wild animals occupying cages in his hospital than pets, and would have to either give up treating them or build a separate suite just for their care. He did so, as a non-profit, dedicated to helping wild animals free of charge.
I seem to be on a kick of reading books about veterinarians lately. After finishing Tell Me Where it Hurts and The Cat Who Couldn't See in the Dark, I naturally dug through my TBR shelves to see if I had any more. Found this one, a slim book called Animal ER, written by a journalist who was allowed to shadow doctors and residents around the intensive care unit of the animal hospital at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.
Another book about veterinary work! (They're among my favorites). Although this vet of a small-animal practice in New York city has treated everything from snakes to dogs, the book is mostly about cats. Each chapter contains a few related tales of cats he treated, sprinkled liberally with advice on their care. It covers forty years of his practice (often stating "things were different back then") so some of the information might be a little dated, and I did notice the book has received a lot of criticism (on Amazon) because the vet recommended declawing indoor cats. Myself, I had some issues with the people keeping wild animals like raccoons and monkeys as pets in city apartments! Nevertheless, the stories were still engaging, even though the writing style is fairly simple.
A collection of essays on new motherhood, Child of Mine offers insights and honest perspectives from the experiences of new mothers who are all writers. Moms from all walks of life take a piercing look at what their first year of motherhood was like- with all of the mess, fatigue, insecurities, wonder and joy. Some of the stories are heartwarming, others sad, contemplative or just downright hilarious. Their focus may vary- from adoption, to breastfeeding, postpartum depression, struggles with poverty, feeling overwhelmed, dealing with colic, etc- and the writing styles are all different too. But the honesty and emotional intensity is a common thread, that ties all the various voices together. Whatever doubts and questions a new mother is struggling with, this book is pretty sure to have an answer in it somewhere- not a pat, dismissive everything-will-be-okay answer, but the compassion of understanding, of having been there and come through the difficulties. Now I need to find me a book like this about toddlers!
Just as The Character of Cats explores how cats have evolved to live alongside humans (while still keeping their independence) The Truth About Dogs examines what makes dogs such a perfect fit with people, how they might have first become domesticated, and what is going on when the modern human-dog companionship has issues (think behavior problem dogs). In this book Budiansky talks about dog evolution, genetics, behavior, physiology and much more. Sometimes I got lost in the details of exactly how their senses work or why genetic evolution and breeding have shaped them into the forms we know today. But overall it was pretty interesting. I kept getting the idea that the author was implying that everything a dog does- from his favorite game of chase to begging for food or snuggling near a person for petting- is simply instinctual behavior hardwired by their genes. That all the endearing things dogs do as well as their more annoying habits, are caused by how domestication has mixed up the behavior patterns they inherited from wolves. Budiansky makes it pretty clear though, that even as he can pick apart a dog's motives and demonstrate that they don't have ESP or really love us unconditionally, he still loves and admires them. One thing is sure, I never realized how very differently a dog sees the world- not only in his perception of color, scent and sound but his perspective on social nuances and priorities. Dogs really are amazing creatures, not the least because even being so utterly different from us, they have ways of relating so well that they have become our closest animal companions. Any dog owner is sure to appreciate this book. It will open your eyes!