more TBR . . . .

Not as fun to look at this time because I didn't make an image collage of the covers. But the list is growing unwieldy again so I typed it out. Thanks to all the bloggers linked to below, the books-I-want-to-read-someday are a mountain!

-at my public library-
Beast Rider by Tony Johnston- Bookfoolery
Hotbox by Matt Lee- Caroline Bookbinder
Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Graves- Bookfoolery, CB and Sarah
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss- Shelf Love
Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee- It's All About Books
Why Cows Learn Dutch by Randy James
Why Cows Need Names by Randy James
Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde- It's All About Books
Song for a Whale by Lynn Kelly- Bermudaonion
Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich- Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by Fletcher- ditto, Book Chase
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev B- Reading the End
People's History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramania- A Bookish Type
Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik- Bookish Type
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan- Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
Silent Spring at 50 by Meiners, et al
Rules for Visiting by Jessica Frances Kane- Bookfoolery
Maid by Stephanie Land- Caroline Bookbinder
Laughing at My Nightmare by - It's All About Books
Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirschenbaum- Bookish Type

The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Richardson- Indextrious Reader
Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris- Bookfoolery

Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia- It's All About Books
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman- Bookfoolery
Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center- ditto and Melody's Reading Corner
Voyage of the Dogs by Greg van Eekhout- Thistle-chaser
Little Fish by Casey Plett- Bookish Type

found browsing the library catalog- 
An Unquiet Mind by K R Jameson
Haldol and Hyacinths by Melody Moezzi
Dark Side of Innocence by Terri Cheney
What Works for Bipolar Kids by Mani Pavuluri
Long Shot by Silvia Harris
Back to Normal by Enrico Gnaulati
Voices of Bipolar Disorder edited Juliann Garey
This is How I Find Her by Sara Polsky
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
To Be Mona by Kelly Easton
72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell
No One by Aubry Gwenaelle
RX by Rachel Lindsay
Dancing on Broken Glass by Ka Hancock
All the Things We Never Knew by Sheila Hamilton
Marbles by Ellen Forney
Rock Steady by Ellen Forney
Show Me All Your Scars edited Lee Gutkin
Manic by Terri Cheney
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom
Bipolar Handbook for Children, Teens and Families by Wes Burgess

-not at my library-
What's it Like Out? by Penelope Gilliatt- Indextrious Reader
Wild Comfort by Kathleen Dean Moore- Beth Fish Reads
Credo by Peter Bagge- Caroline Bookbinder
The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young
The Way Home by Mark Boyle
Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell- Bookish Type
The Burnt Country by Joy Rhoads - Work in Progress
The Nature of Spring by Jim Crumley
If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O'Brien- Bookfoolery
The World Doesn't Require You by Rion A Scott- Bookish Type
November Grass by Judy Van der Veer
A Few Happy Ones by Judy Van der Veer
In Pain by Travis Rieder- Bermudaonion's Weblog
The Death of Grass by John Christopher
Wilding by Isabella Tree- Captive Reader
Learning to Die in the Anthropocene by Roy Scranton- So Many Books

Beyond Rosemary, Basil and Thyme by Theresa Mieseler- Veg Gardener

The Attack

Animorphs #26
by K.A. Applegate

This one was different. Bizarre, otherworldly, crazy circumstances, but then had such a unexpected, clever twist at the end I was intrigued. The Animorphs team are engaged once again by that all-powerful being the Ellimist and wind up on an alien planet lightyears away from Earth, where they have to figure out how to defeat seven deadly creatures. The Eillimist is having an eternal war with an all-powerful, evil being called Crayak. Instead of wiping out entire galaxies with their battles, the Ellimist and Crayak decide to pitch their best warriors against each other. Crayak chooses a group of ruthless war-machine creatures called the Howlers. Ellimist choses the Animorphs (plus Ax and Chee the android). They are pitched to fight on an alien planet inhabited by the strange Iskoort. For once, the battle turns out to be the focus of most of the book, not a sudden hurried hectic scene at the end. The Howlers seem impossible to defeat; the Animorphs have to figure out their weakness, and also how the android can help them (because it's programmed to be a complete pacifist). Their realizations about the Howlers are startling; also they have another revelation near the end about why the Ellimist put them on this particular planet to fight. Something about the ancient history of the Iskoort holds a key to possibly ending the parasitic domination of the Yeerks, if only the Animorphs can win- and now they realize how important it is to do so.

Once I saw the issues and complexities raised in this book, I was hooked to find out the answers. I didn't see many of them coming. On the other hand, there's still a smattering of humor through the whole thing, even though the battle was pretty brutal. I thought at one point this was going to be the book where a main character dies- but they didn't. Almost though. It was very close. Oh, and there's a first kiss between Cassie and Jake.

Rating: 4/5                 145 pages, 1999

more opinions:
Arkham Reviews
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

The Extreme

Animorphs #25
by K.A. Applegate

In this episode, the Animorphs- as you can guess by the cover- acquire a new morph, polar bear. But not until the very end of the story. This one had a fairly straightforward plot: they find out the enemy is building a structure in the Arctic that could populate the world with Yeerk pools (don't ask how) so they travel undercover there to stop it. Only they don't have any animal morphs that can deal with the cold, and aren't prepared to withstand it as humans, either. So a lot of the book is them desperately trying to survive the cold (morphed as wolves most of the time) while also trying to escape a new alien used by the enemy. At the very end they manage to acquire the polar bear, and then it's easy to live in the cold, they bash up the station, trick the aliens into disintegrating themselves (too easily) and run off. The part where they get the polar bear confused me, though. Rachel as a grizzly and Marco as a gorilla pinned a wild polar bear down while the others touched it to acquire its DNA, but there was no mention how they switched so that Rachel and Marco could also (they would have to be human to do so) I was actually waiting for that, see how they worked it out- but then they just, didn't. Someone suggested elsewhere the bear was calm enough in the acquiring state they could de-morph and touch it themselves, but it was never explained this way in the text. Hm. I also had a reading hitch when the animorphs as seals were making clicking noises to echolocate underwater- until I looked it up afterwards. Well, who knew. A lot of what made this story flow was just the characterization, banter between them, Ax involved in jokes about time, some hints at growing romantic feelings between Tobias and Rachel, Cassie and Jake. There was a bit of that in the last book, too- I forgot to mention it.

Rating: 3/5             146 pages, 1999

more opinions:
The Library Ladies
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

The Suspicion

Animorphs #24
by K.A. Applegate

Ridiculous premise, but amusing anyway. The Animorphs team encounters a new type of alien- tiny little things that haughtily declare their superiority and intentions to take over the world (they're offended when they find out the Yeerks are already trying to do so) and everyone scoffs at them until the little aliens get hold of the blue box that contains the morphing technology, and use it to shrink others, so they can overpower them. Most of the storyline is Cassie and Marco experiencing what it's like to be a creature small enough to see individual cells (because they shrink again from being quarter-inch-high humans to being literally microscopic when they morph into flies) while they and the others try to thwart the tiny aliens and retrieve the blue box. Crazy ridiculous chase scene involving a speeding limousine and a toy-sized flying spaceship, while normal traffic seems to notice nothing. Pretty clever how Cassie and Marco redirected the aliens' attention onto their enemy Visser Three. Odd closing scene where the Visser had them in his power but the standoff resulting in each side giving up the others they held captive. Which means the struggle can continue, I suppose. The cover shows Cassie morphing into an anteater- the new animal acquired in this book- but it happened at the very end, and although solved their problem with the tiny aliens, there wasn't really much about experiencing that animal form. Which is what I've previously liked about this series, but oh well.

Rating: 3/5                151 pages, 1998

more opinions:
Arkham Reviews
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

The Pretender

Animorphs # 23
by K.A. Applegate

It's been quite a while since I read an Animorphs book, so I had forgotten what happened last, but it didn't matter. This one has a tidy plot on its own. Tobias the human-turned-hawk is struggling with his identity. He's starting to feel bitter about being trapped in a hawk body- hates killing animals for food, stressed about a rival wild hawk encroaching on his territory, sometimes wants to morph into his old self and stay that way forever (but then he wouldn't be able to morph again at all). Two main things happen in this book: Tobias finds out that someone is looking for him, a woman claiming to be a cousin who wants to take him in- as family. This is a strong lure for Tobias in his moments of wishing to be human again, but he's suspicious. Something doesn't seem right about the situation. Meanwhile, there's a young Hork-Bajir gone missing from the hidden valley where the free aliens live, and of course the Animorphs get involved in a plan- it turns out he's in a shabby roadside zoo- but quickly the alien Yeerks find out and take him captive before the Animorphs can get there. So there's a lot about Cassie's outrage at how the animals are treated, Rachel's eagerness to plow through the place and destroy it all. Tobias is involved as lookout from the sky, as usual, where he sees something that clues him in to the true identity of the woman claiming to be his cousin. There's also revelations in this episode about Tobias' background, why his father had disappeared, etc. But really what I liked best about it was all the stuff from the hawk perspective, how Tobias felt about certain things, how he had forgotten a lot of human mannerisms from being a bird of prey so long, so when he was in human form to meet his so-called cousin, he had to put on an act, which really turned out to be for the best. That scene where he's sitting in a lawyer's office next to an enemy in disguise and confronted with some shocking information but his hawk nature enabled him to appear unconcerned and avoid blowing his cover- very intense.

Rating: 3/5                176  pages, 1998

Irritable Hearts

a PTSD Love Story
by Mac McClelland

The author is a human rights reporter who witnessed some terrible things. Many difficult assignments to disaster zones, culminating in travel to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake where her particular focus was to investigate the prevalence of rape among survivors in tent camps. What she found was horrific. She went into shock, had a breakdown and upon returning home, found she could not escape flashbacks of things she'd seen, panic attacks, outbursts of anger or self-loathing, and frightening dissociation- not being able to feel parts of her body at all. She had post traumatic stress disorder, and describes years of struggling to heal, with the help of a therapist, many different techniques to strengthen her mind and body (mindfulness, yoga, self-defense class etc, occasionally medication though she really shied away from that avenue). Through it all she was supported by the love of her boyfriend- a French soldier she had met briefly while on assignment, it became a long-distance relationship and eventually they tried living together. Wow, that that sounded difficult.

McClelland thankfully does not share details about the atrocities she witnessed that brought on her PTSD, but she is frank about the effects it had on her everyday life, in particular her sex life. Her methods of dealing with this are disturbing to read (or were for me) and honestly could be triggering for many - please be advised if you are interested in reading this book you might want to avoid it if you have suffered from sexual abuse or have thoughts of self harm. McClelland received a lot of criticism for what she wrote (initially as an article) but personally, I see her as an intelligent, sensitive and brave woman- she shared so honestly what it is like to live with her condition. Also shares some research she did into PTSD, especially among war veterans and how it affects their families as well (many spouses and children end up with PTSD themselves, from living alongside someone with severe symptoms). A lot of the book seems to drag on with her pain, confusion and exasperation that her symptoms never seem to let up, but in the final twenty pages there is some hope- the coping skills she has learned are becoming easier to employ, her episodes are becoming less frequent, she is more accepting of herself and of the love her husband gives her.

There's so much more to this book- things from her past, difficulties her partner also went through, strength of friendships, struggles with her work- but I can't possibly mention it all. I must say, it was a very difficult read. I had to put it down several times. It also clarified for me- I understand a little better some things I read in Hi, Anxiety that baffled me at first. Like the psychological need some people feel to face pain, fear and aggression, in order to heal.

I borrowed this book from the public library. Found it browsing the mental health section, it just caught my eye.

Rating: 4/5                          308 pages, 2015

Calming Your Anxious Child

Words to Say and Things to Do
by Kathleen Trainor, PsyD

My kids have anxiety (in different ways, and only one of them is actually diagnosed). I think I probably do to some extent as well- as it seems to run in the family. I picked up this book just wanting to learn more about what's appropriate or helpful to say in certain situations. I was honestly surprised at how relevant, practical and comprehensive this book is. It all feels very familiar. Either I have seen some of the behaviors the author describes, in those around me (not just family but also acquaintances and other people I've known) or recognize them in myself. Lots of people probably have a little bit of anxiety, OCD, avoidance tendencies etc, it's not really a problem until it becomes overwhelming and interferes with everyday life, as the author points out.

Well, the author works a lot with children. She uses a particular method of cognitive behavior therapy that is very structured. The steps are to recognize problematic thoughts and behaviors caused by anxiety, rate their level of difficulty (in overcoming), map out strategies for improvement, come up with positive thoughts to replace negative ones, decide on a reward system, and track progress. It's very much centered on getting kids involved in their own treatment, letting them feel they're in control of changing how they think and feel. The examples- all from real patient cases- sounded like problems I have seen many people face (or heard about). Some I really wondered how the method would work, in particular with an older kid who was resentful at even being in the therapist's office and didn't see anything wrong with his life- but in the end it did.

There are, in this book, kids who won't sleep on their own, worry constantly about their health, stress to the point of illness over schoolwork, feel a compulsive need to be clean, avoid all outside situations (preferring to play computer games literally all day), pull out their own hair, have specific phobias, and more. And we're talking to the point of disrupting the entire family life- the girl who was afraid of dogs, for example, got so terrified she would not play outside for fear of encountering a dog in the neighborhood, or go to any friend's house if they had a dog. There was a kid so petrified of bugs he would run screaming from the house to his car whenever he had to go somewhere. A very small child with a severe phobia of water after suffering a burn from boiling hot water that spilled on her, would have panic attacks if even a drop landed on her arm. She couldn't take a bath, walk outside when it was raining, go swimming, etc. Some of the situations looked very simple on the surface until the therapist started helping them examine things, others looked very complicated and confusing until they sat down and figured out the root cause. (The beginning of the book explains the biological causes of anxiety, how the brain works in terms of fear response, and how culture or family situations can sometimes add to it). There was also a section about helping kids overcome PTSD caused by traumatic situations, which was a bit hard to read, but very eye-opening.

I thought at first this book would be boring or clinical, but in fact it was interesting and I felt like I learned a ton. Not that I would implement a program based on what I read alone, but it sure did make me aware of how things can be dealt with, especially  how kids can literally train their brains to think/feel differently, and to have more compassion for people who struggle with certain aspects of anxiety.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5                249 pages, 2016

butterflies

Another 1,000 piece Cobble Hill puzzle. I already disassembled and put it back on the shelf, so don't have a notation of the artist. It sure would be nice to know the names of the butterfly species? the artwork is very pretty and nicely detailed. (Click to see larger and scroll through the images)

Hi, Anxiety

Life with a Bad Case of Nerves
by Kat Kinsman

I thought reading about anxiety symptoms in the fictional story A Quiet Kind of Thunder (panic attacks, selective mutism) was bad enough, but in this book- a true account- the anxiety is truly debilitating. Author Kinsman describes feeling jittery, worried and out-of-sorts since early childhood- her behavior often earning her taunts from other children, later on making it hard to find or keep a job, travel, make appointments on the telephone, get in a car and drive somewhere, or even just leave the house. The physical manifestations painful, annoying and interrupting her life, the mental unending ragged self-criticism and fearful thoughts wore her down. She describes going through a series of unhelpful and judgmental (or at least perceived to be so) doctors, mentions quite a few different medications, and relates a period of self-induced (and yes very gradual) withdrawl from one particular psychotic med which sounded like a horrific experience. The part about her stint working in a dungeon as a dominatrix took me by surprise (thankfully not too much detail) but I was even more surprised at my reluctant respect for what she did there: giving other people the pain they somehow needed to feel. She tells about a series of relationships that ended badly, and then the sudden wonder of finding a good one- and her life got so much better after that. Not completely well, never healed, always with this illness to live with- but more manageable when she felt loved. Though she questioned and doubted that for a long time. And then she got a better job, in spite of her fears at being inadequate, and then she decided to just tell everyone: I suffer from anxiety: I have a mental illness. To share and get out of the box of silence. I personally don't know what it's really like to live with debilitating anxiety, but I appreciate that Kinsman could share her story, and she relates the overwhelming response she received from other people who had felt the same fears, and thought they were alone.

It's not exactly linear in fashion, but for once that didn't bother me in a book. Some parts are from her childhood, others more present in time. It seems that sections describing particular fears intersperse with chapters about life events more or less chronological in order, but it still skips around a lot and I just took things as they came. It's not all dark- there's quite a lot of humor and overall I did like reading this one.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                 221 pages, 2016

Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Your Guide to Recovery
by William R. Marchand, M.D.

Following No Love Allowed, I wanted to know more about bipolar and this was the only other book on the subject when I browsed the shelf, though I have since made a to-read list from the catalog. It's a very thorough guide (as far as I can tell) on mood disorders- mostly concerning depression and bipolar but also others such as anxiety. The book details what is known about mood disorders and brain chemistry, how a diagnosis is reached, what to expect when visiting doctors, how treatment choices are made, management of symptoms, prevention of relapse and more. It's all very methodical and straightforward. Not much about what it's like to live with the disorder, or to know someone who has it, but more about how to seek treatment and manage care. I appreciate that the author outlined his credentials, explained how trials are done on medications, what risk factors actually mean and how to find credible sources of information. It all appears to be very useful and factual. I feel it's a bit unfair for me to give this book a rating, because I didn't really read all of it- I skipped lots of pages that had charts on medications, forms to track symptoms and the like. Or parts that just weren't that interesting. But I did go through it entirely front-to-back and feel like I learned quite a lot from what I did read- the majority.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                 360 pages, 2012

Leaving the Wild

the Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses
by Gavin Ehringer

I don’t like the cover at all. And I found the material interesting enough, but a bit uneven. The sections on dogs and cats are more than half the book, the part about cows a little shorter than the first two, and horses felt tacked on at the end with far less coverage. Honestly I almost put this one aside, because the first chapter on how dogs became domesticated, was boring. I’d either read most of it before elsewhere, or felt my eyes glazing over on the history details. There’s a lengthy chapter on how the Victorian craze for purebred dogs changed the course of dog breeding forever, and another on how rightfully pit bulls are vilified. Curiously, this book states that overpopulation is no longer a huge problem for dogs and cats in America, that in fact a lot of shelters now have to import homeless animals to keep their operations running. Another section looks into the ethtics of dog shows and breeders- stating that most people who breed dogs knows what they’re doing and look seriously into the genetics to ensure healthy animals, but the public knowledge about what goes on is woefully behind the reality. Hm. The part about cats has a lot of Egyptian history, and about how the popularity of cats waxed and waned over the centuries- I learned quite a bit of folklore and such I hadn’t known before. There’s a strong emphasis in here on the problem of stray and feral cats- firstly it states that cats are not wiping out birds (except on certain isolated islands where they are truly invasive) that statistics blaming domestic cats for falling bird numbers across America are exaggerated or wrongly extrapolated, there being so many other factors. And examples are given how trap-neuter-release programs can be extremely effective. When it comes to cows, I found myself reading about genetic cloning, dairy farm management, criticism of feedlot operations, and the plight of unwanted steer calves among other things. And organic milk production. And the debate on hormone injections. And so on. The horse chapters were very few. There is a bit of breed history, mostly about Mongolian horses under Ghenghis Khan, the beauty of Arabians, the inbreeding of famed quarter horses, and where it is all going. I skimmed much of the last chapter, just like I did the first.

So I learned a few new things, and I found a lot of it interesting, but much more was repetitive or simply felt off-topic. If I’d wanted to read about GMO tomatoes I would have picked a different book. Maybe the title gave me the wrong expectation, but I was alternately disappointed, bored and then intrigued again (when learning something new, or reading stuff that refuted things I thought I already knew).

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 2/5                               356 pages, 2017

Coping with Gender Dysphoria

by Ellen McGrody

I have to admit, I find the many various ways in which non-binary persons identify themselves and the use of pronouns other than he/him and she/her, plus the discovery of new terms I never heard of before, sometimes confusing. So I decided to read about it, starting with this book found browsing at the public library. It's rather basic, aimed at teens, and I think covers all important points leading to further reading. The book starts by identifying what all those different terms mean (including, yes, a few I hadn't heard of before- such as demigirl), the difference between gender identity and sexuality, the importance of individuals in presenting as the gender they identify with- whether that be via their clothing and hairstyle, change of name, selective pronouns, etc. Everyone's unique, and will feel a different need to feel comfortable with their body and self. The emotional and psychological distress caused by a person's inner identity not matching their physical body is (as far as I understand it) the dysphoria. Not every non-binary person feels dysphoria. Some are so distressed by it, their mental health is seriously affected. The book details how to find help and support, starting with family and friends, community groups and health care providers.

I really learned more than I expected to, here- in spite of how short the book is. I didn't know what the term clocked meant, outside of a boxing ring, for example. I didn't know about the incident at Stonewall Inn in New York, 1969- which is now commemorated each year with Pride events in June. I'm struggling a bit to recognize what microagressions are (another new term for me). I appreciate the book points out that non-binary people are not anything new. Many cultures have long recognized them: in India they are identified as third gender, in Samoa non-gender conforming people are called fa'afafine and in some Native American cultures they are referred to as two-spirit (and there's even a photo of one such individual, an assigned male in female Zuni dress). I'm sure there's more, but the book only mentioned these. I'm learning.

One very nice thing about this book: it's full of lovely photographs, of young people from all different races, and genders across the spectrum, many whom look very happy to be who they are.

Rating: 3/5             112 pages, 2018

No Love Allowed

by Kate Evangelista

Another YA about mental illness, which I wanted to read in particular because of the subject matter: one of the main characters, Didi, is bipolar. Unfortunately, this type of book isn't really to my taste, so although I found it amusing, somewhat interesting and heartwarming in the end, I really had to force myself to finish reading it; sorry to say but a lot felt just downright shallow and cheesy. And if you are interested yourself in reading it, skip after the paragraph below because I wrote a bunch of spoilers.

It's about a rich boy Caleb, who wants to take a gap year partying and touring Europe with his cousin before college. Gets in trouble with his dad and has to do an internship at the company, required to attend all the public functions thrown by said company. He needs a date for all these events, but has already burned his bridges with every available female in his social circle. There's an incident in the country club where he's dining when dumps his current girlfriend, and the waitress Didi catches his eye. So he ends up asking her to be his fake girlfriend for the summer, and in return he will pose for her (she's an artist).

It's a complete mismatch. Caleb lives in a mansion, drives sporty cars, throws money around like it's nothing. Didi and her mother barely make ends meet, her mom has to work several jobs and sometimes they have to decide between paying the electric bill, or for Didi's medications. Of course, in spite of this huge disparity and predictable a mile away, Did and Caleb fall in love regardless. Most of the story is about the social affairs they attend, and the constant not-so-subtle flirting between Didi and Caleb. To her credit, I liked Didi. She's thrown into a completely foreign environment; alternately stunned, bemused or offended when Caleb or his cousin offer to casually buy her things (a new cell phone, outfits, accessories and makeup for the parties), navigates the social circles with apparent ease at the functions- thrilled by the excitement and lavish gatherings more than anything else. But after all the thrills and heightened feelings, there's got to be a down. A really hard one, because Didi deliberately goes off her meds (so she can paint more) and then there's literally a crash. (Annoyingly, all the scenes in the hospital felt unrealistic). Caleb finally finds out about her diagnosis, and it looks like it might be the end. But the man cuts short his Europe trip to return- Didi is unlike any other girl he's known, and he really does love her, so he comes back and declares (in a wonderfully romantic museum setting date) that he will stick with her regardless of the difficulties ahead. Really lovely ending, but it all just felt so poorly described to me. The parts about Didi being bipolar didn't feel like a main part of the story, just an additional characteristic to support part of the plot, which was disappointing. And I liked that she was an artist, but that part didn't feel real to me either. Oh well.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 2/5                   231 pages, 2016

more opinions:
Rhapsody in Books
Buried in Books

A Quiet Kind of Thunder

by Sara Barnard

Steffi suffers from anxiety, often stricken by panic attacks, fear of strangers, public places, speaking on the telephone- and talking out loud. She's been "selectively mute" for so long she learned a bit of sign language (and "selective" doesn't mean she can choose when to talk or not- it seems to freeze her up without reason). Steffi has one best friend, Tem, who has known her since they were little and doesn't at all mind speaking up for her. Then a new boy arrives at school, Rhys. He's deaf. They become friends, as Steffi can commiunicate a bit in sign language, and Rhys doesn't at all mind her silence, or judge her for it. As her friendship with Rhys blossoms into something more, Steffi slowly starts to find her voice again- not just because of growing confidence in herself (helped, in part, by ongoing cognitive behavioral therapy) but also due to taking a new medication. Which she doesn't tell her friends about. So much happens. Tem and Steffi drift apart, as Steffi and Rhys grow closer. Steffi meets Rhys' deaf friends, and realizes how awkward her sign language use has actually been, sees a whole new side of her friend, recognizes she didn't really know what it was like to be deaf; their similarities are not always the same as understanding. Near the end of the story, Steffi and Rhys, giddy with their newfound love, plan a secret getaway together, but it doesn't go smoothly and Steffi is faced with challenges she's always shied away from. She has to realize a few things about herself. She has to be honest with Tem, and her parents, on her return. She has to reconsider her realationship with Rhys, even as it becomes most intimate- is her growing ability to speak and navigate normal social situations, drawing her away from Rhys?

This story had more depth than I expected. The love story aspect of it really is very sweet. Yeah, there's a sex scene near the end, and although I don't read a lot of love stories (teen or otherwise) I have to say I though it pretty darn realistic. Young, awkward, fumbling, tender love. Not what you might hope for (from the girl's viewpoint at least) but then moving on graciously. It was really nice to see Steffi grow as a character, to see how much Rhys cared for her, even though they had some misunderstandings and frustrations. The depiction of anxiety is different from the few accounts I've read before, but I'm sure it's different for everyone, so I appreciated seeing another aspect of what living with that can be like. I felt like the author wrote it with a lot of compassion and straightforwardness, as well.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5               390 pages, 2018

more opinions:
It's All About Books
That's What She Read

Snakemaster

Wildlife Adventures with the World's Most Dangerous Reptiles
by Austin Stevens

I have never seen this guy's tv shows, but I found the book interesting regardless. In it, the author describes how his early fascination with snakes led to a job at a reptile/wildlife park, where he cared for the snakes housed there, regularly "milked" them of venom for medicinal use (against snakebite), gave public demonstrations, and responded to calls from businesses or home owners who needed a snake removed. Sometimes the snake was released into the wild again, sometimes brought into captivity, always admired thoroughly. Then he got into making wildlife films, seeking to find the most beautiful, or dangerous, or reclusive snakes to catch them on film, giving running commentary to make the footage as educational as possible. In spite of his familiarity with snakes- reading their behavior, knowing how far and fast various species can strike- of course being in frequent close proximity with such dangerous animals he was bound to get bitten- and does describe several near-death experiences with snakebite. This book has not done much to lessen my healthy fear of venomous snakes! but it's nice to see how much the guy admires them. It's not only snakes, he talks about a few other creatures like alligators, gila monsters, cane toads etc. And there's just as much about how he learned to make films, navigate the world of sudden publicity when his films were aired on a popular channel, and deal with the logistics of many trips into remote places. Entertaining read, in spite of a few typos. Lots of close calls, dangerous moments, some lively humor, and plenty of information about the reptiles.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5            233 pages, 2014

Cuckoo

Cheating by Nature
by Nick Davies

I didn't know a lot about cuckoos, before. I was aware that they laid their eggs in another bird's nest, leaving the host parent to raise their chicks, and I've seen the astonishing video footage of the naked cuckoo chick pushing the other bird's chicks out of the nest to commandeer the resources all for itself. I didn't realize how intricate the depths of relationship goes, between cuckoos and their host birds. This book goes into all the details, while describing the fieldwork and experiments done to learn exactly how it all works out. Cuckoos in different areas (and not only cuckoos- honeyguides and a few other species also parasitize other birds' nests) use different host nests, and individual female cuckoos each specialize in using a certain host species. They not only match the host eggs in color and marking patterns, but the chicks match the host species' gape colors and begging calls in order to keep the host parents feeding them sufficiently. A big question the researchers had was: why are the host parents fooled? why don't they get rid of the foreign egg or abandon or evict the cuckoo chick. Sometimes they do. Sometimes the risk of guessing wrong and neglecting the own young is high, so they don't. It's all very complex and I was really intrigued by all the details, especially how the author and his colleagues figured some of it out. It's evolution happening real time, this constant friction between cuckoo and host birds- can they trick each other, will one get pushed out or the other. In certain areas host birds seem to have become wise to all the cuckoo's deceptions, and cuckoo numbers have actually fallen. But then another host species will be duped a few times, cuckoos that match that host enough to get away with it will thrive, and it starts all over again.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                 289 pages, 2015

I'll Give You the Sun

by Jandy Nelson

Sorry can't help it there are some spoilers.

I read this book because my teen kept saying how good it was. I asked "what's it about?" and was told: "Relationships". It is, but so much more. Alternate narration by two teenagers- twins- very close, until something happens that splits them, perhaps irreparably. Their mother encourages them in art, they're both vying to get into an artsy California school, but their views and abilities are quite different, also how the parents treat them. One feels supported and praised, the other not so much. There's also the growing schism between the parents, the boy's secret infatuation with a new kid next door- and deep fear of anyone finding out he's gay. The daughter creates three-dimensional art and wants to make the most important piece of her life in stone- and finds a famed, reclusive sculptor who just might agree to mentor her- but there's connections she doesn't realize. Passion and grief and secrets. A dangerous English guy she finds herself drawn to, even though everyone tells her he's bad news. There's surfers and dangerous cliff dives, one kid has to deal with being harrassed, the other with rape. So much awful stuff. But also such lively, vivid language, such kindness and consideration between the characters- although they have their bitter, revengeful moments, too. One of them is really into signs, omens and voices from the dead- I'm not keen of that kind of thing but it didn't really put me off this time. I found it a few things in the story a bit odd, and others I had a hard time piecing together, because not only is it told in two voices, but also skips around in time, so I sometimes lost the context of things. But overall it was rather riveting, and the ending is very nice. After all that twisting and hiding and pain, there is finally acceptance, patience, tenderness and love. I found it rather unbelievable the sculptor would take on such an unpolished student, and teach her to use power tools so quickly. But a part of the novel that really resonated with me was the boy's passion for art, and everything surrounding that. It felt much more true to my own experience than, for example, Egret.

You should look at some of the other reviews I linked to below, because everyone describes this book differently.

Rating: 3/5                    371 pages, 2014

more opinions:
Things Mean a Lot
Rhapsody in Books
Good Books, Good Wine
Reading Rants
So Many Books, So Little Time

Snow Leopard

Stories from the Roof of the World
edited by Don Hunter

Collection of firsthand accounts about tracking and studying snow leopards in the highest regions of the world. Also a few pieces by locals who lived there-  men protecting their livestock, stories of a snow leopard encounter told through generations. This book really gives a well-rounded look at what's involved in field work- the efforts of scientists and conservationists to find the animals and learn more about them, and the struggles of people who live near them in harsh conditions, to make a living. There's even a story of a misunderstanding with a poacher, who just wanted to earn money for his family, and another of how an organization set up an incentive program- locals were paid for making crafts to sell, on condition they never kill a snow leopard (sounds like it was very effective so far). The voices are very different- some describe the grueling marches and chilling cold, only to find tracks, never see the animal itself. Others describe the beauty of the landscape, the spiritual connection they feel to the secretive cat, or some personal incident in their lives that made them want to travel to remote regions in hopes of seeing one. George Schaller, Peter Matthiessen, Tom McCarthy (and his son), Rodney Jackson and many more writers are included. It was interesting to hear from two sides of some accounts- the scientist and the assistant each writing a piece. Very striking in my mind was an account of some scientists trailing a snow leopard across a glacier. Every place where the leopard (as noted by its pugmarks) had paused and leaped across an area, they took measurements and found a crevasse was hidden beneath the snow. I really enjoyed another by a photographer who observed a snow leopard on a kill interacting with other animals (magpies, fox) that came hoping to scavenge.  Oh, and I love the cover image, by one of my favorite wildlife artists, Robert Bateman.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5               188 pages, 2012

Green Thoughts

A Writer in the Garden
by Eleanor Perényi

Just the sort of garden writing I love. A collection of short essays (organized alphabetically by subject) on everything it seems: plant choices, catalogue perusing, balancing acts against pests, shunning harsh chemicals (she was an organic gardener), designing outdoor space, composting, pruning techniques, controlling weeds and disease. Also on individual plants: strawberries, tomatoes, peonies, daylilies, beans, onions, sweet peas, tulips, potatoes etc etc. The parts that waxed historical were not as interesting to me- although I did pay attention to the section about the tulip craze, and another about the development of rose varieties. The part on historical aspects of garden design, not so much. Her voice is down-to-earth, amusing, frank and informative. I even laughed out loud a few times! This book goes on the shelf right next to Thalassa Cruso and Katherine White (whom she quotes- we are among good company). I took notes (on plant species to look for, mostly) and bookmarked pages. I don't agree with all her opinions, but everyone's methods are slightly different. She avoids the work of carting seedlings in an out of the house, for example (like me, not having a greenhouse) but commiserates on how this style of "labor-intensive" gardening is becoming an anomaly- surrounded by neighbors who use gas-powered, noisy machines that do a crude job instead of the care and finesse could have done by hand. And this book is from the early eighties! I would be glad to tell her (she passed in 2009) that not all old-school gardeners are gone by the wayside, in fact there's a rising cadre of us now.

Rating: 4/5                   289 pages, 1981

Tibet Wild

A Naturalist's Journeys on the Roof of the World
by George B. Schaller

I thought- mostly due to the cover image- that this book was about the field study of a Tibetan antelope called chiru. That's only a few chapters. It covers many different trips and field studies the author conducted or participated in, travelling through remote regions of the Tibetan Plateau- encompassing areas of China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Mongolia. His studies were all about wildlife conservation- but there is (disappointingly for me) not a lot of description of actual animal encounters or behavior. What little is described of the wildlife, is brief. Mostly it is a report on how many animals they find in the various regions, how they tallied death numbers (from poaching, trophy hunters or natural causes and predation), and their survey of the areas- in particular noting the attitude of local people to the animals, what they knew of them, how they interacted with them, what local laws were in place and how well enforced, etc. A lot of it is just plain facts, and rather dry reading. I did find it interesting enough to complete- but I think (similar to Joy Adamson's Queen of Shaba) this is a case where the author is relating crucial info and not really giving vivid storytelling, as I have encountered more in his works (the few I've read so far).

The book describes in passing the yak, kiang (or wild ass), Tibetan gazelle, golden eagle, Tibetan brown bear, Tibetan fox and a number of other animals. More attention is given to the chriu- mostly in head counts- and an entire chapter is about how the desire of the wealthy to own shawls woven from the fine wool of chiru caused the animals to be killed in great numbers until protection was put in place. There's a chapter about pika- small rodents- all about how they fit into the ecosystem, but unfortunately local inhabitants blamed pikas for degraded pastures, and poisoned them in great numbers (on the contrary, Schaller explains that pika are important for a healthy land). Another chapter describes efforts to locate, track and study snow leopards, and a final one the Tibetan bear- but in both cases they barely get a glimpse of the animals, relying mostly on camera traps and information gleaned from the few individuals they are able to radio-collar in order to track movements. More about politics and legal tangles involved in protecting Tibetan wild sheep- the argali- and the Marco Polo sheep. A lot of it is just we-went-here, we-did-this, or in many cases, how they failed to. If you want to read about the difficulties and drudgery of field work, or an overview on how lifestyles have changed in that region of the world over the past decades - Scahller went there many times with repeated visits, so he was able to give a bit of perspective on that- by all means this is a valuable account.

It's just not terribly intriguing to the casual reader like myself. Personally, I would really like to read the book of pika fables he wrote, in order to teach local Tibetans why the small animal was valuable. Being written later in his career, Schaller also includes some introspective musings in this book, looking at what his life's accomplishments had been so far-

I have not lived up to my potential. I am neither leader nor follower, and instead inadvertently subscribe to the dictum of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Do not go where the path may lead; go where there is no path and leave a trail." It affords me great pleasure to observe the rich and complex life of another species and write its biography. . . I have published interesting and useful scientific information. But all scientific work, unless there is the grand, everlasting insight of a Darwin, Einstein, or Newton, is soon supersceded, forgotten or rated at most a historical reference as others build upon your research. That is how science must proceed.

This makes me think of a comment on Wild Heritage. But I wholly recognize that Schaller's work in surveying and reporting on wildlife in various parts of the world has contributed greatly to conservation efforts, even if his books aren't wildly popular or always make fun reading (I however, plan to read all I can get my hands on, even though my library only has a few. I've been collecting the others- have one on gorillas and another on pandas on my shelf. Really want to get the one about his first study, on lions in the Serengeti).

I borrowed this book from the public library.

Rating: 3/5              372 pages, 2012

The Winter Garden

by Johanna Verweerd
translated by Helen Richardson-Hewitt

I picked this one up at a free book exchange, because I thought it was about a garden. Well, there's a garden in it, but it's really part of the background. The main character, a lonely sombre woman called Ika, works for a landscape designer, she's planning a garden for a greenhouse setting, with careful selections to bloom in the dull, cold months. But not much of this is mentioned beyond her at the drawing board, and although there are suggestions at how important the small garden at her childhood home was to her, it's not a large part of the story, either. Most of it is about relationships- the strained, cold, unloving relationship Ika had with her parents (while her younger sister was cheerful and beloved). The narrative moves often between past and present, showing how Ika feels now and how memories arise of her miserable childhood. She had finally escaped her family's unloving environment, leaving home to work for a landscaper and rent her own small place, but now returns home over a decade later upon learning that her mother is very ill, probably dying. There's awkward quiet moments caring for her bedridden mother, brief conversations with her sister and some neighbors, the village doctor, the teacher from her old school- all slowly piecing together her past. Why it was so painful and unhappy. Why she still feels burdened by those feelings. It wasn't until the very last pages that the dark secret of her childhood finally came to light- and the answer wasn't shocking, or very satisfying either. I really wish there had been more to the story about her slowly growing hope in the new life of young plants as she cared for the garden, but this seemed to be more a metaphor stuck in, for the unfolding hope in her heart that she could build a new life for herself. Mostly it is stilted and understated, full of unexplained resentments and quiet suffering. I suppose a lot of the stiff feeling could be because I read a translated text, but perhaps it is just this author's style, as well- understatement, things told and not much shown. I just - didn't really get a strong feeling for most of it.

Also, it's a book with religious themes. It really didn't detract from the story for me, but it didn't add a lot either- I suppose because phrases and quoted scriptures which seemed to have a lot of weight and meaning for the characters- just didn't for me. I felt like there was a depth of intent there, which I wasn't picking up on. I failed to really grasp the more current relationships, either- the new friendship Ika had with her employer, the warmth she felt meeting her sister's husband and her nephew for the first time- it was all stated, not really felt. At least by this reader.

Rating: 2/5                    269 pages, 1995

Personalities on the Plate

the Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
by Barbara J. King

This book looks at the lives of animals we humans tend to eat: fish, chickens, goats, cows and pigs. It also starts off with a chapter on insects- is it better to eat insects than mammals, because they need fewer resources (lighter burden on the planet), and have less apparent intelligence? maybe- but most people in the western world can't get over their repugnance. On the flip side, I can't think of anyone who would eat chimpanzee meat, for entirely different reasons- but the author tells us there definitely are people who do, in other parts of the world. There's also a chapter on octopus, how smart they are, how much a delicacy in certain cultures- but having not-too-long ago read Sy Montgomery's the Soul of an Octopus- which is quoted plenty in here- I found myself skipping through a lot of it. In fact that was a damper for me in most of the book- I've also read several Michael Pollan books, Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals and Barry Estabrook's Pig Tales, plus several others which are quoted or heavily referenced here. So although the author brought in a lot of personal experiences and incidents I hadn't heard of, still much of the material felt repetitive to me, not a lot new, and I skimmed plenty. I also gather that much of it was first written as a blog, which might have something to do with how brief and light some of the writing feels to me. It's also strong on the emotional slant, in giving reasons for moving away from eating meat and being vegetarian or vegan. However there was enough of interest in here - and some very convincing rationales I hadn't though of before- that I read it all the way through, regardless of the skips. So please don't take my rating to heart this time; it's more my personal response to the book because I already felt fairly saturated with this kind of information, than anything else. I think I need to switch subject matters for a while.

I was really horrified by the story of Mike the headless chicken by the way- just google that, if you will. Even worse is the fact that after this chicken gained fame (and money) for his owner, lots of other men tried to duplicate the curiosity- killing tons of chickens just to try and get one that would freakishly survive it. What??!

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 2/5                 229 pages, 2017

Closer to the Ground

An Outdoor Family's Year on the Water, in the Woods and at the Table
by Dylan Tomine

This book was very enjoyable. It's about a family that does a lot of what I wish I did more of- forage, grow, harvest and catch their own food. Well, they benefit by living right by the ocean- literally five minutes from a boat ramp. They go crabbing, fishing, deer hunting, gather mussels, dig clams, hunt chanterelles and pick berries in the forest, and grow a vegetable garden. The father is passionate about finding and cutting deadfall trees to heat their house all year round. Not all trees are equal in this- I didn't realize by how much. Not all goes as planned- but Tomine writes with wry humor his own mishaps, and describes in glowing tones his small triumphs, and wow the food sounds delectable all round (this book makes me hungry.) His kids get muddy, wet, cold and tired- and are happily involved, delighted in their part. They are always eager to try one more fishing spot, drop one more crab pot. They point out the lovely things alone the way- porpoises and seals in the Sound, birds on the water, when dad often just wants to find the thing they came to catch and get it home again- kids make you slow down and appreciate the doing of it. He talks about the tricky balance between trying to live "green" and being practical about it- especially when it comes to what kind of car they drive, and where they source materials for an addition to their house. It's honest about how much one can do- when their tomato crop fails due to blight, they recognize it's okay- they don't solely live off their garden produce, and they have a ton of stuff growing wonderfully even when the tomatoes didn't make it. It's about doing what you can to be good to the Earth, living close to nature and making the most of the available bounty. It also makes me nostalgic, being written by a man who lives on an island in Puget Sound- right around where I grew up. I heartily recommend this book to my siblings and parents- I'm sure they would really appreciate it.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                  230 pages, 2012

Down from the Mountain

the Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear
by Bryce Andrew

This book is gritty honest and sobering about the conditions that pitch grizzly bears and man into conflict, but also full of beautifully lyrical writing about the landscape, people and animals. It really makes you feel you are there. The author writes about a particular valley in Montana where bears have been strongly attracted by the richness of crops, feeding on apple trees and gophers in fields instead of staying up on the mountainside eating things like cutworms and berries. Some bears discovered corn, and more and more came every year to ravage corn fields- and they are extremely dangerous because invisible inside the tall corn. The author became involved helping a rancher experiment with new fencing around his corn field, hoping to keep the bears out before the corn ripened. He writes about why bears in corn is bad all around- not only bringing them into conflict with people, causing huge amounts of crop damage and loss, making the bears unhealthy (corn is more fattening than their natural foods), young bears learning this as a prime food source which could put them in lifelong trouble with people. He brings his parents (artists and writers) to visit the field and see the bears, noting their different perspectives on the situation. He accompanies law enforcement to seek out a man who shot one particular female bear, maiming it in an awful way that left it suffering for months on end. He visits with leaders of a tribal group on a local reservation, to learn from and work with them resolving bear conflicts. And finally, he follows the fate of two young grizzlies - presumably orphaned by the injured bear. It all winds up in a sad place, was my thought.

Illustrated with black and white photographs. I borrowed this book from the public library. Similar read: True Grizz.

Rating: 4/5             274 pages, 2019

Touch Not the Cat

by Mary Stewart

Took myself by surprise, here. The book is a mystery and a romance- genres I don't usually read, but I could not put it down regardless. The characters are well-written, the situation intriguing, the descriptions of place vivid and real. Heroine is a young woman named Bryony, who grew up on an old family estate- now slowly falling into ruin, held together by a trust established by one of the family ancestors, and part of it rented out to strangers. Bryony had been living away from home for a while, but hurries back at news of her father's sudden death- and hears from their lawyer that the estate will now pass into the hands of her older cousin Emory. There's several older male cousins- Bryony has always found them rather attractive (this is back in the day when it was okay to marry your cousin?) and she wonders if one of them is he who has spoken with her telepathically since she was a child. It's a family gift handed down from a gypsy woman who married into the family once- but for Bryony it is much more than just an exchange of thoughts. She feels so close to the one she's been mentally communicating with, she calls him her lover, even though they've never met in person. I found this- really odd and uncomfortable- especially with the idea it was her cousin- and I don't usually like stories that include paranormal elements at all- so that tells you what a darn good writer Stewart is, to get me intrigued anyway.

Well, Bryony finds a lot of subtly suspicious things going on when she gets home to the estate. She starts to wonder who is lurking in the shadows, who her "lover" really is, and was her father's death an accident- or did someone purposefully run him down. His last words were written down and handed to her- they seem to include a warning and she's determined to figure it out. Meanwhile, there's a wealthy American family living in the better part of the huge old house, Bryony soon meets them and that was pretty interesting- sorry to say I sometimes find English opinions of Americans to be rather- disparaging? - but this one was admiring and astute. She also meets some childhood friends who still live nearby, peruses old books in the near-empty library in search of clues (there's some lovely literary references, I always like it when characters in books are well-read), and puzzles out the overgrown maze in the center of the garden- which might also hide secrets to some long-ago obscured scandal.

I won't say more, except that this story surprised me at so many turns. What was hidden at the center of the maze- I really thought it was going to have some magical properties- an ancient curse perhaps- but the truth turned out to be much more matter-of-fact! Who the un-met lover was- this part surprised me too, but I also found it very satisfying. The cousins turned out to be nasty fellows, and really deserved what they got in the end, I thought. I don't know if I'd pick this one up again- I'm still a bit weirded out by the closeness of cousins and the telepathy stuff- but if I ever feel game to read a mystery again, I'll probably reach for a Mary Stewart.

Rating: 3/5             336 pages, 1976

more opinions: Indextrious Reader

The Solution

Animorphs #22
by K.A. Applegate

This book was really tense! It wraps up the "David trilogy." The newer Animorph is obviously a dangerous loose end. He quits the team for good, but his very existence is a danger to the others, not to mention he obviously intends to use his morphing powers for crime and gain, and now he wants to get his hands back on the blue box that grants those powers. It is really strange to see the Animorphs facing danger from one who wields their own abilities- you can see how they've managed to hold on so long against the alien enemy, even though small in numbers and only teenagers. David can easily threaten them, sneak in amongst them unseen, he could be anywhere, any time. He infiltrates Rachel and Jake's extended family in a very clever and disturbing way. It makes it doubly hard for the team to get rid of him- but also more determined to do so. They have to be very careful and smart to outwit one of their own- and meanwhile still have to put a stop to the summit where the enemy are trying to get at the heads of five different nations. Which they decide to do in a ridiculously straightforward fashion, since their last attempt using subterfuge didn't work at all. More significant to me than all the action, though, was the constant second-guessing Rachel (the narrator) did. She finds herself questioning why Jake specifically puts her in situations that call for threats, violence and even ruthless behavior, to get the better of David. She's angered and frightened by the knowledge that there is a dark side to her character that enjoys the challenge of a fight, and upset that the other members of the team might see her that way too. Also it becomes clear that Jake is starting to stragetically use his friends as team members for their specific abilities- they don't always like what that entails or suggests about them.

There aren't really any new morphs in this book. David uses the snake, they all morph birds of prey at some point, they morph dolphins and a whale at one point- battling David as an orca at sea- he's trying to kill them off- and several of the Animorphs acquire elephant and rhinoceros forms to (literally) crash into the summit. Rachel morphs the rat in order to lead David into a trap. None of these were really described in detail- and I rather missed that. However it was nice to have far fewer of the drawn-out sound effects written in! (I think this is among the first of the Animorphs books that were ghost-written- most of the second half of the series weren't directly authored by Applegate).

Rating: 3/5               152 pages, 1988

more opinions:
Arkham Reviews
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales