my other reading

Like many of you, I thought I was going to make a large dent in my TBR shelves these weeks, but have found it difficult to maintain focus and enjoy books. Instead I've been reading periodicals.

Three of these we have regular subscriptions to- National Geographic, Tropical Fish Hobbyist and Amazonas. The rest I got free once off CL- two large cloth shopping bags full. I gladly took it because most were exactly the subject matter I enjoy- environment and nature. Audubon, World Wildlife, Nature Conservancy, National Parks, Sierra, Defenders of Wildlife and more. The stack of them all on my bedroom floor is literally more than a foot high. I assumed when I picked these up it would take me years to get through them all- dipping in here and there, between regular books. Now it's kind of my mainstay. For how long I don't know.

They're all relatively recent- I think the oldest issue is from 2016- and it's nice that a lot of them have stories about positive change and progress. Monarch butterfly numbers on the rise. Wolves and cougars repopulating into new areas of the country. Land set aside for wildlife, species protected, operations harming ecosystems altered or shut down. Of course a lot is about things that need to be done, raising alarm for problems around the world. But I am glad to read the positive stories- people do care, and a lot of good is happening out there.

An Indomitable Beast

the Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar
by Alan Rabinowitz

This book seems a companion volume to Jaguar: One Man's Struggle to Establish the World First Jaguar Preserve. It was written many years later, but covers some of the same material and mentions many of the same key incidents. However this book moves much further, describing conservation efforts Rabinowitz was involved with for tigers and other wild cats before coming back to focus on jaguars again. He studied the history of the jaguar- from its ancient evolution through the many cultures that revered it in the "jaguar culture corridor". A lot of the book is about study results and meetings and reports made in effort to protect jaguars and the land they need, and help native peoples where jaguars exist learn to better live alongside them. He took things learned from people who co-existed well in one area with jaguars, and helped apply it to other areas. Much of all this, while very informative, is also really dry reading though (at least for me). I admit I skimmed a lot. I did enjoy some of the final chapters that delve into the nature of the jaguar, what distinguishes it from other big cats in the eyes of Rabinowitz and other men who have worked closely with it- behavior traits in particular. There is some folklore and legend in here too, and overall it is a hopeful story with successes secured and a positive look to the future. But the prior book Jaguar, about direct work in the field study, was in all a more personal story and thus more interesting. It's a narrative, this one is more along the lines of a very detailed report.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                  241 pages, 2014

prevention measures

I guess it was inevitable- I've had to turn on comment moderation because my blog has recently attracted spam. I had to erase a lot of junk from the comment section. Unfortunately when I re-visited my blog a few hours later, I noticed some legitimate comments from the past weeks' worth of posts have also vanished. I am not sure how that happened and I apologize to my readers, because I really do like hearing from you!

Paradise Under Glass

An Amateur Creates a Conservatory Garden
by Ruth Kassinger

I don't know if it's just my mental state, but I found this book a disappointment. It seemed right up my alley- a woman who could barely keep a single houseplant alive, suddenly feels inspired to build what I'd call a large sunroom onto her house to replace an old deck. She stocks it with fruit trees and vibrant tropical foliage plants, learning by mistakes and with the guidance of a helpful local nursery employee. Becoming enthused with all the green growing things, she travels to visit commercial greenhouses and public arboretums, admiring a living green wall, learning about the history of clivias and Victorian fern hunters, seeing what it takes for an operation to produce thousands of houseplants for sale. She tells a lot about the history of greenhouses- starting with how citrus trees were first imported from China to other countries and kept alive through the winters- and early plant collectors and the architecture of glass buildings and so much of that overwhelmed the main story and made my eyes swim. I really was not interested in all the historical people and their doings. I'd have rather just read the personal bits- the part about butterflies was really wonderful, also the chapter on how she battled infestations in her sunroom and learned about beneficial bugs. The section about her sister's poor health very sad but also felt a little out of place. In all it was a rather uneven read for me- I really liked reading about her own plants and how she learned to care for them, but the historical sections failed to hold my interest.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 2/5          347 pages, 2010

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

by Frans de Waal

The difference in intelligence between humans and animals is not as much as we'd like to think. A lot of this book -in the beginning at least- is showing a history of animal cognition studies, how every time scientists demarcated humans from animals (we can use tools! we have language!) experiments showed certain animal species entirely capable of doing the same things. Even birds and fish have proved able to do complex problem-solving. Dolphins recognize each others' names. Chimpanzees plan ahead.  It turns out that in many cases, earlier studies that failed to illuminate animal smarts often weren't taking into account how that animal perceives the world. What matters to it. What motivates it. Or even physically how it could manipulate the offered tools. Their brains are not necessarily higher or lower on a scale to ours, they are simply other. That's not to say all are equal in ability- there's a seabird that can't recognize its own young- but then it would never have to, since it nests on cliff faces and in no natural circumstance would another chick stumble into its nest. But it performs other feats we could never match. This book is dense with information and very intriguing studies and I fail to do it credit here- I've been unwell the past week so read this in pieces with a lot of breaks for easier fare (mostly Chi's Sweet Adventures). I really would like to revisit it someday when I can give it better attention. At the end of this book, I could totally see how de Waal was gearing up to write Mama's Last Hug next. Similar reads: Animal Wise and Bird Brains. I'm sure there's more titles I could link to but I can't think of them now.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5         340 pages, 2016

more opinions: Reading the End  . . . anyone else?

Chi's Sweet Adventures

vol 4
by Konami Kanata
Adapted by Kinoko Natsume

This fourth volume of Chi's Sweet Adventures is obviously aiming more at entertaining children watching the cute tv show, so it wasn't quite as appealing to me. I really prefer the earlier series that sticks more or less to what a real kitten's life is like. There's still plenty of normal stuff in here- Chi gets repeated lessons from Blackie on how to hiss and intimidate- practicing on frogs and lizards- but she's too darn cute to make it convincing. Chi and Cocchi go wandering at night, someone gives them fish to eat, but older stray cats chase them trying to steal the food. The kittens are out on a very hot day and try desperately to find shade- sometimes in amusing places. They chase cicadas up trees and then admire the view, but are a bit scared to come down again. They're frightened by a coiled hose, thinking it a snake. At home, Chi watches her family argue and fight, and feels lonely in the empty rooms when everyone's avoiding each other- and later she helps them come together again.

The bits that stretched reality were Chi and the other kittens climbing up into the clouds (turned out to be a dream), pushing a skateboard then deliberately jumping on it for a ride, and Chi visiting the beach with the family. That part could be realistic, except Chi acted excited and curious and played with the waves more like a dog than a cat, in my opinion. I did appreciate one part that was really true to modern life- the boy Yohei busy playing video games on a device, ignoring both Chi and his dad. Dad brings out a bunch of nostalgic old-fashioned toys trying to convince Yohei to play, Chi starts joining in which finally gets the kid interested too. I liked that.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 2/5           88 pages, 2017

Chi's Sweet Adventures

vol 3
by Konami Kanata
Adapted by Kinoko Natsume

More kitten cuteness. I finally realized these books aren't supposed to chronologically follow the first set of Chi stories, but fit into the same timeframe. If I'd known that from the start, the overlap wouldn't have bothered me! In this one, the kittens explore together, run into a dog, and momentarily get stuck in a tree. The dad tries to take photos of Chi to enter a "chic cat" contest, but mom realizes Chi would be appreciated more for being cute and silly. Chi and Cocchi go roaming, and people offer them food, responding to Chi's cute pleas. So Cocchi tries to copy Chi's "smile". The Bear Cat has to give him some pointers on that! As Cocchi's usually kinda cranky. He tries to be more playful with the other kittens, but it's hard for him to act carefree- having to worry about survival as a stray. Blackie tries to teach the kittens how to play-fight, holding back their claws and biting gently. They don't quite get it. The parakeet shows up again, startling the kittens when it mimicks Chi. Then there's family stuff- Chi playing hide-and-seek with Yohei, messing up the dad's work by stomping all over his keyboard, feeling antagonized by the roomba. Being freaked out by the cat tower the dad builds her. Yohei gets sick and the mom wants him to stay in bed and rest, but she can't keep Chi out of his room. Then there's the part where Yohei briefly runs away, being angry with his dad. And the four kitten friends go on a grand adventure, venturing further than they ever have before, out of the park. It ends with a dog encounter, which oddly enough has the kittens clinging to the dog's back as he bolts down the sidewalk, ending up in a nice garden, and the kittens find out this dog at least, can actually be friendly.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5           88 pages, 2017

Chi's Sweet Adventures

vol 2
by Konami Kanata
Adapted by Kinoko Natsume

Well, the cute factor keeps me reading on, but really the 'episodes' are too short and once again stuff was repetitive- like the part where Chi and Cocchi get stuck in the rain and end up snuggling together in a tiny spot- after the kittens spat over the space. Chi searches for a warm spot when the power goes out in the family home. Chi has more lessons from the older cat Blackie- how to sneak up on prey, how to find safe spaces, avoiding bad food. Chi follows along when the mom of the house does exercises (something I think a dog would be more likely to do). Chi attends a gathering of cats, but is disruptive so Blackie leaves her with some other kittens, being tended by an "Auntie". Later Chi and Cocchi romp and play with the tabby kittens, puzzled again by their similarity to Chi. There's a tender nostalgic moment when the three tabbies tumble into a bucket together, curl up in a group and promptly fall asleep. Chi has a nagging sense of memory but can't quiet place why this feels so familiar and comforting. Then there's a part where Chi forgets Blackie's teachings and eats some spoiled meat off the ground, getting sick later. And a funny part where a frog gets loose in the house- the mom freaks out, Chi and Yohei both try to catch it.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5           91 pages, 2017

Chi's Sweet Adventures

vol 1
by Konami Kanata
Adapted by Kinoko Natsume

I checked out the first few volumes of Chi's Sweet Home, thinking my eight-year-old would like it. (She does immensely!) Discovered at the same time there's a new series featuring the same kitten- Chi's Sweet Adventures. Seems to be based on a television show. Not quite as good as the original Chi- the snippets of storyline can feel abrupt, the material is somewhat repetitive (in this volume Chi meets Cocchi for the first time?) the panels are smaller so I don't enjoy the art as much and it doesn't have quite the same depth of feeling. The little boy in the family, Yohei, looks older now- so I guess the story has advanced chronologically (which makes it confusing why Chi doesn't already know Cocchi, but oh well). Regardless, it's still darn cute. I'm enjoying them for a light read. In this one, Chi attempts to eat various things in the house that aren't for cats (a bread loaf, a potted plant, daddy's coffee), goes on excursions with Blackie for safety lessons (how to deal with dogs), goes camping with the family, gets put into a costume for Halloween, meets temptation when the family babysits a neighbor's parakeet, and finds that while the vacuum cleaner makes a terrifying noise, it feels wonderful on her fur.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5              91 pages, 2017

The Martian

by Andy Weir

You've probably heard of this one. Astronaut gets stranded on Mars and has to figure out survival completely alone in a hostile environment, for over a year while he hopes for rescue. He does manage to make contact with Earth eventually, so knows when he might get rescued- and the food will run out long before it's possible. So he rigs stuff up, activates soil, reclaims more water, grows potatoes. Has lots of equipment failures or simple mistakes that throw things awry, sometimes to the point of disaster it looks like- but he always manages to squeak past death and survive another day. I thought I would enjoy this just as much, if not more, than the movie version- which I saw quite a while ago- because a lot of the science is explained here (and it's based on a lot of research, reputedly very true-to-life what that kind of situation would be like) but unfortunately the explanations mostly either went over my head or were boring, so I found I didn't get more out of it. The film was more gripping, I followed along better seeing the suspenseful moments, whereas this book doesn't really convey a lot of emotion. You hardly get to know the main character as a person. It's all about the problems he's tackling. There is some humor thrown in there- but honestly I didn't find it funny, just tiresome. Being a gardener, I was pretty interested in how he got a potato farm going on Mars to feed himself, but even that lacked the kind of description I enjoy. When the story moved on I still wanted to see how it all played out (having forgotten a lot of key points) but turns out it was fairly dull and I didn't get a sense of tension in the end, I was just turning pages to be done. So this is another case where I actually preferred the movie. That's all.

However, lots of other readers enjoyed it- see the links below.

Rating: 2/5           435 pages, 2011

more opinions:
Indextrious Reader
BookNAround
Attack of the Books!
That's What She Read
Bookalicious Babe

Herb Gardening at Its Best

Everything You Need to Know About Growing Your Favorite Herbs
by Sal Gilbertie and Larry Sheehan

Simply a practical how-to on growing herbs. Written by someone who grew them commercially for over forty years. The cultivation methods are slightly different from what I've been doing, and maybe I will try some in my own garden. I knew enough to water the herb bed less frequently than the other plants, but didn't realize they also require less fertilizer. Because the oils that give herbs scent and flavor are less concentrated if they have lush, excessive growth. So I might quit feeding that bed compost and just give it leaf mold. Except this book also says that herb gardens shouldn't be mulched during the growing season, as it keeps them too damp. It's pretty hot here in summers so I'm not sure about that in my case. Anyhow, aside from information on germination, cultivation and harvest times for herbs, the book also has a section of layouts for different types of herb gardens, each with a specific focus. Herbs for making tea, for soups, for adding to bread or making potpourri. Herb gardens for medicinal use, to attract bees or selections to repel pests. There's a list of plants to include in a collection of just basil, thyme or sage (so many varieties!) and I'm most intrigued by the scented geraniums. Aside from some general suggestions for culinary uses, this book doesn't tell much about the different plants' characteristics, but the names of ones I'm unfamiliar with intrigue me to look up more: sweet woodruff, bergamot, costmary, tansy, comfry, dittany, santolina etc. So many I don't know. Although many have suggested uses I wouldn't need- for dying cloth, for cure-alls or love potions haha! I do find it interesting the wide variety of herbs out there and their properties. Also, the cover of this book is hideous. There's another with very similar title by the same author, Herb Gardening From the Ground Up, which looks like it might be an updated version of this edition, I'm not sure.

Rating: 3/5        245 pages, 1978

Birdology

by Sy Montgomery

Another great book. I think I'm spoiling myself! The subtitle kind of tells it all with this one: Adventures with a Pack of Hens, a Peck of Pigeons, Cantankerous Crows, Fierce Falcons, Hip Hop Parrots, Baby Hummingbirds, and One Murderously Big Living Dinosaur. The "living dinosaur" is a cassowary, surprisingly difficult to find. The author traveled to areas of Australia where cassowaries were known to lurk, but barely caught a glimpse of one before returning home. Relates what she learned from the locals about them, which isn't a lot- the giant birds are very elusive and actually dangerous, which makes them difficult to study so they're still fairly unknown. The other chapters are more personal- she tells about her own flock of chickens- their intelligence, keen observation and social conniving. And the surprising differences between her flock and the chickens a tenant brought to her property- which in the end she attributes to flock "culture" handed down by the original group of hens. Next Montgomery visits a woman who cares for orphaned hummingbirds, then gets up close with birds of prey with a falconer, hangs out with some pigeon fanciers (who race the birds), meets Griffon a parrot who is part of a language study (started with Alex), and visits a city that has been inundated by a huge number of crows- to the delight of some residents and the consternation of others. There's a lot of intriguing stuff about each of the bird species detailed here- the fierce, riveting intensity of hawks, the amazing stamina and physical ability of pigeons, the incredible delicacy and keen aggressiveness of minute hummingbirds. The wry humor and sharp intelligence of parrots- a famous one who dances to music is prominently featured here. And the strong social bonds and ingenuity of crows.

This book enriches a lot of others I've read not so long ago on the same species: Hummingbirds: My Winter Guests by Arnette Heidcamp, H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald, Once Upon a Flock by Lauren Scheuer, Pigeons by Andrew Blechman, The Parrot Who Owns Me by Joanna Burger and  Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg; Bird Brain by Nathan Emery. I have no basis of comparison for the cassowaries- which made it all the more intriguing, to read about them! Definitely would like to add a copy of this to my permanent shelf someday.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5             260 pages, 2010

more opinions: the Stay At Home Bookworm- anyone else?

Saving Jemimah

Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay
by Julie Zickefoose

A beautiful, tender and eye-opening book. Author and bird rehabilitator Julie Zickefoose tells how she raised a wild blue jay, named Jemimah. It was found as a young chick on the ground under a despoiled nest. Zickefoose had a lot of experience raising other young birds, but not any corvids before this. Lively, intelligent and very social, the jay demanded a lot from her and her family. The bird's care, feeding, habits, learning, socialization and eventual release are all detailed. Not without some difficulties- at one point the jay is ill and needs quick treatment (hard to manage as Jemimah was already flying free outdoors at that point, although still visiting the house regularly). Later on Jemimah breaks some feathers, seriously hindering her flying ability and Zickefoose wonders if she'll ever survive to her second year, so handicapped. Some investigation reveals that the feathers were probably weakened by an illness the jay had as a chick, and might even be the reason it was originally ousted from its nest. Against the odds Jemimah survives with a wild flock she's taken up with, and the author is overjoyed to see her again over a year later. In the time between, she tells of a few other jays that were rescued and rehabilitated (some successfully, some not), her methods for photographing birds that visit her yard, identifying markers she uses to tell jays apart, and what she learns by meticulously going back through hundreds of photographs- sometimes able to recognize a certain bird again, and piece together some data about its circumstances. During the time she raised Jemimah, the author also debunked some commonly held practices in caring for young blue jays. It's all fascinating, very heartwarming and makes me very keen to see a flash of blue among the trees again (jays visit my yard sometimes, but never stay long).

Borrowed from the public library.

Edit add: I found some videos online of Jemimah.

Rating: 4/5               254 pages, 2019

A Thousand Miles of Mustangin'

by Ben K. Green

This is one of the books I got at Powell's. It's not quite as lively and funny as Horse Tradin', but I still found it plenty interesting. The author needed work during the winter so he travelled south -horseback of course- to Big Bend country in Texas, across the border into Mexico, and later on to Arizona. All to try and catch wild horses he'd heard of but nobody seemed sure they were even in the area. Used his smarts to find the mustangs, several different methods to catch them, with the help of some Mexicans in one area, and members of the Yaqui tribe in another, usually individuals who just wandered into his camp and offered to help (for a bit of pay, of course). In some cases he chased down and roped the wild horses, in another instance a local set snares for them, and in a third place Yaqui runners (mostly young girls on foot it turns out) would follow the horses for days until the worn-out animals gladly integrated themselves into Green's herd when gently driven towards them. The story rounds out by telling how he moved his growing herd of horses back towards home, dealt with Mexican bandits along the way who tried to extort money out of him, and then ranchers who didn't necessarily like him crossing their land. Gradually taming and breaking to ride some of the wild horses as they travelled, traded off a few along the way, and sold the main bunch to a man he knew who supplied them to the government. All through the story, the dependability and skill of his main horse Beauty really stands out. And more than anything, I was intrigued to read of some cures that he came across when in remote areas of the desert- in one case a Mexican treated a horse of snakebite using yucca (called dagger plant in the story), and in another instance an old woman used flour and yeast to grow mold- penicillin!- to treat an infected wound in Green's hand (where a mare had bit him). (Interestingly, there's another account of someone using yucca to cure a dog of snakebite on this page of a 1920's Dog Fancier publication). Oh, there's also a few encounters with cougars- he called them 'panther cats'. Green would kill a young burro to distract the cougars from his horses, which incensed some of the Mexicans with him, who valued the burros just as much as horses, if not more. He actually lost a few helpers over their disagreement on this point.

Rating: 3/5                   145 pages, 1972

Last Chance Mustang

by Mitchell Bornstein

Subtitled The Story of One Horse, One Horseman, and One Final Shot at Redemption. This guy is a lawyer, but his passion on the side is working with problem horses. He takes on a project to train an adopted mustang that seemed impossibly violent and unpredictable- the horse attacked other animals and people, destroyed property, fought viciously any attempts at being handled, and constantly injured himself on fences trying to escape. He'd been caught off the range after living years of his life a free wild stallion, and was gelded at the age of twelve- which did very little to change his behavior by the way. The owner asked Bornstein to work with him as a last resort. So this book is about how the author worked through issues with the intractable horse, step by step teaching him that this one person, at least, did not mean him harm, and working to get him to accept halter and lead, bridle and eventually even a saddle. The details about methods used to approach and train the horse- readjusting its thinking from flight-or-fight to understanding and then acceptance- was fascinating and the reason I kept reading. The rest of the book- not so much. I got tired of the repetitive, flowery clichés and how the author explained himself over and over again. While the atrocities of how wild mustangs were treated by government management programs is useful and interesting information, I felt there was too much of it in this book. It did give me more detail than what I've gleaned from books like The Horse Lover or Nobody's Horses, but to the point that I started skimming a lot- rather felt those sections interrupted the story instead of enhancing it. And while I don't mind a bit of anthropomorphism- I do believe that animals have emotions- I felt this author took it too far, and I often questioned what he imagined the animals were thinking. (He also made a lot of assumptions about abuse the horse must have suffered in its past). While I enjoyed the main story, and admire the patience and perseverance this man had to work with a horse nobody else could handle, overall I was left with a feeling of unease akin to the end of reading A Dog Called Perth (but not for the same reasons).

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 2/5            300 pages, 2015

The Snow Child

by Eowyn Ivey

Suprised at how much I liked this novel, which is kind of like a modern fairy tale, haunting and grittily real at the same time. Tender and harsh, it is the story of an older couple who make a new start homesteading in Alaska. They have long been childless, and one day playfully make a small figure out of snow. The next morning the snow has been scattered, the scarf and mitten they'd placed on it missing, and a single set of footsteps leading away. Then a thin, strange girl starts to show up near their cabin- flighty and shy yet fierce and wild. She apparently lives alone in the woods. Concerned for her well-being, the couple tries to draw her into their lives, while their friendly neighbors are frankly skeptical of her existence, wondering if the middle-aged wife has symptoms of cabin fever. Years pass with the girl coming and going when the first snow falls, disappearing all summer. Until finally one day the neighbors' son, a young man who's been helping out at the homestead, spies her in the forest and realizes there is some truth to the crazy tales. The story isn't just about this wild mystery child, it's also about their struggle to live in the remote wilderness, the toll it takes on the couple's relationship, and what turns to bring them together again. How they come to depend on the neighbors, and help each other out when times are hard. How the wild animals circle in the dark trees, admired for their beauty or hunted for their pelts and meat, but always with their own secret lives just offstage. It's an intriguing story that I enjoyed very much, in spite of some frustration that there's no clear answer at the end, with a broad streak of sadness through it all.

Rating: 4/5         391 pages, 2012

more opinions:
Page 247
Savidge Reads
You've GOTTA Read This!
Things Mean a Lot
Don't Be Afraid of the Dork

Spineless

the Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone
by Juli Berwald

I finished this one several days ago, but didn't have time to sit and write. It's one of those amazing books that I read slowly on purpose, in order to drag it out longer. Every chapter it seemed, was filled with stuff that astonished me. I didn't realize how little I knew about jellyfish before! The author is, quite simply, a woman who became enthralled with jellyfish. She read about them, watched documentaries, traveled to visit scientists who studied them and fishermen who caught them. She kept some in a special tank in her living room, and several times ate jellyfish- once cooking it herself. She took her family on detours during vacations to visit beaches where jellyfish had been sighted. And more. The details are mind-boggling. Jellyfish have a very complex and curious life cycle- and one species at least, is known to reverse the process. The way they physically move through the water is intriguing- so different from how we do that it's hard to understand. They can be incredibly fragile- literally dissolving away once in open air- and yet jellyfish blooms- when certain populations suddenly reach staggering numbers- can dramatically change local oceanic ecosystems, causing fish numbers to crash. Then there's the jellyfish toxins- their sting can be mildly irritating, or deadly. Jellyfish stinging cells move faster than anything- even the mantis shrimp, whose strike is so fast it literally makes the water boil. I'm boggled. I was also blown away by the verve the author had to follow her growing passion- she had a job in a different field, an everyday family life with kids- yet sought out people and events revolving around jellyfish, even sitting down at conferences about them. There's a lot in here not only about the physiology and mystery of jellyfish (so much we still don't know), but also what jellyfish indicate about ocean conditions, which throws light on what we are doing to the ecosystem. It's a book I'm very glad to have read, which has fired my mind with so many questions and curiosity for more.

My father gave this book to me.

Rating: 4/5               336 pages, 2017

Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms

the Story of the Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind
by Richard Fortey

This book by a paleontologist (who also wrote Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution- a book my husband happens to love) is all about various living things- animals, plants, bacteria, etc- that still exist on earth today since prehistoric times, the "living fossils" so to speak. In most examples, the author travelled to view each creature in person, and described the experience (including a lot of details on locations). A few he was unable to access, and had to describe others' observations of them. Included are the titular horseshoe crabs and velvet worms (which I knew very little of before), the coelacanth, lampreys, Lingula brachiopods, nautilus, ginkgo trees, horsetails and liverworts, the lungfish, cycads, monkey puzzle trees and crazy welwitschia. There's echidnas and platypus, sea sponges and jellyfishes, crocodilians and the tuatara. Many other creatures deemed primitive or very very long-lasting, and mindboggling hosts of tiny things like bacteria that can live in extreme conditions. Oh, and stromatolites, which I never heard of before. A lot of the book is about the tiny things, as they comprise the largest mass in terms of numbers, and have lasted the longest. So sometimes I got bored, or it made my head hurt, to read what felt rather like a biology textbook. It wanders a bit but always comes back to the point. I certainly learned a lot, and much was put in perspective for me. Certainly a hefty respect for those living things that have been here doing their thing for countless centuries. Like magnolia trees. Did you know magnolia trees have been around since the Cretaceous? Wow.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/4                     332 pages, 2011

Dragon Outcast

Age of Fire Book Three
by E.E. Knight

Eh again. I thought I'd give this a try because it was the one that initially caught my interest in the series. It's about the third dragon, maimed by his siblings at birth and shoved out of the nest. In the first two books he's portrayed as a traitor, but this one shows from his perspective, how the dwarves tricked him and he crawled away in bitterness at what he'd done. Travelled for ages underground and fell in with a lot of bats that wheedled him into letting them suck his blood, in return for which they guided him to a hidden stronghold of dragons. So the part with the bats was engaging. The mishaps and scrapes along the way, dismissive. The encounter with dragon society, so dull. I just did not want to read a lot of what came across as court intrigue and power struggles- at some point, in spite of the constant fighting and mention of draconic characteristics- greedily snarfing down meat, snapping their tails around, caring for the health of their scales- it felt like I was reading about people, not dragons. As before, I liked well enough the first part, when the dragon was travelling companion with another animal species. Almost halfway through the book, when he joined the other dragons, I lost interest. I did skim enough to see where this was going- in spite of his outcast status and multiple physical shortcomings, the copper dragon overcomes the judgement of the other dragons to obtain a position of power among them and- presumably- lead them against their enemy mankind. But the execution was just so poor I never got there. Bummer.

Abandoned                  379 pages, 2007

Dragon Avenger

Age of Fire Book Two
by E.E. Knight

Eh. I thought at first this one was going to be better, even though the pace at the beginning when the dragons are hatchlings moves too quick. If I hadn't read the first book, I might not have picked up on everything going on. I kind of like how each book in the series tells the story from the viewpoint of a different dragon, all siblings from the same clutch. When their cave is attacked by dwarves, this green female dragon Wistala flees with her brother Auron and they part ways soon after. She makes her way back to the home cave and finds some of her family's bodies skinned and mutilated. The rest of the story is how Wistala seeks revenge for the dragons. At first, still being small and vulnerable, she travels the wilderness alone, pitting her wits against other animals and creatures.  Tries to fight dwarves and barely survives. Kind of accidentally falls in with an elf and lives on his estate, cannily learning more about hominids so she can fight them later. That part- well, it just got to be very boring. I liked the part when the dragon was hanging out with a vulture- amusing how the carrion birds considered themselves to be more refined than any predator- because they politely wait for prey to die on its own! I also liked the part where the dragon befriends a cat- each finds the other has some very familiar and similar traits- although their trip underground to find treasure in rat tunnels was confusing. Once again, I'm intrigued by this author's portrayal of dragons, their reasons for hoarding precious metals, their mannerisms and all. Wistala encounters her father again- I won't say more about that, it's a pivotal moment in the story- and talks hotly of fighting the hominids, but her father advises her to help the dragon race by repopulating with "lots and lots of hatchlings" because he of course thinks fighting should be done by male dragons. So she's asserting herself outside the usual female dragon role- going off on her own to battle trolls that are troubling the realm, for example. (This book has the weirdest depiction of trolls ever. I could not get my head around what it was supposed to actually look like. I feel like it should have had a made-up name like the blighters, because it wasn't anything like your typical fantasy idea of a troll). But oh, it got tedious when the dragon was living with the elf. That part of the story dragged on and on- I skipped ahead and read a later portion where Wistala left to try and find more dragons- that section held my interest until, disillusioned by the reclusive dragons' attitudes, Wistala returns to the elf's home again- and once more I just didn't care. Skipped and skimmed so much I really ought to called this one Abandoned.

Rating: 1/5                        390 pages, 2006