July 2010 - Page 2 of 4

friday finds

Friday Finds is a meme from Should be Reading. So here are more and more books I want to read someday! Follow the link to the post that made me put it on my list, to learn more about each title.

Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods– love and research among bonobos (apes related to chimpanzees)- from a list on At Home with Books
Last Dog on the Hill by Steve Duno- story of an amazing rescued dog- also from At Home with Books
The Local News by Miriam Girshow- everything changes when Lydia\’s brother disappears, from Book Addiction
The Miraculous Journey Edward Tulane– adventures of a toy china rabbit, via Across the Page
Book Finds by Ian Ellis- on the finding and valuing of rare books
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith- lady detective finding missing persons and such in Botswana, thanks to Caroline Bookbinder
Fauna by Alissa York- fiction about an urban sanctuary for wildlife in an auto wrecking yard, seen on Cipriano’s Bookpuddle; he wants to read it too!
The Colour by Rose Tremain- gold rush in New Zealand, read about on The Lost Entwife
and three more I just added this morning:
The Girl who Could Fly by Vioctoria Forester– YA fantasy, read about on Beyond Books
Bellwether by Connie Willis – I need to read more by this author! recommended by Bookfool
Seaworthy by Linda Greenlaw – via The Black Sheep Dances

phew! can you tell why my TBR grows faster than I can read? ha ha

Tags: TBR additions

Fresh Milk

the Secret Life of Breasts
by Fiona Giles

I read this book back when I was (of course!) nursing my own child. It\’s a collection of anecdotes and stories that look at how breastfeeding is viewed in different cultures and stretches aside the curtain of taboo around it. Some of the stories and information are helpful and interesting, other chapters were (to me at least) very eccentric and bizarre. There are stories of nursing toddlers, the issues of breastfeeding in public, one incident of a mother who discovered her child had been breastfed by another woman at daycare! There there are stranger ones, of men comforting their babies by suckling them, of putting breastmilk into recipes- like homemade ice cream. Even speculations on breastmilk being sold in supermarkets. The chapters I found strangest and even disturbing broached subjects like women\’s erotic fantasies about their own breasts, or porn films starring lactating women. If you\’re interested in the subject of breastfeeding, this book is certainly an eye-opener that will entertain and shock just as much as it inspires!

Rating: 3/5 …….. 267 pages, 2003

More opinions at:
SMS Book Reviews
Breeding Imperfection
Guerrilla Momma Medicine

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Parenting / Pregnancy, Past Reads

Visions of Caliban

on Chimpanzees and People
by Dale Peterson and Jane Goodall

This profound book is a sobering look at humankind\’s relationship with chimpanzees. Not only in a historical sense- our early fascination with them, use of them in research, groundbreaking studies in the wild that finally began to reveal their true natures- but also as we have represented them in literature (which, surely, shows how we really feel about them in our deepest selves). The book opens with a discussion about the role of Caliban in Shakespeare\’s play The Tempest (one of my favorites). I have to admit, before I read Visions I never thought of Caliban as being an ape, I just thought he was some sort of monster and let it remain fuzzy. But reading how Peterson unravels the play it is so brilliantly clear to me. Throughout this book, each chapter is headed by a quote from The Tempest, making it a very curious meld of literature and science, indeed. It is sorrowing to read Goodall\’s words when she describes the horrors of experimentation labs where chimps are abused, and of how people who want to profit from it manage to get chimps for labs even though it\’s illegal. Both authors argue for the need to protect these intelligent animals, so close to us, and make it clear how painfully we have treated them, and continue to do so even though we understand them now better than ever before.

Granted, I read this book four or five years ago, so I\’m sure I\’ve forgotten huge blocks of it. But it\’s one I do want to revisit someday and peruse more carefully; and perhaps this little mention here will encourage one of you to pick it up and read it. (Do come back and tell me about it!)

Rating: 3/5 …….. 367 pages, 1993

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Past Reads

Dog Boy

by Eva Hornung

This is the story of a young boy abandoned during a time of political upheaval in Moscow. Unlike hundreds of other street children who took to begging or living in gangs, Romochka was adopted by a pack of feral dogs. He survived the first harsh winter snuggled in the dog den under a derelict building, nestled among the mother dog\’s puppies and nursing with them. Being only four years old, Romochka readily took on many canine mannerisms, learning how to be a dog in order to communicate with and be part of the pack. But as he grew he found his role dissatisfying- he sensed the other dogs saw him as a weakling needing to be protected and provided for, with his poor sense of smell and blunt teeth. So Romochka began tapping into his human nature in order to prove himself. He used abilities for logic and planning to become a successful hunter, terrorizing other children in the streets and gradually working his way from acceptance in the pack to being their leader. As he got bolder and started exploring new territories, he became more and more interested in humans, feeling drawn to them despite his loyalty to the dogs. He also started to attract the attention of older, more dangerous street kids, local law enforcement, and finally of a group of scientists…

The story fascinated me, but it was also pretty unsettling at some points. The author has no qualms about describing the more brutal aspects of Romochka\’s life- eating dead rats, licking his companion\’s wounds, scavenging through trash, stinking to high heaven; his behavior to rival dogs and threatening humans could be very savage too. The story has quite a few twists that heighten its drama, and I was shocked at the very end. While to some readers the narrative switch when the story is told from the scientists\’ viewpoint might be a relief, I found it dull compared to the sensory richness when it was focused on Romochka and the dogs- unpleasant though it may have been. A book that really gets you thinking about human nature and the capacity we (and dogs) have for love, patience and compassion as well as hatred and cruelty.

I borrowed this book from the public library. I saw it on a list at someone\’s blog, but now can\’t remember where.

The book was based on a news story about a boy found living with dogs in Moscow. You can read two news pieces here and here and an article about the author\’s inspiration here.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 293 pages, 2009

More opinions at:
Whispering Gums
Over the Fence

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Fiction, Current Reads

winner!

The winner of my latest bookmark giveaway, according to Random.org, is #2-

Anna from Diary of an Eccentric!

Congrats, Anna! Email me your address and I\’ll mail your bookmarks on monday.

I Who Have Never Known Men

by Jacqueline Harpman
translated from French

I read this book some years ago, but the main points have still stuck in my head. I don\’t quite know how to write about this one without spoilers, so be forewarned!

Forty women are kept caged in an underground bunker. Their guards are men who never speak to them, and avoid any interaction. The youngest, through whose eyes we see the story, cannot remember a time before this imprisoned life. None of the other women will tell her why they are there, or reveal what happened to turn their world into a desolation. One day an alarm sounds and the guards run out suddenly, allowing them to escape. They wander through a strange empty landscape, searching endlessly for other people. One by one the older women die until the narrator is left alone in the empty world, with only her own thoughts to commune with.

It\’s a very disconcerting story. Related in a lovely fashion, I admit I was hooked and didn\’t want to put it down, but that was mostly because I wanted to know why everything: what had caused the disaster that destroyed the world? why did the other women never speak of it? why did the guards refuse to communicate with them? but what frustrated me most was that even after they had escaped and gone outside, no more revelations were really forthcoming. I gather now, that wasn\’t the point of the book, it\’s meant to show something about human nature. What makes us human when the world (almost literally) is gone? what about a child, who grows up knowing nothing but this desolation, how will she form herself and recognize her own humanity? but as I read the story I didn\’t really get it, and I\’m still not sure if I do. I just found it sad, disturbing and ultimately, frustrating.

Have any of you read it? Did you make any more sense of it than I? (I gave it a 3 for a good book because really it was captivating to read. It was just the end that unsettled me with its depressing note and lack of answers).

Rating: 3/5 …….. 206 pages, 1997

More opinions at:
Attack of the 50 foot book

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Past Reads

friday finds

I found a lot of books to add to my never-ending TBR this week, so I’ll keep this brief. For more details on the books, follow the links which go to the review that inspired me to add the book to my list!

The Half Mammals of Dixie by George Singleton- short stories, Bermudaonion makes them sound fabulous, even to someone who doesn’t read many short stories (like me).

Hope for Animals and Their World by Jane Goodall- essays about how Goodall and her colleages are working to save endangered species. Seen on Ardent Reader.

St~~ill Life: Adventures in Taxidermy~~ ~~by Melissa Milgrom~~– all about the art of taxidermy, and the people who create it. Read of on Caroline Bookbinder.

City Chicks by Patricia Foreman- how to keep chickens in the city! I actually found this title in a roundabout way following links, but it all started here at Debi’s blog.

Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan – an inspiring-sounding book about how to grow produce and raise barnyard critters in a small space (your backyard). Found via Debi again.

The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna- it\’s been years since I read books on childbirth, but this one sounds so intriguing- Farm Lane Books showed me this one.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin- okay, self-help books on happiness? Not something I usually read- but what can you do when Raych recommends it so wholeheartedly? Add to list!

A World Without Bees by Brian McCallum- examines what could be behind the mysterious ailments causing bee populations crashes all around the world- and how it will impact us if they all disappear. Scary. This one from the Stay at Home Bookworm.

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman – a girl in a downtrodden neighborhood plants bean seeds in a vacant lot- inspiring her neighbors to start gardening too, and the whole community blossoms (in more ways than one). I can’t wait to read this one! from Chris.

The Dirt Riddles by Michael Walsh- poetry about rural life. It was the poem of running past cornfields on The Black Sheep Dances that caught my eye. I don’t read much poetry but want to try this one.

Critical Care by Theresa Brown- what the daily grind is like for a nurse in an oncology ward. From At Home with Books.

Feed by M.T. Anderson- dystopian YA of a world where everyone\’s brain is wired into the internet- Things Mean a Lot.

Beowulf on the Beach by Jack Murnighan- a guide to classical literature that sounds funny and illuminating all at once- Books and Movies.

This meme is hosted by Should Be Reading. What new interesting titles did you discover this week?

Tags: TBR additions

Bengal Tiger

Animals Under Threat
by Richard Spilsbury

My daughter is in a phase of wanting to read only \”true books\” with facts in them \”so I can learn stuff.\” Thus she picked out a stack of j nonfiction featuring animals. Some of them are a bit above her level, so they take us a while to work through. We\’ve been reading this book together for the past week. I would say it\’s written for kids over eight, the language can be a bit dry and technical and we had to pause many times on each page for me to explain things and answer questions. There certainly was a lot to learn about!

The book describes the needs of tigers, what kinds of habitat and prey will support them. My daughter liked reading about their physical attributes and how baby tigers grow up. She was dismayed when the book talked about how tigers are killed for their skins and body parts (used in traditional medicines) but then it goes on to explain what measures are being taken against poachers- banning the sale of tiger parts, protection in tiger reserves, etc. The book ends on a more positive note, discussing what is being done to help tigers- how zoos and conservation groups help, how tourism affects tigers (both good and bad) and even what individuals can do for tigers. There is also a section that tells how tigers were hunted historically, and mentions Jim Corbett; how he used to hunt man-eating tigers but then grew to appreciate their beauty and turned to photographing and filming them instead. Altogether this a very information-packed book for kids, with stunning photos that kept my young listener attentive when the text got too advanced for her.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 48 pages, 2004

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads, Juvenile Nonfic

The Lion\’s Eye

Seeing in the Wild
by Joanna Greenfield

I found this book on the new shelf at the library, the bold cover drew my eye. Unlike the cover may suggest, the book is not about lions, although the author does encounter some in her travels through Africa. It\’s mostly about her search for chimpanzees in the dense rainforests of Uganda. During one college semester, desperate to get material for her thesis and closer to the animals themselves, she pitched herself into the wilds of Africa, begging all the scientists she could find until one finally offered her work at a research station. I feel like more than any other, this book gives a feel for what the daily tedium of field work must be; the patient, often frustrating search for animals, endless waiting for something to happen, wrangling with officials for permissions, navigating differences among tribal men who are part of her camp team, learning the local languages piecemeal…. Then there\’s the cold soaking rain, eternal damp and mold, short food supplies, waves of fire ants, parasites, attacks by hyenas…. I was held down on nearly every page by the vividness of her descriptions, both of suffering and frustration as well as the enthralling moments when she finally spied her study animals and was allowed to approach closer than she\’d ever hoped for.

There\’s another aspect to this story that makes it like no other I\’ve encountered. Greenfield had a genetic condition where her eyes did not focus together. She had no depth perception, difficulty reading faces, was hopeless at things like dancing. There is a common thread throughout the book about sight, how the eye works, how the brain perceives its messages; both from her own observations and musings as well as quotes from other writers and professionals. It makes for very interesting reading. Her depictions of the world around her are so vivid I often forgot she couldn\’t see clearly, until mention of her vision impairment reminded me. It made it all the more amazing to me that she would brave political unrest, trigger-happy soldiers and all the many hardships, to sit in a thick damp forest hoping for a glimpse of chimpanzees. If you like nature writing with an unusual slant, this is some of the most immediate and raw I\’ve ever come across.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 312 pages, 2009

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New

A Simple Repair Manual for Book Lovers
by Margot Rosenberg and Bern Markowitz

This small but very useful book is one I long to own. I found it once at a library, read it avidly straight through, and have never forgotten it. It\’s mostly about how to take care of your books- both by treating them tenderly, storing them properly and avoiding the enemies of books- dust, moisture, paper-eating insects, etc. Before reading this book I never realized how important it was to give my books a little breathing room on the shelves (instead of cramming in as many as I could, so tightly it was hard to wedge one out again). There are instructions on how to make simple repairs, often using ordinary household items. It\’s from this book that I learned how to carefully glue tears, iron out dogeared or wrinkled pages and make a stinky book box! However, the methods described in this book are probably not good enough to use on antique or leather-bound books (they don\’t seem to be archival, for example); but there is a resource list of more extensive book-repair manuals and organizations that offer classes in the book arts. What I really enjoyed about the book was its lighthearted tone and many amusing asides on book collecting and borrowing, as well as dogs. Yes, dogs! The authors owned a bookshop devoted almost entirely to literature about dogs, and kept their dogs in the shop so of course they wrote quite a bit about their dogs in here, as well as comparing book care to dog care. This might be annoying for some readers who want it to stick closer to the subject, but I thought it was delightful.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 190 pages, 2002

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Books on Books, Nonfiction (general), Past Reads

Month: July 2010

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