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Post by scrubb on Dec 1, 2023 13:36:07 GMT -5
I finished a book this morning so needed a thread. Here it is!
103) The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals by Merlin Tuttle.
It's a very readable book, telling of his various expeditions to study and/or photograph bats around the world. He tells his readers that he's done a lot of good to turn around negative attitudes and fear of bats. He established Bat Conservation International, which seems to have been very successful.
His stories mostly have elements of danger, like being in tiger, or lion, territory while waiting to net bats. He emphasizes how important bats are for both pest control and pollination. He emphasizes how important education is to make people realize how important they are, and how rarely they cause disease or harm.
His conclusion addresses the concern that they may be the originator of several diseases (ebola, SARS, and others). His approach there is that "if that's the case, why do all the bat researchers in the world stay healthy? Besides, those diseases are all very rare, so rare as to be insignificant". The book was published before Covid-19 hit - I'm sure that people's attitudes to bats took many steps backwards since then. But, I think the media did make it clear that it's eating bats, and wet markets where they're in contact with other animals they normally wouldn't be, that are so problematic. HOpefully that's the message that got out, anyway...
Overall it's interesting and worthwhile, but the writer got on my nerves a little bit for being just a bit too smug.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 1, 2023 14:06:08 GMT -5
Thank you scrubb! And: Bats! It's the topic du jour here right now. I should read that but will wait until I'm in a smugness-tolerant mood. I am only about 100 pp into a 400-page nonfiction book about German philosophers, which is fine since it's Andrea Wulf who wrote it, but still: you likely won't see me back in here for a week or so.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 1, 2023 14:09:54 GMT -5
Heh, I can't quite imagine reading that...
It was probably just me sensing smugness. I dunno. But he definitely turns everything into a rolicking adventure. While he admits he does stupid stuff and takes ridiculous risks, you can tell he's also kind of proud of himself for it.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 1, 2023 14:34:37 GMT -5
It’s not quite as dry as it sounds; it’s only 10% philosophy, mostly like who are they sleeping with, how fat has Goethe gotten, why is Fichte such an asshole, won’t Schiller ever leave his house….
(I like that, I think I’ll save it for my blurb when I finally finish reading it)
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Post by scrubb on Dec 1, 2023 18:23:03 GMT -5
Ha ha!
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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 2, 2023 3:31:45 GMT -5
Thanks scrubb! Can't believe it's December already.
James Barr, A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East This was one of the Financial Times' recommendations to understand Israel/Palestine. It's about the Sykes-Picot agreement and the repercussions that had. I had no expectations that Britain would come out of this well, but it does indeed come out even worse than I had expected... The book is well-researched and rather scholarly, making it tough going at times, especially in the middle. If you don't want to read 350 pages on this issue but just to get an overview, I would recommend the episode of the Empire podcast featuring Barr.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 2, 2023 7:50:18 GMT -5
Thank you Scrubb. 87. Madness in Christmas River, Meg Muldoon. First of a series of Christmas- themed cozy mysteries I’m reading in December because my brain is tired.
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Post by Webs on Dec 3, 2023 15:42:25 GMT -5
Remarkably Bright Creatures about the relationship with an older woman and an octopus. So far it's delightful.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 4, 2023 0:26:43 GMT -5
St Peter's Fair, by Ellis Peters. Another Brother Cadfael book - I put it on hold almost a month ago but whoever had it out was a very slow reader so I just got it a couple days ago.
It was quite good, although I thought the romantic side-plot unnecessary and a bit over the top.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 4, 2023 2:48:31 GMT -5
88. The Wattle Island Book Club, Sandie Docker. Lovely book, set in fictional versions of two familiar places, Port Macquarie and Lord Howe Island.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Dec 4, 2023 3:12:11 GMT -5
Book club tonight, I did not get the book finished (A Gentleman in Moscow), mainly because I didn't leave myself enough time. All good, I have my own copy and will finish it soonish.
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Post by Webs on Dec 4, 2023 11:09:12 GMT -5
I love "A Gentleman in Moscow". I listen to the Audio book every 6 months or so. It's so well written.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Dec 4, 2023 19:09:13 GMT -5
Book club tonight, I did not get the book finished (A Gentleman in Moscow), mainly because I didn't leave myself enough time. All good, I have my own copy and will finish it soonish. ha, it turns out no one finished the book. We all said 'it was good, just ran out of time'. Totally the wrong book for this time of the year when everything is frantic.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 5, 2023 6:03:49 GMT -5
90) Andrea Wulf, Magnificent Rebels
Nonfiction: History/biography/politics of the Jena Set, a group of German philosophers who were the beginning of the Romantic movement, roughly 1795-1810. It’s not as dry as it sounds like it could be - Wulf is such an engaging writer (I loved her book about Alexander von Humboldt), and - as I already said above, it's only 10% philosophy, mostly like who are they sleeping with, how fat has Goethe gotten, why is Fichte such an asshole, won’t Schiller ever leave his house. And here comes Napoleon. I was particularly glad to meet Caroline Böhmer (later Schlegel, then Schelling).
Really enjoyed this.
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Post by sophie on Dec 6, 2023 0:27:20 GMT -5
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright. A relatively short novel which took me way too long to read as it was a challenge first me to complete get engrossed in this novel. It doesn’t really have a story line yet is about three generations of women who were dealing with multi generational trauma thanks to an Irish poet who treated the women in his life badly. Each generation of women are given their own chapters and the man in question is given one chapter but he infiltrates all the other chapters. The youngest one, the granddaughter of the poet, seems to be able to get past her inheritance of trauma and once she stops finding men who could abuse her, appears to be able to put it all in perspective. An interesting book but I didn’t love it.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 6, 2023 5:08:08 GMT -5
89. Marry and bright, Laura Durham. Another Christmas-themed cozy mystery.
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Post by sprite on Dec 6, 2023 17:05:38 GMT -5
Audiobook: Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers Very good fun mystery, about a body that appears in an architect's bathtub. It's from a BBC radio adapation, and I love the theme tune, but have only just found it. At 2:38, the fun starts!
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Post by sprite on Dec 6, 2023 18:01:14 GMT -5
Blink. Malcolm Gladwell.
Very interesting; how is it that someone can just look and "know" something about a situation? Like if a painting is genuine, or how a person is feeling? Why do we see things that aren't there, like a gun that is actually a wallet? Can we train ourselves to avoid unconscious bias? Prevent violence?
He explains several theories and tendencies through stories. One is of an elaborate attempt to con a museum with a fake ancient statue, and another is the case of a young black immigrant man in the Bronx, shot by two white police officers, who thought he was a drug dealer.
I'm sure that there are some examples in this book of over-extending the learning from a single study, but several of the people interviewed have been working in their fields for a long time. I found this an easy read, with a lot of references for those who want to go a bit deeper.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 6, 2023 18:23:12 GMT -5
91) Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds
The story begins when a young woman who was brought over as a servant to Virginia in the very early years of the Jamestown colony escapes, partly because of the famine and disease affecting the colony. The rest of the novel describes her ingenious efforts to survive in the wilderness. The nature descriptions and language describing her thinking as her awareness expands because of this experience are amazing. Will be on my best of the year list.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 7, 2023 16:04:19 GMT -5
Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher. Part of the Dresden Files series about a wizard. I'd thought he'd quit the series after killing off the hero in the last one I read, but found out it goes on.
It was ok, but I'm tired of the endless descriptions of battles that fill the book. There were some big plot holes, too.
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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 7, 2023 16:21:30 GMT -5
Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot's Christmas I'd been saving this one for December, and it did not disappoint.
Kathrina Mohd Daud, The Fisherman King This is my book for Brunei - a country I admit I knew next to nothing about. This novel, about a man who believes he is destined to find lost treasure belonging to Brunei's royal family, draws in aspects of the local folklore and is set in the "water village" of Kampong Ayer. I was really pleasantly surprised; this is a great read with interesting characters. But probably not for anyone who is afraid of snakes.
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Post by sprite on Dec 8, 2023 8:06:31 GMT -5
I'll put that on my list--Brunei was an interesting place to live, for a while.
I tried to find the Lauren Groff, but Libby only had 'Matrix' but so far, a very good read.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 9, 2023 6:05:49 GMT -5
92) Anna DeForest, A History of Present Illness
A short novel that reads like a "behind the scenes at the hospital" memoir of a medical student from a disadvantaged background, but is much, much larger than that. Written with great compassion; I thought it was marvelous.
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Post by sophie on Dec 11, 2023 0:58:24 GMT -5
V.E Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. An interesting novel, a variation on the ‘selling your soul to the devil’ theme which spans several centuries. The main character figures out that while she is forgettable, she is able to inspire or influence artists in various fields over the centuries and thus become unforgettable. I enjoyed this book.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 11, 2023 2:27:29 GMT -5
Addie LaRue was an interesting book.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 11, 2023 6:42:42 GMT -5
93) Ann Patchett, These Precious Days
Someone here (sophie? lillie?) read this and loved it, and I agree. A group of essays about different episodes in Patchett's life. I recognized a couple from having read them in the New Yorker, but was happy to read them again. She's had a rather extraordinary life.
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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 11, 2023 14:01:05 GMT -5
Yes, that was me! Glad you liked it.
Claire Keegan, So late in the day I know several of us have read Keegan's books. This one is a story that has been published (in the US?) in a volume with 2 others and also (in the UK?) alone. I listened to it read by the author. Keegan is a beautiful writer and this portrait of a lonely man is another delicately described piece. But it is, in the end, a short story. I don't quite understand they can sell it as a standalone book; it is less than an hour's reading.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 11, 2023 21:12:51 GMT -5
Read another Dresden file book - Skin Game (by Jim Butcher). I only read it because I'd put it on hold and it showed up. It was much better than the one I read last week - still too much description of fighting, but he had a coherent plot and storyline. And he didn't twist himself into knots to rationalize a bunch of stuff.
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Post by snowwhite on Dec 12, 2023 16:17:06 GMT -5
Thanks Scrubb.
I recently finished The Simple Life, How I Found Home, by Sarah Beeny, who's a fairly well-known property developer (various TV series etc). It was mostly an autobiography, with a few diversions. Not the best structured book, but interesting and easy to read. Plenty of musing about attitudes to living and sustainable building (sustainability generally, but mostly building, because that's what she knows most about).
Slightly odd fact about her is that her husband's sister is married to her brother. I'm not sure if that means their respective children are more closely related to each other than normal cousins, having all four grandparents in common??? I think it's known as being 'double cousins'.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 12, 2023 17:52:40 GMT -5
They'd be genetically closer I'm.pretty sure.
My mom has a set of double cousins like that. Her mom's sister married her dad's brother. 11 kids between the 2 families (9 girls and 2 boys). They used to sometimes jokingly call them selves sister-cousins. The 2 families were duper close snd I thought of all of them as aunts and uncles while growing up.
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