The Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke

The Husband is so thoughtful - he found another book at the library and brought it home for me to read.  He knows me well.  He brought me The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from The Wild Side of Wildlife by Lucy Cooke.  I love the cover - with a furry panda.  I started this book on January 18 and finished it on March 3.  It wasn't a quick read, but it was a good read.

Chapter 3 about Sloths begins with the sentence, "The sloth is 'the stupidest animal that can be found in the world,' wrote the Spanish knight Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés..."  I mean - who can possibly think the sloth is the stupidest animal in the world???  Sloths are amazing!  This quote made me simultaneously laugh and want to cry.

Cooke wrote about several different animals including but not limited to eels, beavers, frogs, moose, penguins, chimpanzees, and others.  She quotes historical texts, my favorite (cringe) from the Comte de Buffon (published in 1749).  This Comte, he is a real buffoon.  He wrote about sloths that they were abominable, and escaped the forces that "had shaped all other animals towards their singular form of perfection."  And that they were a "defective remnant".  

Cook enlightened me to beaver balls and their supposed mystical properties.  Beavers were so tuned in to being hunted for their balls that if they suspected they were in pursuit, they would chew their own balls off and throw them at their pursuer.  Even da Vinci - yes, THE Leonardo da Vinci wrote about beaver balls.  Cook quotes da Vinci as writing, "We read of the beaver that when it is pursued, knowing that it is for the virtue in its medicinal testicles and not being able to escape, it stops; and to be at peace with its pursuers, it bites off its testicles with its sharp teeth, and leaves them to its enemies."

With all of the animals, Cook outlines some outlandish myths and old beliefs about the animal, traces where these stories came from (most often bestiaries - texts written by old old naturalists in medieval times [not the restaurant] the actual time period), and includes real (and sometimes outlandish), and current research by notable scientists (in their own time periods).  Some of the current research is good and productive and informative.  And some of it is bat-ass crazy.  It's an interesting contrast into how naturalists have done their work through the years.  It's a little horrifying some of the things people did (and still do) in the name of "science."

One of the true tales was about bats.  In 1941, a dentist, after hearing about how the Japanese bombed the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, recalled bats swarming out of Carlsbad Caverns and dreamt up a plan to strap tiny bombs to bats and releasing them into a Japanese city.  This dentist wrote to FDR who forwarded the letter to the National Research Defense Committee with a personal recommendation, "'This man is not a nut.'"  Well, our government tried to put this plan into action with bomb prototypes and inducing hibernation in the bats by putting them in refrigerators.  Surprise surprise, it didn't work.  The bats didn't cooperate.  And, in June 1943, they ran a test with real incendiary devices that didn't really go well.  The bat bombs strapped to wayward bats burned down the entire Carlsbad auxiliary field station...  Can you imagine little bat bombs escaping their building and then exploding things like they were meant to do, but really meant to do to our enemies, not the US government researchers?  Score 1 for the bats!  ha ha ha.

This book is funny - really funny, outlandish, head scratching, perplexing, and informative.  Did you know that some of the first pregnancy tests involved frogs?  They did!

Some of the illustrations from these old old tests are hilariously wrong.  Take our friends, the sloth, the beaver, and the hippo.  How about those balls on the beaver, and the beard on the hippo, and that poor lame-looking sloth?  Did these ancient dudes even LOOK at the specimens?

If you like animals, want to learn more about them, enjoy a good laugh, you'll like this book.  Thumbs up from me!

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini

I borrowed this book from one of my colleagues at work, Rachel, with whom I share a love for books by Christopher Paolini. I started The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm on January 4 and finished it on January 16, 2019.

I loved this book!

I love the Eragon series!

This book is not that, but includes some of the same characters in short stories. What this is not - a continuation of the Eragon books as you know them. It doesn't wrap anything up, tell us in linear terms what happens next, or offer any sort of closure of the things unresolved from the Eragon books.

What this is - a collection of short stories, unrelated, that include some of the characters we already know and some new ones we are just meeting.

I thought the stories were quite entertaining. The characters are well developed. The stories are entertaining. You'll read stories about Murtaugh, Angela, and the Urgals, and have bits of Eragon in each.

If you are expecting another Eragon-like book - this is not that. If you like the way and style Paolini writes and his characters, you'll probably like this. Don't go into this with too many expectations - keep an open mind, and I bet you'll like it.

Red War by Kyle Mills (a Vince Flynn / Mitch Rapp Novel)

So, after finishing Gang Leader for a Day, I started another book, but then the husband brought home the newest Vince Flynn book from the library.  I put the other book on pause and devoured this one.  I started it on December 29 and finished it on January 4.

First - I loved this book

Second - Mitch Rapp books follow a recipe / they are formulaic

Third - I don't care

As I was thinking about what to write about this book, the first thing that came to mind was "the sky is falling."  This book finds the formerly evil turned good(ish) guy Grisha at home in Costa Rica with danger afoot.  Of course Mitch and his boys are there to save the day.

As they try to figure out why danger came after Grisha, we get glimpses into things going amok for the Russian president.  We all know that these things will turn out to be related, and they are, of course.  Over the course of the book, we find out just how bad the sky could fall.  I can't give too much away here (I hate spoilers) but yet again the shit hits the fan and Mitch and team + Grisha are there to not let it hit the fan and splatter too much of a shitstorm.

There is always a political element to the Mitch Rapp books that seems frighteningly founded in reality.  I think to myself, the author definitely researches things for the book, how real are some of the scenarios that are written about?  Maybe I don't want to know.

This book was extremely entertaining, fast paced, somewhat predictable (from the formula/recipe standpoint), but I don't care.  I loved it.

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh

I needed a book and didn't have one, so The Husband picked one off the shelf for me - Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Apparently this one is one of his faves. I started it on 12/2/18 and finished on 12/25/18.

Another interesting read. This is the true story of Sudhir Venkatesh and his becoming a gang leader for a day in Chicago. Sudhir was a sociologist student who ends up befriending a gang leader in one of Chicago's notorious housing projects.

Sudhir spends a lot of time with the gang leader, JT, and comes to have unprecedented freedom and access to people in these housing projects due to JT's protection. Sudhir learns about the inner politics and workings of the projects and gangs and how they help (and hurt) the communities.

One day, Sudhir is given the reigns of the gang and becomes a gang leader for a day and realizes how it's quite difficult.

It was a pretty fascinating read shedding light onto a way of life that is completely foreign to me. If you are looking for first-hand insight into a completely different world, give this a read.

Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth

The Husband and I saw the movie of the same title and I decided I wanted to read the book.  We were dumbfounded and entertained at the same time by the film.  The main actor, John David Washington, brought such swagger to the role.  We couldn't help but think - how did this even really happen.  Well - the book rings a lot of truth compared to the book by Ron Stallworth.  I started this book on November 24 and finished it on December 1.

This is the true story of the first African-American member of the Colorado Springs police department, and how he basically singlehandedly infiltrated the local (and to some extent, national) chapter of the KKK.  With the help of some of his colleagues in the force, Stallworth gathered evidence of the events and practices of the local chapter and even befriended Mr. Duke himself. 

It seems too fantastic and funny (in a horrifying way) to really be true.  But it is.  The movie was entertaining as was the book.  I'm not sure if it benefitted me to see the movie first and then imagine John David Washington and his mannerisms while reading the book, or if it would have been better to read the book first.  Regardless, I liked the book, I liked learning history in an entertaining way, and I would recommend it to others.

Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold

So, after finishing the Widow Clicqout on November 1, I started Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold on November 6 and finished it on November 24.  The husband and I saw the film Free Solo and learned that Alex, the subject of the film, had also written a book, so immediately we requested it from our local library (shoutout to the library!).  

If you don't know who Alex is or what free soloing is, they will both blow your mind.  Free soloing is rock climbing with NO ROPE.  Yes - you have no protection or aid to prevent you from falling to your death.  Alex is a free solo climber and among many other things he's climbed without ropes, he climbed El Capitan in Yosemite... without a rope.  Up he scurried, up up up, about 3,000 feet he climbed by himself and without a rope, and in under 4 hours.

Talk about the cohones on this guy.  The book, Alone on the Wall, is co-written by David Roberts, and in it Alex talks about his experiences with free soloing, what drives him, what motivates him, and you get glimpses into the impacts this has on others in his life from interviews and commentary provided by those people talking to David Roberts.

Alex is a very unique individual with a somewhat warped perspective of his climbing.  In the film, as in the book, Alex discusses risk at length.  He admits that he does see his climbing as risky, but he does everything that he can to mitigate and solve for the risk factors.  Mostly by lots and lots of practice and memorization of the route so that he is as prepared as he can possibly be to achieve the climb without a rope or any other kind of protection.

Free soloing is not the only type of climbing he does, but it seems to be what he enjoys most - being alone on the wall.

I'm not really a rock climber at all.  I've spent a tiny amount of time on indoor rock climbing walls and it's fun and all, but I'm not sure I would ever want to do even the smallest of climbs without a rope.

There's a line in the film where Alex (I think, or it could be Tommy Caldwell) says "everyone who has made free soloing a part of their life is dead now."  Can you imagine having a calling in life that could possibly kill you?  This is how Alex lives.  Even if you're not a rock climber, this book will entertain and probably make you shake your head in disbelief, and think to yourself, or possibly exclaim out loud, "This guy is fucking insane."

The Widow Clicquot by Tilar Mazzeo

After finishing (and loving) The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith on October 27, I started The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar Mazzeo on October 28 finishing on November 1.  

I love reading on vacation.  The uninterrupted time to just read, nap, and read some more is marvelous.  This vacation was to Maui - 4 nights and 5 days in paradise.  If you need a place to stay, check out the Andaz Maui - it was HEAVENLY - seriously, we didn't want to leave.  It was perfection.

Not surprisingly, this book is about Veuve Clicquot champagne and the woman behind this empire.  I had no idea that this champagne has been around since the French Revolution.  Well - Veuve Clicquot hasn't been around that long, but Barbe-Nicole, the woman who is Veuve Clicquot has been around since then.  Barbe-Nicole was born into a wealthy textile family in the Champagne region of France.  She married the son of a wealthy textile company and aspiring wine-maker.  Her husband met an untimely death, and the new widow, Barbe-Nicole, with her newfound freedom to take control of her life and run a business, gambled, lost, gambled, won, and gambled and lost and won some more to make Veuve Clicquot the champagne brand we all know (and love) today.

It was very uncommon in the 1800s for a woman to be able to work, let alone, run a business at all.  Being a widow, Barbe-Nicole was in the unique position to have the freedom that married and unmarried women didn't have to do this.  This book is about the amazing story of how her champagne empire came to be.

The book started slowly and sort of reads like a history doctoral thesis paper and the timeline jumps around a little, but once I was maybe 100 pages into the book, I really started to get in to it and into Barbe-Nicole's story.

Here's an excerpt from a letter Barbe-Nicole wrote her great-granddaughter in the mid-1860s:

"I am going to tell you a secret... You more than anyone resemble me, you who have such audacity.  It is a precious quality that has been very useful to me in the course of my long life... to dare things before others... I am called today the Grand Lady of Champagne!  Look around you, this château, these unfaltering hills, I can be bolder than you realize.  This world is in perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow.  One must go before others, be determined and exacting, and let your intelligence direct your life.  Act with audacity.  Perhaps you too will be famous... !!"

If you like history, if you like champagne, if you like reading about strong, audacious women (and need a little inspiration), read this book!