Review: The Lorax. by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax. by Dr. Seuss by Dr. Seuss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I purchased this book from The Strand. I bought several copies to use for my Environmental Science class at the high school where I taught.

I had never read the book as a child, but I had heard of it and was recommended reading it with the class (even high school!). It went very well, despite the majority of the students being non-native English speakers. One Swedish student volunteered to read aloud, and he did a very nice job, even with all of the made-up words. I wish I remember some of the discussion that followed, but it was four years ago.

I feel like this is considered a must-have children's book for a biologist or anyone who cares about the environment. It's not my favorite environmentalist children's book, but I think it has a good message and is definitely fun to read out loud. Quite heavy-handed, and the Lorax isn't very likable, but maybe part of the message here is you (the child) should listen to people (parents and other adults) who tell you not to do something because it is hurting others.

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Review: The Hedgehog, the Fox & the Magister's Pox: Mending the Gap Between Science & the Humanities

The Hedgehog, the Fox & the Magister's Pox: Mending the Gap Between Science & the Humanities by Stephen Jay Gould
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I purchased this book at Second Story Books in Washington DC.

I usually love Stephen Jay Gould's books, but I just couldn't get into this one. I can't tell if this is because of the lack of editing by Gould himself, the topic, or the writing coming late in Gould's life, but my eyes just glazed over for the vast majority of the book. I enjoyed the essays in the middle that were reprinted from previous works, but I just didn't understand the overarching thesis for this book.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the Note the the Reader at the beginning of the book as so many times I think to myself (and say to other people) how I wish Gould were alive today. Not just so I could read more popular science on more current topics written in his clever prose, but because we need his measured voice and knowledge in our current polemical climate.

I don't think I'll revisit this book again, but I'm glad I read it once.

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Review: Without Rival: Embrace Your Identity and Purpose in an Age of Confusion and Comparison

Without Rival: Embrace Your Identity and Purpose in an Age of Confusion and Comparison by Lisa Bevere
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I started reading this long ago through Prime Reading. This is the one book that I could not finish in my memory.

I started reading it without having any idea of what kind of book this would be. That's how I like to start reading my books, by letting the book tell me what it is, rather than any description written by someone else. So I didn't know that this would be 1) a self-help book, 2) a Christian self-help book, and 3) a feminist Christian self-help book.

All three of those things are strikes against the book, but none of them would have caused me to stop reading, even in combination. The reason why I stopped reading was the way Bevere "quoted" the Bible. I don't know if this is common in Christian self-help books, but it seemed to me that Bevere paraphrased the Bible in whatever way convenient to her message, and printed it as a direct quote. Now I realize the quotes are from the Message Bible from reading some of the other reviews here, but that doesn't make me want to read that or this book.

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Review: Heartless

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I purchased this book from Kew & Willow. This book was on the NYC Reads 365 reading list for Grade 11-12.

I enjoyed this book considerably more than I thought I would. I read Cinder back in 2013 and wasn't a big fan, but I thought I'd give this one a try.

I didn't know this would be a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland &Through the Looking Glass in 2017. They felt too whimsical to me, so they didn't leave a lasting impression. I can't really tell if it was helpful to have read them before reading Heartless because Alice in Wonderland has so infiltrated popular culture that I'm not sure I wouldn't have caught the references without having read the first two stories beforehand.

I was afraid this would be as whimsical as the original, but I was surprisingly pleased.

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Review: Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History

Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I purchased this book as part of a three-book boxed set at Second Story Books in Washington DC.

I always love reading Stephen Jay Gould essays, and this book was no exception. The topics are quite dated at this point with the essays from around 1980, but it's still wonderful to read Gould's thoughtful prose.

I really wish I knew of someone with a similar style writing about current evolutionary biology topics. My knowledge of the field has been forever trapped in 2012 when I left graduate school, and I would love a way to update it with a guide like Gould. Someone who challenges established beliefs and looks to the past with a kind and understanding eye.

I loved the essay about wheels in nature, which reminded me of Philip Pullman's clever solution in a large animal in The Amber Spyglass.

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Review: The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator

The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator by Joakim Palmkvist
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was one of Amazon's World Book Day giveaways from 2019.

Not a fan, although I got a little more into the story in the final few chapters. I didn't realize this would be a nonfiction book, but it becomes obvious in Chapter 2. I found much of the description to be dry and unnecessary.

Funny how I just finished The Tigress of Forli and wrote "I guess half a millennium is too long ago for much more than a recounting of a timeline" about it. I felt pretty much the same way about this book, except the events took place only 6-7 years ago!

I guess Sweden has come to be known for their mystery and thriller novels, and if this book had been novelized a little more, I would have found it more enjoyable. I found many of the parts involving Therese to be the most interesting, but found the extensive background of her past a little out of place.

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Review: The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici

The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici by Elizabeth Lev
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this as part of the IHG Rewards program.

I have never been a history person, and I guess half a millennium is too long ago for much more than a recounting of a timeline, which is how I felt about this book. She traveled here, she had this child, she suffered this loss, next!

I know very little history, so I also don't know the context of this world at all. I had never heard of Caterina Sforza before this book, but this makes me guess that there have been many admirable women in history I'd never heard of.

This reminds me of how I felt about An American Princess from a while back. I swear I've read history nonfiction that doesn't make me feel this way, but I wonder if it's a matter of how long ago something took place or just the writing style of the authors.

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Review: A Pledge of Silence

A Pledge of Silence by Flora J. Solomon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this ebook as part of the IHG Rewards program.

There is a lot of dark and depressing aspects of this book. I feel like I've read a decent number of books that take place during war but fewer that follow veterans and prisoners of war home and show their struggles as they resume relationships. I appreciate that some of the relationships in this book aren't perfect but still loving. I found the ones that were more "perfect-seeming" to be rather annoying.

There is an awful lot of foreshadowing in this book that makes it easy to see things coming. You can definitely see the deaths (or the revelation of deaths) of many of the characters coming. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it did make the book seem a little cheap. The time jumps towards the end were a little jarring, especially when some of the chapters have no time passing from the end of the last chapter.

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Review: Chancer: How One Good Boy Saved Another

Chancer: How One Good Boy Saved Another by Donnie Kanter Winokur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this as part of the IHG Rewards program.

It's a sweet story, and I learned a lot, but I really did not like the tone of the author. The story is also told non-linearly, and the time jumps seem very sudden and frequent. I guess it was cool that this takes place in Atlanta, where I grew up, though.

Winokur seems to be trying to tell the story of her adoption and Chancer in a very casual voice. There are frequent interjections that I found grating. I know this is a matter of taste, but I found it rather childish.

I really disliked how she portrayed Harvey, her husband, when he disagreed with her about getting a service dog. The fact that he seems to be irredeemably stubborn is not at all mitigated by how he comes to appreciate Chancer. It seems to go straight from his rage that Chancer chewed up cell phones and remotes to love.

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