false 25 219 127 true 5698560 read 2 true 1747994 currently-reading 90 true 1747993 to-read 108 false 1788086 nonfiction 81 false 1788085 fiction 74 false 1762802 animals 51 false 1748695 scifi-fantasy 32 false 1943225 wish-list 22 false 3271417 zoo 22 false 2217412 rhythm-and-muse 17 false 1797007 circus 14 false 1748015 recently-read 10 false 4198199 animal-ethics 5 false 3271460 mythology 4 false 3271482 space 3 false 2757130 on-loan-cs 3 false 3271520 sea 1 false 2797768 on-loan-cs2 1 false 5880787 on-loan-ao 0 false 2757132 on-loan-kc http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/31394990 Spindle's End (Paperback) by Robin McKinley
bookshelves: currently-reading, fiction, scifi-fantasy
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79878032 to: City of Thieves (Hardcover) by David Benioff
bookshelves: fiction, recently-read, rhythm-and-muse
Eh, it's a fun little story, but ridiculously predictable. I'm not usually big on categorizing books, but this one should definitely be put in the Young Adult category, not the adult fiction section -- I think if I'd gone in with that mindset I would have enjoyed it more. The premise is amusing, the characters are fun (if painfully cliche), but there's no great writing or depth of subject here to speak of. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78263226 The Omnivore's Dilemma (Hardcover) by Michael Pollan
bookshelves: animal-ethics, animals, currently-reading, nonfiction
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78260870 to: Wild animal man, (Unknown Binding) by Damoo Gangaram Dhotre
bookshelves: animals, circus, nonfiction, recently-read
Short biography of an animal trainer who worked for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in the 40s (and 50s?) timeframe. It follows the basic form of all such books, with the humble beginnings of a poor boy (in India this time) who manages to beg his way into working for a small circus, and then manages to fulfill his dream of working with dangerous animals by doing something remarkably foolhardy (in this case entering a lion's cage without permission and surviving) to catch the eye of the current animal trainer. Perhaps these stories are true, but it's hard to ignore the presence of formula.

I do appreciate this one for its detail in training methods. I believe this is the only book I've read so far that placed such an emphasis on ropes being used from the outside to make the animal move in the desired way -- this requires a large number of assistants in breaking/training any animal, and most trainers prefer to emphasize their solo role in these tasks. The chapter where Dhotre had to create a mixed act with two tigers and a ram was a great read (in part for the wonderful moments when the simple domestic ram turns out to be the most vicious component). There's much less self-back-patting than in most such books, and the tales of the numerous ways animals have made of a fool of him are fun. I felt more like I was chatting with a fellow animal-lover than the usual sense of reading a promotional packet.

A simple book with a lot of exciting details conveyed very quietly, I read it in a single sitting. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78259876 to: Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback) by Kurt Vonnegut
bookshelves: fiction, recently-read, scifi-fantasy
I figured it was about time I read some Vonnegut. I feel like this is a book I needed to have read in school or with a discussion group. There's a lot going on that sort of went flying by in a blur (reading this while hazy with a cold I'm sure didn't help). Story components aside, there is something amazing in the writing itself that pulled me through this one very rapidly, and many sentences that made me pause just to appreciate their sound. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58797881 to: War Elephants (Paperback) by John M. Kistler
bookshelves: animals, circus, nonfiction, recently-read
An overview, mostly chronological, of the use of elephants in combat. Clearly, there was an enormous amount of information sifting that went into this book (indicated by the some 100 pages of bibliography in the back), given the author had to exract every minute mention of elephants that may have occurred for virtually every major recorded battle in the history of the western world.

I found two points the most interesting. First, that it was apparently common custom to get elephants blindingly drunk before combat. Second, the pattern that elephant combat followed -- first time they are used against an enemy, they are successful in that the enemy has no idea what to do when their horses (and sometimes their soldiers) refuse to charge due to panic; however when they are used a second time, a prepared enemy is able to cause enough pain and confusion among the elephants (with the help of ditches, fire, arrows, and caltrops) to result in a stampede back over their own forces. This pattern appeared to repeat throughout history, with it being roughly 50-50 elephants being the source of victory or defeat.

I found the strategies of elephant placement to be interesting, but I really wish there had been more on the actual training of the animals and details of individual fighting technique (some of this is dispersed throughout, but it is scattered somewhat randomly).

It takes a lot for me to really take issue with the editing of a book, but I have to note that the extreme overuse of exclamation points is inappropriate in a nonfiction book, and in this case, overwhelmingly distracting! It was also difficult to separate author's speculation from fact, which leaves me unable to fully accept a lot of what is written here at face value. However, he does cite his sources and this provides a good starting point for further exploration of the subject.
Honestly, I'm just excited there actually exists a book on this subject, that has compiled so many bits together. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76217236 to: The Princess Bride (Paperback) by William Goldman
bookshelves: fiction, recently-read, scifi-fantasy
Ah, it's cute and it's fun. I only wish I'd read it before seeing the movie, as I could not separate the book from the images and voices of the film. Though I have to say, I think this is one of the few times I've liked the book better when I've seen the movie first. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76215611 to: Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: The Culture of Natural History Museums (Hardcover) by Stephen T. Asma
bookshelves: animals, nonfiction
Coming from a zoo history background, this book was a lot of fun. It is amusing how natural history museums and zoos face basically the same challenges in exhibiting their collections (if not in the day-to-day upkeep). The book starts off with Asma's hilarious setup to how he became interested in studying the practical and cultural aspects of natural history museums, which alone makes the book worth reading. The museums themselves are then somewhat sidelined for the majority of the book as he explores the developing and competing philosophies of taxonomy and classification over the centuries. This gets more than a little dry (despite his attempts keep the humor up), but it does provide a wonderful overview of changing scientific views on the biological side and puts a few personal faces on the competing ideologies (and being a philosophy professor, Asma handles the material expertly and presents it in a very comprehendable way). It is a well-presented discussion of the role of museums and the challenges of combining educaton and entertainment without destructively diluting the key concepts. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76214927 to: The Last Picture Show: A Novel (Paperback) by Larry McMurtry
bookshelves: fiction, recently-read, rhythm-and-muse
Definitely one of the more personally distubring books I've read, both for what occurs in it, and for how other readers react to it like it all makes perfectly realistic sense. My high school experience apparently was highly unusual in lacking constant bizarre sexuality, because I can't seem to relate to much of anything here. I read it very quickly, from a certain train-crash standpoint, but I don't really understand how this is "realistic" or insightful into adolescence. Maybe you need a small-town experience to understand this one. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72677973 A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond between Two Friends and a Lion (Hardcover) by Anthony Bourke
bookshelves: animals, nonfiction, to-read
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