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Bugs
Imagine you had a superpower. Imagine you could fly, run 200 miles per hour, or slow down time. What story would you tell?
Filled with facts about their actual lives and behaviors, "Bugs" is a collection of short stories written from the insect's point of view on the last day of its life. Join two monogamous wasps as they sort out their relationship, a firefly on his search for love, a pregnant mosquito as she deals with her unexpected cravings, and more. Each story is annotated with footnotes explaining their actual behaviors and offering more information about these fascinating creatures, such as:
Time moves four times slower for houseflies than it does for humans.
Honeybees see rivers of polarized light that help them navigate to flowers.
Silverfish have a long and intricate courtship ritual that can last up to 30 minutes.
"Bugs" will have you thinking twice before you ever squish, stomp, or spray another insect.
Filled with facts about their actual lives and behaviors, "Bugs" is a collection of short stories written from the insect's point of view on the last day of its life. Join two monogamous wasps as they sort out their relationship, a firefly on his search for love, a pregnant mosquito as she deals with her unexpected cravings, and more. Each story is annotated with footnotes explaining their actual behaviors and offering more information about these fascinating creatures, such as:
Time moves four times slower for houseflies than it does for humans.
Honeybees see rivers of polarized light that help them navigate to flowers.
Silverfish have a long and intricate courtship ritual that can last up to 30 minutes.
"Bugs" will have you thinking twice before you ever squish, stomp, or spray another insect.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 13, 2022
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2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 8, 2023
I am never afraid of making the animal my protagonist, and looking at things from his or her point of view. J R Tiedemann does this with insects, and very well he does it too. I enjoyed the exploration of the insect’s world (or arachnid, or whatever) and felt the scaled-up worlds and differences in senses was well handled.
However it started badly when I tried three different forms of ereader to read this book, and none of them could provide an image (such as the one on the cover) on a single page. It appeared to be loaded in four random parts. As this served as the chapter heading, it took some detective work to determine what bug I was supposed to be. Then the common problem of formatting footnotes came in. Some footnotes were pages from the link, and in the middle of another paragraph entirely. Some were so long it was almost impossble to find the thread of the narrative paragraph you were reading. Those are technical problems. I persevered.
Eventually, however, the sheer monotony of the denouement of each story, either by ignorant human adults or cruel and evil boys wore me down, and I had to speed-read to the end. There I expected a few references to show where this marvellous information had come from. From the internet. And from insect-exterminators’ websites. Not a reference at all from the hundreds of entomologists, coleopterists and others who spend their lives researching insect interaction and ecology.
I hope the last line of the blurb is true. But I wish Mr Tiedemann had a little more gravitas to add to his narrative.
However it started badly when I tried three different forms of ereader to read this book, and none of them could provide an image (such as the one on the cover) on a single page. It appeared to be loaded in four random parts. As this served as the chapter heading, it took some detective work to determine what bug I was supposed to be. Then the common problem of formatting footnotes came in. Some footnotes were pages from the link, and in the middle of another paragraph entirely. Some were so long it was almost impossble to find the thread of the narrative paragraph you were reading. Those are technical problems. I persevered.
Eventually, however, the sheer monotony of the denouement of each story, either by ignorant human adults or cruel and evil boys wore me down, and I had to speed-read to the end. There I expected a few references to show where this marvellous information had come from. From the internet. And from insect-exterminators’ websites. Not a reference at all from the hundreds of entomologists, coleopterists and others who spend their lives researching insect interaction and ecology.
I hope the last line of the blurb is true. But I wish Mr Tiedemann had a little more gravitas to add to his narrative.
October 8, 2022
This was a wonderful and at time funny book. Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a bug or an insect then you should read this book and let the bugs themselves tell you about their lives. I loved how it was wrote from the bugs point of view. It also contains information and facts about them . It's a collection of short stories covering a wide range of critters fly,ant,moth,cockroach etc. All were interesting stories that were both fascinating and funny. I really enjoyed the author humour. If you love learning about bug then this book is definitely for you. My favourite story had to be the one about the fly. It had me laughing so much. This book is very well wrote and the stories flowed so well. This book is marketed for adults as it contains swear words but I really think that if these words were removed that young adults would love this book aswell. As it would be great if the younger generations could learn from these great stories. Learning things about nature without even knowing it. This book would also be a great read for those who are looking for books to read from the animals point of view. I just really enjoyed reading this fantastic, different and so very unique book.
So much praise goes out to the author for creating such an enjoyable and interesting collection of stories. I would like to read more of these wonderful stories.
So much praise goes out to the author for creating such an enjoyable and interesting collection of stories. I would like to read more of these wonderful stories.
October 16, 2022
From a lovelorn glow fly to “that couple“ and the silverfish community and all the bugs in between. These are the kind of books and kind of stories that make me feel like a little kid I loved the pregnant wasp and how she questioned her relationship with her partner and the spider who worshiped the woman whose house she pledged to rid of all gross roaches and flies each story seem to be better than the last I highly recommend this book if you love talking animals you’re going to adore these talking bugs they also have little tidbits and facts about each creature I totally enjoyed this book I think JR Tiedeman did a great job the spelling the fax in an enjoyable way without feeling academic at all. Totally a pleasure read. I received this book from Net Galley, but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
April 22, 2023
3.25 stars ⭐
Moths use the moon and stars to navigate... I knew there was a reason they're my favourite...
This is a book for all the bug lovers and kinder human folk🪲🐛🐞
It's very quirky, which I love!
..though a bit too much sexy insect times for my personal taste.
I was a bit surprised to find the author hasn't studied entomology or the like. And all their research came from the internet (no references).
I like the idea and I definitely approve of the message. I think this was a good first attempt. With even more study and research, these stories could evolve and offer a deeper and more studied understanding and experience.
*Free e-arc received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Moths use the moon and stars to navigate... I knew there was a reason they're my favourite...
This is a book for all the bug lovers and kinder human folk🪲🐛🐞
It's very quirky, which I love!
..though a bit too much sexy insect times for my personal taste.
I was a bit surprised to find the author hasn't studied entomology or the like. And all their research came from the internet (no references).
I like the idea and I definitely approve of the message. I think this was a good first attempt. With even more study and research, these stories could evolve and offer a deeper and more studied understanding and experience.
*Free e-arc received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 14, 2023
An insightful book about bugs, time perspective and their behaviors. Reviewing for BooksGoSocial.com this read gives this reader the opportunity to self reflect on childhood Education environment programs. Reading this as an adult I could only be greatful for the human life I have & how much I learned from the enlightened nature of bugs.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews