This is a much better collection of articles than the 2017 edition that I just read! 26 total and I gave out 7 "check marks", 2 "YES!", 1 "Good!" and This is a much better collection of articles than the 2017 edition that I just read! 26 total and I gave out 7 "check marks", 2 "YES!", 1 "Good!" and 1 "crying face" for the depressing laboratory animals.
The YES! votes went to The Case Against Civilization, *nods* and Fantastic Beasts and How to Rank Them. There were also a couple of articles about how women are abused and discriminated against in the sciences, and it's good to see some of that coming to the light so we can fix it!...more
I really enjoy this series, but this collection was a little bit meh. I didn't hate any of the articles, but out of the 24, I only had one "smiley facI really enjoy this series, but this collection was a little bit meh. I didn't hate any of the articles, but out of the 24, I only had one "smiley face" and 2 "check marks". The Check Marks were for The Case for Leaving Rats Alone, nice because I like rats! and The DIY Scientist, The Olympian and the Mutated Gene, just an interesting story about two people who meet to talk about this gene that did opposite things to them!
The smiley face was for Nicola Twilley’s The Billion-Year Wave about gravitational waves... I was just fascinated by the huge and super sensitive detector that got built to prove these waves exist, and then one hits right as they are setting it up? crazy!...more
I enjoyed it so much I copied a few pages to send to my parents... My Mom likes Gin and Tonics (which my Dad Ha! Oh my gosh this was such a fun read!
I enjoyed it so much I copied a few pages to send to my parents... My Mom likes Gin and Tonics (which my Dad makes for her!), and the information about tonic was fascinating!!
Some of the recipes looked very inviting! And some I was glad to learn about the non-vegan-ness... some are obvious, some not so. (Be careful about Black Russians!) ;)
Just all the info about plants and the process is so interesting.
For instance, potatoes are associated with vodka, but they actually make the worse kind! Russian vodka makers say the best is made from rye or wheat. Potatoes only became a common ingredient because they were cheap and abundant! ha!
And hops are in the cannabis family... closely related to marijuana! And, like left-handedness in humans, they have a genetic predisposition to vine themselves in a clockwise direction around their trellis. But 90% of all climbing plants twine themselves the other way - counter clockwise!
Love these little tidbits!! Highly recommended to gardeners and naturalists and curious people!...more
A history of birth control and abortion in the United States... this book is apparently aimed at young people. But it never talks down, and I enjoyed A history of birth control and abortion in the United States... this book is apparently aimed at young people. But it never talks down, and I enjoyed it without reservation as a very adult person. :)
The writing is great. The information is great. but, Sighs. There is a lot of sexism and racism involved in reproductive rights. It seems like other countries have moved past some of this, but the US is still fully entrenched in misogyny and other stupidity.
I wrote 2.5 pages of quotes in my Reading Journal, from this book, so you know it's good. I'm glad this book exists and I will happily re-read it again, probably soon!...more
I really like the profiles of the gardens across the US. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, a relatively small region which is likely to be ignored when it comes to our local natives. But an "urban woodland and pollinator garden in Portland, Oregon" was included, and I happily recognized the species in all the photos. :)...more
Every year for christmas, I ask for books. I ask for some specific books, and then I also ask for a great book "you read" this year. Not too many famiEvery year for christmas, I ask for books. I ask for some specific books, and then I also ask for a great book "you read" this year. Not too many family members take me up on this, for some reason, but my cousin in Iowa does a good job of supplying random books! :)
There was too much violence in this story. Half this book is the history of the narrator's grandparents, who escape the war in Greece/Turkey. There is one scene, when the doctor comes home, that I'd rather not have in my head. The writing style annoyed me a bit, and I felt kind of nitpicky about missing details. I started rolling my eyes, at some point... that's never good!
meh, I guess it was a vaguely interesting story, altogether. And I'm glad to have read it, but only because I like to read a good variety of books. Even books that I don't like so much! :)...more
I very much enjoyed this entire series... But this one might be my favorite? As Hilfy gets to know her Stsho passengers, so do we. The Stsho are unexpI very much enjoyed this entire series... But this one might be my favorite? As Hilfy gets to know her Stsho passengers, so do we. The Stsho are unexplainable aliens, but they grow on you and, with Hilfy, I really start to love them at the end! "Wai!" :) If I live a hundred years more, I don't think I will ever forget the scene (view spoiler)[ where naked gtsta, is checking out the exploded rock of art! laughs! (hide spoiler)] A great and satisfying end to a good series!
This is not a stand-alone story. Chanur #2, 3 and 4 are a single story.
This was so fast paced, it actually gave me anxiety. Well, that and the car accThis is not a stand-alone story. Chanur #2, 3 and 4 are a single story.
This was so fast paced, it actually gave me anxiety. Well, that and the car accident on the space station. good lord. But it's the start of a good story!...more
This is kind of a classic in the scifi genre, and a story known for it's good aliens. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to pick up this series! BThis is kind of a classic in the scifi genre, and a story known for it's good aliens. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to pick up this series! But here I am.
Pretty fast paced story... and when I re-read it right away, I realized CJC assumes the reader understands all the undertones but I didn't really get certain things until I re-read it. Makes for an enjoyable re-read!...more
This book changed my life. Native plants are so important to our ecosystems that we need to focus solely on native plants!
I am not a home owner, but This book changed my life. Native plants are so important to our ecosystems that we need to focus solely on native plants!
I am not a home owner, but I do have a Community Garden plot. This book is not about our food gardens. It's about landscaping and flower gardens. And in those places, we need to avoid the exotics and the invasives. BV puts out the argument, and perfectly convinces me. I have been researching the plants I have in my garden plot...
As a vegan, I thought I was doing good to let the Borage grow wild in my plot. I saw how much it was loved by the European Honey Bees, and the occasional native Bumble Bees! But it turns out, Borage is native to the eastern Mediterranean. Nothing to do with my local US Pacific Northwest region, the occasional Bumble Bees were just a happy happenstance.
And it's the native bugs and the native bees that we need to be supporting. 90% of song birds feed bugs to their babies... no bugs, no baby birds. And humans have been hard on bugs, pesticides galore. Insect populations are crashing, bird populations are crashing.
An example. I recently discovered the Red Flowering Currant, native in my area. The flowers nectar supports hummingbirds and other pollinators and the berries are eaten by several other birds and mammals. The leaves are eaten by 25 different species of butterfly and moth caterpillars! In contrast, the Butterfly Bush, an exotic plant from Asia might attract a few large butterflies but most pollinators tongues aren't long enough to get to the nectar... And Butterfly Bush supports zero caterpillars. It's pretty much useless!
So, native plants support our native bugs! I haven't figured out what will replace the Borage in my garden plot. But I'm learning more and more about native plants. The Pacific NW is a unique ecosystem, the natives aren't really listed at nurseries or seed catalogs. But I'm learning! And will apply what I learn about native plants and bugs!...more
In the past year or so, I've gotten very passionate about reproductive rights. In fact, I took on a project to send a Thank You postcard to each and eIn the past year or so, I've gotten very passionate about reproductive rights. In fact, I took on a project to send a Thank You postcard to each and every independent abortion clinic in the USA... There are just over 100 of them (not including Planned Parenthood) and it took me nine months (heh) to send to them all. And now I'm doing it again, round 2! THANK YOU abortion providers!!!
It scares me that this book needs to be written... but Wow, tons of great information!!
I am lucky to live in a state (Oregon) that has no restrictions on Roe v Wade. But, (writing this in April 2020) Texas has banned abortion in it's covid-19 rules, and several other states are following suit.
*shakes head* Abortions happen. They have always happened, throughout human history. And they will always happen, whether or not they are legal. When abortion is illegal, rich women will be able to get abortions. They are able to travel elsewhere to get a safe abortion. It's the poor people who suffer. In the back alleys, or attempting to self-induce. People die when abortions are made illegal. Which is beyond tragic, because abortion is one of the safest medical procedures there is. And it's safer than bringing the pregnancy to term because maternal mortality in the US is terrible.
Okay. That was my soap box. Read this book! It's good!...more
I'd heard this was an epistolary story. Altho I am a scifi reader, I don't particularly like Time Travel stories (Doctor Who, notwithstanding!!!) and I'd heard this was an epistolary story. Altho I am a scifi reader, I don't particularly like Time Travel stories (Doctor Who, notwithstanding!!!) and I really don't like war stories. The cover attracted me tho... a red Cardinal, an eastern US bird, and (what I thought was) a blue Scrub Jay, a western US bird. humph, turns out it's supposed to be an Ultramarine Flycatcher... tho there is a size difference, you can see the obvious resemblance (Ultramarine Flycatcher) (Scrub Jay), and even better, this flycatcher lives in the Himalayas!
Anyway! The story showcases the pointlessness of war, you never know what is going on. War is confusing and stupid. And yet, the Red and the Blue fall in love in a series of letters left behind. This part was so good, I had to change my rating from a 3 to a 4 star! Watching their relationship unfold in the letters, still brings a quiet smile to my face.
The ending was a little bit predictable, simply because it's a time travel story. That's okay, it was a good ending....more
A sweet story (view spoiler)[ the horse dies at the end. (somewhat typical for this genre, so it's not a surprise or a spoiler!) (hide spoiler)] NiceA sweet story (view spoiler)[ the horse dies at the end. (somewhat typical for this genre, so it's not a surprise or a spoiler!) (hide spoiler)] Nice to get a glimpse into equine lives again, and remember how crazy horse people are. Case in point, Georgia is kind of a bitch and SR admits that if Georgia was a human, SR would hate her! And yet, because Georgia is a horse, SR loves her without reservation! *laughs* I suppose horse people have a good kind of crazy. :)
A major disappointment for me was how Lay Me Down's daughter got treated. She was bitter and wild and uncontrollable, but SR never even attempted to gain her trust or work with her at all. And then she was taken away, and SR let it happen. ugh, so sad....more
I've been watching CD's YouTube channel "Ask a Mortician" for about a year now. I really enjoy it, CD is kind and respectful and has a great sense of I've been watching CD's YouTube channel "Ask a Mortician" for about a year now. I really enjoy it, CD is kind and respectful and has a great sense of humor! This book is the same, with stories she's never mentioned in her videos. Great Read!!...more
oh. So many issues. So much I need to say. I wanted to love this book as much as the first. but, no, everything changed with this book...
The book staroh. So many issues. So much I need to say. I wanted to love this book as much as the first. but, no, everything changed with this book...
The book starts out from the perspective of someone on Earth. Earth is bad. Not too bad, but bad. It's needed background, for sure, but I wanted to get to Pax already.
But the character we get on Pax is an arrogant jerk. I seriously wanted to throw the book across the room and then stomp on it, Arthur is such a piece of shit. Except I'm reading on my kindle, so I read on. And it's really a testament that SB can create such a character and still keep me reading. (well, okay, maybe not. it's my kindle after all!)
Loved the chapter from the Queen, so interesting. And wanted more from Stevland, with their multiple points of view.
But the story tries to do too much. Way too much. There are many threads that are just abandoned. And they are disturbing, anyway, so maybe it's better that way...
The corals are communicating, but let's just destroy them all. *shakes head with an understated "damn"*
And worse, so much worse. This part is at 60% of the book, and it's a major spoiler, with cussing (sorry!)...
(view spoiler)[ Most upsetting is the fucking WAR party that goes out to meet the Rainbow Bamboo on another continent. I have cried over this, and have utter despair for humans because it's true even if I don't want it to be.
Remember a hundred years ago when the Humans on Pax sent a diplomatic team out to meet the Glassmakers for the first time? pg 194 of Semiosis: "We have our instructions," Marie answered. "We are diplomats. We will be calm and friendly." And sweet, young Nye on pg 206: I had pledged to be a diplomat. If a Glassmaker hit me, I couldn't hit back.
Remember that? The team in this book, who goes out to meet the other Rainbow Bamboo and their Service Animals? It's a war party... the soldier from earth who enjoys killing for sport. Three Pax hunters, including mr arrogant. And a bunch of earthing scientists who want to kidnap "specimens." WTF?!
The result is an unnecessary tragedy. They ignore the "welcome" and "stay here" Glassmaker language from the Rainbow Bamboo. And then they use their superior firepower to mow down / mass murder Glassmakers. Glassmakers who are so poor they don't have clothing and whose weapons are FAKE. And their group is so small, it might go extinct because they just lost a significant portion of their population.
It is despicable. And then they compound it by killing an entire group of Ground Eagles on the assumption that the Eagles are hunting the Glassmakers. But what an assumption! What if the Eagles and Glassmakers are friends and the Eagles are sending a diplomatic group to meet with the earthlings?! Nope, they're all murdered as well.
Yeah, I hate that whole scene, and i hate that SB wrote it because it reminds me that humans will be human -- violent and stupid -- even when they are on a planet called Pax and the residents call themselves Pacifists. ARG! I hate it!
The ending is hopeful, and I love the hope. But we've seen how it is: humans are violent and stupid and there's no changing that.
I first read this book a few months ago, in 2019 and this was actually a comfort re-read, because I'm down with a cold. I feI. Love. This. Book. Love!
I first read this book a few months ago, in 2019 and this was actually a comfort re-read, because I'm down with a cold. I fell in love with the story all over again, and I jammed thru the whole book in two days. Laughed and Cried again, the whole bit.
I really like how the book is divided up into different characters, across different generations. It does feel like a bunch of novellas that make the story go forward... it's easier to skip over the more pedantic stuff: (view spoiler)["Okay, we've got the idea! We're going to learn how to talk with the Rainbow Bamboo, now. But the next exciting thing happens in 40 years. (hide spoiler)] Then again, having just finished Ursula K. Le Guin's The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin with it's slightly intertwined Hainish stories, maybe I'm just used to the technique!
And of course, I love the aliens... everyone is so very different and the process of meeting everyone is exciting as we get to know new people. (view spoiler)[And to witness Nye's utter and complete disappointment, and then the moment of change there in the greenhouse. oh my goodness, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it! What a brilliant scene. (hide spoiler)] But the whole book is filled with brilliant scenes, and I just can't get enough of the characters. I only wish this book were longer....more
Wow! I was expecting a standard short story collection: some good some bad. But this book was almost entirely Great!
I read this during my December trWow! I was expecting a standard short story collection: some good some bad. But this book was almost entirely Great!
I read this during my December travels to visit family. And there was more than one night that I stayed up late to finish a story. :)
Many of the stories are loosely intertwined Hainish tales. I loved this set of stories! The main character of one story would play a bit character in the next, and the individual stories were excellent. There were also a couple EarthSea stories at the end... it's been a while since I read the EarthSea books, so some of the names and places sounded familiar but that's all. I very much enjoyed these, even without remembering all the back story.
And a couple of random, unrelated stories. I did not like "Hernes" at all, the only story in the book that I didn't like. But "Buffalo Gals..." was amazing. A sweet story of a little girl, lost in the desert and Coyote and the animals take care of her until she's ready to go. I did wish she could stay with the animals forever. :)
Overall, a great book to start off the New Year! ...more
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