Tag Archives: Non-fiction

Dive Into Reading: Spineless

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Susan MiddletonThis is one of those beautiful books that begs to be picked up – I mean, just look at that cover! – and absorbed in wonder.  While it’s most certainly not the type of book you might want carrying around in your bag while you’re out and about (although that’s totally personal preference, and I will concede there might exist someone who likes to lug around tomes in their bags while out running errands or just going around town), the size of the book was definitely a good choice; although there are also a few essays throughout the book, I believe the photographs are what the readers are here for, and the size of the book itself make it so that every beautiful colours jump out at you and every detail – every tentacle, arm, eye, and other appendages – is presented with incredible clarity.

The second installment of the Dive Into Reading series is, as you might have by now surmised, Spineless, by Susan Middleton.

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Dive Into Reading

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Jane YolenI’ve been absolutely hooked by underwater sea creatures as of late*, ranging from molluscs bearing their beautiful shells to the octopuses, as pictured on the cover above (except that’s actually not very wide a range at all: octopuses/octopodes are molluscs – they’ve simply lost their shells a while back). The sea slugs and snails are also quite a sight, with an amazing range of patterns that adorn their bodies, and an equally wide range of roles they play in the ocean. And then the ROM Blue Whale exhibit pops up (which Lily blogged about previously). Followed by The Stranded Whale popping up in my periphery while I was looking for some picture books on death (of which Duck, Death and the Tulip was a part). I think the universe is telling me something. So I dove into reading about marine creatures (I have yet to surface, actually). Instead of posting a disproportionate number of reviews of books about oceanic dwellers, I figured it would make more sense (and be easier to follow) if I were to organize it into a series, so look out for more Dive into Reading posts!

I’ll be starting off with these three, which are more general books about ocean life, before moving onto other topics (see way down below, after the cut, for a list of what’s the come):

  1. Do Whales Get the Bends? by Tony Rice
  2. Sex, Drugs and Sea Slime by Ellen Prager
  3. The Extreme Life of the Sea by Stephen R. Palumbi & Anthony R. Palumbi

Also, just a quick note so everyone knows where I’m coming from and how that affects my reading of these (and following posts about the oceans and their inhabitants): I’ve read at least a good handful of books in this area, and by the time you read 3-4 books that focus either generally (as below) or otherwise (as I will cover later) on ocean life, you’ll notice some repetition and similarities in both the method of organization as well as the content covered. If you’ve never delved into this topic before, don’t let my comments about some of these titles not being in-depth enough for myself stop you! I have learned something new with each of these titles, so here’s to hoping you will, too! Continue reading →

Following on the Tails of Venomous

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Mark SiddallNote: There’s going to be a lot of “this book does this thing kind of poorly… but it does have a redeeming feature to buoy it back up!” I really wouldn’t write about it if it was so mediocre – I don’t have that much time – and if it was outright horrible, you’ll see no trace of it from me here, because I prefer to showcase examples I consider interesting and well-written in whatever topic it is that the material is about. Now, onto Poison!

I picked this one up while refilling a display around the library (after reading this book, you might think twice before nonchalantly picking up something small like this book with black and red colouration) – proof that our displays are working marvelously, as I took home about 3 or 4 other items about ocean critters that day – and was thinking it’d be a great follow-up to Venomous by Christie Wilcox. Alas, Poison: Sinister Species with Deadly Consequences is actually rather less informative, though perhaps I should have gathered as much by the size of the book and the overall feel of it. I say it is less informative only because it strives less to provide a comprehensive introduction to poisonous animals, than to introduce readers interested in the like to various insects, animals, and other creatures that can pack a punch if you get on their bad side – the great thing about this list for me personally was that I didn’t know about many of the animals introduced here: who knew there were poisonous birds?

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