Charlaine Harris doesn't disappoint in A Longer Fall (#882), the second book in her new western Gunnie Rose series. (See my post of 9/30/2019.) Lizbeth Rose is back as a gun for hire in a United States which disintegrated into separate nations after the assassination of FDR. She and the new crew she was hired onto are charged with guarding a crate until it is delivered in Dixie, a place she has never wanted to go. But work is work and they are almost through with this job.
Naturally, things don't go as planned. The train they are on is derailed and attacked just outside the town of Sally, their destination. The rest of her crew is either dead or badly injured, but Lizbeth is determined to see her job through to the end, or die trying. The problem is, she doesn't know who is supposed to take possession of the crate. Things become even more complicated when Eli Savarov, a wizard from the Holy Russian Empire, shows up unexpectedly at the crash site. What could he possibly be doing here? She hasn't seen him in months, although he is often in her thoughts. Lizbeth doesn't know who to trust after the crate and its mysterious contents are stolen, but she accepts Eli's help in navigating the dangerous undercurrents in the genteel southern community where blacks and women know their place. What is in the crate worth killing for? Lizbeth and Eli had better figure it out before they become the next victims.
A little magic, a little romance and lots and lots of danger in A Longer Fall. I can't wait to see what's next for Lizbeth...
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Animal Cognition
I read Clive D.L. Wynne's text book Animal Cognition - the Mental Lives of Animals (#881) in preparation for 2020's BookMania!. Published in 2001, it's a standard college textbook intended as an introduction to this field of study. Though interesting enough, his 2004 book Do Animals Think? (See my post of 2/4/2020.) is really a better choice for a wider range of readers who simply have curiosity about the subject, not a potential academic interest. Much of what is of interest in his textbook is also discussed in his later book.
The discussion of the science behind the tests conducted her to test animal intelligence is revealing. For instance, Dr. Wynne is not a proponent of those scientists who claim to have made breakthroughs in teaching apes (like Koko the gorilla) language. He just as easily makes the point that the apes simply learned how to get their testers to give them food rewards by choosing objects or symbols in the correct order. Do they really understand what "Color = green" means, other than they will get food by pressing this blue key, then that red key, then that yellow key? Probably not. Dr. Wynne also suggests some simple experiments the reader can try at home with their own pets to compare how Fido or Fluffy reacts compared to the animals in the studies described here.
One thing I did appreciate about this textbook is the selection of illustrations at the beginning of each chapter by J. J. Grandville done to illustrate an 1838 edition of Jean de La Fontaine's fables. They add just the right touch of whimsy to what could otherwise be seen as a tedious text.
The discussion of the science behind the tests conducted her to test animal intelligence is revealing. For instance, Dr. Wynne is not a proponent of those scientists who claim to have made breakthroughs in teaching apes (like Koko the gorilla) language. He just as easily makes the point that the apes simply learned how to get their testers to give them food rewards by choosing objects or symbols in the correct order. Do they really understand what "Color = green" means, other than they will get food by pressing this blue key, then that red key, then that yellow key? Probably not. Dr. Wynne also suggests some simple experiments the reader can try at home with their own pets to compare how Fido or Fluffy reacts compared to the animals in the studies described here.
One thing I did appreciate about this textbook is the selection of illustrations at the beginning of each chapter by J. J. Grandville done to illustrate an 1838 edition of Jean de La Fontaine's fables. They add just the right touch of whimsy to what could otherwise be seen as a tedious text.
Monday, February 24, 2020
David Livingstone: Mission and Empire
I read David Livingstone: Mission and Empire (#880) by Andrew C. Ross in preparation for our upcoming trip to Africa. We will be visiting Victoria Falls, as he was the first to rename them from the native Mosi-oa-Tunya, and will be hearing a lecture about him there, so I decided to get a head start on the topic. What an interesting man this Scot was, whose remains are buried in Westminster Abbey, although his heart, fittingly enough, is interred in Africa.
Though from humble beginnings, he felt the call to become a missionary to Africa, but the obstacles in his path were many. His iron determination pushed him through medical school as the surest way to attain his goal. Once on African soil, he set about learning the languages and customs of as many of the native peoples as he could, all the while recording his meticulous observations of the flora and fauna as he passed through to the interior of the country. His attitude towards the indigenous peoples was remarkably enlightened from our twenty-first century perspective, yet it made him an enemy of many of the British settlers and the Boers. His ability and willingness to communicate with the native tribes won him many friends and followers on his extensive travels throughout central Africa, yet his unwillingness to settle down to one stationary mission post cut off funding from British missionary societies, leaving his wife and children in a precarious financial situation.
I don't think he was the saint so many of his biographers have tried to portray, nor did he seem to be in favor of the rampant European imperialism which followed his demise. He was most determined to abolish the slave trade which dominated African economics in the nineteenth century. I believe Andrew Ross strives to present a balanced portrait of this man. There is much to admire in the man beyond the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" This is a good place to start.
Though from humble beginnings, he felt the call to become a missionary to Africa, but the obstacles in his path were many. His iron determination pushed him through medical school as the surest way to attain his goal. Once on African soil, he set about learning the languages and customs of as many of the native peoples as he could, all the while recording his meticulous observations of the flora and fauna as he passed through to the interior of the country. His attitude towards the indigenous peoples was remarkably enlightened from our twenty-first century perspective, yet it made him an enemy of many of the British settlers and the Boers. His ability and willingness to communicate with the native tribes won him many friends and followers on his extensive travels throughout central Africa, yet his unwillingness to settle down to one stationary mission post cut off funding from British missionary societies, leaving his wife and children in a precarious financial situation.
I don't think he was the saint so many of his biographers have tried to portray, nor did he seem to be in favor of the rampant European imperialism which followed his demise. He was most determined to abolish the slave trade which dominated African economics in the nineteenth century. I believe Andrew Ross strives to present a balanced portrait of this man. There is much to admire in the man beyond the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" This is a good place to start.
Thursday, February 13, 2020
The Princess Beard
One of my friends recommended Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne's fantasy novel The Princess Beard (#879) and I'm glad she did. I thoroughly enjoyed this swashbuckling tale of a princess who rescues herself from a tower after years under a sleep spell. She decides for her own safety to keep the beautiful golden beard which adorned her porcelain chin when she awoke, but she is still determined to escape a political marriage to a rich lordling.
On her travels she meets up with a whole host of entertaining characters with dreams of their own - a parrot pirate, a dryad who aspires to become a lawyer, an elf who wants to learn the secrets of the universe, and a centaur who wants to be rid of his tea magic. There are wizards and trolls and the Royal Navy on the high seas to contend with, and a boatload of adorable otters to rescue.
All will (hopefully!) come right in the end with tea cakes galore and abundance of puns both clever and groanworthy. This was a read that was so much fun I will have to go back to the previous two books in the trilogy by this writing team, Kill the Farm Boy and No Country for Old Gnomes, although The Princess Beard works just fine as a stand-alone novel. Yarrr!
On her travels she meets up with a whole host of entertaining characters with dreams of their own - a parrot pirate, a dryad who aspires to become a lawyer, an elf who wants to learn the secrets of the universe, and a centaur who wants to be rid of his tea magic. There are wizards and trolls and the Royal Navy on the high seas to contend with, and a boatload of adorable otters to rescue.
All will (hopefully!) come right in the end with tea cakes galore and abundance of puns both clever and groanworthy. This was a read that was so much fun I will have to go back to the previous two books in the trilogy by this writing team, Kill the Farm Boy and No Country for Old Gnomes, although The Princess Beard works just fine as a stand-alone novel. Yarrr!
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Do Animals Think?
I'm doing some background reading for our upcoming BookMania!. Dr. Clive Wynne will be speaking, so I read his 2004 book Do Animals Think? (#878). In this wide-ranging book, it seems that he comes to the conclusion that they do not; at least not like humans.
Dr. Wynne does introduce some of the amazing skills animals have developed to navigate our world, from honeybees dancing to communicate the source of rich stores of pollen, to bats' echolocation which allow them to snag tiny insects in the dark. We meet dolphins, chimpanzees and heroic pigeons among others here. But do they have languages like humans, as some claim? Do they deserve legal personhood, as some animal activists demand? The jury is out on these questions, but Dr. Wynne doesn't seem to think so, even though the animals we share the world with deserve further psychological studies into the amazing things they are capable of.
It's a read guaranteed to make you think!
Dr. Wynne does introduce some of the amazing skills animals have developed to navigate our world, from honeybees dancing to communicate the source of rich stores of pollen, to bats' echolocation which allow them to snag tiny insects in the dark. We meet dolphins, chimpanzees and heroic pigeons among others here. But do they have languages like humans, as some claim? Do they deserve legal personhood, as some animal activists demand? The jury is out on these questions, but Dr. Wynne doesn't seem to think so, even though the animals we share the world with deserve further psychological studies into the amazing things they are capable of.
It's a read guaranteed to make you think!
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Naked Came the Florida Man
Naked Came the Florida Man (#877) by Tim Dorsey may be my favorite yet among all his Serge Storms/Coleman adventures so far. Not only do the deserving get what's coming to them in ever interesting and varied methods, but this one covers a lot of fascinating local history and has suggested some additional field trips for me and my husband!
Who can resist a story of salvaged gold coins, obscure grave sites and a major storm which killed thousands of people and is now mostly forgotten? Not Serge! He and Coleman are off on a pilgrimage around Florida to pay homage to some neglected Florida icons and to visit the mass burial sites of victims of the catastrophic 1928 hurricane. Along the way Serge and Coleman come to the aid of a couple who have been conned out of their home, suffering seagulls and an army vet and his buddies. Plus, the football phenomenon known as the Muck Bowl plays a huge role here.
It's altogether a fun romp (although not for the thieves and murderers, but that's justice for you!) even it Tim Dorsey does give my hometown a bad rap here - just this week the town took action to sue the Army Corps of Engineers to try to correct the problem. Who says these books aren't relevant?!
Who can resist a story of salvaged gold coins, obscure grave sites and a major storm which killed thousands of people and is now mostly forgotten? Not Serge! He and Coleman are off on a pilgrimage around Florida to pay homage to some neglected Florida icons and to visit the mass burial sites of victims of the catastrophic 1928 hurricane. Along the way Serge and Coleman come to the aid of a couple who have been conned out of their home, suffering seagulls and an army vet and his buddies. Plus, the football phenomenon known as the Muck Bowl plays a huge role here.
It's altogether a fun romp (although not for the thieves and murderers, but that's justice for you!) even it Tim Dorsey does give my hometown a bad rap here - just this week the town took action to sue the Army Corps of Engineers to try to correct the problem. Who says these books aren't relevant?!
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