Gone: A search for what remains of the world’s extinct creatures by Michael Blencowe

I finished this book just an hour or so before my electronic review copy expired. I almost gave up mid-way, thinking I was not going to make it, but ultimately I was glad I persevered!This felt more like a memoir than a book about extinct animals(/birds/insects). The author pours so much of his enthusiasm and…

Why She Wrote: A Graphic History of the Lives, Inspiration, and Influence Behind the Pens of Classic Women Writers by Lauren Burke, Hannah K. Chapman , Kaley Bales

My reading has always been haphazard, ever since I was little. Before Goodreads, I struggled to keep track of authors, both renowned and not, since I have trouble remembering names. I hardly even sound them out. This basically means that most of the content of this book was new to me, as it would be…

The Nature of Fear: Survival Lessons from the Wild by Daniel T Blumstein

The title and the idea drew me in. I wanted to see what the concept of fear would look like when examined from the natural side. The mistake was setting expectations too high.The book delivers on what it promises (to an extent): a look at different strategies of fear and how it is deployed in…

Distant Sunflower Fields by Li Juan

Translated by Christopher Payne Still available on NetGalley as of the writing of this post I am conflicted about how to express my experience with this book. It is a fascinating narrative (of the author's life), but it took me a long, long time to get to grips with the timing of the tale. There…

Invisible Differences by by Julie Dachez

This is not just a novel but also a manual for anyone remotely interesting in the differences that Asperger's brings to the life of anyone wanting to live within the current society and the pressures that go with it. There is a moment when our protagonist describes her diagnosis to a friend, and she follows…

The Yoga Plate: Bring Your Practice into the Kitchen with 108 Simple Nourishing Vegan Recipes by Tamal Dodge, Victoria Dodge

I have picked up quite a few cookbooks in the last few years, but this one was different.There can have varying shades of information about why a certain food plan is adopted. The approach to informing us about it also can vary. Here is where this particular book stood out. One of the authors was…

The Chemical Age: How Chemists Fought Famine and Disease, Killed Millions, and Changed Our Relationship with the Earth by Frank von Hippel

It took me a while to get through this since there is a lot of information. Not all of it can be retained in the long term (at least by me) but were fascinating while I was reading them. A background in chemistry may not be strictly required but might help elevate the understanding of…

Plastic Free: The Inspiring Story of a Global Environmental Movement and Why It Matters by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, Joanna Atherfold Finn

I read quite a few zero waste books and Plastic-related ones as well since I first got clued in to the reality of the issues around us. It is surprising how blind I was to my own footprint a few years ago! I made a significant stride forward as long as I lived in HK…