en-US Sun, 12 May 2024 02:09:40 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 24020625 419 Barbara Cardy 147210966X Daniel 0 0.0 2013
author: Barbara Cardy
name: Daniel
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/12
date added: 2024/05/12
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]]> 25680408 379 Barbara Cardy Daniel 0 0.0 2013
author: Barbara Cardy
name: Daniel
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2023/01/21
date added: 2023/01/21
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]]> 23473332 Men on the Make is as incredibly diverse as the culture itself, with true confessions that are revelatory, sometimes shocking, and always extremely personal. Allison's book is a one-of-a-kind nonfiction compilation where gay men share peak experiences that are compelling and telling. As with the lauded editor's fiction, Men on the Make features the absolute hottest, kinkiest, and most unexpected sex: sex in public, sex with a stranger, threesomes, foursomes, or moresomes.]]> 232 Shane Allison Daniel 0 currently-reading 3.78 2014
author: Shane Allison
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/01/19
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 37514017
"You're gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine" is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling novel.

Off the reserve and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny becomes a cybersex worker who fetishizes himself in order to make a living. Self-ordained as an NDN glitter princess, Jonny has one week before he must return to the "rez," and his former life, to attend the funeral of his stepfather. The next seven days are like a fevered dream: stories of love, trauma, sex, kinship, ambition, and the heartbreaking recollection of his beloved kokum (grandmother). Jonny's world is a series of breakages, appendages, and linkages--and as he goes through the motions of preparing to return home, he learns how to put together the pieces of his life.

Jonny Appleseed is a unique, shattering vision of Indigenous life, full of grit, glitter, and dreams.]]> 224 Joshua Whitehead Daniel 5 3.94 2018
author: Joshua Whitehead
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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date added: 2019/12/19
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A phenomenal work--raw, unflinching, poignant, hilarious, and deeply moving. I enjoyed it as a reader and as a teacher of Indigenous literature, and it's one of my students' favourite reads. Highly recommended.
]]> 34217710
Ìý

Nature Poem follows Teebs—a young, queer, American Indian (or NDN) poet—who can’t bring himself to write a nature poem. For the reservation-born, urban-dwelling hipster, the exercise feels stereotypical, reductive, and boring. He hates nature. He prefers city lights to the night sky. He’d slap a tree across the face. He’d rather write a mountain of hashtag punchlines about death and give head in a pizza-parlor bathroom; he’d rather write odes to Aretha Franklin and Hole. While he’s adamant—bratty, even—about his distaste for the word “natural,� over the course of the book we see him confronting the assimilationist, historical, colonial-white ideas that collude NDN people with nature. The closer his people were identified with the “natural world,� he figures, the easier it was to mow them down like the underbrush. But Teebs gradually learns how to interpret constellations through his own lens, along with human nature, sexuality, language, music, and Twitter. Even while he reckons with manifest destiny and genocide and centuries of disenfranchisement, he learns how to have faith in his own voice.]]> 81 Tommy Pico 1941040640 Daniel 0 currently-reading 4.10 2017
author: Tommy Pico
name: Daniel
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/11/08
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 28159073
After their homeland is struck with a deadly plague, five refugees cross the continent searching for answers. Instead they find Psander, a wizard whose fortress is invisible to the gods, and who is willing to sacrifice anything - and anyone - to keep the knowledge of the wizards safe. With Psander as their patron, the refugees cross the mountains, brave the territory of their sworn enemies, confront a hostile ocean and even traverse the world of the fairies in search of magic powerful enough to save themselves - and Psander’s library - from the wrath of the gods. All they need to do is to rescue an imprisoned dragon and unleash a primordial monster upon the world. How hard could it be?

Story Locale: Fantasy island of Tarphae and the nearby continent

Series Overview: Five refugees find their own way, running afoul of some gods, becoming chosen of others, and tangling with wizards, dragons, and other strange powers.]]> 522 N.S. Dolkart 0857665677 Daniel 0 to-read 3.57 2016
author: N.S. Dolkart
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/12/08
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]]> 23847904
Over the course of fifteen books and millions of words, the world that Jordan created grew in depth and complexity. However, only a fraction of what Jordan imagined ended up on the page, the rest going into his personal files.

The Wheel of Time Companion sheds light on some of the most intriguing aspects of the world, including biographies and motivations of many characters that never made it into the books, but helped bring Jordan's world to life.]]> 816 Robert Jordan 0765314614 Daniel 0 to-read 4.21 2015
author: Robert Jordan
name: Daniel
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/11/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 1198483
The tortoise has been seen as an Atlas-like creature supporting the world, as the origin of music and as a philosophical paradox. Peter Young examines the tortoise in all these guises, as well as a military tactical formation, its exploitation by mariners and others for food, as ornament (in tortoiseshell), as a motif in art, and in space research. He looks at the movement away from exploitation to conservation and even the uses of the tortoise in advertising. As well as examples of species, illustrations from around the world include monuments, sculptures, coins, stamps, objets d’art, drawings, cartoons, advertisements and X-rays.

The book will appeal not only to tortoise lovers but also to readers of cultural histories around the world.

"Peter Young’s Tortoise , on the other claw, can be warmly recommended."—Jonathan Bate, The Times]]> 208 Peter Young 1861891911 Daniel 3 3.33 2004
author: Peter Young
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 7651297

Moose explains moose’s biological history and describes its natural environments around the world, including Canada, New England, Alaska, and Scandinavia, where the moose is the national animal of Sweden and Norway. Jackson considers why the moose is really an elk and an elk is a wapiti, and he also looks at the controversy behind the naming of the Irish Elk. Moose explores the animal’s role in human history since the Stone Age, including the “alces� in Julius Caesar’s history of the Gallic Wars and its influence on figures such as poet Ted Hughes and Theodore Roosevelt and his Bull Moose Party. The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show , a 150-foot statue being built in Sweden, and colorful moose lore all appear in this wide-ranging study, making this an essential read for naturalists and moose lovers alike.

Ìý]]> 224 Kevin Jackson 1861893965 Daniel 3 3.63 2008
author: Kevin Jackson
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 13226431 Investigating representations of the hyena throughout history, Brottman divulges that the hyena, though shrouded in taboo, has been the source of talismanic objects since the ancient Greek and Roman empires. She discovers that many cultures use parts of the hyena—from excrement and blood to genitalia and hair—to make charms that both avert evil and promote fertility. Brottman also considers representations of hyenas in today’s popular fiction, including The Lion King and The Life of Pi ,where they are often depicted as villains, cowardly henchmen, or clowns, while ignoring their more noble qualities. Rightly returning hyenas to their proper place in the animal pantheon, this richly illustrated book will be enjoyed by any animal lover with an interest in the unusual and offbeat.]]> 167 Mikita Brottman 1861899211 Daniel 4 4.35 2012
author: Mikita Brottman
name: Daniel
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 1487954
Whether portrayed as an unrepentant thief, a shape-shifter, or an outlaw, the fox’s primary purpose in literature, Wallen demonstrates, is to disrupt human order. In Chinese folklore, for example, the fox becomes a cunning mistress, luring human men away from their wives. Wallen also discusses the numerous ways in which fox-related terms have entered the vernacular, from “foxy lady� to the process of “foxing,� or souring beer during fermentation. Thoughtful and illuminating, Fox shows that this lovely creature is as beguiling as it is controversial.]]> 206 Martin Wallen 1861892977 Daniel 5 3.52 2006
author: Martin Wallen
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 1512314
Macdonald presents a cultural and natural history of the falcon that spans the globe and several millennia. Her wide-ranging survey considers the many facets of the falcon, including conservation efforts; the sport of falconry; and the use of falcons in secret military projects by the Third Reich and the U.S.Ìýspace program. Falcon also explores the rich imagery of the falcon over history, including the veneration of falcons as gods in ancient Egypt, their role in erotic stories, and even the use of falcons in advertising to promote photocopiers and jet planes.

Filled with illustrations and a wealth of fascinating facts, Falcon will be an enjoyable guide for ornithologists, amateur birdwatchers, and nature lovers alike.]]> 208 Helen Macdonald 1861892381 Daniel 3 3.76 2006
author: Helen Macdonald
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 2010893
This book unravels the debate about whether dogs are descended from wolves, and moves on to deal with canines in mythology, religion and health, dog cults in ancient and medieval civilizations as disparate as Alaska, Greece, Peru and Persia, and traces correspondences between the histories of dogs in the Far East, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Dog also examines the relatively recent phenomenon of dog breeding and the invention of species, as well as the canine’s role in science fact and fiction; from Laika, the first astronaut, and Pavlov’s famous conditioned dogs, through to science fiction novels and cult films such as A Boy and his Dog .

Susan McHugh shows how dogs today contribute to human lives in a huge number of ways, not only as pets and guide dogs but also as sources of food in Asia, entertainment workers, and scientific and religious objects. Dog reveals how we have shaped these animals over the millennia, and in turn, how dogs have shaped us.]]> 224 Susan McHugh 1861892039 Daniel 3 3.69 2004
author: Susan McHugh
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 97514
Sax takes readers into the history of crows, detailing how in a range of cultures, from the Chinese to the Hopi Indians, crows are bearers of prophecy. For example, thanks in part to the birds� courtship rituals, Greeks invoked crows as symbols of conjugal love. From the raven sent out by Noah to the corvid deities of the Eskimo, from Taoist legends to Victorian novels and contemporary films, Sax’s book ranges across history and culture and will interest anyone who has ever been intrigued, puzzled, annoyed, or charmed by these wonderfully intelligent birds.]]> 184 Boria Sax 1861891946 Daniel 4 3.77 2003
author: Boria Sax
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 2023606 The bee is not a domestic animal, yet our relationship with this creature is one of the longest-standing between humanity and any other species. Since the earliest times the unique manufacturing and architectural abilities of the bee and its remarkable social organization have been regarded as miraculous. Because of this ancient relationship, bees always carry profound cultural meanings which can tell us much about who we are. Bees are also the subject of an enormous body of legend throughout the temperate world; no less extraordinary is the natural history of the bee, and the ways in which its biological and social organization have been adapted and encouraged by mankind in search of honey.

Claire Preston's Bee follows the natural and cultural history of our relationship with the bee and the development of these legends, from ancient political descriptions of the bee to Renaissance debates about monarchy, and the accompanying scientific discoveries about insects, to the modern conversion of the virtuous, civil bee into the dangerous swarm of the Hollywood horror flick, and finally to the melancholy recognition that the scientific study of bee behavior gives us a warning to beware our own awful technologies of destruction.

Written in a lively, engaging style, and containing many fascinating bee facts, anecdotes, fables, and images, Bee is also a wide-ranging, highly-illustrated meditation on the natural and cultural history of this familiar and much-admired insect. It will appeal to a wide audience: those who work with bees and in honey production; those who appreciate this industrious creature and its intricate, miniature society; and those too who have an interest in the way animals such as the bee have woven themselves into the fabric of our culture.

]]> 206 Claire Preston 186189256X Daniel 4 3.56 2006
author: Claire Preston
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 540312 The angry grizzly and the cuddly teddy: few animals possess such a range of personas as the bear. Here, Robert Bieder surveys the wealth of imagery, myths, and stories that surrounds the bear. Beginning with the dawn bear, the small dog-sized ancestor of all bears who hails from 25 million years ago, Bieder embarks on a fascinating exploration of the evolutionary history of the bear family, from extinct species such as the cave bear and giant short-faced bear to the mere eight species that survive today.


Bear draws on cultural material from around the world to examine the various legends and myths surrounding the bear, including ceremonies and taboos that govern the hunting, killing, and eating of bears. The book also looks at the role of bears in modern culture as the subjects of stories, songs, and films; as exhibited objects in circuses and zoos; and, perhaps most famously, as toys. Bieder also considers the precarious future of the bear as it is threatened by loss of habitat, poaching, global warming, and disease and discusses the impact of human behavior on bears and their environments.

Accompanied by numerous vibrant photographs and illustrations, and written in an engaging fashion, Bear is an appealing and informative volume for anyone who has curled up with Winnie-the-Pooh or marveled at this powerful king of the forest.]]> 224 Robert E. Bieder 1861892047 Daniel 3 3.97 2005
author: Robert E. Bieder
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 3
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 6571858 In this small, elegant volume, Morris explores our paradoxical relationship with the owl, symbol of both wisdom and evil. He examines its depiction in mythology, literature and art and provides an overview of its fascinating biology. Beautiful photographs illustrate the allure of this mysterious creature. � Sierra Magazine

Owl is sparely and eloquently written, scholarly and highly readable . . . an entertaining and informative little gem. It will particularly appeal to the many devotees of these eternally iconic birds. � Emu-Austral Ornithology

‘The owls are not what they seem.� From ancient Babylon to Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussycat and the grandiloquent, absent-minded Wol from Winnie the Pooh to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, owls have woven themselves into the fabric of human culture from earliest times. Beautiful, silent, pitiless predators of the night, possessing contradictory qualities of good and evil, they are enigmatic creatures that dwell throughout the world yet barely make their presence known. In his fascinating new book, bestselling author and broadcaster Desmond Morris explores the natural and cultural history of one of nature’s most popular creatures.

Morris describes the evolution, the many species, and the wide spread of owls around the world � excluding Antarctica, owls are found on every land mass, and they range in size from 28 centimetres (the Least Pygmy Owl) to more than 70 centimetres tall (the Eurasian Eagle Owl). As a result of their wide distribution, owls also occur in the folk-tales, myths and legends of many native peoples, and Morris explores all these, as well as the many examples of owls in art, film, literature and popular culture.

A new title by an acclaimed author, and featuring many telling illustrations from nature and culture, Owl will appeal to the many devotees of this emblematic bird. Despite the fact that many have never seen or even heard an owl, he illustrates through this enticing read that the owl’s presence is still very real to us today.

Desmond Morris is a well-known and critically acclaimed writer and broadcaster. His many books include The Naked Ape (1967), The Human Zoo (1969), and The Human Animal (1994), and he has contributed to numerous natural history and scientific publications.]]> 216 Desmond Morris 1861895259 Daniel 4 3.81 2009
author: Desmond Morris
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/05/06
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]]> 9924223 183 Daniel Allen 1861897677 Daniel 4 3.96 2010
author: Daniel Allen
name: Daniel
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/05/06
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]]>