Animals – a day in the (reading) life

The outliers: biggest, smallest, deadliest, smartest, strongest, oldest, fastest. A sort of Guinness Book of Records for grown-up nerds, huh? Same fascination factor, for sure, but with purpose and science to boot. What can we learn from these extremes of nature? How did they come to be? What are the challenges to their survival? How can they benefit us?

For example, in “Why Almost Everything We Know About Giraffes Is Wrong”, we learn that prevailing theories say giraffes developed their unique bodies and long necks in order to graze from tree tops. But did they? They seem to bend down to eat from grasses and shrubs as much, if not more, than in trees. So why those long necks with those pretty little heads at the top?

And there’s “Why Elephant Cells Are Like Empathetic Zombies”. Elephants grow so rapidly that cells tend to mutate, and so it seems that elephants would develop cancers at an astounding rate – but they don’t. In elephants, mutating cells appear to “develop a conscience” and die. Now wouldn’t it be great if our pre-cancerous cells offed themselves? Yeah, that’s the ticket, and we’d have elephants to thank, so back off, poachers!

I’ve only sampled Matthew LaPlante’s good book, but I’ll be back, and it’s perfect for enjoying this way if you like. Of course, for many, it’ll be like potato chips. Hard to stop with one or two. Whatever your style, munchies or the full buffet, the line starts here.

Be the biggest, smartest, fastest reader to buy this book from your local indie bookstore.

Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided to me by BenBella Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for providing me this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

A pleasant interlude of a book for those of us who love our animals and rely on the vets who care for them. Canadian vet Phillipp Schott’s calm voice, practical point of view, and gentle humor is so like the vets I’ve known through many years and wonderful pets – hermit crabs (funny little fragile things) to horses (funny big fragile things) and variously-sized dear things in between. Dr. Schott raises our awareness of the challenges unique to veterinary practices, clinics encompassing nearly the entirety of medicine in one hectic place, and he includes practical and interesting tips for neophytes and the seasoned as well: when to call a vet, what to expect, advice on fleas and ticks, what chocolate actually does to dogs, “natural” food, supportive wisdom on end-of-life eventualities.

Good stuff, and, of course, plenty of the anecdotes we all enjoy so much. Petit Choux, the pet rabbit of a French Canadian client, heard by the receptionist as Petty Chew. The interesting observation/opinion that U.S. clients complain less about veterinary costs than Canadians do because, perhaps, they are aware of the cost of medicine for human beings. Hmmmm. And the child who wrote the good doctor about his ambition to be a “vat”. Dr. Schott muses that he too once dreamed of becoming a “large container”, but decided to become a vet instead. Glad he did.

Set for release on April 23 from ECW Press.

Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided to me by ECW Press via NetGalley. I would like to thank the publisher and the author for providing me this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own.