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I am writing this newsletter on Wednesday, in the middle of what let’s call “quite a pivotal week.” Picking a theme for today’s newsletter was challenging, to say the least, and I finally fell on animals and plants because my YouTube vids of choice have leaned increasingly on the side of “This Goose Was Sad Until It Met Its New Horse Friend” and animals and plants are really great and let’s read about them.
The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife by Lucy Cooke
There are a lot of weird “facts” about animals floating around, some true, some not. Cooke looks into them here — the idea that eels are born from sand, that swallows hibernate under water, and that bears give birth to formless lumps that are licked into shape by their mothers — and breaks down what they say about *us*.
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
Yes, THAT Susan Orlean. Orchids, libraries, celebrity dogs, she covers them all. Rin Tin Tin was the #1 box office draw in the 1920s. I get it, 1920s. You’d just dealt with a world war, a pandemic, and you just wanted to watch a dog be a hero. Orlean’s biography not only talks about Rin Tin Tin, but the bond between humans and animals.
Our Symphony with Animals: On Health, Empathy, and Our Shared Destinies by Aysha Akhtar
Dr. Akhtar studies animal ethics AND neurology and in her book looks at how “interspecies empathy enriches our well-being” and is “a vital component of human health.” She says that humans are neurologically designed to empathize with animals, and the love we give to them biologically reverberates back to us.
tw: bullying and abuse from Akhtar’s recounting of past incidents in her life.
The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species by Carlos Magdalena
Doesn’t this cover just make you FEEL better? Magdalena works at the Royal Botanic Gardens and is known for saving some of the world’s rarest plants. This is why it’s great to have so many humans. They care about so many disparate things, and Carlos Magdalena is HERE for plants. This takes you from Peru to Australia and back to England as he goes on quests to save plant life around the world. A+.
For more nonfiction picks, check out the nonfiction For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.