en-US Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:35:26 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 22391541
The discovery of the first feathered dinosaur in China in 1996 sent shockwaves through the palaeontological world. Were the feathers part of a complex mating ritual, or a stepping stone in the evolution of flight? And just how closely related is T. rex to a chicken?

Award-winning journalist John Pickrell reveals how dinosaurs developed flight and became the birds in our backyards. He delves into the latest discoveries in China, the US, Europe and uncovers a thriving black market in fossils and infighting between dinosaur hunters, plus the controversial plan to use a chicken to bring dinosaurs back from the dead.]]> 256 John Pickrell 174223366X Mick 5 4.08 2014
author: John Pickrell
name: Mick
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/07/04
date added: 2018/10/24
shelves: science, best-of-2014, dinosaurs
review:

]]> 22809098 450 Alisa Krasnostein 1922101117 Mick 5 4.29 2014
author: Alisa Krasnostein
name: Mick
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/10/31
date added: 2015/03/22
shelves: science-fiction, fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014, anthologies-and-collections
review:

]]> 20646731
In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin.

As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war, a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father’s people or loyalty to her alien Empress.

Through tense alliances and devastating betrayal, the Dhai and their allies attempt to hold against a seemingly unstoppable force as enemy nations prepare for a coming together of worlds as old as the universe itself.

In the end, one world will rise – and many will perish.]]> 540 Kameron Hurley 0857665553 Mick 5 fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014 3.47 2014
author: Kameron Hurley
name: Mick
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/12/18
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 18667112
Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths.

For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done.

But sometimes there is truth in rumour.

Soon this reckless trio will be the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they’re not even getting paid.]]> 535 Jen Williams 1472211111 Mick 5 fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014
Specifically, great evil in the form of a big bloody dragon.

If that sounds like the setup for an epic D&D session that's because it very easily could be. Jen Williams' debut novel calls back to the heroic adventure fantasy that had the teenage me constantly scouring the library and bookshop for the names Gemmell, Moorcock, or Leiber, hoping for more sword and sorcery even as I tore through the latest Eddings. It's a big story, told across four distinct chapters (each has been published elsewhere as a novella in its own right) in which the heroes encounter giant bears, wizards, pirates, griffins, demons, the aforementioned dragon, and all sorts of other weird characters and locales. The story is dark and fun in nearly equal measure, but always action packed and never sacrificing depth or characterization (I enjoyed some of the supporting cast, including a magical glassworker and one of the villain's henchwomen, as much as the main characters), and all the story threads come together in a thrilling conclusion.

I love these characters (even that jerk Frith, by the end), and I love the world Williams has built for them, and I can't wait to visit it again with The Iron Ghost in 2015. ]]> 3.61 2014
author: Jen Williams
name: Mick
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/11/07
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014
review:
For millennia the Citadel has stood untouched, sealed by the powerful magic of the ancient mages after their bitter war against the gods and built to contain their greatest treasures. Now three adventurers have succeeded in breaching it. For Lord Aaron Frith of the Blackwood the secrets of the Citadel hold the key to winning back his birthright and taking revenge for the death of his family, but for his hired companions the famous thief Wydrin of Crosshaven and disgraced knight Sir Sebastian Carverson, it's just a job like any other. None of them expect that their trespass will release a great evil on the world.

Specifically, great evil in the form of a big bloody dragon.

If that sounds like the setup for an epic D&D session that's because it very easily could be. Jen Williams' debut novel calls back to the heroic adventure fantasy that had the teenage me constantly scouring the library and bookshop for the names Gemmell, Moorcock, or Leiber, hoping for more sword and sorcery even as I tore through the latest Eddings. It's a big story, told across four distinct chapters (each has been published elsewhere as a novella in its own right) in which the heroes encounter giant bears, wizards, pirates, griffins, demons, the aforementioned dragon, and all sorts of other weird characters and locales. The story is dark and fun in nearly equal measure, but always action packed and never sacrificing depth or characterization (I enjoyed some of the supporting cast, including a magical glassworker and one of the villain's henchwomen, as much as the main characters), and all the story threads come together in a thrilling conclusion.

I love these characters (even that jerk Frith, by the end), and I love the world Williams has built for them, and I can't wait to visit it again with The Iron Ghost in 2015.
]]> 23159704
The Gods are dying. Fifteen thousand years after the end of their war, their bodies can still be found across the world. They kneel in forests, lie beneath mountains, and rest at the bottom of the world's ocean. For thousands of years, men and women have awoken with strange powers that are derived from their bodies.

The city Mireea is built against a huge stone wall that stretches across a vast mountain range, following the massive fallen body of the god, Ger. Ayae, a young cartographer’s apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on Mireea. With the help of Zaifyr, a strange man adorned with charms, she is taught the awful history of ‘cursed’ men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. Meanwhile, the saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret.

Split between the three points of view, The Godless' narrative reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm.

The first installment of an exciting new epic fantasy series, The Godless is a fast-paced page turner set in an enthralling new world, perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie and Brent Weeks.]]> 562 Ben Peek 1447251245 Mick 5 fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014 4.00 2014
author: Ben Peek
name: Mick
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/08
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 18753656
Told from multiple points of view and crisscrossing narratives, combining everything from superhero comics to Nigerian mythology to tie together a story about a city consuming itself.

‘There was no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek. And there was no pain. It was like being thrown into the stars.’]]> 306 Nnedi Okorafor 1444762753 Mick 5 3.61 2014
author: Nnedi Okorafor
name: Mick
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/07/16
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: science-fiction, fantasy-fiction, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 18490849
When an imaginary animal from her troubled teenage years reappears, Virgin takes it to mean one of two things: a breakdown (hers!) or a warning. Dead bodies start piling up around her, so she decides on the latter. Something terrible is about to happen in the park and Virgin and her new partner, U.S. Marshall Nate Sixkiller, are standing in its path...]]> 352 Marianne de Pierres 0857664182 Mick 5 3.56 2014
author: Marianne de Pierres
name: Mick
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/07/26
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: science-fiction, best-of-2014, fantasy-fiction
review:

]]> 18665033 Chocolat, Joanne Harris.

The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. It tells the story of Loki's recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself. Using her life-long passion for the Norse myths, Joanne Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel.

Loki, that’s me.

Loki, the Light-Bringer, the misunderstood, the elusive, the handsome and modest hero of this particular tissue of lies. Take it with a pinch of salt, but it’s at least as true as the official version, and, dare I say it, more entertaining.

So far, history, such as it is, has cast me in a rather unflattering role.

Now it’s my turn to take the stage.

With his notorious reputation for trickery and deception, and an ability to cause as many problems as he solves, Loki is a Norse god like no other. Demon-born, he is viewed with deepest suspicion by his fellow gods who will never accept him as one of their own and for this he vows to take his revenge.

From his recruitment by Odin from the realm of Chaos, through his years as the go-to man of Asgard, to his fall from grace in the build-up to Ragnarok, this is the unofficial history of the world’s ultimate trickster.]]> 302 Joanne M. Harris 1473202353 Mick 5 best-of-2014, fantasy-fiction 3.75 2014
author: Joanne M. Harris
name: Mick
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/12
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: best-of-2014, fantasy-fiction
review:

]]> 17737062
Hired by a wealthy businessman, she heads down to Florida to practice the one thing she's good at, but in her vision she sees him die by another's hand and on the wall written in blood is a message just for Miriam. She's expected...

File Urban Fantasy [ Plying Her Trade | Inevitable | Touch of Death | No More! ]]]> 384 Chuck Wendig 0857663380 Mick 5 best-of-2014, fantasy-fiction
That's new. That's bad.

The third book in the Miriam Black series sees Chuck Wendig's foul-mouthed protagonist, haunted by the events of the previous books and - as ever - in need of quick cash and a place to stay, lured to the Florida keys by the promise of an easy paycheck. A wealthy man wants to know how he'll die. She's the one person who can tell him. It's easy money, nothing she hasn't done before. But when she receives the aforementioned message, left at the scene of a murder that hasn't been committed yet it quickly becomes clear that she's been lured into a trap.

At this point Miriam Black is one of my favourite fantasy/horror protagonists. She's bad tempered, foul mouthed, and unpleasant to virtually everyone she meets but still struggling to be a good person. In the previous book in the series, Mockingbird, Wendig put her through hell. In The Cormorant he takes it to another level. Here, Miriam is being hunted. Hunted by the FBI, by gangsters, and by a serial killer with similar supernatural abilities to her own. She's grown accustomed to death over the years, but not to people dying because of her.

I won't go too deep into the story, but as with the previous books there's plenty of action, shocking violence, horror, and swearing (lots of swearing!). From the moment that Black arrives in The Keys the hunt is on and it never lets up, and Wendig ups the emotional stakes by having Miriam forced by circumstance to move in with her estranged mother, who has changed a lot from the figure described in previous books. The ending adds more to the evolving mythos of this world, and raises many new questions, before ending the trilogy on a cliffhanger. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Miriam Black's life soon, whether from Angry Robot or another publisher.]]> 4.23 2013
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Mick
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/05
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: best-of-2014, fantasy-fiction
review:
Miriam Black knows when you will die. All it takes is a touch. Skin on skin, and she can see your death. Over the years she's seen every kind of death. Boring deaths, accidental deaths, terrible deaths. She's never seen "Hello Miriam" written in the still-warm blood of the person she's just touched.

That's new. That's bad.

The third book in the Miriam Black series sees Chuck Wendig's foul-mouthed protagonist, haunted by the events of the previous books and - as ever - in need of quick cash and a place to stay, lured to the Florida keys by the promise of an easy paycheck. A wealthy man wants to know how he'll die. She's the one person who can tell him. It's easy money, nothing she hasn't done before. But when she receives the aforementioned message, left at the scene of a murder that hasn't been committed yet it quickly becomes clear that she's been lured into a trap.

At this point Miriam Black is one of my favourite fantasy/horror protagonists. She's bad tempered, foul mouthed, and unpleasant to virtually everyone she meets but still struggling to be a good person. In the previous book in the series, Mockingbird, Wendig put her through hell. In The Cormorant he takes it to another level. Here, Miriam is being hunted. Hunted by the FBI, by gangsters, and by a serial killer with similar supernatural abilities to her own. She's grown accustomed to death over the years, but not to people dying because of her.

I won't go too deep into the story, but as with the previous books there's plenty of action, shocking violence, horror, and swearing (lots of swearing!). From the moment that Black arrives in The Keys the hunt is on and it never lets up, and Wendig ups the emotional stakes by having Miriam forced by circumstance to move in with her estranged mother, who has changed a lot from the figure described in previous books. The ending adds more to the evolving mythos of this world, and raises many new questions, before ending the trilogy on a cliffhanger. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Miriam Black's life soon, whether from Angry Robot or another publisher.
]]> 20518872 472 Liu Cixin Mick 5 science-fiction, best-of-2014 4.07 2006
author: Liu Cixin
name: Mick
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/27
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: science-fiction, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 20706284 Seeking atonement for past crimes, Breq takes on a mission as captain of a troublesome new crew of Radchai soldiers.

Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship. Once a weapon of conquest controlling thousands of minds, now she has only a single body and serves the emperor.

With a new ship and a troublesome crew, Breq is ordered to go to the only place in the galaxy she would agree to go: to Athoek Station to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew - a lieutenant she murdered in cold blood.]]> 359 Ann Leckie 0316246654 Mick 5 science-fiction, best-of-2014 4.05 2014
author: Ann Leckie
name: Mick
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/12/05
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: science-fiction, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 23551956 Winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian HistoryFor the first time, ASIO has opened its archives to an independent historian. With unfettered access to the records, David Horner tells the real story of Australia's domestic intelligence organisation, from shaky beginnings to the expulsion of Ivan Skripov in 1963.From the start, ASIO's mission was to catch spies. In the late 1940s, the top secret Venona program revealed details of a Soviet spy ring in Australia, supported by leading Australian communists. David Horner outlines the tactics ASIO used in counterespionage, from embassy bugging to surveillance of local suspects. His research sheds new light on the Petrov Affair, and details incidents and activities that have never been revealed before.This authoritative and ground-breaking account overturns many myths about ASIO, and offers new insights into broader Australian politics and society in the fraught years of the Cold War.The Spy Catchers is the first of three volumes of The Official History of ASIO.'The Spy Catchers is a fascinating account of ASIO's early years when the main threat Australia faced was from the Soviet regime.' - The Hon. John Howard, OM, AC, former Prime Minister of Australia'This is one of our most important official histories.' - The Hon. Kim Beazley, AC, Australian Ambassador to the United States of America]]> 1080 David Horner Mick 5 3.67 2014
author: David Horner
name: Mick
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/12/31
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves: historical-non-fiction, international-relations-politics, best-of-2014, australian-history
review:

]]> 22712093
But history is always more interesting than you think it is, and no matter how public the works of men were in Ancient Rome, there were always women living and working alongside them. Their status was very different, and few ladies were allowed any kind of public honour (except when those honours were really useful to the politics of men), but that doesn’t mean they weren’t a vital part of Roman daily life and culture.

Then there were the women we do hear about—those who made a mark on the writers of the day, and were immortalised as ambitious mothers, sultry and wicked temptresses, or perfect marble wives to be placed upon pedestals like the goddess Venus herself.

While the ordinary women fell through the cracks of history and were lost to us, the most famous became so largely by accident, because they were connected in some way to the powerful men who were seen as appropriate subjects of scholarship. But the story of those women is an important one, however hard it is to sift through the hyperbole and wild stories to find some kind of truth as to the lives they lived.

Here are fifty extraordinary women of Ancient Rome—virtuous wives and adulterous vixens, abductees and viragos, imperial mothers and mortals who became goddesses, all taking their place in history. Their stories are told by Doctor Tansy Rayner Roberts, in her wry, insightful, highly readable manner, and by the end, you will have explored Roman history from a slightly different point of view.
]]> 101 Tansy Rayner Roberts 0992284473 Mick 5 50 Roman Mistresses: Scandal, virtue and womanhood in Ancient Rome, is a concise, accessible, and very snarky guide to the lives of fifty extraordinary women of classical history, from the probably mythical Sabine wife of Romulus to the more familiar (Cleopatra VII, Antonia, Livilla) and concluding with Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. I was disappointed to not see the Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian - one of my favorite "Roman" women - included, but to tackle fifty biographies and eight centuries of history in a mere 101 pages is such an impressive task that it would be churlish to ask for more.

With humour and sarcasm Roberts - who besides being a fantasy and crime novelist is also a classical historian - explores the good and bad, the virtuous, the scandalous, the misunderstood and the downright insane. In doing so she effectively and sometimes hilariously skewers view of history as a story of men, in which women are only bystanders, which makes this a terrific companion piece to her Hugo-award winning essay (also for fantasy readers, the short stories in Love and Romanpunk approach similar themes, but with the addition of vampires and airships). ]]> 3.90 2014
author: Tansy Rayner Roberts
name: Mick
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/07/23
date added: 2015/03/11
shelves: historical-non-fiction, best-of-2014, biographies, ancient-history
review:
Originally published in a series of blog posts on the author's website to mark Women’s History Month, 50 Roman Mistresses: Scandal, virtue and womanhood in Ancient Rome, is a concise, accessible, and very snarky guide to the lives of fifty extraordinary women of classical history, from the probably mythical Sabine wife of Romulus to the more familiar (Cleopatra VII, Antonia, Livilla) and concluding with Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. I was disappointed to not see the Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian - one of my favorite "Roman" women - included, but to tackle fifty biographies and eight centuries of history in a mere 101 pages is such an impressive task that it would be churlish to ask for more.

With humour and sarcasm Roberts - who besides being a fantasy and crime novelist is also a classical historian - explores the good and bad, the virtuous, the scandalous, the misunderstood and the downright insane. In doing so she effectively and sometimes hilariously skewers view of history as a story of men, in which women are only bystanders, which makes this a terrific companion piece to her Hugo-award winning essay (also for fantasy readers, the short stories in Love and Romanpunk approach similar themes, but with the addition of vampires and airships).
]]> 18114291
Meet the Cooke family: Mother and Dad, Lowell, Rosemary and her unusual sister Fern. Rosemary begins her story in the middle. She has her reasons. “Until Fern’s expulsion...,” Rosemary says, “she was my twin, my funhouse mirror, my whirlwind other half and I loved her.” As a child, Rosemary never stopped talking. Then, something happened, and Rosemary wrapped herself in silence.

In We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler weaves her most accomplished work to date—a tale of loving but fallible people whose well-intentioned actions lead to heartbreaking consequences.]]> 336 Karen Joy Fowler 0142180823 Mick 5 best-of-2014 3.83 2013
author: Karen Joy Fowler
name: Mick
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2014/10/29
date added: 2014/12/30
shelves: best-of-2014
review:

]]> 21557155
Tackling the challenges will be further complicated by pressure to develop solutions that are sustainable and include climate change mitigation measures. Some advocate geo-engineering - the large-scale engineering and manipulation of the world's environment e.g. ocean fertilisation to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, as the answer to tackling climate change. Others see this as a doomsday scenario and believe the solution lies in behaviour adaptation, changing the way we live and making do with less.

Despite the difficulties, the book will chart how some cities are already tackling the problems, policies that are emerging to meet these challenges and will highlight innovations that are currently being explored.]]> 160 Camilla Ween 1444196103 Mick 4 3.04 2013
author: Camilla Ween
name: Mick
average rating: 3.04
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/10/24
date added: 2014/12/30
shelves: international-relations-politics, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 21413662 xkcd comic ask Munroe a lot of strange questions: What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by his signature xkcd comics. (They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.)

In celebration of 10 years of unusual insight, Randall Munroe has revised his classic blockbuster to ask what if? x 10. The result is 10x the adventure of scientific inquiry. Featuring brand-new 2-color annotations and illustrations, this special anniversary edition is far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read.]]> 303 Randall Munroe 0544272994 Mick 5 science, best-of-2014 4.13 2014
author: Randall Munroe
name: Mick
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/10/24
date added: 2014/11/13
shelves: science, best-of-2014
review:

]]> 18528190
She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!”

This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the writer Virginia Woolf ’s embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.]]> 130 Rebecca Solnit 1608463869 Mick 5 best-of-2014
All of the essays convey valuable insights but the most powerful to me was 'The Longest War', in which Solnit asks pointedly why men commit violent acts, especially against women (making her case using some statistics which will certainly shock, if not surprise, the reader), and why we do not address this question as a society but rather accept it as normal. "Violence..." she argues "does not have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender", and it's difficult to disagree. Solnit closes with another highlight, "Pandora's Box and the Volunteer Police Force", which addresses the grim realities faced by feminists today but makes that point that things are, on the whole, better than they used to be thanks to the work of feminists and allies. Progress cannot be stopped in the long term, only slowed, and that's reason both to be optimistic and to fight even harder. ]]> 3.84 2014
author: Rebecca Solnit
name: Mick
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/11/14
date added: 2014/11/13
shelves: best-of-2014
review:
I came to this slim volume (just 124 pages, easily read in a single sitting) of feminism-themed essays by author, historian, and human rights activist Rebecca Solnit, having read little of her work but the . Beginning with that short essay, which manages to be both hilarious and frustrating, and is famous on the internet for having popularized the concept of 'mansplaining', Solnit argues powerfully for the necessity and relevance of feminism in today's world.

All of the essays convey valuable insights but the most powerful to me was 'The Longest War', in which Solnit asks pointedly why men commit violent acts, especially against women (making her case using some statistics which will certainly shock, if not surprise, the reader), and why we do not address this question as a society but rather accept it as normal. "Violence..." she argues "does not have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender", and it's difficult to disagree. Solnit closes with another highlight, "Pandora's Box and the Volunteer Police Force", which addresses the grim realities faced by feminists today but makes that point that things are, on the whole, better than they used to be thanks to the work of feminists and allies. Progress cannot be stopped in the long term, only slowed, and that's reason both to be optimistic and to fight even harder.
]]> 22586113
Renowned for its unusual mammals, Australia is a land of birds that are just as unusual, just as striking, a result of the continent's tens of millions of years of isolation. Compared with birds elsewhere, ours are more likely to be intelligent, aggressive and loud, to live in complex societies, and are long-lived. They're also ecologically more powerful, exerting more influences on forests than other birds.

But unlike the mammals, the birds did not keep to Australia; they spread around the globe. Australia provided the world with its songbirds and parrots, the most intelligent of all bird groups. It was thought in Darwin's time that species generated in the Southern Hemisphere could not succeed in the Northern, an idea that was proven wrong in respect of birds in the 1980s but not properly accepted by the world's scientists until 2004 – because, says Tim Low, most ornithologists live in the Northern Hemisphere. As a result, few Australians are aware of the ramifications, something which prompted the writing of this book.

Tim Low has a rare gift for illuminating complex ideas in highly readable prose, and making of the whole a dynamic story. Here he brilliantly explains how our birds came to be so extraordinary, including the large role played by the foods they consume (birds, too, are what they eat), and by our climate, soil, fire, and Australia's legacy as a part of Gondwana. The story of its birds, it turns out, is inseparable from the story of Australia itself, and one that continues to unfold, so much having changed in the last decade about what we know of our ancient past. Where Song Began also shines a light on New Guinea as a biological region of Australia, as much a part of the continent as Tasmania. This is a work that goes far beyond the birds themselves to explore the relationships between Australia's birds and its people, and the ways in which scientific prejudice have hindered our understanding.]]> 416 Tim Low 0670077968 Mick 5 4.19 2014
author: Tim Low
name: Mick
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/10/01
date added: 2014/10/01
shelves: best-of-2014, historical-non-fiction, science
review:

]]> 22852226
He is a broken man. The ambitions which once drove him are dead. Now he has new dreams – of flesh and bone made disturbingly, beautifully real.

Detroit is the decaying corpse of the American Dream. Motor-city. Murder-city.

And home to a killer opening doors into the dark heart of humanity.

A killer who wants to make you whole again…]]> 528 Lauren Beukes 0732295548 Mick 5 horror-fiction, best-of-2014 3.56 2014
author: Lauren Beukes
name: Mick
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/08/04
date added: 2014/10/01
shelves: horror-fiction, best-of-2014
review:

]]>