Cleaning Up My TBR with a Giveaway: Down the TBR Hole #12

This meme was started by Lost in a Story.  Here is how it works:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Because I have so many to do, I'm going to try to do this weekly, and do 10 at a time.


1.  Lucy by Laurence Gonzales:

Laurence Gonzales’s electrifying adventure opens in the jungles of the Congo. Jenny Lowe, a primatologist studying chimpanzees—the bonobos—is running for her life.

A civil war has exploded and Jenny is trapped in its crosshairs . . . She runs to the camp of a fellow primatologist.

The rebels have already been there.

Everyone is dead except a young girl, the daughter of Jenny’s brutally murdered fellow scientist—and competitor.

Jenny and the child flee, Jenny grabbing the notebooks of the primatologist who’s been killed. She brings the girl to Chicago to await the discovery of her relatives. The girl is fifteen and lovely—her name is Lucy.

Realizing that the child has no living relatives, Jenny begins to care for her as her own. When she reads the notebooks written by Lucy’s father, she discovers that the adorable, lovely, magical Lucy is the result of an experiment.

She is part human, part ape—a hybrid human being . . .

Laurence Gonzales’s novel grabs you from its opening pages and you stay with it, mesmerized by the shy but fierce, wonderfully winning Lucy.

My thoughts:  I feel like at one time I might have had a copy of this one?  But I don't know that I do anymore.  I really feel though, that I might enjoy this some time.

Verdict:  Keep


2.  Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom by Susin Nielsen:

Violet's TV-director dad has traded a job in Vancouver for one in Los Angeles, their run-down house for a sleek ranch-style home complete with a pool, and, worst of all, Violet's mother for a trophy wife, a blonde actress named Jennica. Violet's younger sister reacts by bed-wetting, and her mother ping-pongs from one loser to another, searching for love. As for Violet, she gets angry in ways that are by turns infuriating, shocking, and hilarious.

When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet's mom can't pick a decent man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.

In Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom, Susin Nielsen has created a truly original protagonist in Violet and a brilliant new novel that will delight readers into rooting for her, even when she's at her worst.  

My thoughts:  Still sounds like a fun middle grade story, but not sure I'll get to it.

Verdict:  Toss


3.  Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data by Nicole C. Engard:

This unique book is geared to help any library keep its website dynamically and collaboratively up-to-date, increase user participation, and provide exemplary web-based service through the power of mashups.

Nicole C. Engard and 25 contributors from all over the world share definitions, tools, techniques, and real life applications. Examples range from ways to allow those without programming skills to make simple website updates, to modifying the library OPAC, to using popular sites like Flickr, Yahoo!, LibraryThing, Google Maps, and Delicious to share and combine digital content.

My thoughts:  I'm sure I chose this book back when I was looking for a library job, working on my Education Specialist degree in library science, which I haven't finished.  It might be a little outdated now, unless they've done a more recent version.

Verdict: Toss


4.  Annexed by Sharon Dogar:

I look out the window into the street...I'm meant to be at Mr. Frank's workplace in a few hours. We're arriving separately, all of is. We'll walk into the building just like it was any other visit - only this time we'll never walk out again.

What was it like hiding in the Annex with Anne Frank? To be with Anne every day while she wrote so passionately in her diary? To be in a secret world within a world at war - alive on the inside, everything dying on the outside?

Peter Van Pels and his family have lost their country, their home, and their freedom, and now they are fighting desperately to remain alive.

Look through Peter's eyes.

He has a story to tell, too.

Are you listening? 

My thoughts:  I am always wanting to read these books, they call to me.  Not sure, but I will probably want to read this one day.  However, I wonder if I need to keep it on my list since it is one that is popular and might always be well known.

Verdict:  Keep for now
 
  
5.  Slights by Kaaron Warren:

STEVIE IS A KILLER.

But she brings her victims back to life to demand of them: "WHAT DO YOU SEE?P"

Now she's about to find out for herself...

After an accident in which her mother dies, Stevie has a near-death experience, and finds herself in a room full of people - everyone she's ever annoyed. They clutch at her, scratch and tear at her. But she finds herself drawn back to this place, again and again, determined to unlock its secrets. Which means she has to die, again and again. And Stevie starts to wonder whether other people see the same room... when they die.

The most disturbing novel of 2010... read it if you dare.  

My thoughts:  Hmm, sounds creepy, but not sure if it is one I'd go back to read at some point.  I can probably get rid of this one.  I mean it says it is the most disturbing novel of 2010, so surely someone will be able to remember it if I want to.

Verdict: Toss


6.  51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness:

After years of living the LA high life, Kristen McGuiness found herself single, sober, and seriously questioning whether she was destined to be alone. How hard could it be to find a guy whose hand she could hold at the movie theater, whose name she could put down as her emergency contact at the doctor's office, and who would know when to tell her she's beautiful? And more than that--where was that euphoric full-body tingle spurred only by being in love?
So she did what any single, newly sober thirty-year-old would do: made a pact to go on 51 dates in 50 weeks. Giving fate the middle finger, she decided that if the perfect guy wasn't going to walk into her life, she'd find him herself. Using "The Onion's" online personals, a sympathetic boss, weekly meetings for recovering addicts, a magical spiritual healer, and good old fashioned blind dates arranged by friends, she embarks on a whirlwind carousel of men she might not normally classify as potential mates.
Her initial plan of landing a man by simply increasing the odds quickly blossomed into more than just coffee with strangers. The experiences became truth-seeking missions, journeys into her problem-riddled past, and spiritual adventures in fear and faith. Of course, she meets a lot of men, but she also discovers unexpected moments of pain and joy within her own family: her divorced mother, incarcerated father, crazy Italian grandmother, and two middle-aged uncles (one conservative, the other gay). And in the end, her attempts to find love lead her to find herself.
At times heart-breaking and laugh-out-loud hilarious, Kristen McGuiness's witty, brutally honest writing gives a valuable true-life spin on "Bridget Jones" and "Sex and the City." 51/50 is a gripping read that will inspire others to follow her courageous search for love. 

My thoughts: There was a time, in my 30s, when I was reading all of these types of books about being single and feeling like I'd be alone forever.  Now, in my 40s, I'm realizing that's just the way it's going to be, and maybe reading these types of books don't help me.  I'll stick to my fictional romance, which I know is fictional and too perfect to be true.

Verdict: Toss


7.  Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of Human Invention by Stanislas Dehaene:

A renowned cognitive neuroscientist?s fascinating and highly informative account of how the brain acquires reading

How can a few black marks on a white page evoke an entire universe of sounds and meanings? In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene provides an accessible account of the brain circuitry of reading and explores what he calls the ?reading paradox?: Our cortex is the product of millions of years of evolution in a world without writing, so how did it adapt to recognize words? Reading in the Brain describes pioneering research on how we process language, revealing the hidden logic of spelling and the existence of powerful unconscious mechanisms for decoding words of any size, case, or font.

Dehaene?s research will fascinate not only readers interested in science and culture, but also educators concerned with debates on how we learn to read, and who wrestle with pathologies such as dyslexia. Like Steven Pinker, Dehaene argues that the mind is not a blank slate: Writing systems across all cultures rely on the same brain circuits, and reading is only possible insofar as it fits within the limits of a primate brain. Setting cutting-edge science in the context of cultural debate, Reading in the Brain is an unparalleled guide to a uniquely human ability.  

My thoughts:  Um, kind of interesting, but probably not something I'm going to sit down and read.

Verdict: Toss


8.  Grave Secrets of Dinosaurs:  Soft Tissues and Hard Science by Phillip Manning:

Many of us have seen dinosaur bones and skeletons, maybe even dinosaur eggs...but what did those fearsome animals really look like in the flesh? Soft-tissue fossils give tantalizing clues about the appearance and physiology of the ancient animals. In this exciting book, paleontologist Phillip Manning presents the most astonishing dinosaur fossil excavations of the past 100 years—including the recent discovery of a remarkably intact dinosaur mummy in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Bone structure is just the beginning of our knowledge today, thanks to amazing digs like these. Drawing on new breakthroughs and cutting-edge techniques of analysis, Dr. Manning takes us on a thrilling, globe-spanning tour of dinosaur mummy finds—from the first such excavation in 1908 to a baby dinosaur unearthed in 1980, from a dino with a heart in South Dakota to titanosaur embryos in Argentina. And he discusses his own groundbreaking analysis of "Dakota," discovered by Tyler Lyson.

Using state-of-the-art technology to scan and analyse this remarkable discovery, National Geographic and Dr. Manning create an incredibly lifelike portrait of Dakota. The knowledge to be gained from this exceedingly rare find, and those that came before it, will intrigue dinosaur-loving readers of all ages.   

My thoughts: There was a time when I had to read any book about dinosaurs I could get my hands on, and as a science teacher, it really fit in and kept my brain up to date on that science. These days, I just don't have the time.  Plus, I'm guessing there are new updated books with new updated research on this very topic.

Verdict: Toss


9.  Empty by Suzanne Weyn:

A dystopic look at what happens to one American town when all the fossil fuels run out...

It's the near future - the very near future - and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no driving. No heat. Supermarkets are empty. Malls have shut down. Life has just become more local than we ever knew it could be.

Nobody expected the end to come this fast. And in the small town of Spring Valley, decisions that once seemed easy are quickly becoming matters of life and death. There is hope - there has to be hope - just there are also sacrifices that need to be made, and a whole society that needs to be rethought.  

My thoughts: This is a favorite author of mine, and so I'm sure if I want to read this some time, I'll remember based on looking up other books by this author.

Verdict:  Toss


10.  I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison:

When shy Jenny Cooper goes to stay with her cousin Jane Austen, she knows nothing of the world of beautiful dresses, dances, secrets, gossip, and romance that Jane inhabits. At fifteen, Jane is already a sharp observer of the customs of courtship. So when Jenny falls utterly in love with Captain Thomas Williams, who better than Jane to help her win the heart of this dashing man?

But is that even possible? After all, Jenny’s been harboring a most desperate secret. Should it become known, it would bring scandal not only to her, but also to the wonderful Austen family. What’s a poor orphan girl to do?

In this delicious dance between truth and fiction, Cora Harrison has crafted Jenny’s secret diary by reading everything Jane Austen wrote as a child and an adult, and by researching biographies, critical studies, and family letters. Jenny’s diary makes the past spring vividly to life and provides insight into the entire Austen family—especially the beloved Jane.  

My thoughts:  I love a good story that takes truth and weaves it into a fictional story.  And this is one that doesn't seem too well known. So if I take it off my list, I might not remember it later. 

Verdict:  Keep


Final Thoughts:
So, I only kept three out of ten, that's a good week!  And one is just for now, it maybe one I get rid of later.  Have you read any of these?  Would you recommend keeping any that I am getting rid of?  Are there any I'm keeping that you've read and don't think I should bother with?  Now, also, I did get rid of some physical books this past weekend, took them to Half Price Books, even though I didn't get much for them, I spent what little I did get on some new books for my school.  I cleared out 25 physical books!  I might get some more done this week while I'm on spring break. Although today, as this post is up, I'm on the road out of town for a writing retreat, by myself.  I was doing a link up for this giveaway for anyone who wanted to join in, no one else has joined in yet, but I'll go ahead and keep trying it for another couple weeks maybe and see if it ever catches on.  So if you want to do one of these posts any time in the next week, come back and add your link below so I can check your post out!  And don't forget the giveaway below!

   Inlinkz Link Party


Giveaway:
Once again this is a US only giveaway, unless you are International and see a book here you really want and would be willing to pay for the difference in the shipping through Paypal or some other way.  Just as with the past weeks, you get to pick any book from the pictures below, as long as they don't get traded away, or picked by last week's winner, and I will pick a surprise book from the piles to add to your choice.  Here are your choices:   

These are my 2018 ARCs you can choose from.

Here are my 2017 ARCs you can choose from.

Here are my 2013-2016 ARCs you can choose from.

Just enter in the Rafflecopter below!

 
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ARC Review: Mammoth by Jill Baguchinsky

Book info:

Title:  Mammoth
Author:  Jill Baguchinsky
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Release Date:  November 8th, 2018
Publisher:  Turner Publishing
Source:  ARC received from author for review, which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:
The summer before her junior year, paleontology geek Natalie Page lands a coveted internship at an Ice Age dig site near Austin. Natalie, who’s also a plus-size fashion blogger, depends on the retro style she developed to shield herself from her former bullies, but vintage dresses and perfect lipstick aren’t compatible with prospecting for fossils in the Texas heat. But nothing is going to dampen Natalie’s spirit — she’s exactly where she wants to be, and she gets to work with her hero, a rock-star paleontologist who hosts the most popular paleo podcast in the world. And then there’s Chase the intern, who’s seriously cute, and Cody, a local boy who’d be even cuter if he were less of a grouch.

It’s a summer that promises to be about more than just mammoths.

Until it isn’t.

When Natalie’s hero turns out to be anything but, and steals the credit for one of her accomplishments, Nat has to unearth the confidence she needs to stand out in a field dominated by dudes. To do this, she’ll have to let her true self shine, even if that means defying all the rules for the sake of a major discovery.

My Review:
So, something people may not know about me is that my college degree was a Bachelor of Science in Education with Earth Science as my Major and Biology as my Minor.  I have always been a bit obsessed with dinosaurs and fossils.  The release of the original Jurassic Park movie, well the book first, coincided with when I was taking some classes that were about fossils and such, and really got me very excited in being a paleontologist or something similar.  My family could tell how much I loved it, and so for my college graduation they paid for me to go work on a real dinosaur dig in Montana through the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.  Here's a picture of me working at the dig.

So as soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew that I HAD to have it!  And from the very first time I picked it up, I wasn't disappointed at all!  I immediately started geeking out over all the dinosaur and other paleontology stuff the first time I picked it up.  It wasn't just the science stuff though, I felt a kinship with the main character, Natalie, and her weight issues.  Although from theh very start I did wonder how in the world she thought she would be wearing her fashionable clothing on a fossil dig internship.  Unlike Natalie, I'm still a fan of dinosaurs more than prehistoric  mammals, but really I love them all.  

I loved how she mentioned the bone licking test, I remember showing it to my students whenever I taught about fossils in the past.  There was so much other great science in it, and so many neat things about how a museum might work with the fossils and specimens.  There was all the teenage peer pressure as part of the story, and while I know there were things that I would never have let sway me, I get that some of it was needed to add the drama and conflict in the story.  

The lawsuit in the book was very realistic in that there have been cases so close to what was part of this story.  I mean a lot of people have heard of Tyrannosaur Sue, but do they know the whole story behind where she came from?  And then there was the stealing of credit, done by Dr. Carter, who had been Natalie's idol.  Again, a realistic part of any field, including science.  

Such a great book.  Made me want to go back and work on a dinosaur dig again some day myself.  Great book!   

 

A to Z Challenge: J Reviews - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton/Joni by Joni Eareckson

Today I have another well known science fiction book to share, along with a memoir/biography from when I was in middle school I believe.

First is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.  I remember picking this up my Junior year in college when I was taking Historical Geology.  Probably why I really got into it as well as my other paleontology classes that I took in college.  I won't necessarily include the blurb here from Goodreads because I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother knows the story of Jurassic Park.  The movie was really pretty good, other than all the things that were left out.  The book, as always, is so much better than the movie was.  I loved how technical the science was in the book.  Probably the book, its sequel, and the movie, are a big part of the reason why when I graduated from college my parents gave me a trip to go be a part of a dinosaur dig in Montana.  I still think about that experience today.  I'd love to go do it again some day, but back in 1995 it cost like $1,000, so I'm guessing it would cost a lot more today.

Second is the memoir Joni, written by a girl who had a diving accident and became a quadriplegic.  While she was in recovery she learned how to paint with her teeth, and also really became a very faithfully religious person.  When I was in middle school I believe, the Lutheran school that I attended took us all on a field trip to see the movie.  I immediately had to get the book, I remember having my mom take me to the mall and buy it at one of the small bookstores.  It was a book I read a lot.  If you haven't heard of her story, here is the blurb from Goodreads.com:
The award-winning story of a young woman who triumphed over devastating odds to touch countless lives the world over with the healing message of Christ. Includes photos and illustrations by Joni.

In a split second on a hot July afternoon, a diving accident transformed the life of Joni Eareckson Tada forever. She went from being an active young woman to facing every day in a wheelchair. In this unforgettable autobiography, Joni reveals each step of her struggle to accept her disability and discover the meaning of her life. The hard-earned truths she discovers and the special ways God reveals his love are testimonies to faith’s triumph over hardship and suffering.

So those are my two reviews for today.  Also the last two till Monday.  Are you a fan of Jurassic Park?  If so, are you as excited as me for the movie this summer?  Part of my excitement has nothing to do with whether the plot is any good, but more to see how much technology has improved since the first movies, along with all the new stuff we know about dinosaurs and having it put up on the big screen of a movie theater.  Had you ever heard of Joni's story before today?

While you're here, be sure to enter my giveaway below!


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Cover Characteristic - October 20th, 2014 - Dogs

Cover Characteristics is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.  Here are the guidelines for how it works if you want to join in:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants! 

I always try to pick books I've already read, in no particular order.

This week's characteristic:  Dogs

1.

 

 Such a good story, but so sad.  I could never read it again. Could barely watch the movie after I'd read it.

2.

 I love this book.  It amuses me that so many of them seem to be dachshunds!!

 3.

 This is a really good book, and I like the main character having a dog that helps her with her autism. 

 4.

 

 And I love all things dachshund, and so while I'm not necessarily a big art fan, I had to get and read this book.

5.

 I love this one because it includes two of my favorite things, dinosaurs and dachshunds!

And I had to throw in this last one, even though I haven't read it yet, because it is so cute!! (I also got a cool tote bag with this on it at BEA this summer.)

So what do you think of my covers? 

A to Z April - N: Nonfiction

For today's post I'm kind of lumping a bunch of different types of books together.  There are so many different types of nonfiction, or "true" books.  I'm going to choose a few of my favorites that I actually read and share them with you.


1.  I already shared probably my favorite with you, and that was biographies/memoirs.  You can go back and read my post on that HERE.

2.  My second favorite group would probably be science.  As a former science teacher, with my undergraduate degree in biology and earth science.  Some of my favorite science books you can see below, and you can tell I guess, that I'm a huge dinosaur freak.  And the last one I actually included with my biography post back on #1, but it is a lot of science, and I loved that.



3.  My 3rd favorite type of nonfiction is humor.  This can be memoirs again, I love a funny life story.  Or else lately there have been some books based on technology type things that I read and it just cracks me up!!  Here are a few of my favorites.
 

4.  History is another area that I sometimes find interesting.  I don't know that I've actually read that many history books, and a lot of them though, are often true crime types of books.  Here are the ones I remember reading.  The last one I'm still reading.  I have it on my iphone and whenever I go somewhere and don't happen to have anything to read, I can pull it up and read. 



5.  The final type of nonfiction I like to "read" are cookbooks.  I technically don't read them, just look for recipes I like and then make them.  If I have time.  And I also picked this because I got to listen to the author of the Hungry Girl cookbooks, and now diet last night, so I wanted to share that picture.  But first I'll share 3 cookbooks I have actually used.

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And here is a picture of Lisa Lillien, the "Hungry Girl" herself, speaking last night at the Barnes and Noble where I work part time.

So, how about you? Do you read much nonfiction?  If so, what type do you like to read?

Throwback Thursday #1

Since I forgot what my topic for letter I in the A to Z April Challenge was supposed to be, and I know that I have it written in my notebook at home, I'm going to join into this fun Thursday meme for the first time today, so here goes my first Throwback Thursday.  I hope I'm doing this right! 


I've selected a post from the first year with this blog, going way back to December 1st, 2009.  I was a science teacher for 17 years, and part of the reason I did that was my love of all things earth science, especially dinosaurs.  This book I reviewed was about dinosaurs, but also made me remember my college graduation gift, a trip to be part of a real dinosaur dig.  I've copied the post below.

Book Review 53: How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner

I first learned about Jack Horner when I was in college, then Central Missouri State University, now called University of Central Missouri. It was either my sophomore or junior year, I think the first time I took Invertebrate Paleontology. I say first time, because my first teacher was a horrible teacher. I had a C, he lost my final, which I felt like I'd done really well on, and told me I had a D. Since that was in my major, I had to re-take the class. I'm glad in a way that I did, because the my 2nd teacher was an awesome teacher and took me on my first "real" fossil expeditions. But I digress. It was about this time that the book Jurassic Park was a big hit, soon to be followed by the movie. My infatuation with dinosaurs was rediscovered. Around this time I asked for a book I'd heard about called "Digging Up Dinosaurs" by Dr. John Horner for a Christmas gift. Dr. John Horner is Jack Horner. I soon was to the point where I couldn't get enough nonfiction science books on dinosaurs and paleontology. My family of course noticed this, and the awesome college graduation gift I received was based on an article my step-dad found in the Kansas City Star my Senior year of college. In Montana, Jack Horner had a camp funded through the Montana State University where anyone who came up with the money and got signed up in time could come and work on an actual dinosaur dig. I got to go spend a week doing this the summer after I graduated. I still remember it all vividly, sleeping in a teepee. The pitch blackness at night, except for how bright the moon in the sky was. Being in a desert, yet wearing a sweatshirt on a July morning when we first went out to dig.

The money people pay for this, is one way they continue to fund their digs. And if I could, I would pay to go every year. I loved every minute of it. Except maybe for the bathrooms, and vegetarian dinner night. :-) A year ago, a new book came out called "How to Build a Dinosaur" by Jack Horner again. I asked for it last year as either a birthday or Christmas gift, but just wasn't quite in the mood to pick it up and read. I've kind of been in a nonfiction slump other than a few weight loss memoirs last spring. A couple weeks ago 60 Minutes did a story on Jack Horner, and basically what this book is about, and I remembered that book sitting on my shelf. I was also waiting for the final book on my Mark Twain nominee list to be available to check out at the library, and so was looking for what to read. And so I picked this up, and was again drawn right back in to this world I wish I was a part of every day of my life. Dr. Horner wants to create a Chickenosaur. Birds have been declared the descendents of dinosaurs, and so using a chicken and changing some things in its embryological development is where Dr. Horner sees us going.

Obviously there is much more to the book than I've laid out here, but I'll leave it open for others to read and enjoy. I will leave you with a quote Dr. Horner includes in this book by George Carlin. I'm not always a Carlin fan, due to some of his political comments, but this one sums up my views on global warming, and other environmental issues, as well as bringing to light the attitude that scientists in the geology field, which I equate myself with, have towards all these same things.

"Way over 90 percent of all the species that have ever lived on this planet - ever lived - are gone. They're extinct. We didn't kill them all. They just disappeared. That's what nature does. They disappear these days at the reate of twenty-five a day. And I mean regardless of our behavior. Irrespective of how we act on this planet, twenty-five species that are here today will be gone tomorrow. Let them go gracefully. Leave nature alone." - George Carlin

I actually have a few more reviews to do, but in the sense that I'm getting tired of typing, I'll come back and fill them in another day.

Book Review 53: How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner

I first learned about Jack Horner when I was in college, then Central Missouri State University, now called University of Central Missouri. It was either my sophomore or junior year, I think the first time I took Invertebrate Paleontology. I say first time, because my first teacher was a horrible teacher. I had a C, he lost my final, which I felt like I'd done really well on, and told me I had a D. Since that was in my major, I had to re-take the class. I'm glad in a way that I did, because the my 2nd teacher was an awesome teacher and took me on my first "real" fossil expeditions. But I digress. It was about this time that the book Jurassic Park was a big hit, soon to be followed by the movie. My infatuation with dinosaurs was rediscovered. Around this time I asked for a book I'd heard about called "Digging Up Dinosaurs" by Dr. John Horner for a Christmas gift. Dr. John Horner is Jack Horner. I soon was to the point where I couldn't get enough nonfiction science books on dinosaurs and paleontology. My family of course noticed this, and the awesome college graduation gift I received was based on an article my step-dad found in the Kansas City Star my Senior year of college. In Montana, Jack Horner had a camp funded through the Montana State University where anyone who came up with the money and got signed up in time could come and work on an actual dinosaur dig. I got to go spend a week doing this the summer after I graduated. I still remember it all vividly, sleeping in a teepee. The pitch blackness at night, except for how bright the moon in the sky was. Being in a desert, yet wearing a sweatshirt on a July morning when we first went out to dig.

The money people pay for this, is one way they continue to fund their digs. And if I could, I would pay to go every year. I loved every minute of it. Except maybe for the bathrooms, and vegetarian dinner night. :-) A year ago, a new book came out called "How to Build a Dinosaur" by Jack Horner again. I asked for it last year as either a birthday or Christmas gift, but just wasn't quite in the mood to pick it up and read. I've kind of been in a nonfiction slump other than a few weight loss memoirs last spring. A couple weeks ago 60 Minutes did a story on Jack Horner, and basically what this book is about, and I remembered that book sitting on my shelf. I was also waiting for the final book on my Mark Twain nominee list to be available to check out at the library, and so was looking for what to read. And so I picked this up, and was again drawn right back in to this world I wish I was a part of every day of my life. Dr. Horner wants to create a Chickenosaur. Birds have been declared the descendents of dinosaurs, and so using a chicken and changing some things in its embryological development is where Dr. Horner sees us going.

Obviously there is much more to the book than I've laid out here, but I'll leave it open for others to read and enjoy. I will leave you with a quote Dr. Horner includes in this book by George Carlin. I'm not always a Carlin fan, due to some of his political comments, but this one sums up my views on global warming, and other environmental issues, as well as bringing to light the attitude that scientists in the geology field, which I equate myself with, have towards all these same things.

"Way over 90 percent of all the species that have ever lived on this planet - ever lived - are gone. They're extinct. We didn't kill them all. They just disappeared. That's what nature does. They disappear these days at the reate of twenty-five a day. And I mean regardless of our behavior. Irrespective of how we act on this planet, twenty-five species that are here today will be gone tomorrow. Let them go gracefully. Leave nature alone." - George Carlin

I actually have a few more reviews to do, but in the sense that I'm getting tired of typing, I'll come back and fill them in another day.