Three Bags Full (2005) by Leonie Swann #20BOS26

 

🐑 I have made the second mistake this year, reading wise. I have let myself be tempted by another hyped book which is soon to be a major movie with top actors, just like Remarkably Bright Creatures. And this story was also about, and told from the point of view of, a certain animal. While Remarkably is alternately told from the point of view of human characters and Marcellus the 'remarkably bright' octopus, Three Bags is told mainly from the POV of a flock of sheep's. Both creatures - octopus and sheep - are clever enough to have solved a mystery that the humans failed. However funny or cute the idea was - a flock of sheep turn detective - this story has layers of darkness, and lacks of clarity in the mystery solving. 🐑 The clever sheep belong to a shepherd called George Glenn, who lived in a cozy Irish village of Glennkill. He was a good shepherd - taking a good care and love every one of his sheep, often talks to them, and read stories at night. The books were mainly romances, but one day he read them a detective story, but stopped before finishing it. It was supposed that from these stories reading, and George's continual conversation with the sheep, that they observed much about humans (and detecting). One day, though, the sheep found that their shepherd is dead - pinned to the ground with a spade. The sheep knew that it was a murder, and, led by Miss Maple (the sheep version of Miss Marple?) - "the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world)" - they investigate the murder. 🐑 As I mentioned before, the idea is cute and quite promising - how a flock of sheep investigate a murder? They stalk the humans, and listen to every conversation. The humans are none the wiser because, hey, who would imagine that the sheep understand what you said, and if they do, how would they "revealed" it? No, the humans mostly ignore their existence. But Miss Maple - being the smartest sheep in Glenkill; and possibly the world - keeps mulling over the "clues" in her head, until - bingo! she's got it! The revealing to the humans is going to be more difficult, but for this too, she had thought a smart solution. So, what's my problem?-you might wonder. First of all, I didn't know what's happening most of the time, since we only get snippets of truth alternately from sheep and humans. You can imagine that sheep cannot fully understand what humans are talking or doing, and we are only presented with mostly the sheep's perceptions. For instance, the sheep dug the earth and found hidden down there "the thing". It's clear that George had buried 'the thing', but what was it?? - I wanted to scream to my tablet everytime they mentioned "the thing" (I listened to the audiobook). And when much later, it was revealed to be plastic bags containing dry grass, and had caused one of the sheep (Mopple the Whale who's always hungry) fainted and slept for 24 hours, we can only vaguely suspected what the bags had contained. Is-it-what-I-think-it-is? kind of situation. And that changed my mind about George - he's not a lovely character I have thought before. 🐑 Then, 'the darkness' that overshadowed the whole story. You'd get the creepy feeling of a haunted and suicidal soul all through. What with the 'ghost' and death the sheep kept talking about, and a sheep called Zora who's obsessed with 'the abyss'. She loves to perch alone near the cliff in silent, and looks at the abyss for a long time. And I kept thinking, while reading, what this book is really about?! The twisted ending topped it all. This is not a murder mystery, and certainly not a cute "sheep detectives" you'll probably think; this is a bunch of crooked-mind people; and some really cute and smart sheep (Mopple the Whale and Miss Maple) plus some others with dark and suicidal thoughts. The 'actual' murder mystery, however, kept a mystery through the end. And one more thing before I ended this post, why did George promise the sheep a journey to Europe? Isn't Ireland a European country?? What was the point of this book, really? Rating: ⭐⭐1/2

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20 Books of Summer 2026 hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel

In the Shadow of Man (1971) by Jane Goodall #Reading1971 #20BOS26

 

🐒 "Previously man had been regarded as the only tool-making animal. Indeed, one of the clauses commonly accepted in the definition of man was that he was a creature who 'made tools to a regular and set pattern". That definition was to be redefined after a young girl called Jane Goodall arrived at Gombe Stream Reserve at Tanzania, Africa, to live with, and learn and observe about chimpanzees. Jane had had no knowledge whatsoever about animals, let alone chimpanzees. She had actually gone to secretary school, but she did have passion about nature and animals from childhood. It's rather funny, that her favorite toy as a child had been a stuffed toy chimpanzee, gifted by her father as substitute to teddy bear. Her mother's friends were horrified that the toy would give little Jane nightmares. Instead, her fondness of the toy had sparked her love for animals. 🐒 One day a connection of her family happened to offer her a life-changing career: to be an observer of chimpanzees. She was chosen particularly because she had no background previously; and that was what Louis Leakey, the palaeontologist who had offered Jane the job, had initially wanted - someone who has passion for animals. Jane arrived at Gombe in 1960, and for many years after, Gombe would be her home, where she would meet her husband, and had a son together. Jane wrote this memoir in 1971, recording all the difficulties she had to endure to begin the task. Jane had first lived in the Gombe with her mother (because the government refused to give permission to Jane unless she was accompanied by a chaperone). I have huge admiration for Jane's mother. Enduring the harshness of living inside a camp in Africa to satisfy one's passion is one thing; but sacrificing one's comfort for the sake of someone's else is entirely different. Jane's mother is indeed an exemplary mother. 🐒 At first the chimpanzees, as expected, were suspicious of her. But with patience (and certainly with tremendous courage), she slowly gained respect and acceptance from them. Jane named each chimpanzee in the group she observed; so that along the memoir we would be entertained with the eccentricity of many different characters like David Greybeard (the first one who accepted Jane, and the first who ever touched her, also the handsomest), Goliath (the alpha male - the highest rank male of the group when Jane first arrived), Flo (an old but coquettish and affectionate female), Fifi (Flo's daughter who inherited her mother's personalities when grew up), Mike (the next alpha male after Goliath - stern but also generous if needed), and many others. Sometimes I felt like reading an animal story book rather than a science-memoir, and it was equally exciting to follow the fate, struggles, and triumph of some of our favorites, just as in fiction. 🐒 To record chimpanzee's behavior, personalities, and social interactions, Jane and her growing team built a banana-feeding station. Every morning the provided bananas, so that the chimpanzees could come, and feed there. Sometimes they come alone, but more often they come in group - either a mother with her children, or adult male with their circle. With this arrangement, they didn't need to go long way to the chimpanzees habitation. Some believe that the feeding stations have altered normal foraging and feeding patterns and social relationships of the chimpanzees. I tend to agree with them. I personally believe that human interference in wild lives usually tend to disrupt the animals' natural behavior, and thus might put the animals in more danger than not. The chimpanzees were slowly accepting human's existence near them. Imagine, when people with malicious intent approached them, their instinct might not warn them properly to protect themselves. 🐒 And, with all due respects to Jane Goodall's tremendous effort in her researches for years, what good comes from for the chimpanzees' own sake in the end? Yes, we humans get to know more about the chimpanzee, and its 'closer than we have ever thought' similarities to human being. That's for our benefits, not to the chimpanzee. I must humbly confess that I might be wrong, but for now, that's my strong believe. Let the wild creatures alone is always the best move. Researches are good, if they were made from proper distance, and for a certain amount of time. Imagine what the chimpanzee's would feel when Jane or her team followed them closely to observe their mating, their sleeping quarter, their grooming - these humans were constantly in close proximity to them day and night. After all, Jane claimed, from her observations, that chimpanzee, similar to human, might have emotion. Don't we better keep respect to and preserve their 'privacy', and wildness? 🐒 All in all, this memoir is mesmerizing account of a wild creature, who is the closest to human being, in similarities of behavior and tool-making and using. The social strata is quite interesting, and just like human mothers, for instance, there are good mothers and bad ones, also, in chimpanzee. These interesting facts made the book very entertaining and mind opening. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

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20 Books of Summer 2026 hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2022) by Shelby Van Pelt

 

🐙 Remarkably Bright Creatures is Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel. It tells the story of three characters; of their lives and struggles, and how their lives are intertwined with each other in unexpected ways. First of all, there's Marcellus. He's a giant Pacific octopus who lives - or being captivated, as he always calls his life - in a giant aquarium at Sowell Bay Aquarium in Washington DC. Marcellus is the star of this book, and he narrated his own story on every chapter dedicated to him. I listened to the audiobook version, and I always loved when the narrator, Michael Urie's voice as a grumpy old man boomed through my headphone: "Day one thousand three hundred and..... of my captivity" Well, Marcellus's narration never failed to captivate me too! 🐙 The second best main character is Tova Sullivan, an elderly woman in her seventies, who comes daily to clean the Aquarium on night shifts. She's a widow, and has been struggling after her only son Eric (18 years old) vanished on a boat incident in Puget Sound thirty years ago. His body was never found, and the authorities were never sure what caused the incident (was it accident, or suicide?) Tova is certain it could not be suicide, but what really happened? That episode; the uncertainty of it, is always nagging at her heart, and she never gets her closure. Doing the cleaning at the Aquarium gives her joy and comfort, to at least cope with her current life. I loved how she always greets every creature at the Aquarium, like they are her children or pupils. Well, she's their guardian, anyway. But her most wholesome relationship is with Marcellus. Their bond is really heartwarming - an unlikely friendship between two creatures. It was remarkable how they communicated without ever understanding each other's language, but they understand each other so well, nonetheless. 🐙 Last and, unfortunately, least, is Cameron Cassmore; a thirty-ish orphaned young man who was brought up by his aunt, after his drug-addict mother left him. He never knew who his father was, and so, when finding a college portrait of his mother with a boy, he assumed that he must probably have been his father. And so, driving a camper, Cameron is heading to Washington in quest of his (presumably) father. Not surprisingly, he got a job at the Aquarium, and working on a night shift when Tova sprained her ankle and couldn't work for a while. He eventually be friend with Tova, and of course, Marcellus. Cameron is a self-centered, spoiled brat and a crybaby, and I find no other quality to like him better. From start to end. Someone said in Goodreads review that he's warming up near the end, but I disagree. Cameron is simply an ass. And he ruined the whole story for me. Not that it's a perfect one. There are too many unimportant things and conversations scattered about. I found myself bored with these, and only Marcellus' (and occasionally Tova's when she's alone) line that lift up my interest. 🐙 This book might have a brilliant premise - an intelligent and curmudgeonly Giant Pacific Octopus in his attempt to bring happiness to his favorite human. But the structure is not very neat. I feel I might need more of Marcellus' narration than the humans interaction. He's so observant and intelligent, that it was he, Marcellus, who first solved the mysteries that the humans are searching. I believe he's clever enough to tell the stories (half of it, at least) of the humans, only from his observation behind the glass tank. Anyway, I loved the beautiful friendship between Tova and Marcellus, and she had done for him at the end. Marcellus was a much better friend an elderly woman could find, rather than her friends from the knitting club - nosy old women most of them, and not necessary for the story. All in all, it's a beautiful story about friendship, family, forgiveness and acceptance. All it needed to be a perfect one is just a neater writing. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The One and Only Ivan (2012) by Katherine Applegate

 

🦍 The one and only Ivan is a silverback gorilla. He was 'picked' from his kind by humans, and currently lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, where humans can watch him through the glass walls of his 'domain'. Since he grew up in human's home (Mack - the owner of the mall), Ivan has been living like human. His favorite food is yogurt raisin, his favorite pastime is either watching western movies on TV (he has his own TV inside his domain), or working on his art. Yes, Ivan also likes to paint. In short, Ivan is more human than a gorilla should be. He even only vaguely remember about the jungle, and his childhood. Why, he's contented living in his domain (well, a cage really, but her prefers to call it domain). Ivan also lives with his friends - an elderly elephant called Stella, who lives at the next door cage (Ivan's best friend), and Bob, the stray dog, who loves to sleep on Ivan's belly. 🦍 Ivan's favorite human friend is Julia, the keeper's daughter, who also loves to draw and paint. In fact, Ivan gets his art supplies from her. In short, Ivan would have been living contentedly as he is, if Ruby has never come. Ruby is a baby elephant, the Mall's newest 'member', whom they have just taken from her family. They place her together with old Stella. The fact is, Stella is too old to perform anymore with her injured leg, so they need a fresh 'talent' to train. Unlike Ivan, Stella always remembers her previous life in a zoo (elephant remembers, right?), and she's used to tell the others that there are two kinds of human: the kind and the mean; humans in the zoo are the kind one. And when Ruby was 'chastised' by Mack (you wouldn't want to know the details) to learn her actions, something stirred deep in Stella and Ivan's heart. But Stella could do nothing while she's dying, so it's left to Ivan. The question is, what can he do, while he can't even save himself? (Ivan eventually understands what living in a cage means). 🦍 This book is not what I have expected when I picked it up. It has the charming aspects of funny, cute, and tender in it; but it also touches you much deeper. Applegate did a wonderful job of portraying the nature of each animal. And as I was listening to the audiobook, I would also say that Adam Grupper has been equally wonderful in giving each animal character its perfect personification - the sturdy Ivan, the foolish and constantly-chattering Ruby, the graceful Stella, and the laid-back Bob. Ivan is the perfect hero in this alright, but I think I have a soft spot for Bob, haha! On the whole, this is a bittersweet story with a vivid characterization, and also a great way to learn more, in particular, about gorilla. 🦍 I learned an even more intriguing fact from one of Goodreads' reviews, that one and only Ivan was actually derived from a real life story of a gorilla who was also called Ivan. The real Ivan, who was famous as the "Shopping Mall Gorilla", lived - or caged - in a Department Store after being kidnapped from its habitat in Congo. It was then moved - after some protests from some animal protection groups, to Zoo Atlanta, in their Ford African Tropical Forest Exhibit, which mimics the landscape of a natural habitat. You can read more about it here. Needless to say, when I said this is a bittersweet story, I believe the 'sweet' is for the young adult readers' still tender hearts. The reality is much gloomier. When Stella pictured the zoo as a dream place, and also later on when Ruby had been installed safely and happily in a zoo, my thoughts actually were: a zoo is definitely better than a cage, but it's not a place for wild animals. How do we know that they were really happy? They shouldn't have been kidnapped from the first. Now they would never have survived in the wilds. In the end, I had a lot of thinking, and I was not happy. Ah... how I wish I have read this book while I was much more innocent! :( Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Owls in the Family (1961) by Farley Mowat #1961Club

🦉 Farley Mowat is one non-fiction writer I have newly 'found' two years ago; Never Cry Wolf was one of my favorite non-fictions I have read for #NonFicNov. So, when I found out, when I was searching something to read for #1961Club, that he also wrote children fictions, how could I resist? And I'm glad I have picked this one (over others on the list), since it proved to be a delightful read; just the one to kick off #1961Club! 🦉 Billy lives in Saskatoon, Canada, near a prairie. He's a boy who loves animals, and he already owns so much pet (dogs, cat, pigeons, rabbits, and gophers - oh, and rats also). But does it mean he could resist adding owls into his menagerie? Of course not! Billy asked his French teacher, who loves animals (besides photography and prairie), to help him catching an owlet from its nest up on one poplar bluff, but that ended in a hilarious flop, which was written perfectly in Mowat's style I remember from Never Cry Wolf. So, Mr. French is out of the picture, but Billy eventually found a way of catching an owlet by himself, whom he calls Wol. 🦉 Wol is a young horned owl. Billy found the nest when he's having a stroll, with his pals Bruce and Maurice, right after a great storm. Two of Wol's siblings had died, and it was when Billy & co. were working on a funeral for the dead siblings, they found Wol - the only survivor. Apparently owls hatched one day after another (not at the same time), and Wol is the biggest, and most probably the strongest of the three - hence he's survived. It's information like this which makes Mowat's books fun to read - he combines knowledge, good narrative skill, and sense of humour into wonderful books. I wouldn't have known that crows and owls are enemy if I didn't read this book, for instance.

🦉 Wol grew up as a pet owl, meaning that he can't fly (no one teaches him to), but mimicking the boys' actions. Although he eventually flew when accidentally fallen off a branch, but he only does it when needed. Wol doesn't haunt, except for skunks. Horned owls seem to hate skunks, they're the only owls family who eat skunks. Hilarious moment it was when Wol brought skunk home for dinner (he used to dine with the family), and the family avoided him after that for days. It ended up with the father bathed him in tomato juice.

🦉 Wol likes to tease Mud, the family's old dog, like hiding his bones or dinner. Occasionally Wol would also playing the tail-squeeze game, which used to enrage Mud - poor old dog! But that's not the only funny scene between Wol and other animals in the book. I don't know which scene is funnier, the one when Wol is mad when he's almost drawn in the river, or when the Prairie chicks were just hatched, and went between Wol's foot thinking he's their mother. Wol then resignedly lower his feathers to warm the chicks. It would surely be a silly yet sweet thing to watch! Later on, another owl named Weeps was added to the menagerie - another owl to accompany Wol. In short, this is a charming book to read - children or adult. Hilarious and refreshing, but also provides some knowledge about animals and nature.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

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The 1961 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

Never Cry Wolf (1963) by Farley Mowat #NonFicNov24

🐺 A nonfiction that reads like fiction - that's how I describe Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves. Farley Mowat is a Canadian writer and environmentalist. Published in 1963, this is Mowat's memoir (some regarded it as fictionalized account of his experiences, but I'd treat it as nonfiction) during his appointment as Canadian Wildlife Service officer to investigate the cause of the declining Arctic caribou populations, and whether wolves are the culprit.

🐺 Mowat left for the Keewaton Barren Lands near Lake Manitoba in 1948. His inexperience in the field (he was a new recruit) provides some of the hilarious accounts; from his arrival by small private airplane, to his first encounter with the wolves. He first stayed with a Canadian named Mike who lives with his huskies in an Eskimo hut. But Mike soon left the hut, leaving him alone.

🐺 As soon as he found a perfect point at Wolfhouse Bay as his quarry, he started his job by following through binoculars, the movements of a family of three adult wolves and their pups who live inside a den not far from Mowat's quarry. He even named the three adults: George and Angeline as the father and mother, and Uncle Albert for the other single male who lives with them, and often share the caring of the pups when their parents are gone. Mowat soon fell to the family routine; George and Uncle Albert are usually go hunting in the evening, and take their leisure naps during the day.

🐺 One day he followed the family approaching a group of caribou who were grazing peacefully, without showing any signs of agitation, though the wolves were only some feet away. Mowat was surprised to witness this; he had expected to see some voracious hunt, but none happened. The wolves just walked away nonchalantly around the edge of the caribous circle. What's happening? That didn't tally what Mowat, what people used to to imagine about wolves - the cunning beasts who ate little innocent children while walking alone, and etcetera (Little Red Riding Hood came to mind). Mowat's observations taught him a rather unsettling truth, that the fast declining of caribou's population isn't caused by wolves, but by men!

"Whenever, wherever men have engaged in a mindless slaughter of animals, including other men, they are often attempted to justify their acts by attributing the most vicious or revolting qualities to those they would destroy. And the less reason there is for the slaughter the greater their campaign of vilification."

🐺 Contrary of common opinion, when they're indeed hunting for caribou, wolves only take the weakest, or most ailing from the pack. The caribous do feed the wolves, but the wolves strengthen the caribous in return, by getting rid of their weakest. In a way the wolves are reserving, rather than endangering, caribous.

🐺 All in all, this was an eye opening, hilarious, but also touching (especially in the end) read about wolves. Some of my favorite moments with Mowat's wolf family are when George saw Mowat when he lowered his pants to pee; then there's Uncle Albert's amorous adventure with a Husky bitch named Kua. Mowat's hilarious moment with Angeline, is when his hungry stomach's loud rumble bemused, then disgusted, her. I just loved how Mowat treated the wolves with respect; that's how we must treat all creatures, flora and fauna.

*I listened to the audiobook, very well narrated by Adam Sims.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Nonfiction November 2024 #NonFicNov24

hosted by: Liz, Frances, Heather, Rebekah, and Deb

The Golden Mole: and Other Vanishing Treasure (2022) by Katherine Rundell #NonFicNov24

🦒 In The Golden Mole, Katherine Rundell introduces us to some of the world's most exotic creatures which are also endangered. Among these animals, some are no strangers to us, like the crows, wolves, bear, or elephant. We often hear or watch about hare, giraffe, or hedgehog, though we might not see them physically. But how many of us are familiar with wombat, lemur, narwhal, or pangolin? This book talks about all of them, and several others.

🦀 However, this is not some kind of encyclopedia about exotic animals, it's much more interesting. Rundell slips stories, myths, or anecdotes related to each animal, sometimes even concerning prominent historical personages whose stories had been linked to certain animal. The most fantastic is that of Coconut Hermit Crab. You must have been familiar with Amelia Earhart's story of disappearance over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the world in 1937. One of the many theories believed that some Coconut Hermit Crabs must have eaten Amelia Earhart's body. She was probably stranded on Nikumaroro island, known as home of these crabs. Some human bones were found there many years later, but they're lost on the way to investigation, so we still don't know the truth. But it's an interesting fact nevertheless.

🐨 Another interesting story is involving Wombat. The creature - some says it's a mixture of capybara, koala, and bear cub - was a favorite pet of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet. He had sketched Mrs. Morris (Rossetti's model and muse) taking a wombat on a leash, both with halos over their heads. A wombat had also been gifted to Napoleon's wife, Josephine, by a ship's captain. Speaking of gifted exotic animals, do you know that Cleopatra had once gifted a giraffe to Julius Caesar who then brought it to Ancient Rome?

🐻 A funny anecdote came from the inimitable Lord Byron concerning bear. He used to keep a tamed Bear while studying at University of Cambridge, as dogs were forbidden. When he was asked what they should do with it, his answer was, "It should sit for fellowship" 🤣

🦔 But two animals resonated more to me personally than others. The first is Hedgehog. Whenever I hear the word 'hedgehog', an image from my first picture book, which my mother introduced to me when I was very little, comes immediately to mind. It's a hedgehog with an apple stuck on his spikes, stealing it from two animals who picked it from the tree (the apple falls right to its spikes). That image stuck with me, that I always assume hedgehog eats fruits. But this book taught me that it's just a myth, its diet actually consists of insects and worms. Another animal from my childhood picture books about flora and fauna (my parents bought me a lot of these), is Pangolin (Trenggiling in Indonesian). Its name came from a Malay word 'panggiling' which means roller, from the way it rolls its body while in danger. Their scales were used for Chinese medicine.

🕊 Some more interesting bits from this book:

• The unihemispheric sleep in swifts (birds), they are able to shut up half of the brain at a time, while floating in the air inside the clouds. Amazing, right?
• The reclusive creature of Lemur who's able of changing eye color, is another wonder. One of the species is even superstitiously believed to be able to prophecy death.
• I didn't remember this, but the Seal has capacity of learning language. Ahab in Moby Dick recognized the seals' voices.
• The Narwhal's tusk were once mistakenly thought as unicorn's horn. Queen Elizabeth I was presented at least two narwhals by some voyagers.
• The Crows are the Einstein among birds. On an experiment, they punish some boys who're wicked to them, but were known in real life to have rewarded those who fed them.

🐘 Elephants are actually afraid of bees, they sting elephants' soft tissues inside their trunks. Elephants are gentle and caring creatures. When finding bones of dead friend, they will salute it by lightly touching their bones. An elephant returning to its group would get a ceremonial embraces by intertwining their trunks. Seahorse is the only creature that it is the male who gets pregnant (a fact I learned from TV series F.R.I.E.N.D.S, when Ross wants to calm the pregnant Rachel down by pointing this fact out. What about the Golden Mole, who lent its name to the title? As a species, it's nearer to elephant than ordinary mole. It is the most mysterious animal from all that is discussed in this book. We know almost nothing about it, other than its iridescent quality, from which we called it 'golden' mole.

⭐ All in all, it's a wonderful book about nature and its wonder, told in an interesting and sometimes funny way that will interest non-biologists reader like me.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2024 #NonFicNov24

hosted by Liz, Frances, Heather, Rebekah, and Deb