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bethanymiller415's review
4.0
I received this book through the Goodreads First reads program.
The Animal Review is very much a book of the information age. Reading this outgrowth of Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash's blog is as low-commitment as browsing a website. They divide the animal kingdom into four common sense categories (land, sky, water and other) and, after a brief discussion of positive and negative attributes, assign a letter grade.
Set this book on your bedside table, kitchen counter or anywhere else you can pick it up for a few moments' amusement and lay it down guilt-free. This is a low maintenance book. If you can't commit the full three minutes to reading an entry, flip open to any page, look at a graphic and read the hilarious caption. Bam! Instant funny in less time than it takes to switch on your laptop and log on.
There is no subsistute for nestling into a favorite armchair and escaping for a few hours into the intricate landscape of a great novel, but if you're pressed for time The Review offers a multitude of brief diversions.
I thoroughly enjoyed daytripping into their world: equal parts scientific insight and witty observation, with just a dash of oddball, juvenile zanyness. I was laughing so hard I barely noticed that I was learning something.
The Animal Review is very much a book of the information age. Reading this outgrowth of Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash's blog is as low-commitment as browsing a website. They divide the animal kingdom into four common sense categories (land, sky, water and other) and, after a brief discussion of positive and negative attributes, assign a letter grade.
Set this book on your bedside table, kitchen counter or anywhere else you can pick it up for a few moments' amusement and lay it down guilt-free. This is a low maintenance book. If you can't commit the full three minutes to reading an entry, flip open to any page, look at a graphic and read the hilarious caption. Bam! Instant funny in less time than it takes to switch on your laptop and log on.
There is no subsistute for nestling into a favorite armchair and escaping for a few hours into the intricate landscape of a great novel, but if you're pressed for time The Review offers a multitude of brief diversions.
I thoroughly enjoyed daytripping into their world: equal parts scientific insight and witty observation, with just a dash of oddball, juvenile zanyness. I was laughing so hard I barely noticed that I was learning something.
pqlibrarian's review
3.0
I received a free copy of this book for review via First Reads.
Just received my copy yesterday. I was a little apprehensive at first - "The Genius, Mediocrity and Breathtaking Stupidity That Is Nature" - but if the whole book is like the section on Pandas, it will be more like "the Breathtaking Stupidity of Humans"...and that is no big surprise.
The photos were wonderful: 5 stars
I actually learned a few things: 4 stars
Humor: 3 stars
As I have the sense of humor of a pre-adolescent boy, I admit I chuckled a few times, but I didn't find the book to be as funny as the author intended (and he tried REALLY hard). I can't really figure out who the target reader is for this book. The humor is very juvenile, but some of the subject matter is not (again, the panda section).
If I took the average of the stars I gave, this book would get 4 stars. However, I just can't give it more than 3.
Just received my copy yesterday. I was a little apprehensive at first - "The Genius, Mediocrity and Breathtaking Stupidity That Is Nature" - but if the whole book is like the section on Pandas, it will be more like "the Breathtaking Stupidity of Humans"...and that is no big surprise.
The photos were wonderful: 5 stars
I actually learned a few things: 4 stars
Humor: 3 stars
As I have the sense of humor of a pre-adolescent boy, I admit I chuckled a few times, but I didn't find the book to be as funny as the author intended (and he tried REALLY hard). I can't really figure out who the target reader is for this book. The humor is very juvenile, but some of the subject matter is not (again, the panda section).
If I took the average of the stars I gave, this book would get 4 stars. However, I just can't give it more than 3.
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