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caseyk96's review
i don’t know why i read this, but i learned that polar bears have induced ovulation, induced only after several days of mating interactions with a partner — never heard of this before, so cool!
erinj254's review
4.0
I almost never ever read nonfiction. I tell myself every year I’m going to start and then I never do. I picked this up on a whim at my public library and Nora’s story, and that of our rapidly warming earth, drew me in from the first page.
annebennett1957's review
4.0
My review: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2023/08/review-and-quotes-loneliest-polar-bear.html
katyjoturner's review
DNF @ pg 108
I found myself going straight to bed in order to avoid reading this book.
I’m not sure how this book would sway people to change any harmful behavior and advocate for environmental policy when it doesn’t really pull at any heart strings. At one point in the book (about the time I gave up) the author wrote “It would be easy to look at Wales as a tragic place [...] Writers often describe the Arctic as desolate and barren, but this ignores the people who make it their home.” He wrote that, yet failed to tell a story about the people of Wales that would illustrate the vibrancy of the community.
The writing evokes no emotion from me—which is a big bummer since it’s about a very important topic.
I found myself going straight to bed in order to avoid reading this book.
I’m not sure how this book would sway people to change any harmful behavior and advocate for environmental policy when it doesn’t really pull at any heart strings. At one point in the book (about the time I gave up) the author wrote “It would be easy to look at Wales as a tragic place [...] Writers often describe the Arctic as desolate and barren, but this ignores the people who make it their home.” He wrote that, yet failed to tell a story about the people of Wales that would illustrate the vibrancy of the community.
The writing evokes no emotion from me—which is a big bummer since it’s about a very important topic.
audiobookmel's review
5.0
Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.
4.5 stars
I didn’t know this book was coming out until I saw it on the list of audiobooks for possible review. Since I live near Columbus and I’m a member of The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, I’ve followed the story of polar bears at the zoo, since it was first announced they were bringing them back. Then when Nora was born, she was all the rage in Columbus. I was able to go and see her several times before she left Columbus to go to Oregon Zoo and then Utah’s Hogle Zoo. The Loneliest Polar Bear sounded like a really interesting story.
So this story follows not only Nora, a cub born at Columbus Zoo, then abandoned by her mother only to be raised by several of the staff often referred to as Nora Moms. This book also covers the story of Nora’s father, Nanuq, who was a wild born bear and orphaned and brought into human care. I loved reading more about Gene Rex Agnaboogok, an indigenous Alaskan, who fell through the ice into a polar bear den, 27 years before Nora’s birth. He had to kill the bear in order to save his own life, only to then realize there were two cubs in the den.
This story really pulls together the complexity of the world and the animal kingdom and human’s role in it. We don’t just hear about the plight of this one adorable cub and the people trying to save her life. We also get the life of the man and community that saved Nora’s father and ultimately put him and his sister into human care. We also get the story of climate change (yes there is some science in the book, but it is easy to understand for laymen like myself). We also get the story of zoos (the good and the bad, because less face it, as much as I love zoos of today, they don’t have a great history). The story also goes into all the conservation that zoos help. They even go into a bear that was supposed to be a companion for Nora, Tasul, who helped with research hi-tech collars which would be much harder with wild bears.
The Loneliest Polar Bear was way more than I expected. I thought I was going to get some back story on Nora and Mr. Agnaboogok. I didn’t realize how much more would be included. I think hearing about a coastal town that is truly feeling first hand issues with the planet warming (their town is literally falling into the sea) is a great addition to this story. I also think how they talk about how zoos came to be and how bad they were at one point in time. Seeing them change over time and seeing the amount of effort put into caring for these animals (not only those in zoos, but also how those same staff members go out into native areas to help the wild cousins). How zoos are not just exhibiting animals for people to see them, but how they try to connect people with the plight of most of these animals in their native ranges. And how these animals can work to help researchers learn about the animals in the wild and what can be done to help save them.
It really is hard for me to put my feelings down, because there are so many. So, much is covered and it all comes together so well. It really had me in awe, and I knew a lot of the story already. I really hope that this story and others like it, will help these animals and the planet as a whole.
Narration:
The narration of this audiobook was very well done. Unlike many fiction books, Karen Murray doesn’t voice the different people in the story. She just tells the story as written. But you do hear empathy and compassion as the story goes on. She does put “heart” into the story which I feel really helps to bring the story to life. I would listen to hear with future stories.
**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
4.5 stars
I didn’t know this book was coming out until I saw it on the list of audiobooks for possible review. Since I live near Columbus and I’m a member of The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, I’ve followed the story of polar bears at the zoo, since it was first announced they were bringing them back. Then when Nora was born, she was all the rage in Columbus. I was able to go and see her several times before she left Columbus to go to Oregon Zoo and then Utah’s Hogle Zoo. The Loneliest Polar Bear sounded like a really interesting story.
So this story follows not only Nora, a cub born at Columbus Zoo, then abandoned by her mother only to be raised by several of the staff often referred to as Nora Moms. This book also covers the story of Nora’s father, Nanuq, who was a wild born bear and orphaned and brought into human care. I loved reading more about Gene Rex Agnaboogok, an indigenous Alaskan, who fell through the ice into a polar bear den, 27 years before Nora’s birth. He had to kill the bear in order to save his own life, only to then realize there were two cubs in the den.
This story really pulls together the complexity of the world and the animal kingdom and human’s role in it. We don’t just hear about the plight of this one adorable cub and the people trying to save her life. We also get the life of the man and community that saved Nora’s father and ultimately put him and his sister into human care. We also get the story of climate change (yes there is some science in the book, but it is easy to understand for laymen like myself). We also get the story of zoos (the good and the bad, because less face it, as much as I love zoos of today, they don’t have a great history). The story also goes into all the conservation that zoos help. They even go into a bear that was supposed to be a companion for Nora, Tasul, who helped with research hi-tech collars which would be much harder with wild bears.
The Loneliest Polar Bear was way more than I expected. I thought I was going to get some back story on Nora and Mr. Agnaboogok. I didn’t realize how much more would be included. I think hearing about a coastal town that is truly feeling first hand issues with the planet warming (their town is literally falling into the sea) is a great addition to this story. I also think how they talk about how zoos came to be and how bad they were at one point in time. Seeing them change over time and seeing the amount of effort put into caring for these animals (not only those in zoos, but also how those same staff members go out into native areas to help the wild cousins). How zoos are not just exhibiting animals for people to see them, but how they try to connect people with the plight of most of these animals in their native ranges. And how these animals can work to help researchers learn about the animals in the wild and what can be done to help save them.
It really is hard for me to put my feelings down, because there are so many. So, much is covered and it all comes together so well. It really had me in awe, and I knew a lot of the story already. I really hope that this story and others like it, will help these animals and the planet as a whole.
Narration:
The narration of this audiobook was very well done. Unlike many fiction books, Karen Murray doesn’t voice the different people in the story. She just tells the story as written. But you do hear empathy and compassion as the story goes on. She does put “heart” into the story which I feel really helps to bring the story to life. I would listen to hear with future stories.
**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.