My Review of "Naturalist"

Darrin Lunde's Naturalist:  Theodore Roosevelt, a Lifetime of Exploration and the Triumph of American Natural History explores in historical detail Teddy Roosevelt's interests in the natural world and his contributions to the environmental movement. 

Part biography and part historical examination of the field of natural history preservation, Lunde's Naturalist begins with Roosevelt's childhood as the foundations for his natural interests.  As a boy growing up in New York City, he collected "as many specimens as possible", encouraging his parents to do the same when they traveled without him.  By the time Roosevelt was a teenager, he had become a "full-bore birder".  At Harvard he took classes on anatomy, vertebrate physiology, and botany, hoping to emulate heroes John James Audubon and Spencer Fullerton Baird.  As an adult, Roosevelt studied animals "by shooting them, stuffing them, and preserving them in natural-history museums".

Even Roosevelt's attraction to big-game hunting in Africa satisfied both his yearning for outdoor adventure and his intellectual curiosity.

Lunde explores Roosevelt's environmental activism and his accomplishments in political office, most notably his lobbying for the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, and impressively narrates how Roosevelt was able to pursue his passions during a contentious political career.

Naturalist is a real historical treat and a joy for environmentalists, too.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

My Review of "Bat Dad"

Blake Wilson's Bat Dad:  A Parody is not the book that parents deserve, but it's certainly the book that parents need.  Wilson, famous for his videos in which he he dons a Batman mask and asks his children to do things, provides us a collection of images of Bat Dad doing what Bad Dad does best -- interacting with his children.

Bat Dad has images accompanied with a hilarious quip or Bat Dad child rearing reference.  Parenting as Bat Dad is not for the faint of heart, it seems.  Some of my personal favorites have to do with Wilson's interactions with his daughters, including one hilarious image where one has covered his mask with bright pink stickers.  But this is a warm-hearted book in which a families' love for one another shines on every glossy page.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

My Book Review of "Old Age"

Michael Kinsley's Old Age:  A Beginner's Guide explores some weighty topics -- aging, illness and dying.  Now that Baby Boomers are entering "life's last chapter, there is going to be a tsunami of books about health issues by every boomer journalist who has any, which ultimately will be all of them".  And so Old Age is meant to be a witty, short "beginner's guide" for those writing the last chapters of their life's story.

What readers will find here is a realistic personal narrative about illness and learning to face death, a story of how "what's next?" will have you asking lots of other questions too. 

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.