Weekend reading roundup

[nanila]

How did your weekend reading go? If you planned on anything specifically, did you read it?

Comments

[azurelunatic]

I did not read any books, but now I have two more that I am excited to read!

I did read a whole lot of fanfiction, a lot of Dreamwidth, a WHOLE lot of email, and a lot of IRC.

[nanila]

Hooray for bookish anticipation! And also lots of other reading.

[ironed_orchid]

I caught up on DW/LJ.

[nanila]

Excellent! I need to do that too...

[heliopausa]

DW/LJ, news reports, from all over, and several Narnia fanfics, one of which - a Narnia/Hogwarts crossover - I really liked. (the magic in her reach by todreaminscarlet)

[nanila]

Nice mix, and thanks for the link to the fic. I enjoyed that.

[fred_mouse]

I gritted my teeth, and made progress on "In love with Betty the Crow" which is a potted history of the ABC radio Science Show, written by the presenter of 40 years. The presenter is interesting to listen to live, but his style does not translate well to text. I... will probably rehome this one when the household have had a chance to read it.

[nanila]

That sounds like a slog. *pom-poms* for an end to it, soon.

[fred_mouse]

You know those older (typically white, typically male, typically from comfortable middle class backgrounds) scientists who ramble at great length, and by the time they shut up, you've forgotten their point? This is like reading one of those. I'm on chapter 7, and I can't tell you anything about what I've read, other than 'It was better in the old days'.

[heliopausa]

I like the show, though I only listen intermittently. What's the reason for the title?

[fred_mouse]

late reply, because every time I think to reply, the books is in a different location...

In the Prologue, Williams addresses animal behaviours as '.. one main field where developments have been spectacular in recent decades.." and then specifically mentions Betty:

".. the sight of Betty the New Caledonian crow becoming an engineer and solving problems with insight, creativity and planning makes me cry with delight. ..."

The interview I listened to that prompted me to acquire the book had more detail about Williams' fascination with Betty and her behaviour, but I don't remember the details of that.

[heliopausa]

Thanks! Armed with that extra clue (ie New Caledonian) I've just been and looked and learned - fascinating! :) (Betty not only deduced she'd need a hooked tool to get to her objective, she manufactured the tool herself!)

[fred_mouse]

Yes! I've gone and looked at some of that at some point. And there is some interesting follow up research that I can't remember the full details of, but some researcher looked at that, looked at their population of crows that had some environmental pressures similar to the New Caledonian ones, and found similar results.

The article I can find with a quick google (here) says Hawaiian crows.

[bonnefois]

I finally finished Austentatious by Alyssa Goodnight a while ago. A day? Two? I don't know. I'm on vacation, so reading is slow, but the house has a lot of interesting books I hope to get through before it's all over.

[nanila]

That sounds like good fun. Well done on finishing, and I hope you enjoy the books you delve into!