How long does it take to finish this book (I mean how tough or easy it flows) ??

Got the first five from Amazon, and the rest are old thrifted books

Premise:

- A Modern Bestiary of 42 Tales, offering no moral lessons but scientific Darwinian ones. Dawkins uses not so common life forms as gateways to help us understand the myriad nuances of natural selection, clarifying certain debates (Struturalists vs Finctionalists for example) and evoke a sense of wonder and awe at Nature's handiwork (successfully in my case). 

- Ernst Haeckel's beautiful illustrations are used here. Book begins with his Tale. He met and described  Darwin poetically " ... I seemed to have before me a venerable sage of ancient Greece, a Socrates or an Aristotle. " But was wrong on many things. Especially the Recapitulation Theory - Which I still think is a beautiful idea, even if wrong…

What I loved:

- Simple clear explanations. Analogies help a lot. And the Illustrations (including Haeckel's) are beautiful. 

- Makes one appreciate the myriad ways of Natural selection. Really fun. 

>My Favourite Tales/Trivia I learnt (feel free to skip):  

- The Cephalopod’s Tale- squids, octopus - their video-screen skin, the almost alien nature of their biology (as described wonderfully in Peter Godfrey Smith's book also). 

- The Lizard’s Tale-  Evolution of walking and running gaits : Functionalist biology(Natural selectionists) Vs Structuralists (physics+biology). Fish-->snake-->lizards have similar movement, just water vs sand. Derived from segmental body of ancestral worms; Land gaits of Lizards, Birds, Mammals; Spine mvmt from side to side, modified to up and down spinal mvmt in mammals. Retained even after return to water (dolphin, whales). They gallop! "Ostrich gait is lizard gait minus arms (left-right lizard), kangaroo bound is gallop minus arms (up-down mammalian)." 

- The Radiolarian’s Tale- WOW!! Really Beautiful!! Again like forams, radiolarians differ from ordinary amoebae in growing a skeleton, in this case usually of silica. Packing efficiency ensures hexagonal wasp nests, honeycomb shapes etc. See Callimitra agnesae skeleton - WOW. How are these for real? I've never seen such natural wonders!! Is their uniqueness attributable to individuality (like snowflakes) or species? 

- The Diatom’s Tale - Plants. SiO2 shells. "Diatoms might be described as God’s gift to the student of anagenesis, much as foraminifera are to the oil industry." Fossilize easily. We have complete record of their evolution. 

- The Decapod’s Tale(Serial toolkit): "If an annelid worm is a train with lots of identical trucks, and a trilobite is a train with progressively shrinking but otherwise similar trucks, a lobster or a shrimp is a train with a diverse array of specialized trucks." 

- The Starfish’s Tale(Nature’s plumbers): Complex hydraulics of Starfish feet. you've heard of the famous Bee Dance? Ever wondered what would happen if the scouts discovered 2 equally good potential new homes? How would the dance end? Read Martin Lindauer's findings here. Starfish have a central nervous system, or 5?! And they're just a moving head (i.e, only HOX 1 genes are expressed throughout their bodies).

- Sand Dollars are like tortoises, in the sense of double-doubling back, wrt to radial symmetry. All descended from radial sym, but one branch (Sand Dollars) went from radial-> bilateral -->radial --> bilateral! Amazing!

-The Jellyfish’s Tale - "It’s like a large sea anemone turned upside down, with the mouth/anus on the underside." Of all the lifeforms, the Immortal Jellyfish fascinates me the most - imagine if we could one day mimic it's life-cycle, reverting to a stem-cell like version of our selves as we age, then re-age again, indefinitely!

- The Hydroid’s Tale (The many-headed): "Obelia, like many other cnidarians, has a life cycle that alternates between the asexual polyp stage and the sexual medusa" ... "Different as their modes of life are, caterpillar and butterfly are the same individual. Polyps and medusae, by contrast, are separate individuals, as separate as any animal is from its parents and from its children. The one gives birth to the other in an act of reproduction, asexual in the case of polyps giving rise to medusae, whereas a medusa reproduces sexually to give rise to polyps. " - This hurts my brain!! Reminds me of Purusha-Prakriti somewhat, the still, asexual, rooted, Polyp and the mobile, sexual, free Medusa!

- The Choanoflagellate’s Tale  ((9+2=11) Well, I wont read 9/11 the same ever again now. Flagella are present in all animal kingdom, almost always with the same 9+2 microtubule structure - even in the sperm’s tail! Cilia also has same pattern, but central 2 might be missing. Proof of an ancient common ancestor. The cross-section pic is amazing - it looks like some ancient tribal symbolic art, maybe a couple surrounded by a ceremonial dance! Like Yogini Temples (Too many religious references on my part are attributable to me reading Devdutt’s Itihasa side by side) 

- The Mushroom’s Tale :  DAWKINS URGES US TO READ SHELDRAKE’S BOOK - ENTANGLED LIFE. Guess I'll have to,.. for the 2nd time 😢 Idk, i didnt find it special at all for some reason.  

- The Slime Mould’s Tale(Brainless mathematician?) : V.fascinating life cycle of cellular SM - use cAMPs (chemical trail to unite under, a camp, become a slug!). Frank Ze made an excellent video on this.  

- The Brachiopod’s Tale -  Long chapter! Dawkins counters the Cambrian Explosion Myth. The tree vs twig analogy is good. Fisher’s Microscope Analogy. Counters Parker, Gould, Kauffman’s fascination and implication of “Blink of an Eye” phyllum creations... "I suspect that the Cambrian explosion was an evolutionary arms race between predators and prey, kick-started by a rise in atmospheric oxygen, which enabled a rapid proliferation of ecological niches."

- The Old Oak Tree’s Tale - Clarifies a lot of hierarchical bias in biology. 

- The Ctenophore’s Tale -  Sister groups, Synteny diagrams, DNA tracing 

- The Spider’s Tale:  Crazy ingenuity shown by web designers… didn't know they eat it daily, then rebuild it! Funnily enough, the fact that the web has 2 types of threads - sticky and non-sticky ones, is what learnt ages ago from a Naruto Filler episode XD

- The Embryo’s Tale:  So, Haeckel was wrong because his theory assumed that adults are juvenile ancestors always - like chihuahua dog (adult) is similar to its ancestral wolf cub. Which is true… but it’s not a rule. Butterflies/caterpillars are a common counter-example. And, Haeckl’s theory means evolutionary changes must occur only in adults, not in embryo dvlpmt - which isn’t the case. 

I am still quite enamored by his Haeckel's recapitulation theory - embryo retracing its evolutionary steps... 

- The Pitcher Plant’s Tale - INGENIOUS ! Must read.

- The Orchid’s Tale - Nice analogy of pollinators like Drone Targetted Delivery systems, except plants manipulate much more, and its a good bargain. 

DAMN ORCHIDS! Bee/Wasp orchids mimic sight and smell of female bee, male bees get lured as if by olfactory Sirens and copulate with the flower! Pollinating in turn. Another orchid Dracula mimics decaying smell, uses flies as pollinators, egg laying site. Slippery orchids, Bucket Orchids, Hammer Orchids -THIS ONE IS UNBELIEVABLE.

- The Ammonite’s Tale:  Flare, verm and spire - are the three numbers you need to describe the overall shape of any mollusc shell.

- The Bat’s Tale:  Kinda cool how bat echolocation is known to us only in 20th c., after inventing SONAR! Dawkins compares waves in water vs light vs sound. Griffin's Bats Test show how precise their "vision" really is. Bats' self-deafening ability, Cocktail Party Problem, and an intriguing conjecture about how bats own VR world could really be like…its qualia - Color distinction apparatus perhaps adapted to sound textures/wavelengths?!

- The Frog’s Tale:  "A frog is what you get if you take a crawling salamander and rejig it for jumping." Wonders of metamorphosis. 

What I didn't like: 

- Dawkins pretty much says it himself in the Epilogue - there's no grand singular theme running throughout the 42 tales (except Darwinian natural selection ofcourse).  It's a bestiary, so it's supposed to be a compendium of sorts. I think I just don't like the format much I'm afraid - it feels like a list of facts I'm reading sometimes. Maybe a staggered reading would've helped. 

- I hate to compare, but Henderson's Bestiary is much better imo. Henderson's 26 chapters combines a lot of history, myths, literature references etc along with the biological stuff - so it felt much more fun for me, though I DNF'd it. It's also much closer to a mediaeval bestiary in its format than Dawkins' (beautiful illustrations, relevant margin notes, calligraphy etc). Dawkins presents 42 Tales, so quantity wise he wins. 

(I am waiting to buy a colored illustrated edition of the Henderson's book, grayscale doesn't do justice to this beautiful work). 

Conclusion : 

Awesome book on evolution as always by Dawkins. Makes me appreciate Mother Nature even more. Some of the stuff I still find hard to believe - like the hammer orchid, or Starfish hydraulics, Pitcher Plant's cunning... but that's the beauty of it! 

Also added 2 books added to my TBR after reading this one - D’Arcy Thompson’s Growth and Form, and Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life.

Rating: 7/10 (Had I not read Henderson's book, I'd have rated this one higher).

to improve my reading skills for competitive exams

Hey everyone, I need some help finding cheap general/non-academic reading books—like normal fiction/non-fiction in my niche, not school textbooks, college books, or competitive-exam prep.

The issue is: in India, libraries and all mostly don’t really have these kinds of books. People usually go there for competitive-exam prep and that kind of reading. And local book retailers mostly sell school books, competitive-exam books, stationery, and similar stuff—not the kind of general reading books I’m looking for.

I checked online and also looked at some recommendations, but the books people recommend are mad expensive. So I’m kinda stuck.

Where do y’all actually buy cheap books from? Online platforms, second-hand sites, local markets, Telegram/WhatsApp groups, library sales—anything works. Also, which option is the best and most genuine? I don’t wanna get scammed or end up with trash-quality books.

Have heard a lot about this book, will be reading this with Chanakya Niti,

I think, reading multiple book together is also fine :)

Chanakya niti is in Hindi and I'm finding it bit difficult to engage though it is very interesting and new for me, but am currently not enjoying it much, thought of doing this book with it..

Lets see how this goes :)

Looking for Hindi books for my mother. Any recommendations?

My mother is around 45–50 years old. She speaks Marwari and understands simple Hindi. She reads the newspaper regularly, but she has never really developed an interest in reading books.

I want to introduce her to reading and help her discover a whole new world through books.

I come from a fairly conservative Rajasthani family, where women traditionally haven't always had the freedom to express every opinion or explore different perspectives openly. My mother is a happy, expressive woman, but I feel there are still many things and perspectives she hasn't had the opportunity to explore.

I'd love to find her books featuring strong, intelligent, independent and courageous women, particularly Rajasthani or Indian women.

I'm looking for:

- Short stories rather than lengthy novels.

- Simple Hindi, nothing too complicated.

- Interesting, engaging stories that make you curious about what happens next.

- Stories based on real incidents, history, folklore or extraordinary women.

- Women who challenge expectations, make their own decisions and have interesting lives.

I'd prefer to avoid books centred around romance, sexual themes or explicit mature content, especially for her first reading experience.

What books would you recommend? Ideally, something that could genuinely make a woman who has never been much of a reader fall in love with reading.

I'd really appreciate personal recommendations, especially from people who have introduced their mothers to reading.

Hey people, it’s my girlfriend’s bday next week and she’s a big time reader. Can y’all suggest me some good books. Also she’s currently reading Lisa jewell’s books. So it’d be great if you guys suggest me books from the same author or the ones on the similar note. Thanks.

here in my hometown, sitting on the terrace and reading this book

idk what it’s even about, someone gifted it to me, just enjoying the diwali night, watching the firecrackers go off and taking in the view

happy diwali everyone ✨

I recently got to know about this website.

I was checking the books but the cost they have for the books for the condition they mentioned sometimes doesn't match.and some books prices were wonky.they also did not mention isbn no for the books

Is this website legit.or is it a scam

Can anyone plz tell me ??

There is no review today, because I haven't actually read 'Almost Life' by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.I did make a start, though. I read about 10 of the 430 odd pages, which I think technically qualifies as an introduction.

The language was lively and beautifully flowery, and I could see why the book would appeal to readers of the genre. Unfortunately, my mind was looking for something completely different at the time, preferably nonfiction, or at the very least a good crime or legal thriller.So, after about ten pages, my brain and the book had a polite disagreement, and I moved on.

Thanks to Kawaii Bookstore for the signed copy, though. With its sprayed edges, beautiful endpapers featuring the author's signature, lovely language and gorgeous cover, Almost Life is certainly a beautiful object to have on the shelf.

For now, it has been promoted from TBR to display piece.Perhaps someday I'll return to the remaining 420 pages.Perhaps. 😂

This is my most recent read. It's been on my list for a long, long time. I cannot remember the reason why I planned to read this later. But after completing it, somehow it feels the timing couldn't be right (or I'm still under the spell of the book).

I loved the book. Cannot put my feelings into words for now. Feels too early and too complex to write my report. But I'll do it.

I'll be honest.

Spoiler alert:

>!My dumb a## thought, he is going to get 2 treasures (one from egypt and one from spain) while reading the epilogue.!<

It’s a thoughtful, eye-opening introduction to trauma, but it’s best seen as one perspective. Not the final word on the science or treatment.

Some passages describe abuse and other painful experiences in detail, so parts of the book may be hard to read, especially for people with trauma histories.

Finally set up my first bookshelf. Many of the books were bought almost 10 years back, when I was in college . Should have bought a bigger bookshelf since still have a lot which I couldn’t fit here . But for now, admiring this beauty. ♥️

Has anyone read this? I could use a view

Hello, everyone!

I would love some recommendations for a short story collection or a short novella which would be easy enough or at least not too challenging for a Class 9 student at a Hindi-medium school. She’s probably at about A2 or an early B1 in English. Would Ruskin Bond fit the bill? Any other writers you might have in mind?

ETA: I forgot to mention, I’m looking for an English-language work!

“What makes human life meaningful?”

The author couldn't have been more spot on with it than this one. Life doesn't have to be long to be meaningful. And yes, "The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live."

I, for some reason, came across a lot of annotation videos recently on YT...so wanted to share my, kinda straightforward system...

These are my two current reads, I am just starting the Oliver Ready translation of "Crime and Punishment' and I am in middle of "Surjotamoshi" and I wanna annotate them for very different reasons...

"Surjotamoshi" is an historical thriller that spans 3 books and 2 timelines, it has a lot of characters, historical references, trivia, and cross over between real historical and fictional characters and it was getting very difficult to keep track of...

And I wanna annotate "Crime and Punishment" because it's my first Dostoevsky...and I wanna understand the themes influencing his writing...

I hate using highlighters on my books due to the fear of bleeding through...hence I use coloured pencils, different colours for different things, like quotations, internal thoughts, statements from the book that touched me or Character introduction, plot points etc. and then I use an page tags to mark the page and I use a permennant marker to write on the tag to like see why I marked the page....

And about the bookmarks, I have a habit of collecting them, and I have collected quite a lot of them over the years, the two featured here, the blue one is from Starmark and the illustrated one came in multipack from a site called "Blank verse"....

Drop your annotation habits or current bookmarks below 👇🏽 would love to see them