Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Spineless
Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone | Juli Berwald
A former ocean scientist goes in pursuit of the slippery story of jellyfish, rediscovering her passion for marine science and the sea's imperiled ecosystems. Jellyfish are an enigma. They have no centralized brain, but they see and feel and react to their environment in complex ways. They look simple, yet their propulsion systems are so advanced engineers are just learning how to mimic them. They produce some of the deadliest toxins on the planet and yet are undeniably alluring. Long ignored by science, they may be a key to ecosystem stability. Juli Berwald's journey into the world of jellyfish is a personal one. Over a decade ago she left the sea and her scientific career behind to raise a family in landlocked Austin, Texas. Increasingly dire headlines drew her back to jellies, as unprecedented jellyfish blooms toppled ecosystems and collapsed the world's most productive fisheries. What was unclear was whether these incidents were symptoms of a changing planet or part of a natural cycle. Berwald's desire to understand jellyfish takes her on a scientific odyssey. She travels the globe to meet the scientists who devote their careers to jellies, hitches rides on Japanese fishing boats to see giant jellyfish in the wild, raises jellyfish in her dining room, and throughout it all marvels at the complexity of these alluring and ominous biological wonders. Gracefully blending personal memoir with crystal-clear distillations of science, Spineless reveals that jellyfish are a bellwether for the damage we're inflicting on the climate and the oceans and a call to realize our collective responsibility for the planet we share.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Hooked_on_books
post image
Pickpick

I found this book about jellyfish completely fascinating. The author has the unique perspective of having been trained in the sciences but eventually deciding to pursue writing instead, so this is much more “science-y” than one would expect from a journalist but not such hard science writing as to cure insomnia. I‘m using it for #Japan for #ReadingAsia2020, but it works for #Israel as well.

BarbaraBB You are flying through your books! 👍🏽 3y
CaffeineAndCandy Oh wow look at the mini bookstore!💜💜💜 3y
Hooked_on_books @CaffeineAndCandy Isn‘t it cute? I made it from a kit. And the lights actually work! 3y
See All 7 Comments
CaffeineAndCandy Awwww too cute 😍 3y
Cinfhen I‘m intrigued 💜and that bookstore is the bomb🙌🏻 3y
Cinfhen This would also work for #Booked21 #NFScienceWrittenByAFemale 3y
Librarybelle This has been on my radar! 3y
54 likes4 stack adds7 comments
quote
Hooked_on_books
post image

Holy cannoli! Of the many fascinating facts in this book, this one may be the most mind boggling.

Also, the fact that one jellyfish swarm that caused a power outage by blocking water inflow at a power plant filled 50 dump trucks. 😲

Cuilin Did you watch the documentary My Octopus Teacher? So beautiful ❤️ 3y
Soubhiville That‘s some serious speed! 3y
GingerAntics 😳😳😳 I am now terrified of jelly fish. 3y
See All 7 Comments
Hooked_on_books @GingerAntics It‘s definitely good to have a healthy fear of certain varieties. Some box jellyfish have a toxin so potent they can kill a person in about 3 minutes and jellyfish are responsible for more deaths each year than sharks. But many are simply painful, not deadly. 3y
Hooked_on_books @Cuilin No, I‘m afraid I don‘t have much access to that variety of media (tv or anything) where I‘m at. I know I miss good stuff like that, but overall I‘m ok with it. (edited) 3y
Kimzey Wow! 😲 I learned something new about jellyfish! 3y
Cuilin @Hooked_on_books ok. Sounds like a good idea to have less media access. More reading time too! 3y
36 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
Eyelit
post image

#LitsyATXReadersSociety had their July meeting today and this months theme was #ocean 🌊

These were my picks for the theme. One I liked way more than I thought I would (Verne!) - the other I really wanted to like, but was ultimately disappointed (spineless)

Regardless, I ❤️the covers to both! #whyisntthereajellyfishemojiyet

BookDragonNotWorm I think that's the best cover I've ever seen for 20000 Leagues! 🦑 4y
ChasingOm There isn‘t a starfish either! 😒 4y
57 likes2 comments
review
glitterkitty459
post image
Pickpick

This was a pretty decent nonfiction book, although maybe I would have preferred more science and less memoir...

The part about eating jellyfish was interesting to me because that wasn't anything I'd ever considered 😅 Apparently, (if properly prepared) it tastes like a crisp, raw vegetable 🤔

Overall, I'll give this one a pick for being short

72 likes2 stack adds
review
night_shift
post image
Mehso-so

Less Juli and more jelly, I'll say. It was interesting and I love jellyfish, but the random little interjections of her life felt just that: random and like she was forcing some connection that wasn't there. For a book touting conservation, we sure don't hear much about it until the last 3 chapters. But it's accessible: it talks about jellies in an easily understandable way and I learned a lot!

#goodreads (63 | 80)

Eyelit Agreed! 4y
night_shift @Eyelit 👍👍 4y
53 likes2 comments
blurb
Clare-Dragonfly
post image

Is anyone in the UK interested in reading about jellyfish? @shanaqui wants to give away a Kindle copy! #giveaways

27 likes1 stack add
review
shanaqui
Pickpick

Definitely pop science, liberally sprinkled with "and I got dumped here and this happened to me and here is some filler about my unrelated career", but lots of fascinating stuff all the same.

Still willing to buy one person a UK Kindle copy of this... ?

Clare-Dragonfly I‘ll post about your giveaway if you want! Maybe one of my followers is interested. 5y
shanaqui @Clare-Dragonfly Why not? First comer will get it, pretty sure Kindle will only let me gift to someone else in the UK. 🙂 5y
12 likes2 comments
blurb
shanaqui
post image

Suns out, buns out! I'm in the garden with the two younger ones right now. It's still warm from the day but not too bright, lots of birdsong, and the babies binkying around excitedly as I read. Bliss!

DivineDiana Love when they binky!🐰 5y
rabbitprincess Spring has sprung! 😊🐰🐰 5y
15 likes2 comments
blurb
shanaqui

Reading this has so far led to me repeatedly looking up to tell my wife jellyfish facts. Always a good sign when I'm reading non-fiction!

If anyone in the UK with a Kindle wants a copy, I'd like to buy it for someone. If you'd like it, lemme have your email address and I'll get right on it! First request only, unfortunately... :)

review
PatienceFortitude
Pickpick

The mix of personal narrative with solid science writing and whimsical metaphors really worked for me

blurb
PatienceFortitude
post image

Had dinner with Dad and now I am finishing my book on the snowy night. Funny to read about tropical marine life from under a wooly afghan on a stormy night.

15 likes1 stack add
quote
PatienceFortitude
post image

“The genetic and anatomical features of the jellyfish were so different that it didn‘t qualify for inclusion in any of the known jellyfish families. If [biologists] could have put the Hogwarts sorting hat on the creature‘s bell, it would‘ve said that it was time for the school to expand and introduce a new house of wizards.”

WanderingBookaneer I want to read this! 5y
15 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
lauralovesbooks1
post image
Pickpick

I loved the mix of the scientific elements with Berwald's personal experiences. Jellyfish are fascinating -- and this reading experience prompted me to spend some time watching them at Shedd Aquarium today. Really interesting read. #24in48

29 likes2 stack adds
blurb
lauralovesbooks1
post image

I love that moment, only a chapter in, that you realize you are going to love a book.

suzisteffen Loved this book! One of my top nonfiction books of 2018. 😍 5y
22 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
DyAnne
post image

I‘m enjoying this book, but I wish there were pictures of all these amazing creatures. Also, why is there no jellyfish emoji? Someone needs to get on that.

12 likes2 stack adds
quote
DyAnne
post image

“Immersing myself in the science of jellyfish nourished a recognition that the fate of ocean, the very cauldron where life began and that still sustains our life on land, is now in our hands. We are responsible for its future, which is also our own - and that of our children.”

blurb
JessNevertheless
post image

I swear this is all I'm buying at the NBF 🤞🏻. I already have 5 other books I brought with me so I'm not sure I can physically carry much more. I also definitely bought the tagged book, Spineless cause I liked the cover 🤷🏻‍♀️ but I'm sure it'll be interesting too #nationalbookfestival

Xeno I like that shirt!! 6y
JessNevertheless @Xeno Me too! Was already over budget but couldn't help myself 🎈 6y
71 likes2 comments
review
jmofo
post image
Pickpick

Weirdly, this was more memoir than I was looking for, but it‘s not until the final pages when she has some poignant insights to offer from her experience (which makes this a pick and not a so-so). She presents the jellyfish vividly (it helps to take breaks to search for pictures of what she‘s talking about) and her own life so flatly. Still, I learned some very fun facts and I‘m always a sucker for that.

quote
jmofo
post image

On the scores of varieties of proteins found in jellyfish stinging cells... the thing that gets me about this is the creatures are chemically prepared to attack structures and traits of creatures so much more complex than themselves.

review
charliemarlowe
post image
Pickpick

This is my current #audiobook read. I‘m enjoying it. I think it would be better in print and with pictures. I have no clue what any of the jellyfish look like, and I have to google things to get a better idea. I did get it through my local library and Overdrive‘s Libby app.

Two facts for you— an adult jellyfish is called a Medusa— and there are fossilized jellyfish! (That‘s with a google if you‘ve got some time!)

blurb
TieDyeDude
post image

1. Purple
2. The Venture Brothers, Trollhunters (a friend of mine voices Toby)
3. Everyone has already said I'll Be Gone in the Dark, so instead of murders, this book had me googling peaceful videos of different jellyfish species
4. Thousand island dressing, or ketchup, Mayo, and relish (i.e. thousand island dressing)
5. Grad party, maybe Philly's pride parade

#friyayintro
@jesshowbooks

TK421 I need to rewatch Venture Bros. My kids love Trollhunters! I'll have to tell them about Toby.😊 6y
TieDyeDude @TK421 I heard they are finally getting around to a new season of Venture Bros, and I've never rewatched any of it. Goes quick, and still very funny. 6y
TK421 I always loved Johnny Quest. Venture Bros is such a great parody of it. 6y
21 likes3 comments
review
comics_librarian
post image
Pickpick

Berwald manages to inject so much of her own gushing fondness and awe of these faceless creatures, interjected with anecdotes of her own professional/personal growth, that you won't be able to help but grow a fondness for them too.

blurb
Kelly
post image

Starting this on audio and already l o v e ❤️ it.

28 likes2 stack adds
review
mynamerhymes
post image
Pickpick

Another fish 🐠 book, this time about the mysterious and amazing jellyfish. A mix of science writing and memoir that generally worked well. The kind of book where I didn't know how much I didn't know until I started and then I was hooked. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ #nonfiction2018

5 likes1 stack add
review
Audrey
post image
Pickpick

Interesting book about the complex world of jellyfish as well as the author‘s minimal memoir. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of jellyfish and was intrigued by a home tank (way too expensive). Octopuses are still more interesting to me, but this book definitely has me intrigued by jellyfishes.

Christine11 Love the cover - such pretty colours ! 🐡🐟🐠 6y
monalyisha I am SO scared of jellyfish! Maybe I‘ll read this & torture myself. 😅 6y
16 likes2 comments
quote
almalania
post image

When I wasn‘t accepted to any graduate school program to study invertebrate biomechanics, I had to reckon with the twin pressures that mold so many of our lives: passion and economics. Passion pushes our curiosity, drives innovation, and breaks through boundaries. Economics makes rules, sets boundaries, and forces compromise.

4 likes1 stack add
review
TieDyeDude
post image
Mehso-so

I was hoping for a more of a book about jellyfish. Jellies are present throughout, but mixed in are stories about the author's past, travel stories, and conversations about the past, present, and future of our oceans. It is well-written, well structured, but more of a memoir than a science book. Still enjoyable.

blurb
TieDyeDude
post image

This fascinating research was mentioned in the book I am reading. Crazy!

blurb
Jennifercaloyeras
post image

The title could read like a self help book, but it‘s really a book about jellyfish! Jellyfish have been in existence for over half a billion years! (That‘s longer than any other animal on the planet) They‘re mesmerizing and venomous and graceful. I‘m so loving getting to know them better (especially from the safety of my living room.)

2 likes1 stack add
blurb
TieDyeDude
post image

Planning to follow this up with Soul of an 🐙 #marineliferocks

18 likes1 stack add
quote
Marianna_Reads
post image

“Maybe the time of the jellyfish‘s origin was an era before hunting, before aggression, before violence. Maybe when we think of prehistoric times, we should recall not a fierce place where dinosaurs stalked the Earth, but a time before that, a time of peace.” -Juli Berwald, page 69 of Spineless

blurb
WhiteDayLilies
post image

Some of my tbr books for this year! #rogue hits my goal of finishing series I‘ve started, #spineless will help me read more non-fiction and #thestrangeandbeautifulsorrowsofavalavender just sounds amazing! 💜💜💜
I‘m also showing off my new reading socks! #christmasgift #myfiancelovesme

9 likes1 stack add
blurb
Marianna_Reads
post image

Diving into the world of jellyfish! @Liberty please tell Rebecca that it‘s from her recommendation on All the Books! Because I l know Rebecca was stressed about whether or not I would read it! 😂

12 likes3 stack adds
blurb
of_books_and_pen
post image

Currently reading this beauty! First book of the year!

3 likes1 stack add
blurb
MrBook
post image

#TBRtemptation post 4! Recently released. Part science exposition, part travelogue, part memoir. The former ocean scientist studies the jellyfish--the oldest marine swimmers alive today, one of the most toxic animals, having the fastest motion among all animals, 95% water, chameleons, and literal luminaries. Largely ignored until recently, jellyfish have revolutionized biotechnology. They've also brought destruction. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

94 likes11 stack adds
review
kammartinez
post image
Mehso-so

Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-EY

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️s

Not quite what I was expecting it to be. Thought I‘d be getting something along the lines of Kolbert‘s The Sixth Extinction through the lens of jellyfish science, and though the book DOES aim for that it doesn‘t play as nice with the memoir aspect as I‘d like. Pretty good read, but could be better and more substantial.

blurb
llwheeler
post image

Whoa how cool does this sound!? Billed as part memoir, part science book. Stacked! Also that cover is 😍😍

(I might be on a library ban for the rest of the year - trying to knock down the owned tbr a little - but that hasn't stopped my library wishlist from growing...)

28 likes4 stack adds
blurb
Expandingbookshelf
post image

🍜+📖=🤗💜🤤

UrsulaMonarch Just saw this written up in the New Yorker- sounds so good! 6y
Expandingbookshelf @Lkelly ❤️🧡💛💚💙 6y
5 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
SkeletonKey
post image

So I totally failed at not buying any books this November, but I did better than I USUALLY do. Once I decided I needed Spineless, my willpower broke. The illustrated version of Neverwhere is so gorgeous.

Star Trek Catan is photobombing, but I swear it was a gift, not a purchase! *Side note, who's gonna play Catan with me....?

#neverwhere #spineless #catan #startrek #bookhaul #tbr

jfalkens Are you joining us for The #TNOTWBuddyRead? 6y
SkeletonKey @jfalkens - Oh yes indeed, I am aaaall set for it! 6y
jfalkens @SkeletonKey yay I'm excited to see you in the discussion 😊 6y
See All 11 Comments
SkeletonKey @jfalkens - Hoping I can keep up 😂 6y
jfalkens @SkeletonKey it's supposed to be very relaxed so I wouldn't worry if you fall behind you can join the discussion later 😊 6y
SkeletonKey @jfalkens - Yeah, @TricksyTails and I had the relaxed reading conversation when the buddy read was first announced, LOL. 6y
TricksyTails 😍 Ooh love your haul. So many goodies! I'll be happy for you to join in as much as you're able. 😉 Zero pressure! 6y
SkeletonKey @TricksyTails 😁😁😁 6y
alvingregorio I'll play! Avid board gamer here! 6y
SkeletonKey @alvingregorio - Hurray! I used to have a good gaming group but everyone moved 😔 6y
21 likes11 comments
review
Booksnchill
post image
Pickpick

The Jellyfish Overlords, touted by the San Jose newspaper some years ago - author Juli Berwald begins researching jellies and becomes immersed in the story and, as all things oceanic, what we don‘t know about 70% of our planet. What a fact-filled and immersive journey we take with her as she researches jellies across the oceans. #NonFictionNovember @SkeletonKey now I say go ahead and buy it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SkeletonKey @booksnchill - It's way too late, my post office is holding it for when I get home 😂🤣 I'm glad it's good!! 6y
Booksnchill @skeletonKey I figured you would order but thought I‘d second your decision!!!🤣👍 6y
AlaMich I thought this book sounded super interesting *looks for jellyfish emoji* 6y
Booksnchill @AlaMich agreed we need a jellyfish emoji!! 6y
90 likes5 stack adds4 comments
blurb
Booksnchill
post image

I am so glad i am reading this now so I am ready for when the “Jellyfish Overlords” take over!!! Really interesting information! #NonFictionNovember

SkeletonKey Jellyfish are pretty much my favorite ever. I must read this!! 6y
Booksnchill @skeletonkey you absolutely must read this! 6y
68 likes4 stack adds2 comments
blurb
Booksnchill
post image

Today‘s #NonFictionNovember lunchtime reading- Jellyfish for brain health in a whole new way!!😁

2BR02B This one's waiting for me at the library! Excited to read it. 😁 6y
Booksnchill @2BR02B I just got it from the library this afternoon- 20 pages in very interesting so far. 6y
Schlinkles I love this cover! 6y
See All 6 Comments
Booksnchill @Schlinkles it is wonderful! 6y
PirateJenny On my desk! I know the editor and she is so excited about this book! 6y
Booksnchill Oh- well great so far- very cool and wonderful cover! @piratejenny (edited) 6y
74 likes6 stack adds6 comments
blurb
jpmcwisemorgan
post image

At this panel at the #TexasBookFestival. I find this book intriguing and I think it‘s going to be mine soon.

jpmcwisemorgan The moderator is not asking the right questions. He‘s only asking about jellyfish and not climate change. I‘m frustrated. 6y
398.2 That‘s disappointing. Did they take questions from the audience? 6y
jpmcwisemorgan @398.2 Yes, and that was much better. The moderator just wasn‘t making a food connection between the two books and the topic. He got to it but it took awhile. I thought about asking about some of what I learned from Merchants of Doubt about scientists wanting their science to speak for itself because advocacy came up but I decided to be lazy. 6y
29 likes3 comments
review
Georgette73
post image
Pickpick

Fascinating treatise about jellyfish; their unassuming presence that affects so many aspects of oceanlife. It also ties into the environment and what's going on in the world today. The only thing I could have done without was the author talking so much about herself.