Welcome to Litsy!

I haven't been reading much for a while now.
Had some rough times these past few years, but I'm trying to read regularly again, as it's a past time i enjoy.

In honesty my problems have been with mental health. Had a breakdown in 2021 and have been dealing with it all since.
(Depression and Anxiety)
Recovery is proving to be challenging, but hopefully, if I can convince myself to read again, it might help me be me again.

I really enjoyed this look at mammalian evolution. I‘ve often wondered how certain conclusions are drawn based on bones alone and now I have greater insight into that. I found myself exclaiming out loud (thankfully I was alone 😂) while listening to this. Science nerds and the #naturaLitsy crew would enjoy this.

It's a simple but profound statement that bears repeating: the biggest animal that has ever lived is alive right now. Of all the billions of species that have lived during the billions of years of Earth history, we are among the privileged few that can say such a thing. How glorious is it that we breathe the same air as a blue whale, swim in the same waters, and gaze at the same stars?

It‘s interesting and obviously written by an insider but contains a tad too much name dropping and dry scientific terminology. There were parts written really well—imaginings about what the prehistorical environments had been like and how the described animals had lived—but otherwise there was too much visual language (especially about the bones) without the actual visuals (partial aphantasiac speaking), so I couldn‘t comprehend half of it.

3.0/5

#NetGalley

Fans of Brusatte's Dinosaur book will equally love this deep exploration into mammals. To be fair, I'm not sure which one I loved more because they are both so good.

This book is informative, full of rich imagery and discoveries I was unaware of, and extremely entertaining as a nonfiction book.

92/150 If you enjoyed Brusatte's The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, then I highly recommend this to you. It is endlessly fascinating, rich in details of how mammals grew up in the shadows of the dinosaurs to become the dominant species of today. I'm glad he only spent one chapter on the development of mankind, since many have written exhaustedly on that subject. 5 🐒🦊🦁🐴🐗

I'm giving Rade and the Argonauts a break while I dive into this book. I loved The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, and I've been eagerly awaiting his next book.