Flight Ways

“Flight Ways” focuses on five groups of birds (albatrosses, vultures, penguins, cranes, and crows) and their risks of extinction. I think this might be good for a class, though I would not purchase this book for myself. He is a bit repetitive, even with the people he cites, though it is all to help make a point. The author explains why he sees extinction not as an event but a long process, and case studies in the form of stories are one way to help illustrate this concept. It is well researched and at times informative, but not always the most pleasurable reading. It’s more like a lecture or seminar. After the first chapter I ignored the footnotes.

The Great Glass Sea

This expired before I could get very far, but it seems really interesting, a story I want to take the time to read, whether I can get it at the library or another physical copy. The idea of a giant greenhouse, “under the dome” kind of experiment, where it’s always day time, is very intriguing. And while I don’t know as much about Russian history as I’d like, this seems a timely read as well. I found it a little hard to keep track of some of the names, and other Russian words. I am thankful for the opportunity to read through Net Galley. I hope I can read the entire book someday. Also,not to judge a book by its cover, I do like the artwork on this one.

Three Bargains

Set in northern India, “Three Bargains” is decorated with many colorful, not always familiar, words. So many that I underlined them in pencil, when I normally don’t like to write in books, and made my own kind of glossary, thanks to Wikipedia and Wiktionary. Food, clothing, occupations, religious and cultural practices are among these words new to me, yet the clarity of the writing and story-telling is remarkable. Reading about Madan, Avtaar Singh, Jaggu, all of the characters – their personalities are immediate and well-focused. The novel tells Madan’s story through so many events, good, bad, and deadly, and never strays far from the intensity behind this young man. Avtaar Singh – always those two names together, sometimes with the suffix “-ji”, and only once as “Avtaar Uncle,” is a powerful mobster – really, I think that is an accurate comparison. For certain I do not agree with his way of conducting business; much of western culture, too is perhaps at odds with his approach, but to see the way he balanced good and evil, and how this passed on to Madan, is exceptionally well done by Tania Malik. Often Madan thinks that violence upon others will settle his soul, but how can it? That is something I cannot understand, though it is not to say that any of these people are all evil or all good. At times Madan does a good deed to follow the bad one, even involving the same person. Time, too, shapes his outlook, and that of his family as well. There is plenty to think about while, and after, reading this.