Book Reviews
7/6/2022
By J.M. Miro
June 7, 2022
672 pages
$28.99
Flatiron Books
‘Ordinary Monsters’
This one is a beauty of melancholy and the painful parts of humanity. It is atmospheric and seething with tension and grit with just enough heart to claw its way into your brain. I’ve been thinking about this book daily since I finished it months ago. I think it might’ve changed something inside me that needed changing.
In an alternate version of Victorian London, there are some special children gathering. Talents, as they are known, have extraordinary, somewhat creepy powers that draw in evil like a moth to a flame. In order to keep the children safe — and under control — a stream of adults with their own murky motivations try to lead the children to safety, but at what cost? Can they ever be truly safe in a world filled with monsters?
Gorgeously written and full of an intricate, shadowy plot, I adored this book so much I find myself longing to pick it up again and again. If you like gothic, labyrinthine, doorstopper-sized novels that will keep you up late, this is for you. ♦
— Review by Julie Goodrich
By Steve Brusatte
June 7, 2022
528 pages
$29.99
Mariner Books
‘The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us’
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson sought the Louisiana Purchase in order to look for mastodons? It seems crazy to think about, with our limited time perception, but mammals are so young in the grand scheme of the history of the earth. Steve Brusatte does an excellent job of telling the tale of our nearest ancestors in the animal kingdom, while keeping the perspective wide enough to never lose context.
A story of perseverance, luck and astonishing adaptability, the rise of mammals picks up where the dinosaurs leave off — just after the asteroid struck Mexico, wiping out the former kings of the planet, and leaving room for the small, oddly built creatures that are our ancestors to fill in the gaps in surprising and unique ways.
It’s not an easy feat to write nonfiction science in such a readable way without losing the plot, but this book hits that perfect mix. Filled with stories of amazing fossils, intriguing science, and drawing it all into a mesmerizing big picture, I can’t recommend this one highly enough for all my prehistoric geeks out there. ♦
— Review by Julie Goodrich
