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Have an ARC. Love the cat chess in the opening. Terry Pratchett came up with the idea of cat chess, Diane Duane built on it, but here you have a cat playing human chess in true cat style.

Gave up

The annoying relatives are getting less screen time. There have been some clever moments, but I'm finding the length of time it takes things to happen, and the detail of her internal musings to be excessive. Keeping going because there is some good stuff and there has been a new development which is interesting.

Interesting account of his life, growing up and going to college - and all through studying nature.

Um, well, it is all very clever and imaginative, but I am having problems with the amount of thinking and re-thinking things done by the main character, with the amount her relatives butt in on her life with ignorant advice and so on. If you find her relatives amusing, then this book would be hilarious for you, but if you find them annoying, and all the internal dialogue excessive as I do, then its a bit of a slog.

Amusing, clever, annoying characters are very annoying. A bit yakkity at times and I need to take breaks and read something in a different style.

Love the fake Welsh place name of Pantygirdl.

More amusing moments from using wizardry to get the TV remote talking nicely with the TV and DVD - it is now picking up alien cable TV and an alien shopping channel. Background to the main plot, but enjoyable. Downer is one of two main characters is very low from recent death of her mother. Very well done, just not as light as I wanted this weekend.

Starts with a young wizard who specialises in machines. He is trying to make the new remote, the TV and the DVD player talk to each other - literally. He can hear them swearing at each other. In the end he negotiates a truce and tells them to handshake.... Diane Duane at her best.

I think I am parking this for now. Very interesting, but not relaxing, so will come back to it one day. If I take it off the "currently reading" I am hoping that Goodreads will stop recommending more like it :)

Still very amusing and informative. Has been to see arctic foxes, set up several study groups of captive red foxes in the Oxfordshire countryside to look at behavioural control on mating, studied foxes on the Cumbrian fells - walking and running many miles a night over steep hills and treacherous footing and is starting a study of urban foxes in Oxford city gardens.

Really readable. Ranges from a study of the group behaviour of red foxes in the Israeli desert to hand raising captive bred foxes in the UK and studying the family groups as tame enough to be natural in presence of familiar people. But raising fox cubs is definitely a high risk activity for your house, possessions, fingers and bare toes.

Really readable. Ranges from a study of the group behaviour of red foxes in the Israeli desert to hand raising captive bred foxes in the UK and studying the family groups as tame enough to be natural in presence of familiar people. But raising fox cubs is definitely a high risk activity for your house, possessions, fingers and bare toes.

Been on my shelf too long. Finally reading. Very good. A mix of narrative about how the author carried out his research - in the 1970s in the early days of radio tracking - and with an awful lot of lurking in hedgerows all night, plus the people he met while researching from farmers to urban fox feeders plus the behaviour he observed of the foxes. Which is the largest part as it should be.

Chapter 2 - which covers niceness and co-operation - in animals and in humans - as old as competition and as important to survival. How some people selectively misquote animal behaviour studies to justify their own selfishness. Interesting accounts of animal studies, some funny asides on business and managers.

Couple of passing gems - one being that a bad manager causes stress to subordinates, which elevates cortisol levels, which if they go on for long enough kills brain cells....
Smiling - is also to say "I am not a threat". Women smile more than men. Passing mention of the dilemma that a woman smiling a lot at work could be subconsciously lowering her status - but women who don't smile are asked if something is wrong.

I've had this on my to read pile for a while. Started it when I bought it several years back but was too busy to concentrate on it. Now trying again. So far so amusing - but still very much in the overview introduction with anecdotes. I really enjoyed his books on animal field research and the methods and eccentricities of the field researchers.