Book Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma By Michael Pollan

I have been meaning to read this book for ages, but initially I was disappointed. The beginning of the book is dry and very focused on corn, in fact the first 60% of the book is focused in the intensive farming industry focused around corn. I found it hard to relate to this part of the book as it seems more specific for the farming industry in the USA. The book then looks at grass farming, which is more interesting, but again, very specific to the US, because Europe mostly still grazes cattle. The last part of the book I certainly enjoyed the most, it looked at hunting wild game and foraging for mushrooms. This last section flowed better and really came alive, but it feels like two books which have merged into one, as the first sections on corn and grass have no relation to the last section which focuses on alternative ways to produce food and make 'the perfect meal'.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in where food comes from or interested in ethical eating.

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Book Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

I loved Caitlin's YouTube channel and was curious to check out her book. It is a fascinating and honest journey of finding yourself and also confronting your own mortality. I cried a lot reading this book, as so many parts touched me. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in taboo topics, death culture in different countries and the death industry. This would also be a great book for trainee doctors or other healthcare professionals, changing the perception of death and make conversations more open.

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Book Review: The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters by Mark Henderson

A wonderful book looking at the importance of the geek vote and the difference good science could make to politics if it was organised.

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Book Review: I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong

This is a fantastic book, I felt like a learned something new on every page. It is well written and very relatable, focusing on human impacts and stories. By the end you feel like you have taken a long journal into a new world of microbes and completely change the way you think of these interactions and symbioses.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science, biology, medicine, nature or a passing curiosity about the lives of microbes.

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Book Review: Inferior

This was a fascinating book exploring the scientific misconceptions and flawed research around gender and women. The book tracks the different research around women from birth, fertility to old age. 
I was shocked to learn that Darwin thought that all women had evolved to have inferior intelligence, I understand he lived in a different era but it's disappointing to learn he had such primitive ideas around women. I also thought it was interesting that research is now recognizing that the brain is plastic and changeable, and not fixed like previously thought. I did feel frustrated that so many scientists believed that men have larger brains because they are more intelligent, rather than brains are proportional to body size, which is more obvious. 

Overall, this was a wonderful and well researcher book, pulling apart flawed research relating to gender. I would recommend this book to all scientists, STEM students, feminists, and anyone who wants the facts to dismiss scientific claims used to support sexism.

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Book Review: Catching Breath: The Making and Unmaking of Tuberculosis by Kathryn Lougheed

This was a fascinating book, and I had no idea the history and current state of TB was so complex. I, like many people, think of TB as a disease of the past, something in a Dickens novel. I was also amazed to learn about the interplay between diabetes and TB, and HIV and TB. I found this book an interesting look at an often overlooked disease, and it really helped bring to light some of the challenges in eradicating this disease. 

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in infectious diseases, tropical diseases, poverty and development work, biologists, trainee doctors and anyone else interested in infections like TB.

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Book Review: Butterfly Isles a Summer in Search of Our Emperors and Admirals by Patrick Barkham

This was a beautiful and well-written book, capturing the highs and lows of searching for elusive butterflies throughout the UK. It was fascinating to understand how each butterfly prefers a specific time of year and specific weather conditions and plants, and all these factors make it a huge challenge to try and plan to find them. Before this book, I thought butterflies were pretty but I had not appreciated their lives and distinct habits. Another impact this book had was to show the distinct habitats and plants the butterflies rely on, and how these unique habitats need to be maintained if we want to prevent these butterflies from becoming extinct.
 
Reading this book I realised how little I knew about butterflies and their fascinating lives, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in nature and wildlife, conservation or butterflies in general. 

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