Tag: Science

Review: Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away by Coltan Scrivner

November 29, 2025

This was a fascinating look at why people are morbidly curious. It covers all different kinds of reasons why humans are drawn to horror, ghosts, murder, violent games, etc., and how it all stems from our evolutionary history.  From the beginning, this book had me hooked on how it explains our fascination with morbidly curious … More Review: Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away by Coltan Scrivner

Review: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

November 28, 2025

This was a very interesting look at the US space program and how it is dealing or trying to deal with the everyday issues we take for granted, such as eating, washing, and urinating. While I did find this a bit dense at times, I still learned a bunch about the space program, current and … More Review: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

Review: Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

November 7, 2025

TW: animal deaths I didn’t know what to expect when I jumped into this book but this was an informative and fascinating look at how humans and nature interact. This covers things from street monkeys in India, to bears breaking into houses, the controlling of invasive animals, and how to deal with dangerous trees. I … More Review: Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

Review: Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

October 19, 2025

The body is the most complex machine in the world and because of that you cannot easily replace what breaks. This book goes over various surgeries, research, and trials that are working to replace various parts of the body. Each chapter discusses a different topic of the body, like skin graphs, human and animal organ … More Review: Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

Review: Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

September 8, 2025

As soon as I saw this book I knew it was one I wanted to read. This was a fascinating look at cannibalism in humans, animals, and insects. While this seems like a book that would discuss cannibal serial killers, it doesn’t and the author explains early on why he doesn’t cover that topic. I … More Review: Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

Cover for Gory Details by Erika Engelhaupt

Review: Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt

March 1, 2024

This was a fascinating investigation into a variety of strange, gross, and morbid things about our bodies and the universe. Each chapter explores a different topic making it extremely easy to pick and choose what you want to learn about, or skip over if you are squeamish about some things.  Engelhaupt does a wonderful job … More Review: Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt

Cover for The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

Review: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte

April 1, 2022

This was a fascinating and very comprehensive look at the history of dinosaurs. Brusatte starts from the Early Triassic period, roughly 250 million years ago, all the way to the Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago, when a giant meteor struck the earth.  Like any child of the 90s, I grew up watching Jurassic Park … More Review: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte

Cover for Written in Bone by Sue Black

Review: Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black

March 14, 2022

Trigger Warnings: Discussions of pedophilia, murder, serial killers, prostitution, child death and abuse, rape, molestation, survivors guilt, torture, and executions. Graphic descriptions of dead bodies.  Forensic anthropologist Sue Black takes on a journey to show how pieces of our remains can be used to solve crimes. She draws on her own experiences and case work … More Review: Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black

Cover for The Chick and the Dead by Carla Valentine

Review: The Chick and The Dead: Life Behind Mortuary Doors by Carla Valentine

March 1, 2022

Trigger Warnings: Miscarriage. Grief. Cheating. Depression. Detailed descriptions of animal deaths. Autopsies on babies discussed. Detailed descriptions of autopsies.  Death of family members. Discussion of suicide victims and their bodies. Negative work environment that included jokes against weight, disabilities, and emotions.  Carla Valentine is a pathologist who worked for years doing postmortems, but is now … More Review: The Chick and The Dead: Life Behind Mortuary Doors by Carla Valentine

Cover for The Secret Lives of Bats by Merlin Tuttle

Review: The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World’s Most Misunderstood Mammals by Merlin Tuttle

February 19, 2022

This book was fascinating! The Secret Lives of Bats is basically an educational memoir about Merlin Tuttle’s life learning and saving bats. His journey started when he was a child exploring caves with his parents and it led him to spend a lifetime educating the public on the good that bats can do.  Like I … More Review: The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World’s Most Misunderstood Mammals by Merlin Tuttle

Cover for The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean

Review: The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds by Sam Kean

February 3, 2022

Trigger Warnings: suicide, slavery, animal torture and death, Nazi experimentation and torture, experimental misconduct, miscarriages, forced impregnation and abortion, murder, torture, grave robbing, lobotomization, mental health, intentional infection of diseases, psychological experiments, electric chair deaths,  “But when we sacrifice morals for scientific progress, we often end up with neither.” The Icepick Surgeon exposes the crimes … More Review: The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds by Sam Kean

Cover for A Taste of Poison by Neil Bradbury

ARC Review: A Taste of Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them by Neil Bradbury

February 1, 2022

Poison is one of the oldest and most popular weapons of choice when it comes to murder. This book provides us with an in-depth look at how eleven poisons are used to kill, what it does to the body, and how that poison is created.  This book was quite fascinating. The book covers eleven poisons: … More ARC Review: A Taste of Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them by Neil Bradbury