I have not treated myself to a Freida McFadden book before. This was certainly satisfying with all its twists and turns. I suspected every character as some point and really didn't trust anyone. She is a master of the red herring.

It's not really possible to give a plot summary or even a glimpse at why I rated it highly. All clues would end up being spoilers. Just know that everyone has a unique perspective and has their own methods of self-preservation.

While reading, I had those same feelings that I did in Gone Girl, wondering about the narrator and how much of her own history tainted the way she sees the world.

The ending was excellent and I especially enjoyed parts 2 and 3. The movie will definitely be on my radar.

This is an amusing compilation of essays about running a veterinary clinic - some funny, some curious, some awkward and, of course, some sad. Schott treats small pet animals - mostly dogs and cats - and the majority of those require neuter, spay or end-of-life procedures. I had no idea that 80% of a vet's work would fall into these three treatments.

Schott shares stories of those touching or unique visits which make his days interesting. He also delves into the business of running a clinic with some stories of Big Pharma takeovers, drug thefts by his staff, and other insider intel that makes this idealised job sound less than appealing. He makes apparent the difference in bedside manner between a doctor and a vet. A vet must build an immense feeling of trust with the pet owners because of the deep emotions people have for their pets.

I applaud Schott for finding the humour in situations that were anything but, at the time. Like that time a panicked dog escaped from the overnight clinic and was subsequently hit by a car. Or the time when he emerged from the treatment room covered in lacerations and blood after a mean cat attack. Or the hours of patient waiting for a hedgehog to uncurl in order to do an abdominal exam. Or the multiple attempts to ultrasound a 18 ft long boa constrictor to find a mysterious lump. Sadly their was not a single chicken story - but my vet is amazing and has stepped in whenever my hens have needed help.

The short tales make this easily consumable and it was a treat to sit down each time to another story session with Dr Schott. If you do pick this one up, don't hold your breath about the Wolverine reference in the title. It is pretty much a misnomer, referred to as such in the Epilogue. Schott doesn't treat large domestic animals nor wildlife. The few tales of these unusual animal encounters are memories from his veterinary college days of training.

Recommended to those who love their pets and to the millions of students who dream of being a vet.

In a re-imagined past, the American Indigenous population thrives, taking office as the leaders in many of the States, most of all in the metropolis of Cahokia. The year is 1922 and this 'film noir' takes place over one week, when the city almost collapses under inter-race tensions.

It starts off with Detectives Drummond and Barrow being called to the scene of a nasty homicide that has all the signs of a ritual killing. Under the pressure of their police superiors, the media and the racial-political leaders, these two partners try to quickly piece together the motive and method of this death. With the media speculating about one group killing a member of another, the masses take sides, take arms and take to the street to retaliate against their perceived oppression. Expanding on the very American Us vs Them maxim, the city hovers on the brink of riot.

Det. Joe Barrow, an Indigenous man with a complicated past, who is diligent in his research, ends up interviewing and rubbing elbows with members of the Klan, religious officials, Indigenous dignitaries and media darlings across town. He pieces together some connections and grievances that others have missed. Det. Finn Drummond is more quick to judge and far less inclined to turn over these stones, simply wanting the case to be resolved lickety-split.

There's a lot of smoke and mirrors, misdirection and even a few love interests along the way. I found that this was more about both politics and religion than music. At some points it was dense. Chapter 5 was absolutely mind-numbing as the entire Cahokian history was recited in a supposed police interview - a pretty awful choice to set the scene of this creative new world.

I came here for the Jazz but it really wasn't part of the story at all. Jazz was mentioned for the first time on page 200 and then only a few times after that. I suppose it is the carrot that keeps Joe going towards a future that he doesn't believe can be his.

For a human, running a fever of 40°C (104 F) is life threatening. This is an increase of 3°C above normal body temperature and it would have most of us calling a doctor.

Human activities have already warmed the Earth by 1.3°C since pre-industrial times by our reckless use of fossil fuels. By our standards, the Earth is sick enough to stay home from work, cancel all plans and rest.

Way back in 2008, Lynas took a deep dive into peer-reviewed and published scientific literature on global warning. This book summarizes those findings, written in approachable layman's terms. He has divided the research into 6 chapters - one for each degree of increase on Earth.

Since I'm reading this 18 years after publication, Lynas' first chapter is more of a checklist that had me nodding my head along with the scientific community's predictions. "Normal" now includes even more unpredictable weather, severe storms, droughts, rising sea levels, heat waves, unprecedented annual flooding and hundreds of out-of-control wildfires. This was all predicted. We are simply living it out.

I found the entire book riveting. Lynas doesn't sugarcoat anything nor does he try to placate the reader by saying that it will all be okay. He reports the research in a very readable way and applies the models to scenarios that are easy to grasp. He doesn't insert opinion. Nothing here is debatable.

I did find that the 5°C chapter was a bit over the top, with speculations that felt almost too far fetched - but perhaps I was the one at fault here.

Even if two decades have passed since he wrote it, the information is really fascinating and it is hard to look away from the trainwreck that is happening before our eyes. Every news article I read these days (be it weather, politics, unrest, wars, starvation, crop losses, fuel prices) can be linked back to the ever-warming planet.

Many, many quotes struck me as important. Here is a small selection:

"every last drop of the 18 billion cubic metres of water that travel down the Colorado River in an average year is already allocated to human use ... by a raft of agreements" pg 134

"sea level rise is an irreversible process, which will take millennia to stabilise even if greenhouse gas levels are controlled,..." pg 153

"We are already well into a new geological era, the Anthropocene, where human interference is the dominant factor in nearly every planetary ecosystem, to the detriment of perhaps all of them." pg 190

"Supporting a hunter-gathering lifestyle takes ten to a hundred times the land area per person that a settled agricultural community needs." pg 194

"a note of caution - some viewers may find some of the following scenes upsetting." pg 197 (Intro to the 6°C climate increase chapter)

How could I possibly come up with something unique to say about this classic? Certainly not possible. I'm pretty sure that someone else has already claimed that Restraining Orders were created because of Alec d'Urberville copycats. What a deplorable ass-clown he is!

What will stick with me is the perfect pacing of the story. The early love scenes and the late love scenes fly off the page, buoying you along in the prose. But Hardy makes the middle section, when Tess and Angel are separated, so long and so desolate that you can feel the chill of the long winter permeate your bones page after page as Tess does field labour in abysmal conditions. The decisions that Tess makes seem almost reasonable when partnered with the long-standing shame and loss of faith that Tess carries.

The characterisation is also excellent. Time and again, Tess acts exactly as her character would, in those times, in her caste - her timidity in the face of her in-laws, her pride in not asking for money, her deep exhaustion while labouring at the farm, her panic in learning of her parents' illnesses, and, worst of all, her need to remedy her mother's desperate situation once evicted. You can plainly see how Alec's perverse attention wears her down over the year in his sleazy obstinance.

Tess is endlessly being pushed into no-win situations, a pawn in the patriarchy, and she soldiers on, taking the tough road without complaint and trying to resolve her situation independently. Her work ethic is admirable and she never asks anyone for help nor rescue. Until the end, of course.

It took me a LONG time to get to this book. And I'll admit that reading it was sometimes a chore. But I am very glad to have prioritised it and persisted.

I read my Mum's copy from her university days and thought that her marginalia added a lot to my experience, despite the occasional ripped page and puppy teeth punctures throughout. I especially love the "4 shillings" price printed on the cover (~$0.38 cdn in 1961)

Favourite quote from page 315 (The Woman Pays): "She was ashamed of herself for her gloom of the night, based on nothing more tangible than a sense of condemnation under an arbitrary law of society which had no foundation in Nature."

Valerie has been walking the 2000 mile long Appalachian trail for months now and has finally reached the last of the 14 states that it crosses. The 100 mile wilderness of Maine is remote, the forest dense, the trail technical and Valerie is walking alone. Her trail partner, Santos, exited the trail to attend his father's funeral leaving Valerie to complete it on her own.

When Valerie doesn't arrive to meet her husband at the next trailhead, Greg lets a number of days pass before he alerts the Maine Game Warden Service to file a missing person report. The search begins immediately, taking her last known location and circling out from there but five days have already passed and the chances of finding Valerie diminish with every hour. Greg is immediately scrutinized as a suspect in her disappearance as is her trail partner, Santos.

This is a multiple POV story with four prominent characters sharing their perspectives as the search goes on. Each person has a very different take on Valerie, her abilities, and her motivations as well as of the wilderness that keeps her hidden.

I tagged this as a mystery because there are many aspects of mystery, suspense and even thriller within. But it is more accurate to call this a police procedural, following the search-and-rescue protocols. Lieutenant Bev is the head Warden for this part of Maine, overseeing every aspect of the rescue mission. She is conducting the search to the best of her abilities but, as the days of nonsuccess roll on, the stress she bears is starting to show as she deals with the stricken family, the press and her colleagues.

Being a long-distance walker myself, I really liked the story and the way Gaige chose to tell it. The pull of the trail, the moments of beauty, the wracking pain and the miles of monotony all rang true to me. I thought that Valerie - being a burned out nurse, post-COVID - was a realistically-formed character who made me look back at the anxiety I still hold from my own role during that time. Valerie needed to reinvent herself and, through hiking, was finally able to appreciate her inherent desire to help others. These traits were so well illustrated through her actions and drive.

The audio was smartly done with more than 5 voices playing out the different POV voices. A very enjoyable story.