#BookReview: Crossings by Ben Goldfarb

Well-Documented Examination Of How Roads Affect Animals. The subtitle of this book in particular is at least slightly misleading, as the book isn’t so much about all the ways roads impact ecology as much as how roads impact animals. It also isn’t so much about the “future of our planet” so much as it is about preventing extinction of migratory animals in particular.

But for what it *is*, this is actually a well documented (38% of the overall text) examination of how roads impact animals and how we can make them better for the wildlife around us… and thus ultimately safer for us. (As Goldfarb points out, at least at one point deer were the most deadly animal in America, far surpassing sharks or even snakes or even insect stings, due to the sheer volume of people killed in crashes wherein they either hit deer directly or swerved to avoid doing so.)

Indeed, much of the book is spent discussing largely three topics: roadkill, animal crossings, and to a slightly lesser extent, noise pollution and how it affects animal crossings and roadkill. Along the way we get sidetracked to a discussion of LA’s cougars, Tasmania’s world record roadkill, Interstates preventing deer migration in the Rocky Mountains, and even some discussion of salmon migration in the Pacific Northwest, among others.

If you’re looking for a book about the *totality* of how roads affect ecology… this isn’t that.

If you’re looking for a historical/ current look at how roads affect animal life… you’ve come to the right place.

And yes, Goldfarb has rather frequent leftist political rants sprinkled throughout the text, but none anywhere near as severe as the ultra leftist reviews eviscerating this book, so take that for what it’s worth – while annoying, I’ve read books with far worse rants with far fewer interesting facts, so I personally didn’t think it was *too* terrible – hence the reason I didn’t deduct a star for it. But your mileage will absolutely vary there, so just be aware of this before coming into this book.

Recommended.

This review of Crossings by Ben Goldfarb was originally written on May 1, 2025.

#BookReview: The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger

Rare Blend Of Science And Mysticism Marred By Racism And Misandry. Quite honestly, I read the Audible version of this book, where Schlanger’s wonder of her topic comes through in her breathy, reverent reading of her text – and kudos to her, as not many authors can pull off reading their own text for the Audible version. (Though yes, this *is* far more common in nonfiction.) But *because* I read the Audible, I actually had to borrow this book from the Jacksonville Public Library, where I live, to check the length of its bibliography – which does in fact clock in at a relatively healthy 25%. So despite the extraordinary claims made throughout this text, at least it is reasonably well documented.

All of the above noted, however… Schlanger makes some *remarkable* claims throughout this text, and while I don’t agree with at least one 1* review on Goodreads that she was nearly dogmatic – my summary of that review’s arguments – about her insistence on her so-broad-as-to-be-nearly-useless definitions of concepts such as “intelligence” and “communication” and “consciousness”, I *do* agree that Schlanger stretches these words so as to be nearly incomprehensible to anyone.

While Schlanger does a remarkable job as a journalist covering all aspects of her chosen topic, she also crosses the boundary lines of science and mysticism so early, often, and frequently that to read this book is very nearly to watch a Dr. Strange MCU movie and accept that the conceits of its mystic “sciences” are real in the reality in which you are reading this review. Her skills as a writer make the text flow beautifully and, again, reverently… but the grasp on objective reality one would normally expect in a popular science book… isn’t always as “there” as it should be in such a book. Instead, Schlanger’s embrace of the (at least near) mystic is more readily apparent, particularly through certain sections of the text.

And while this is bad enough, and let’s call it a half star deduction, these are almost style issues – few would bat an eye if this were labeled more a philosophy or ethics book than a science book.

No, the real problem with the text, at least for me, was the frequent excusing of mystics claiming to be scientists by claiming that their mysticism is no worse than far more accomplished actual scientists such as Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, pointing to their own mystic beliefs (common in their era over 100 yrs ago) and proclaiming “but those were white men” (an exact quote) and so their mystic beliefs were excused. No ma’am. Their mystic beliefs were excused because they achieved great scientific accomplishments. The people you excuse have not reinvented the way humans live or communicate many times over, and if they ever manage to achieve a similar accomplishment, you won’t be the only one excusing their mysticisms. It is the blatant and pervasive racist misandry of these types of comments throughout the text that results in the other half star deduction, as they are not *so* pervasive as to necessitate a full star deduction of their own.

Overall this is absolutely an interesting read on many fronts, one that one can learn a great deal from and on that is documented enough that its claims should be taken seriously – but as we all know, sources *can* be cherry picked, so a great deal of discernment and further reading is also very much in order after reading this text.

Recommended.

This review of The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger was originally written on December 11, 2024.

#BookReview: The Darkness Manifesto by Johan Eklof

Dark Spring. I read this book and write this review as someone who longs to see that which I’ve never seen in nearly 40 years of existence on this Earth – the Milky Way as the Ancients did. Here, Eklof makes a case as to why the light pollution that is so prevalent in so many areas of the world needs to be treated just as seriously as any other form of human-made pollution. Indeed, at least in his claims, this is as strong a book against light pollution as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was all those years ago.

HOWEVER, where Eklof fails a fair degree – and the reason for the star deduction here – is that while he makes a lot of strong claims, there is scant documentation of these claims – coming in at just 15% or so of the text here, when more fully documented books come in closer to 20% – 30%, and books that are particularly well documented can reach 50% or so of the overall text.

Still, as a sort of primer to these issues for those who may not be aware of them already, this is a strong book that will allow for further research after reading it. Very much recommended.

This review of The Darkness Manifesto by Johan Eklof was originally written on October 25, 2022.

#BookReview: Not The Romantic Kind by Nicola Marsh

Solid Tomboy Romance. And because it *is* a romance… yes, a wedding is mentioned late in the book, and because this is set in Australia it is a “spring” wedding… in October. Which feels weird to this reader who has never been South of the Equator – nor even within 1,000 miles of it. 😀 Otherwise a fun take on the tomboy / enemies to lovers idea where he is a corporate tycoon out to build mansions on the property that meant so much to her as a kid but which her mother recently sold off. This is something I personally identified with a bit, having grown up with a small 3 acre lake outside of Atlanta being owned by my grandfather’s family before my mother’s cousins sold it off in my early 20s after both my grandfather and his twin brother died. So seeing Gemma be able to fight to save any piece of “her spot” was pretty awesome for me. Overall a fun book and on the quick/ short side at right around 200 pages, this one is a solid introduction to Marsh’s romance books for those who are new to her while also being a satisfying one for long time fans. Very much recommended.

This review of Not The Romantic Kind by Nicola Marsh was originally written on January 14, 2022.