Welcome to Litsy!

I found this slower going than I expected, and I wonder if it should have led with the anemonefish and the spectrum of sexes, to avoid getting all up in an artificial binary that it's meant to be critiquing. But there were some interesting examples, and Cooke does eventually work her way around to understanding that it's a spectrum.

Lucy Cooke imbues this well-researched work with humor and joy. Her love for the natural world and her work are evident. No matter if they are called bitches or queens the fascinating animals Cooke features in this work demonstrate that much of our understanding of many species has been influenced by an unnecessarily narrow definition of sex. I read this more slowly than some other nonfiction works. It was a 3 of 5 ⭐️s read for me.

Highly recommend!

I pick this up to read each night and can‘t get through two pages without laughing out loud. Cooke‘s humorous descriptions of just about everything in the animal kingdom is fresh and fun. Too many quotes and few will get through any filters.

Enjoying this!

Behind the scenes! Lol. My husband took this picture of me doing a #scarathlon #photochallenge last month at the airport.
I can Bookstagram and walk my dog at the same time. 😅
#Dogsoflitsy

My husband the photographer got a new tripod and wanted to try it out at the airport yesterday morning. I decided to tag along to get my own picture for the #scarathlon photo challenge. Yesterday‘s prompt was Black so I used my current read without her dust jacket.
#BOOkLovers
@Bookwormjillk
#PhotoChallenge

It‘s #20in4 #Readathon time w/ @Andrew65 !

My goals:
22 chapters of As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
2 chapters of Bitch (book club got pushed back a month so I can take my time - I really like it so far)
2 chapters of All Boys Aren‘t Blue by George M. Johnson - next on my tbr for Banned Books Week
🟰 26 chapters in 20

Hoping to simultaneously start racking up points for #scarathlon #TeamBOOkLovers & get closer to my
#SummerEndReadathon goals.

The month is more than halfway over so I thought I should share my tbr pile. 😁
🐕 Bitch for book club
💐 The Language of Flowers
and
Zami for the #MonthlyKeyWordgxo challenge
💙 All Boys Aren‘t Blue for #BannedBooksWeek
📚 As Good As Dead
📖 Gangster Nation - almost done, going to see Told Goldberg again Wednesday
✔️ The Warmth of Other Suns - finished and loved

Wish me luck!

Lesbian albatrosses in committed relationships. Killer whales with menopause. Bisexual bonobos. How King Julian from the Madagascar movie should‘ve been Queen Juliana. Female birds singing as the norm instead of exception. Virgin shark births in zoos. Sex changing fish...

Considering how long science overlooked the females of animal species, it‘s mind-boggling how much fresh knowledge is there to learn and still to discover.

4.5/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fascinating and dynamic! Cooke reveals the way cultural biases and sexism have influenced science, resulting in a surprisingly limited understanding of the actual diversity and importance of the female experience in the animal world. Filled with wild anecdotes and snarky humor, this book makes science fun and filled me with wonder and curiosity! 🎧

Can I drop everything and become a zoologist? I think I found my new passion! This book gripped me from start to finish. I‘m left in a state of awe and shock about the animal kingdom. I had never thought about the deep entrenchment of society and culture into the scientific method…how it impacts the questions we think to ask, what we‘re able to see, and the answers we‘re willing to accept. My mind is cracked wide open in the most wonderful way.

A really interesting book focused on the female of the species. This explores gender, biology and evolution and is written in an easily accessible style. Learned lots from this and wouldn‘t have minded it being longer!

📚 This weeks reads📚

This was a fascinating listen. Lucy Cooke travels the world and describes various example of animal relationships that emphasize the power and flexibility of female animals. For so long, science has focused on male animals and disregarded examples of female dominance and choice. This book aims to show a different side of the amazing diversity in the animal kingdom than what has been widely acknowledged.

#nonfiction #audiobook #Librofm #ALC

TFW
Got to my favorite coffee shop, ordered a latte for here, sat down excited to dig into the tagged book, and my e-reader goes "Not today Bitch" (for due to tagged book I should be reading)
E-reader will not reboot, the screen is frozen. A physical copy would never.

A fascinating look at the female of their species their strength and courage,an in depth look at female animals.Funny real surprising.

April reads summary

I've had to bail on the tagged audiobook despite being fascinated, I found the author'svoice distracting. I will pick it up again but in book format. It is a remarkable piece of work.

I discovered, joined and loved the #pemberlittens April reads.
I completed 2 lines, #bookspin and #doublespin for #bookspinbingo
I joined @Clwojick for her #thingsincommon challenge which was great fun.