Collected Reviews: Books on Zoology and the Environment

Books are the best Christmas gifts, right? The best idea is to buy my books, but if you don't, here are some I liked from the past two years.  I'll collect the ones on other topics in upcoming posts. 

Vaquita, by Brooke Bessesen
The tragic, infuriating story of how humans are driving the vaquita to extinction.

Spying on Whales, by Nick Pyenson
One of the truly great books on cetaceans, with the latest research.

Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean's Greatest Predator   

by Jason M. Colby 

A unique book tracing the beginnings of the orca's transition from the target of fear and hatred to an (unwilling) performer.  

Mystery Creatures of China

David C. Xu, Coachwhip 

A lovely guide to countless creatures of zoology, cryptozoology, and folklore

On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear. 
Richard Ellis,  Knopf  
A biography of the world's most remarkable bear and its conservation

The Bountiful Sea
Seabrook Hull, Prentice-Hall, 1964
Revisiting an old classic on how humans would explore and live in the sea

Gold Rush in the Jungle
Dan Drollette, Jr
Amazing book on the discoveries of new mammals in Southeast Asia and the reports of still-mysterious ones

The Lives of Hawai‘i’s Dolphins and Whales: Natural History and Conservation

Robin W. Baird, University of Hawaii Press 

• Gorgeously photographed and stuffed with the latest information, including some eye-openers like false killer whales including humans in a game of "pass the dead fish."