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A review by annemaries_shelves
The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World by Abigail Tucker
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
This was such a delightful and quick read - I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
In 9 chapters (naturally), the author provided a lot of interesting tidbits and facts about cats and how they interact in the human world/built environment. The sections on cats as an invasive species to ecosystems, the cat lobby (or cat mafia) advocating for cat welfare and TNR, and the emerging (and mixed!) science on toxoplasmosis and human brains was fascinating.
Tucker, despite being a cat lover, provided a pretty balanced take on cats - to the point that I kind of felt guilty almost for having a cat. Because, as she explains, they are often bad for the environment, and are still in the process of domestication and therefore can struggle in human homes. That said, I know my cat is doing pretty damn well in my home and she brings me a lot of joy (I also spent a lot of time distracted from reading this book and writing this review because she wanted to play with the ribbon toys...).
I do wish the author had explored more of cat behaviour in their domestic environments. She covered a lot of their health issues and explored a bit of the "cats train their humans" element that so many cat lovers and owners are familiar with. But I would've loved to learn more about the emerging research on cat behaviours like purring, grooming humans, etc.
The internet chapter - Nine Likes - was fun but odd. On one hand, the early days of Internet Cats was fascinating (I had no idea that cat memes and "Caturday" originated in 4chan) but since this was published in 2016, it feels a little dated already.
From a writing perspective, it's clear and straightforward - almost basic. You can tell she's a journalist first, and there's very little flair to her writing.
Even after reading a whole books about how they've taken over the world, cats still seem a little mysterious and even cuter to me... and maybe that's the way it should be.
Overall, if you love cats, I recommend picking this book up. Just be prepared that it's not all "feline and fancy-free" as you may wish. But if you like cats, you probably already knew that.
Ps. Look up Lykoi and Elf Cat breeds - it's weird.
In 9 chapters (naturally), the author provided a lot of interesting tidbits and facts about cats and how they interact in the human world/built environment. The sections on cats as an invasive species to ecosystems, the cat lobby (or cat mafia) advocating for cat welfare and TNR, and the emerging (and mixed!) science on toxoplasmosis and human brains was fascinating.
Tucker, despite being a cat lover, provided a pretty balanced take on cats - to the point that I kind of felt guilty almost for having a cat. Because, as she explains, they are often bad for the environment, and are still in the process of domestication and therefore can struggle in human homes. That said, I know my cat is doing pretty damn well in my home and she brings me a lot of joy (I also spent a lot of time distracted from reading this book and writing this review because she wanted to play with the ribbon toys...).
I do wish the author had explored more of cat behaviour in their domestic environments. She covered a lot of their health issues and explored a bit of the "cats train their humans" element that so many cat lovers and owners are familiar with. But I would've loved to learn more about the emerging research on cat behaviours like purring, grooming humans, etc.
The internet chapter - Nine Likes - was fun but odd. On one hand, the early days of Internet Cats was fascinating (I had no idea that cat memes and "Caturday" originated in 4chan) but since this was published in 2016, it feels a little dated already.
From a writing perspective, it's clear and straightforward - almost basic. You can tell she's a journalist first, and there's very little flair to her writing.
Even after reading a whole books about how they've taken over the world, cats still seem a little mysterious and even cuter to me... and maybe that's the way it should be.
Overall, if you love cats, I recommend picking this book up. Just be prepared that it's not all "feline and fancy-free" as you may wish. But if you like cats, you probably already knew that.
Ps. Look up Lykoi and Elf Cat breeds - it's weird.