Book Review: Death at Sea-World

Death at Sea-World by David Kirby

Hi everybody, sorry it has taken me so long to get this book review out.  I have been fighting with myself on whether or not I want to start doing book reviews on YouTube, and well I decided to take a leap of faith and start doing that.  Anyway lets get on to the review.  And I have to be honest, this might be the hardest review I have ever done.

Death at SeaWorld by David Kirby is a non-fiction book about killer whales in captivity.  And more specifically, how their well being is affected by being captive.  The book has a gripping hook on the cover which states: "SHAMU and THE DARK SIDE of KILLER WHALES IN CAPTIVITY"  which sets the tone of this book.  The book starts off setting the scene of the tragic day in Feburary of 2010 when senior SeaWorld orca trainer Dawn Brancheau is killed by Tillikum, a 12,000 pound killer whale.  But that isn't where the book begins.

The author goes back into the history of the capture of these animals starting from when they were taken from Pacific waters off the coast of Washington and Canadian waters, to the Icelandic waters.  Babies are separated from their mothers and brought to aquariums to be put on display.  The book also talks about how short the life span of these animals were in captivity as opposed to being in the wild.  The book was full of facts of how captivity affects the orca and how they differ from being in the wild.  The book also includes, Naomi Rose who is a marine biologist specializing in marine mammals and killer whales.  While I did feel that the book at times followed too closely with the personal lives of particular people, Naomi Rose and others were important voices against orcas in captivity.  The book also talked about four former Sea World killer whale trainers: Jeff Ventry, John Jett, Samantha Burg and Carol Ray.  The author did use stories from Ventry and Jett more than the other two though.

In the end, I loved this book, but it was incredibly one sided.  But that didn't sway my opinion on way or the other.  In fact it made me want to go out and research more about these mammals.  The book had facts, and facts that you can easily check out for yourself.  It made my mind think which is what I wanted from this book.  But it was a heavy read.  It took me a while to get though it because of all of the facts I didn't want to skim through any of the sections.

Now I just want to say quickly that the book did point a finger, and it was towards companies that force these animals to do tricks for profits, but I never felt disgust towards the people who worked with these animals.  In the end I had a new found respect for the trainers whom dedicate their lives because they truly believe in something.  But that doesn't make me want to run to a SeaWorld or Shedd Aquarium anytime soon.

Rating:
5 out of 5 (I did debate on giving it a 4.5 because it is one-sided but in the end I loved the book)

On Deck:
Keeper of the Crystal Spring by Naomi and Deborah Baltuck
Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel
Desperate Tigress by Jade Lee
Joy of Funerals by Alix Strauss

Here are some links and titles to some interesting things I have read about or watched about killer whales.

Killer in the Pool

Blood in the Water

If you're not a big book person check out the documentary Blackfish.

Here's some titles of some documentaries that I thought were interesting:

Lolita Slave to Entertainment

The Free Willy Story: Keiko's Journey Home

Frontline: A Whale of a Business

Bakers Dozen 2013: 13

Crystal Flame by Jayne Ann Krentz

Just like Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz, Crystal Flame is a romantic, futuristic, supernatural, Sci-Fi type novel.  So as I've mentioned before, this book came in a double bound edition with Sweet Starfire so I just ended up reading this one right after I finished with the first book.  Just like the other book, I don't remember as many little details like I have with other books that I have read but I just remember the feeling and emotion of this book.  I remember a little more detail about this book than other one but for some odd reason my amazing memory to remember little details has just failed me.  I might just have to reread this one also.

Anyway, the book is about female trained assassin Kalena and her mission to kill the man that was behind the destruction of her family.  She has to kill him in order to be free of her familial obligations.  She enters into a marriage contract with a man named Ridge but people call him the Fire Whip.  Neither know that they are in danger from the people who are closest to them and that they trust.  Or course even though their marriage is just really a contract, this is important because even though it's not a forever marriage, it is in a sense permission to be physical.

Again this is another one of those books that I ended up falling in love with just because of the impression that it left on me.  This might just be one of those books that I reread instead of guessing the little details that I wished I could remember.  Again even though I can't remember the specifics, I still love this book.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 12

Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz

Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz is a futuristic, supernatural romance novel.  Before I read this book I had only read one of her other books before this and I remember not being all that enthused by it.  But this book was awesome.  Now I have to admit that there is a lot that I don't really remember about this book but it left just one of those feelings and impressions that just makes me love this book so much.  I bought this book in a double set so it also had Crystal Flame with it and I read both back to back.  But I'm not really all that clear whether or not these two stories are tied together tightly.  They both were set into the future and use the same solar system, but other than that I don't remember

The story follows two people Cidra and Teague.  Cidra is from a race of people who have special telepathic skills, that she apparently lack.  She's considered an outsider and is on the mission to discover the secret that will allow her mind to communicate with others.  Teague Severance is a delivery man, the ultimate delivery man in the Stanza Nine System.  As long as the price is right he'll deliver it.  Cidra takes the risk of hiring him to bring her to the rough area with Stanza Nine system.  Even though Teague is certain that Cidra isn't his type they soon find themselves in a passion that flares between them that could put their lives in jeopardy.

Again, the little details aren't floating in my head as much as other books that I have read, but I just remember the emotion and the sense of awe.  The book just left a magical feeling over me that to this day I still remember.  I think I might have to reread this story just so I can relive how much I loved this story.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 11

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

So this is another one of those books that I reviewed about a year and a half ago.  And this was another one that I LOVED and I gave it a 5 out of 5.  So this is another book that I don't have in my collection because I borrowed it from my step-brother.  Now along with me writing a book review for this book I also did a book vs. movie comparison.  Yes they made this book into a movie.  But this is a clear example where the book is always better than the movie.

Now because this book uses a very well known historical figure, the author had to use a lot of historic points to make the plot seem plausible.  The book follows Abe from childhood to his assassination.  And the author was very descriptive when it came to explaining what was going on during the time period.  Also, this was a completely different take on vampires, but they author kept the classic ideal of what a vampire is.  Lately the images of what vampires are suppose to be have slipped away from the classic ideal and have gone to nice ones that sparkle.  So in a sense this was a very refreshing book to read just because of that aspect.  Plus as someone who enjoys learning about history this was an interesting way to introduce history to the avid fiction writer.

Even though as I mentioned before I don't have this book in my collection, a lot of the vivid details still remain in my head.  The author tied in historical fact this fiction so seamlessly that I at times wondered if I was reading real fact.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 10

Buddha Baby by Kim Wong Keltner

Buddha Baby by Kim Wong Keltner follows Chinese-American woman, Lindsey Owyang as she tries to find a happy medium between being a typical American and still trying to connect to her Chinese heritage.  She is a second generation born in the United States.  Her family settled in the China Town area in San Fransisco and Lindsey starts to discover her family roots.

I think I read this book right before I started this blog, because a part of me thought that I posted a review for it but then I remember that I read it when I went down to Florida in March two years ago.  This was one of those books that the humor really stuck out to me.  But also the idea of how main character Lindsey was kind of embarrassed by her traditional Chinese heritage.  Also the author stressed the fact that Lindsey's boyfriend/fiance is predominately white with only a very small fraction of Chinese heritage.  But he has made a huge effort to learn customs and traditions to show respect to her parents and grandparents.  Than enter a person from her past, who is 100 percent Chinese but doesn't care at all about his Chinese heritage but Lindsey knows that her family would be more accepting of him as opposed to the one that she loves.  Through out this book Lindsey struggles with finding a happy medium in life in general.  At parts you want to beat her because she's being very whiny and other parts you sympathize with her struggle to find peace with whom she is suppose to be.

Because I was on vacation I believe I read this book on the plane ride down.  It was a very quick read.  There were parts where I laughed out loud and then there were parts where I felt the emotional turmoil of the main character.  While this book isn't quite in the humor or romance realm, I guess the only genre that it could be in would be drama.  I've never read anything like it so I don't really know how to categorize it.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 9

Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Almost one year ago I reviewed this book, Jennifer Government by Max Barry and LOVED it.  I gave this book a 5 out of 5 because I loved it so much.  This was one of those suggestions by my former boss at the book store and I bought this book at another discount book store almost eight years ago.  SO I had this book in my collection for about 7 years before I had even picked it up and started to read it.  I remember thinking to myself, "why didn't I read this sooner?  I had it this whole time and never read it!"  I can honestly say I was a little mad at myself for that.

So in case you haven't read my book review (here) I'll do a quick overview of what Jennifer Government was about.  So the book is set some point in the future, exactly when was never stated, but you got the sense that there was a decent amount of time for the world to become like this.  Now in this future, we are essentially owned by corporations.  So if your name is Jane Smith but you work for Barnes and Nobles you would be known as Jane Barnes and Nobles.  The government is also pretty much dictated by the high powered corporations that have the most money.  Jennifer works for the government and and is investigating the murders of a dozen or so kids because the company Nike put at hit out on them to promote the newest shoes.  This story you see corruption with in companies and Jennifer's fight to uphold the law to her best.

This was an incredibly fun book to read, but it also made you think.  The plot didn't seem all that far fetched and that is kind of a scary thing to think about.  Usually books like this don't appeal to me, but the author wrote it just like how I would watch a movie.  No it isn't written like a script, but when reading it I could easily picture what was going on.  I remember so much of this book vividly that it will stay in my mind for a long time.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 8

Fire-Starter by Stephen King

So many of you know this famous book by Stephen King which was made into a movie starting a very young Drew Barrymore.  Now I haven't read a huge array of Stephen King novels, but this was the first one that I had ever read by him and I think this book was pivotal in getting my start reading books other than V.C. Andrews.

Now I shouldn't really have to talk about the plot because everyone should have at least some idea of what this book is about but if not I'll briefly explain it.  The novel starts off with Andy meeting his wife Vicky for the first time during a government experiment for extra cash.  The fall in love and get married and give birth to a little girl, Charlie.  Now one of the side effects of this experiment is that Andy and Vicky end up with some special abilities, but because they aren't natural they are very painful to do.  But Charlie's abilities come natural to her.  She has the ability to start fires with her mind.  Vicky ends up getting murdered and Charlie and Andy are on the run from the government, whom want to see the full extent of Charlie's powers.

So this book kind of touches on a lot of different themes.  One is of course government abuse of power.  Which is kind of scary to think about.  I mean you just trying to figure out a way to make a few bucks and you take this crazy drug that has a LSD effect and give you powers and now the government wants to kill you in order to protect their ass.  Yeah kind of scary.  Another is of course to thought of people with special powers or mutants.  Which can also be another terrifying thought that there are people out there that have the power to cause harm without moving a finger.   So I think of the reasons I put Fire-Starter on my list was because this helped me to start reading different authors.  There are a few parts of the book that I can recall off the top of my head so this book definitely left a lasting impression on me.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 7

Violet & Claire by Francesca Lia Block

So this is the only young adult novel on my list this year.  Now Violet & Claire is kind of hard to explain unless you are familiar with the authors writing style it's kind of hard to describe.  She kind of writes like her stories are a poem or sonnet from the past.  Her words flow together like a song and she's very rich with detail and she uses a lot of symbolism to describe what she's writing.

The story is of two different girls, Violet and Claire.  Both opposite from each other, they both need each other to be whole.  Violet is the dark one, dressed in black and dreams of writing her own silver screen creation.  Claire is light and love, almost like a real-life Tinker Bell, dressed in wings of gauze and glitter, constantly writing poems to keep the dark away.   The story takes you through the journey in L.A. through the ups and downs.

This book not only followed these girls but you also feel their pain and loneliness.  It also touches upon anorexia, rape, drug and alcohol abuse.  But because of Francesca Lia Block's writing style you might now pick up on it right away.  Even though this book is in the young adult section I do feel that a lot of the symbolism might go over a lot of young adults head.  But if you're one to be able to pick up on them than this would be a good book for you to read.

Bakers Dozen 2013: 6

Open Season by Linda Howard

If you remember for my 2012 bakers dozen I mentioned that I almost put Open Season by Linda Howard in, but in the end I put Mr. Perfect instead since it was placed in Michigan.  But Open Season was the first book that I had ever read by Linda Howard.  Like most contemporary romance writers, Linda Howard got her start as a Harlequin author.  While most of the books that I have read from her are contemporary romance with hints of mystery and suspense, the main focus in all of her stories is the romantic connection between the lead male and female characters.

The story is focused around Daisy Minor, who on her thirty-fourth birthday decides she needs a make over on her life.  Tired of being the stereotypical small-town librarian, with boring clothes, ordinary looks and dateless.  Always the good girl, Daisy transforms her self into a party girl, dancing, flirting and laughing become a part of her life.  But she has ulterior motives, she wants to find a man.  She draws the attention of local sheriff, Jack Russo.  Attracted to her before her makeover, he sees that she's going to be trouble after the transformation.  They start a relationship, but Russo realizes that he needs to protect her from more than just herself.

This is probably the one book that I re-read the most.  This is probably my all-time favorite book by Linda Howard (my second being Mr. Perfect) and I'm kind of bummed that I bought it in a paper back because the spine is starting to deteriorate due to my constant re-reading.  This book has humor, drama, romance, and a good amount of action.  And it all seemed plausible.  This wasn't a fiction plot that seemed far fetched, it did seem kind of realistic and I think that is one of the reasons why I do reread this book  a lot.