The Emotional Lives of Animals (by Marc Bekoff)

Hmm. When I designed my handy-dandy book review template, I wasn't thinking about how it would work for non-fiction. Obviously, I'll have to modify some of the questions:

Q. Why did you choose this book?
A. The subject fascinates me. I've seen clearly that my two dogs have distinct personalities and a range of emotions to go with with them, and I was seeking scientific affirmation of that observation.

Q. Did you like the story book?
A. Not so much. I'd hoped to read a lot of anecdotes demonstrating that animals have emotions, and this book contained only a few of them. The point of the book seemed to be not that animals have emotions, but that because they do, we shouldn't eat them or use them for medical research. I can't argue with that; it just isn't what I thought I was getting.

Q. Were the characters believable?
A. Yes, although I don't suppose characters is the correct term for non-fictional people and animals.

Q. Did you like the writing style?
A. The author is a scientist, which I suspect is why this book reads like a textbook. (On second thought, that's no excuse. Yajeev is a scientist, and his writing isn't the least bit tedious.)

Q. Did you think about the book when you were doing other things?
A. Nope, not at all.

Q. Was there anything about the book that drove you nuts?
A. Only that it was boring.

Q. How did you feel when you finished the book?
A. Disappointed.

Q. Will you keep the book to reread later?
A. No.

Q. Any final thoughts about the book?
A. Save your time and your money. If you're interested in this subject, a much better book is Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin. I highly recommend that one.