Reading List 2013

Here's the reading list from 2012 - another neat example of identifying other life memories that go along with reading the novels. It's very interesting to remember where you were and what was important to you while you were reading the books.

For more references, here's 2010's list , 2011's list and 2012's list

The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt, William Nothdurft and Josh Smith

Damn Nazis! A touching story of discovery over generations.

Deception Point, Dan Brown

Another Brown story you whip through far faster than makes sense.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne

Don't' be fooled, there are no dinosaurs whatsoever in this book. Plus, be prepared to read the word "Fathom" a thousand times.

The Dalkie Archive, Flann O'Brien

Some guy plans to blow stuff up, and has homemade whiskey! Funny! Another fun Flann O'Brien novel.

Offside: The Battle for Control of Maple Leaf Gardens, Theresa Tedesco

BOOOORING. Imagine reading hundreds of pages of legal documents and itinerized dates about a frustrating real estate transaction.

Dracula, Bram Stoker

Read some Late Victorian diary entries from a cast of characters who wrote about meeting Dracula.. Some great local dialects employed by Stoker, though.

Measuring Mother Earth, Heather Robertson

VERY interesting, especially if you're into Joeseph Tyrrell or Canada's mid-western geography.

The Walking Dead - books 1 - 14, Robert Kirkman

On Green Dolphin Street, Sabastian Faulks

Great storytelling by Faulks, a rich and colourful journey through a mid-20th century New York City.

Che Guevarra: A Revolutionary Life, Jon Lee Anderson

The size of a phonebook, it was really interesting all the way through - - what a life!

Materese Countdown, Robert Ludlum

Still can't find the Materese Circle (which I really liked) - this is that books sequel, which I read instead.

The Diviners, Margaret Laurence

Haven't read this since high school - poignant metaphors really bring it to life.

I Am Better Than Your Kids, Maddox

It was fun, c'mon!

The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel

The dialogue is kind of like an infomercial, but makes plenty of good points. Just ... feels like he's selling something the whole time, but you're never sure what, exactly.

Jurassic Park (Screenplay), Michael Chricton and David Koepp

Real different from the finished script you see in theatres - - before Spielberg got his hands on it. My draft has a bunch of autographs on it, too!

The Gremlins of Grammar, Toni Boyle and K.D. Sullivan

 Light and fun, considering it's literally about grammar and spelling.

Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris

Another quick-to-read installment of the Hannibal Lecter story.

Terrible Lizard, The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a New Science, Deborah Cadbury

The dramatic, dirty history of becoming the foremost authorities on dinosaurs. I really want to read about the Cope and Marsh feuds as well. The Owen v. Mantell battle was pretty dirty!

Lastly, Hannibal by Thomas Harris, the sequel before the prequel, to the Silence of the Lambs series

There are only a few first-edition, hardcopy versions of books I own, and this is one of them. I'd forgotten about Barney's interesting epilogue.

Ancient Winged Transylvanian Predator Discovered

When you think of winged predators soaring through the Transylvanian evening, you generally think of a mythical bat preying on men, hotly pursued by Dr. Abraham Van Helsing to rid the world of vampires.

However, some cryptozoologists feel that Bram Stoker’s legendary monster story is rooted in the genuine reports of Transylvanians who observed a monstrous, nocturnal flying predator: namely a pterosaur.

The discovery of Eurazhdarcho is the most complete example of an azhdarchid found in Europe so far. According to researchers, its discovery adds credence to a theory about the behavior of these types of creatures.

I’m in no way about to propagate that myth (however cool it would be!) but there is a romantic relationship between discovering a large pterosaur in the Late Cretaceous rocks of the Sebeş-Glod in the Transylvanian Basin, Romania, and Dracula himself.

The location of the discovery is what’s most exciting about this find, too. The Sebeş-Glod has been the source of other prehistoric and fossilized dinosaurs, mammals, turtles, lizards and ancient crocodiles.

It’s a 68-million-year-old formation which senior lecturer in vertebrate palaeontology at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton Gareth Dyke says was comprised of an inland, continental environment which included meandering rivers and swampy regions.

It strengthens the argument to suggest these pterosaurs soared above forests and plains in search of small animal prey.

What makes this pterosaur, Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis, special is that it’s the first azhdarchid pterosaur discovered in Europe, and one of the most complete discoveries of its kind, which helps further illustrate its bizarre form:

A medium-sized wingspan of three metres, long neck, long beak and wings strongly adapted for a soaring lifestyle. Features of its wings and hind-limb bones show it could fold its wings and walk on all fours, as well. 

“Experts have argued for years over the lifestyle and behavior of azhdarchids. It has been suggested that they grabbed prey from the water while in flight, that they patrolled wetlands and hunted in a heron or stork-like fashion, or that they were like gigantic sandpipers, hunting by pushing their long bills into mud,” says Gareth Dyke.

Its discovery strengthens suggestions that azhdarchid pterosaurs were linked to terrestrial floodplains and wooded environments, because Eurazhdarcho lived alongside other gigantic contemporary pterosaurs, like Hatzegopteryx thambema.

References:
http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/researchers-discover-a-new-type-of-flying-reptile-from-the-age-of-dinosaurs/ 
http://trap.it/#!traps/id/46cc09ce-e70f-48aa-94b5-1f1fc81d7c1e/jump/6E4T1z2bv002q6IvMa9u