Book Review: AI Simplified (OT)

AI Simplified, by Hilary Lamb, Joel Levy, and Claire Quigley* (Penguin Random House, DK, 160 pp HB, 2nd ed.,  2025, $17.99, also sold as Simply AI: Facts Made Easy (front cover directly below) - content previously published as Simply AI) 

I could have chosen the AI book in the (reviewed here yesterday) series by New Burlington but I thought it more valuable to review two different series of books on similar topics. Both series are similar: too cursory and too advanced, Good review for graduate school, though.

Sample pages appear below:

Each page has a paragraph or two plus cartoon-like drawings, some of which are even helpful. These books are similar to the Complete Idiot's Guides or Dummies Guides which I highly recommend, though they (the latter) are a bit more costly. At least the format here makes the books easy to put down and pick up again later when you have more time.

Chapters are introduced on colored pages, some of which are printed on pages too dark to read easily (e.g., dark royal blue). Each page has references to other pages: I finally figured out they are like a built-in index, within the text, so this book can be read in any order of chapters or pages - great if you know a little bit about the subject and can't wait to get to the more interesting parts (for you). However, the authors have also included an index.

*later version below:

Book Review: Forensic Science (OT)

Forensic Science: Discover the fascinating science of crime science analysis, by Tom Jackson and Paul Knepper (New Burlington, 2025, $18.999HC, 176pp)

Yup, every once in a while, I break down and spend some time at a bookstore like I did last week (as if I don't get enough books to review as it is!). I tell myself I'm just looking. . . . and end up with a bookbag full of new reading. 

I was especially excited about this book, Forensic Science. It is sort of like an idiot's guide or a dummie's guide, full of short chapters (one pagers), cute illustrations in few colors, and, I hoped, elementary, though I had taken a course in forensic anthropology and several criminology courses.

Here is the table of contents to give you an idea of what the book covers:

And a sample page about blood spatter: 

Basically, each page is a paragraph or two plus a simplified graphic or illustration which may or may not help with the text. It is also helpful to have the chapter titles at the bottom of each page. Pages are white or very pastel, giving a clean look.

The Reader Can't Get Lost!

With a basic table of contents plus a sub-table of contents in more detail on each inside chapter page, the readers simply can't get lost, though they can easily skip around from topic to topic, as the average readers know a bit about a lot of them. Now they will know more.

This series also has a title about AI, artificial intelligence (though if you went to an ag college, AI will always be artificial insemination), but I selected an AI book from another series to give you more information. Check back for that one tomorrow.

Book Review: 101 Salivations: For the Love of Dogs (a coffee table book)

101 Salivations: For the Love of Dogs, by Rachel Hale (Bulfinch Press, $19.95 HB, 2003, 176 pp) 

Every coffee table needs a coffee table book - of dogs, of course! And 101 Salivations may be yours.

Full of one-dog-to-a-page* of mostly pure bred dogs, a few crosses (mixed breeds) manage to sneak their way into this celebration of all things dog. I just want to cut out some of these dog photos and frame them!

The first 101 pages have few words but the appendix makes up for that, for it describes each dog-page* with  page number, breed (mix), name and age, along with a couple of sentences about the chance meeting between human and dog and the photographer that is captured here.

*like page 11 nd 12, Akita Hiro and Australian Cattle Dog Amigo: 

Book Review: When Harry met Minnie (two bull terriers in NYC)

When Harry met Minnie: A True Story of Love and Friendship, by Martha Teichner* (Celadon Books, 2021, 246pp HB, $26.99) 

Fast Friends, Dogs and People - one black, one white, with their own coat of arms (Sir Harry Fertig and Lady Minnie Teichner). Chance made them friends, as it does for all of us.

A Lovely Read for a Lazy Afternoon (about 6 hours)

I would read any book by a journalist or reporter (except some 'report' style non-fiction that tends to be b-o-r-i-n-g) - When Harry met Minnie is no exception. A lovely first book about love and friendship - the love between dogs and humans and the friendship between women and also between men and women.

But, About that Title, . . . and a Delightful Front Cover Photo

"Harry"met Minnie and, like many humans, they ended up living together but their meeting (or any meeting) certainly cannot be the crux of a book, and it isn't. We get to know New York City (and its traffic) through Harry, we meet some high-society** designers, single people in their later years, and, of course, dogs (some, also in their later years).

I'm a dog person, a trainer who prefers sporting breeds (Labs and Goldens, ready to please) over the more independent terriers (like Harry and Minnie) but having judged the temperaments of Bull Terriers (BTs), this reviewer almost fell in love with the breed. Any book about stubborn, independent BTs is bound to be full of their antics but they have to share space with stories of human friendship, new and old, as they are honored. 

Martha has a bull terrier (BT) and is gradually convinced to take in an older BT belonging to a woman who is terminal. Gradually, the two women introduce the two dogs as the women also become good friends over six months. 

But, about that title, . . . I can't think of a better one!

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*"CBS Sunday Morning" - How does an international radio reporter ever manage to have a dog? With a canine au pair, of course!

**and Teichner refers to the description of a high-end line of ladies shoes ("Too much is never enough") which is also the (approximate) title of a book about Donald Trump by his niece, a psychologist 

Book Review: Lab Dog (Beagle)

Lab Dog, A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research, by Melanie Kaplan (Hachette, $32, 2025, 344 pp HB)

A Long Book that Covers Everything Dog

From research to companions, cadavers and adoptions, author Melanie Kaplan must have spent 10 years researching this book. And her rescue Beagle Hammy went along, too, for most of her interview trips across the country.

I'm not a barky Beagle fan. At least I wasn't until I was confronted with the relationship Kaplan had with her dog and although I'm a Lab and Golden Retriever person, I may just look into the Beagle world.

Part non-fiction, part memoir, part name dropping , part research summaries, Lab Dog has the admiration of canine behavior people, most of them PhDs, less so in the world of veterinary research. though. Change happens slowly.

I thought Lab Dog would be a gory tearjerker but Kaplan tells about research animals (and their scientists) with humor and caring. However, I give you, dear reader, permission to skim chapters 3-5 since they are quite repetitive with experiment after experiment and chock full of science. A cursory read will suffice.

Kaplan is a talented writer when it comes to human interest stories (the ending to this book is a real tear jerker). Although I am a scientist, I felt some parts of the book (chemistry, the FDA)  could be shortened. 

Basically, Kaplan adopts a Beagle and wonders about his history. Did he live in a small cage in a noisy research kennel? Was he subjected to hurtful experimentation and, if so, did the technicians consider the dogs mere "things"?

As Kaplan (and Hammy) learn about research and rescue on animals, dogs, Beagles and Hammy himself, Kaplan searches for two things: Hammy's personal story and someone in his former life seeking forgiveness (restorative justice). And Kaplan herself grows as she learns she already has the answers. 

Ethical Reality Check

I would have liked to know more about the three R's of replacement of animals with non-animal models, reduction in the number of animals used and refinement of the process by minimizing pain and suffering. I would have liked to learn more bout the four pillars of ethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice (p 302).

But, on the whole, if you want to know more about animal experimentation (dog, Beagle) Lab Dog is a great place to start knowing who's who in the field - the veterinarians, the universities and other research facilities. And the dogs, of course. Hopefully there will be fewer research dogs in the future as test tube and petri dish models proliferate.

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Fun Facts

It takes an average of 14 years for a drug's approval

Of the drugs that show promise in pre-clinical studies (a euphemism for animal studies), more than 95% fail in human clinical trials, because they prove toxic or ineffective in humans

Until 2021, new drugs for Alzheimer's came with a 99.6% failure rate.

The average cost of each drug that makes it to market is more than $1 billion

And, finally, read this book and meet PBM, Peanut Butter Man!

Book Review: My Life in Dog Years (dogs, of course)

My Life in Dog Years, by Gary Paulsen (Yearling Nonfiction, $6.99 PB, ages 8-12, grades 3-7, 144 pages, 1999) Review by Skye Anderson 

Somehow, I bet you are familiar with the title, My Life in Dog Years, and may have seen this book in bookstores, but you probably haven't read it. 

Yet. 

Do. Read it.

It's worth it, for a lazy Sunday afternoon, and, even with interruptions, will take only an hour or two. Unless you are reading to your child or he is reading to you.

Then listen to the CD here.

Born around 1940, Gary Paulsen, a Newbery award winner, lived in 'the olden times' when dogs (and boys) ran loose in small towns. He had a dog, Snowball, when his dad was stationed in the Philippines after World War 2, then another dog in small town Minnesota, then in larger towns in Minnesota, then in the country in Minnesota and Colorado and New Mexico - I have probably mixed up these locations (I didn't take notes while reading - I just enjoyed the book) because they played only a minor role in the saga of a boy and his dog(s).

Stories of unforgettable dogs. Meet them here in Paulsen's book. 

I read this years ago and still remember three of the dogs. There was: 

Cookie who saved his life, 

Snowball in the tropics, 

Dirk who saved him from being beat up as a kid by bullies, 

Rex the 24/7 farm dog who constantly patrolled the farm and herded the kids, 

Caesar the great gentle Great Dane who knocked over the couch, 

Fred the five dollar "destructo" pup, 

Quincy who moved on to a better match and became just a regular old dog, 

Josh, the smartest dog in the world, the quintessential Border Collie who epitomized the phrase, "Watch one, Do one, Teach one" (without the teaching), 

and my all-time fave, Ike, who went home to someone who needed him more (and this chapter is a tear-jerker, but a sweet one)!

Book Review: Chasing the Bear (A Young Spenser Novel)

Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel, by Robert Parker (Philomel Books [Penguin Young Readers Group], $14.99 HB, 169pp, 2009)

Remember Sheldon and then young Sheldon of the Big Bang Theory? Now we have Spenser and young Spenser, the PI (private investigator). We have 54 (or 40) Spenser books as well as other series that author Robert Parker has bestowed us with. 

Chasing the Bear begins in today's world (not the world of Spenser's childhood) with his girlfriend Susan, a brilliant Harvard psychiatrist,  and Spenser having a conversation in author Robert Parker's delightful manner: full of one-liners that come out with a bang over and over again - delightful!

Young Spenser is 14 and manages to save a friend who is a girl, not a girl friend, then inserts himself into a bullying situation. And young Spenser is raised by his father and two uncles, a family not known before in literature but unique and with plenty of situations to get into. 

Adults will like this book as it vacillates between the young Spenser of yore and the current-day of Spenser and his girl friend. Young boys will like this book for all the boxing terms and even young girls will like this book, skipping over the fights, but dwelling on young love.

If you are familiar with the Robert Parker who-dun-its, you will like this book, if not, you may just become a fan - and there is always a dog named Pearl!