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Spillover
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic | David Quammen
First, a horse in Brisbane falls ill: fever, swelling, bloody froth. Then thirteen others drop dead. The foreman at the stables becomes ill and the trainer dies. What is going on? As globalization spreads and as we destroy the ancient ecosystems, we encounter strange and dangerous infections that originate in animals but that can be transmitted to humans. Diseases that were contained are being set free and the results are potentially catastrophic. In a journey that takes him from southern China to the Congo, from Bangladesh to Australia, David Quammen tracks these infections to their source and asks what we can do to prevent some new pandemic spreading across the face of the earth.
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blurb
literateBee

Amazingly interesting. A page-turner, even.

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review
CampbellTaraL
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Pickpick

Maybe reading this during a pandemic wasn't the best choice--I'm beyond pissed. Don't get me wrong, I love Quammen (one of my favorite science writers) and this is a great example of his careful research written in accessible style. But the information in this one book alone is enough to have every government in the world moving infectious disease management to the top of the priority list. Instead, the US gov slashed funding, ignored the science.

batsy Yes, it drove me crazy when I was done. I went around last year ranting about it to anyone who would listen... And one year later very few governments seemed to have even learned anything from the past year! 4y
CampbellTaraL @batsy Appalling, and I'm right there with you. It's inexcusable. Can't even imagine the level of frustrating Quammen must be going through. Good grief. 4y
34 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CampbellTaraL
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Every section of this book, every chapter, makes me angrier for the devastation going on right now with Covid-19.

We knew this was coming, experts were screaming from rooftops, but policy decided to gamble with the world's lives instead. I have three sections left of this incredible book. I might lose my mind to absolute rage by the end.

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CampbellTaraL

Section: Dinner at the Rat Farm

Here the book is about the SARS-CoV outbreaks (a coronavirus), the hunt for the reservoir species (source of the virus), the amplifier species (what enabled the virus to jump from the source into humans), and the multi-country collaboration to find answers.

The unbearable part? We had all this knowledge already and our leadership chose to cut funding anyway.

batsy This book was so eye-opening and just left me angry. The media constantly sells a story of how much is not known, but there is also a lot that is in fact known among experts in the field. 4y
CampbellTaraL @batsy Completely agree. I had avoided reading it for a year or so, before Covid-19, because I was trying to prepare for a Hot Zone like narrative and wasn't sure I was up for it. This book is nothing like that, thankfully, but the shock and anger of our garbage policies is so much more potent. 4y
26 likes2 comments
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saguarosally
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This book was written in 2012. It‘s terrible that we all know the answer to this question now. #covid #coronavirus

batsy This book was an eye-opener. More of these to come 😓 4y
saguarosally @batsy I‘ll have to keep reading. 4y
24 likes2 comments
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Chrissyreadit
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Science, pandemics, world wide.
Thanks for the tag @wanderinglynn #wondrouswednesday
Anyone else want to play?

ImperfectCJ 45 & 91? 4y
Chrissyreadit @ImperfectCJ the percentage of white and black women who voted for Biden. I‘m amazed and grateful for Stacey Abrams too. 4y
Asthecroweflies I forgot how to share these. lol 4y
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Chrissyreadit @Asthecroweflies Thales a screenshot, share as a blurb - is that what you meant? 4y
ImperfectCJ @Chrissyreadit Got it! I hadn't seen those percentages before. Very interesting and definitely something to feel grateful about! Stacey Abrams is pretty incredible. 4y
Asthecroweflies @Chrissyreadit yes. Thank you! 😀 4y
44 likes6 comments
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Chrissyreadit
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One of these I read in 1993 when I was working with children Dying from AIDS in Johns Hopkins. I never thought we would see this level of disconnect, bias and politicization about a health crisis- but clearly I was wrong. All of these books taught me something important and informed my understanding of the intersection of health, public safety and govt. the last pic is my new shirt 😁 please feel free to share more books with me-I love this topic

Crazeedi I've read Bellevue and the great influenza. Have spillover on hold! 4y
Chrissyreadit @Crazeedi I loved Spillover. Can‘t wait to hear your thoughts. 4y
67 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Chrissyreadit
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Pickpick

I started this in March on audio. It has been a long but thorough book. I loved the information but also that the science clearly shows we have opportunities to be ahead of pandemics if we take responsibility for our actions. The more we know the more informed our actions will be. Consider that the US Pandemic Response team was fired in 2018 to cut costs, and now we are paying a much higher price.

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batsy
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Thanks for the tag @LeeRHarry

1. What @Reggie said because if I'm lucky enough to talk to a reader, I like to recommend something in their interests. A book that I read this year & recommended: tagged. No one wants to read it; can't imagine why 🙃

2. I tend to look up stuff to read via websites, social media. Maaaaybe I look up books to read more than I do actual reading? Maybe.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

Wanna play @sudi @Tanisha_A ?

Tanisha_A Oh my god. What you said about looking up books! There are always a 100 tabs open on my comp while I am working. It definitely affects my productivity 4y
TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 😍📚🤩 4y
LeeRHarry Yes I wonder why no one wants to read that right now 🤔😏 4y
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Susanita Ha ha! Sometimes I think I spend more time tweaking my lists than doing actual reading! 4y
batsy @Tanisha_A @Susanita Definitely the story of my life 😁 4y
batsy @TheSpineView Thanks for the cool questions 💙 4y
Reggie I will admit to #2 because there are times when I‘m asking why am I on Litsy and watching more booktube when I should be reading. 4y
Nute Oh, YES to answer No. 2! It‘s my awareness of what should have been read and what needs to be read that makes me a ‘well-read‘ person!🤣 4y
sudi That book actually sounds pretty good , thanks for the tag ❤ 4y
batsy @Reggie Absolutely, Reggie. I have to be honest with myself 🙈 4y
batsy @Nute I love that! 😂😂 That's my enabling excuse from now on. 4y
batsy @sudi It's a fantastic book! And never dull. 4y
Centique I completely agree with #2. I spend So Much Time looking up books for me, my dad, my kids, reading reccs, tweaking my thousands long lists. 🙄 it‘s a much bigger obsession than actually reading. Thank god I don‘t buy all the books I look up! 4y
BiblioLitten #2 You said it perfectly! 🤓 4y
LeahBergen Happy Birthday, my friend! I hope you have a wonderful day! 😘📚😘📚 4y
batsy @Centique @BiblioLitten It's a hobby in itself! 😁 4y
batsy @LeahBergen Thank you, friend! ❤️😘 I did have a really lovely day and am grateful ☺️ 4y
Tanisha_A Happy, happy, happy birthday! 🎂📚🍷 4y
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Chrissyreadit
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1. Help! Name a character who takes on too much, is constantly overwhelmed and loves hiking and reading?
2. The lack of civics, in both act and understanding, in our culture, climate change, my garden. If I was not working from home my family would be in there. Reading is also always ongoing.
3. Smell.
#wondrouswednesday
Play along! You! Yes you! 🥳❤️😘

wanderinglynn Elizabeth Bennett – she didn‘t hike, but she did like to walk 4y
Eggs 👏🏻📚🤗 4y
56 likes2 comments
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batsy
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Thank you for the tag @BiblioLitten @CarolynM @Tanisha_A @sudi these are my #top6reads for the first half of a truly bizarre 2020.

I left out re-reads or else three of those (Emily of New Moon, Julius Caesar, and Sense and Sensibility) would have definitely been in my top 9 reads 🙈

@fleeting @Lcsmcat @Graywacke @Lindy if you'd like to give it a go?

Graywacke Yay Cather! Also, I‘ve been wanting to read Elizabeth Taylor. Noting. Great list (thanks for the tag. I‘ll have to think about my list.) 4y
fleeting Yes! I've been wanting to look at my first half of the year reads, and this is the perfect time. Thanks for the tag! ❣ 4y
readordierachel I love those all these covers! Sadly, have read none of the books 🙃 I keep saying it, but I really need to read Cather. 4y
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Lcsmcat Thanks for the tag. I think I‘ll follow your lead in leaving out rereads. 4y
Graywacke @readordierachel we start Shadows on the Rock July 11 - discussing 1st 40 pages. 😉 4y
merelybookish About to post mine. A Game of Hide and Seek is on it as well. Love that you included The Head and the House! I read a Nancy Mitford recently and I kept thinking of it. I think ICB has changed the way I read English manor house stories! 4y
LeahBergen Two of our #NYRBBookClub picks! 👏🏻👏🏻 4y
readordierachel @Graywacke It must be a sign. I will join you! 4y
CarolynM Interesting choices. I really must read Elizabeth Taylor and Ivy Compton Burnett one day. 4y
sudi The Inugami Curse cover is so freaky but still makes you want to read it 😄 4y
batsy @Graywacke The Taylor took me by surprise. A quiet, muted book but with a strange power. 4y
batsy @readordierachel It's tough! There's so many books to read 😅 4y
batsy @merelybookish ICB is so sharp and devastating and strange. I can't stop thinking about her writing and those awful people! 4y
batsy @LeahBergen So many good reads discovered 🙌🏽 4y
batsy @CarolynM ICB might be a marmite author, but I think you might enjoy the Taylor 🙂 4y
batsy @sudi That cover, so cool and freaky 😁 A really fun and atmospheric crime read. 4y
arubabookwoman Spillover was scary wasn‘t it? 4y
batsy @arubabookwoman Yes! So scary and informative. His writing is compelling. 4y
rubyslippersreads I‘m too much of a coward to read the tagged book. 😳 4y
batsy @rubyslippersreads I completely understand! 4y
88 likes20 comments
review
Nebklvr
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Mehso-so

This Author has skills. His writing and research are impressive and his “voice” lightens his heavy subject matter. However, I really wish the book had been laid out in a more chronological way and that he had skipped the fictional spread stories that while very well written, I dodn‘t want in my nonfiction book.

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Jstodberg
Pickpick

Good read especially during an active pandemic gives the reader a perspective of how this could happen.

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batsy
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Pickpick

David Quammen's prose is clear & vivid. He doesn't take his audience for fools, but he does take the time to describe stuff in detail & with care. Science writing with a dash of anthropology & investigative journalism. I learned about zoonosis, reservoir hosts, & a whole lot about viruses. The quote above sums up the problem with pandemics: how humans choose to live. The Next Big One is always around the corner. WE are the outbreak on this planet.

mklong Great review! My Science Book Club discussed the first half of this one last night over Zoom and the discussion was fantastic. My brain is so full. 5y
Megabooks I can‘t decide if I already know more about this (from vet school) or if I‘d enjoy it. 5y
Crazeedi I'd be interested in reading this one for sure 5y
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batsy @mklong I can imagine there would have been so much to discuss. My brain was so full reading this,, too. And I kept wanting to read out loud to anyone who would listen at home—mainly my sister, but I got ignored 😆 5y
batsy @Crazeedi I definitely recommend it! @Megabooks He tells incredible stories about zoonotic transmissions and spillover, weird as that sounds, so if you enjoy good writing about science & humans it's still worth a go :) 5y
RohitSawant Few pages in and finding it so engaging! Agree on it taking a big chunk of brain space. Love how well written it is in addition to being so very insightful. 5y
Centique @rohit-sawant hey! Rohit is in the house! So good to see you my friend 😍 Best wishes for the lockdown - glad to see you‘ve got something good to read 🙌📚 5y
batsy @rohit-sawant I hope you continue to find it worthwhile! I saw the interview on YouTube you mentioned and he's very engaging. 5y
batsy @Centique It's indeed good to see Rohit back 😊 5y
RohitSawant @batsy @Centique You're too kind, Paula, Suba! 💕 Delighted to be Litsying again 🙌🏼 May you have much health, safety, and good reads in these times as well 😊 And glad you liked that interview! 5y
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batsy
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David Quammen writing in 2012, in the chapter about the SARS-CoV outbreak.

This article tells us about profits over humanity in terms of funding: https://bit.ly/3asBy3s “ 'We have a broken ecosystem for making vaccines,' Hotez told me. If the business wasn‘t set up this way, Hotez thinks, he‘d have a Covid-19 vaccine to offer, based on an earlier project that wilted from lack of funding." SARS went away & so a vaccine was no longer a moneymaker.

Cathythoughts 🖤🖤🖤 5y
Tanisha_A How sad! I am going to read that article. 5y
TrishB I‘m hoping that people start thinking differently after this ☹️ people not profits. I‘m not holding my breath whilst hoping though. 5y
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Tamra 😐 5y
batsy @Tanisha_A The article is very good. Sobering but hopeful at the same time. 5y
batsy @TrishB Not holding my breath, either 😔 5y
fleeting Just in case you haven't, maybe you'd like to look into Paul Farmer's books, too. 5y
batsy @fleeting I haven't and I will, thank you! 5y
Suet624 Grrrrrr... 5y
79 likes9 comments
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Chrissyreadit
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1. My garden 🥰🥰🥰I am going to attempt lettuce this Spring.
2. I used to be an extrovert, since getting sick I‘m an introverted extrovert.
3.ive read 4 books. They were all good! I‘m in the middle of the tagged book on audio- it‘s also very good.
4. @ElizaMarie @BookwormAHN @wanderinglynn @Meaw_catlady @UnidragonFrag
#friyayintro

Crazeedi Lettuce is easy! you can even plant in porch boxes! It does well in cooler weather so I'm planting today or tomorrow 5y
Bookzombie 💗💗💗 5y
ElizaMarie Ooo I can‘t garden to save my life. I have this orchid that I got in my last assignment. It still has really green leaves but no flowers I don‘t know if they are ever coming back :/ 5y
57 likes3 comments
review
Pedrocamacho
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Pickpick

If knowing more about zooinotic infections, like COVID-19, helps calm you, then this is the book to read. While being pretty dense, it is eminently readable and very informative. It covers diseases like Hendra, Ebola, SARS (another Coronavirus), Malaria, HIV, and Influenza. Honestly, the chapter on HIV is absolutely fascinating; I still can‘t get over the fact that HIV first crossed over into humans around 1908. I recommend this book highly.

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MicrobeMom
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In the pursuit of a new book for my virology class, this is my second book. Excited for this one! I had started with a virus I was not aware of, Hendrix! #knowledgeispower 🦠

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AnnaK
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Pickpick

So detailed and interesting even if he hates the hot zone

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JPeterson
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Up next!

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wtimblin
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Pickpick

Awesome book. Equal parts interesting and terrifying! Really got me in the mood for all things 'plague-like'...such a cheery start to the weekend!

MStew I bought this few months ago I can't wait to read it, I also wanted to check out sounds interesting!!! 6y
wtimblin @meghan2714 its an awesome book. And i have just downloaded Rabid too! In a 'pandemic sort of mood for some reason! 6y
MStew @wtimblin thats Awesome!! I Love pandemic books! It's fascinating stuff!! If rabid is good I will get it so let me know!!🤓🔬 6y
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JPeterson
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Thank you for the fantastic box of goodies, @Chelsibeau 😄 Everything is perfect!

Spillover sounds right up my alley! That‘s super cool your thesis is on one of the topics (good luck!) and the impact your boss has had! It looks like I‘m going to learn a lot of interesting facts with Everybody Lies! I can‘t wait to read both!

Thanks again! 😊 And a big shoutout to @inwhichHeikereadsharder
for organizing!

#2018nonfictionbookexchange

JPeterson Ps. We are practically neighbors! 👋 @Chelsibeau 7y
AmyG Spillover is a good bok. 7y
Chelsibeau I know!! You live so close. I‘m glad you liked everything! 😊 7y
78 likes3 comments
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Bjorkygrrl40

Yah. My reading list is pretty bizarro. Lol.😂

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bookwrm526
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I was trying to wait to post this, because I know I'll finish at least a few more before the end of the year, but everyone else's we're so fun I couldn't stand it!!

Michelle_mck Me too! I will post again at the end of the year 8y
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Pat1287
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the most seriois outbreak on the planet earth is that of the species Homo Sapiens.

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Twohourflyer
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Twohourflyer
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Curling up with Spillover this evening.

MrBook Nice! And welcome to @Litsy ! I think you'll like it here 😎👍🏻. 8y
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Marchpane
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Just some of the non-fiction books I've abandoned anywhere from 50 to 200 pages in. All of these were fascinating, eye opening, gripping even, until... my attention wandered ☹

EnidBiteEm The Pinker title sounds fascinating, but at the same time I don't want to read what I already know to get to what I don't know ... It's on one of my library wish lists, but I never put a hold on it ... I think I already know I would do the same as you and give up on it... 8y
EliseWhitmore I usually have to take a breather reading non-fiction 😕 8y
kammartinez Ooh, Spillover! It's a bit dense in places, but that's only because Quammen is so thorough. Not a book for the hypochondriacally disposed though ^^;. Sonia Shah's Pandemic is a bit lighter, and a bit more up-to-date, if you're interested in that :). 8y
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Marchpane @EnidBiteEm the Pinker is just so long (800 pages)!! I'm interested in the central thesis - violence has declined despite appearances to the contrary - maybe I'll revisit it one day. 8y
EnidBiteEm I'll wait for your review before I start ... 😂 8y
Marchpane @EnidBiteEm bahaha you're off the hook I think 😂 8y
Redheadrambles Oh Spillover is fantastic a 5 star read for me. He is very thorough but I am predisposed to science based non-fiction and viral disaster books are a personal fav. The take home message for me was don't go to strange bat caves if at all possible 😀 8y
Redheadrambles This is older but also great background especially in light of the recent outbreaks. Sorry I have gone all inner science geek now 😉 8y
BookHermit I have a bad habit of not finishing non-fiction books. There just isn't the same motivation to get to the end and by about 3/4 of the way though I feel like I've got the gist of whatever the author was trying to achieve 😁 8y
Marchpane @Redheadrambles ooh thanks for the rec, that looks good! I hope to go back to Spillover one day 😂. @bookhermit I think you hit the nail on the head there. With fiction, even mediocre fiction, I just have to know how it ends. Non-fiction doesn't have that pull. 8y
bookwrm526 I had that problem with Spillover, but since each chapter was about a different disease I was able to pick it back up later and finish it, and I listened to Packing for Mars on Audio and loved it 8y
ErikasMindfulShelf I have a hard time finishing nonfiction as well 8y
59 likes2 stack adds13 comments