Book Review: A Dinosaur Book on The Rantosaurus Blog

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got to this book after looking through the winners of the Goodreads Choice 2018 and a few friends' recommendations. For a person who is terrified of lizards (and most other reptiles), I am a HUGE fan of dinosaurs. Maybe I can get away with it because I'll never really meet one. Wrong! Birds evolved from dinosaurs and we see them everyday. This book took me months to finish simply because it was so well written that I didn't want all the fun to be over. Finally, I finished it as a part of my year-end clean up of books I have started and not finished.

The author takes us on many an adventure with himself and other palaeontologists throughout the world. I was instantly hooked by Steve describing how footprints and handprints on old rocks are interpreted to learn about the creatures who made them. It's so fascinating that it could be a book all by itself! He goes on to describe creatures called dinosauromorphs and how they evolved. All of this was new to me and had me frantically googling away in search of more.

I'd say a book that has me on googling is a very good book. As dinosaurs entered the picture, I was googling more and more to see what they looked like. Once again the author introduced us to famous palaeontologists from the world over as they set off of on adventures in search of dinosaurs. He often describes in vivid details, what the world looked like when the dinosaurs walked on it. Pangea, which was so far locked away in my geography textbook, leapt to life, filled with prehistoric creatures that capture the imagination in colourful ways. 

This book answers many questions that I didn't even know I had. What happened to the dinosaurs when Pangea started to split? How did the dinosaurs come to dominate the earth? How did some of them manage to get to such biblical proportions? How do you know how much a dinosaur weighed? The Titanosaurs really piqued my interest. Can you imagine a creature so massive, so gigantic that each of it's vertebrae is the size of a bathtub? Austroposeidon was that dinosaur! I was truly fascinated by the use of computer models to recreate dinosaurs from it's fossils. The author describes scientific methods in a very accessible way for a variety of audiences. 

Remember all the memes about T. Rex being dumb, trying to make a bed with it's tiny hands? Welcome to a world where the tyrannosaurus roamed and especially the T. Rex. I learnt a great deal about other tyrannosauruses that I didn't even know existed. My favourites being the the Siberian Kileskus and Uzbek Timurlengia euotica (yes, the name mentions Timur, the warlord). 

An entire chapter is dedicated to the King of the Dinosaurs, the T.Rex. The author delves deep into it's way of life, it's hunting habits, it's physiology and a lot more! It is fascinating to say the least! Evolution created these nightmarish creatures that walked the earth. It's easy to understand why the T. Rex became a celebrity. 

The best part of this book is the recreation of the fateful day when it all ended for the dinosaurs. An asteroid came along to finish the magnificent beasts. The vivid descriptions paint a horrific picture of how the mighty fell. I couldn't help but feel a deep sorrow for the glory that was. 

The book ends with the a chilling passage which is very hard to refute: 

"We humans now wear the crown that once belonged to the dinosaurs. We are confident of our place in nature, even as our actions are rapidly changing the planet around us. It leaves me uneasy, and one thought lingers in my mind as I walk through the harsh New Mexican desert, seeing the bones of dinosaurs give way so suddenly to fossils of Torrejonia and other mammals.
It could happen to the dinosaurs, could it also happen to us?" 

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Hunger Games, #0

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book was totally unnecessary in The Hunger Games series. It doesn't add anything much to our knowledge of post-apocalyptic world Suzanne Collins talks about. The book itself is very boring and I had to put it down several times. At the end of the year, I finish all the unfinished books and that's how I got myself to complete reading this. The writing is not very gripping which is a real shame because I enjoyed the books 1-3 quite a lot! The story had lots of potential plot points worth exploring but the author seemed to have missed those opportunities. 

Spoilers below: 👇

**I am going to assume you know about The Hunger Games Trilogy. If you are new to it, please do not start with this book. It will put you right off! Go straight to Book 1. **

The story is about President Snow (Coriolanus) when he was young. He was assigned as a mentor to a tribute in the Hunger Games names Lucy Gray Baird. He builds up special relationship with her. This slowly evolves into a love interest. I feel like the romance angle could have been developed a bit further. Very conveniently, one half the tributes die before the Hunger Games even begin. So the competition is halved. Even during the games, which aren't very interesting, Lucy doesn't face much of a challenge. Takes the suspense away and makes it obvious that she will win. Coriolanus helps her to win and his interference is discovered. He gets punished by being made a Peacekeeper in District 12 which also Lucy's district. 

Now this decision by the authorities is a bit strange. Why assign him to Lucy's district when his romantic feelings for her were so apparent? Needless to say, they reunite in District 12. As a Peacekeeper, he is faced with some difficult choices. He is torn between helping his friend who is assisting some rebels and serving the Capital. Finally, gives his friend up to the authorities and leaves the district with Lucy Gray. They turn on each other at the end and after so many pages, we don't find out what happens to Lucy! Coriolanus has a bright future waiting for him back at the Capital and his brief involvement with the rebels is not found out. 

We spend a lot of time in Coriolanus's head in this book, listening to his thoughts. Whenever an event takes place, the momentum is extremely short-lived as we are back in Snow's head again. He seems like an ambitious young boy who doesn't always agree with the ways of the Capital but tries his best to succeed. Somehow, his turn towards evil doesn't make a lot of sense. Some exciting things do happen in short bursts but that's about it. I was very tempted to skip over portions but I resisted. Also, Lucy is singer the author has listed out the lyrics of all the songs she sang. One thing I did like was the reference to William Wordsworth's poem Lucy Gray in one of the songs which gives the reader a semblance of closure about District 12's Lucy Gray's fate. She seems to have simply disappeared.  

View all my reviews

The Dalgona Coffee Bandwagon

My First Glass of Dalgona Coffee   

Yes, I did! I jumped onto the Dalgona Coffee bandwagon! During the lockdown 1.0, Dalgona Coffee was heavily trending on social media. Now, I am not one for social media challenges but my sister tried it and said she loved it. 'Try it!', she barked at me for days until I caved in. Well, I do love a tall, cold glass of milky coffee on a hot summer day so I decided to give it a try. 

So, how do you make Dalgona Coffee? It's quite simple really. All you need is equal parts of instant coffee, powdered sugar and hot water. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with espresso. You have to combine the ingredients together and whip it till it becomes a light and fluffy cream. Pour yourself a glass of milk (dairy free is absolutely fine too. I have tried it with coconut milk) with some ice and top it off with the coffee cream. You may garnish with some chocolate shavings or a sprinkle of cocoa powder (I often did!). Now get your camera out and show off your hard work! Unfortunately, for all you freshly roasted coffee lovers, this only works with instant coffee. Just before you drink, incorporate the coffee cream into the milk with a spoon. Remember to take all the fancy photos before you do this! 

Instagram is full of people posting pics using the hashtag #DalgonaCoffee. What is it, you wonder?

Posted by The Times of India on Monday, 30 March 2020

On my first attempt, I followed a recommendation and used 2 tablespoons of coffee, sugar and water each. I don't have a electric whisk so I used the tiny spice grinder jar on my blender. Probably wasn't a great idea because quickly the mixture stuck to the walls of the jar and wasn't blending too well. With a little bit of water, I managed to make it work and hey presto! I had my first glass of Dalgona. I was so pleased that I even garnished it with some dark chocolate chips. It was so delicious! I am not a seasoned coffee drinker, I am quite new at this so 2 tablespoons was probably too much for me and I was bouncing off the walls. Thankfully, I had a manuscript to review for a friend and the coffee helped me get the job done.

Chocolate Dalgona Coffee

If I can add chocolate to something, know that I probably will. So for my second attempt, I used 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and used 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder instead. It would stop me bouncing off the walls and how can I possibly say no to chocolate? I ditched the blender jar as it wasn't a roaring success and I whipped out my hand held whisk. I was about to use some good old muscle power! Only I whisked and whisked till kingdom come and never really got to the same consistency as my first attempt. I gave up after almost an hour and just drank it anyway. It was mouth wateringly delicious but I had to take the pictures quickly before the cream sank into the milk. I needed a new plan. 

Using just 1 tablespoon of coffee along with 1 tablespoon each of sugar and water was attempt number three. I also figure out that using boiling water works best. Didn't take me too long to whisk manually, maybe around 5-7 minutes. Finally, I were getting somewhere! I also used a smaller glass of milk to prevent the taste from getting diluted. Yes, I'll say out loud, I was bored during the lockdown. 

My Favourite Chocolate Dalgona Coffee

Did I add some cocoa powder next? You guessed right! In fact, if I had just searched for 'chocolate dalgona coffee' on YouTube, I would have gotten there sooner. After whipping the coffee, sugar and water to form the cream (I used 1 tablespoon each), I mixed in 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder. Bliss! My experiments had finally come to an end and I had a favourite. I mostly stuck to this recipe and still do when I occasionally make this drink. 

I have heard some complains on social media about this technique of making coffee having existed much before the viral trends. Yes, they are right! Beating instant coffee and sugar together to make 'beaten coffee' or the 'Indian cappuccino' has been around for a very long time. My late aunt used to beat a whole batch of coffee and sugar together which was then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for delicious coffee whenever they had guests over. When would come over to ours for holidays, we wouldn't let her leave without making her 'special coffee' for us. She would spend ages whipping the mixture with just a teaspoon and the end result was divine! She would pour a cup of steaming hot milk over the mixture and to my child mind it was the creamiest, most delicious coffee ever. I say with a lump in my throat, I have never managed to get that exact taste when I have tried. Understandably, it is missing the element of love. 

Beaten Coffee

 Is it Worth the Hype?

 Well, in my opinion, dalgona coffee makes for pretty pictures but once you mix in the foam and drink it, it isn't any different to the milky, sweet cold coffee that we are very familiar with. In fact, I find the whipped mixture to be very sticky and difficult to mix into the milk. I also have to scrape down the bowl and the whisk with a little bit of milk because I am paranoid about wasting all the deliciousness. I would recommend that you try it once and decide for yourself. You can find out what all the fuss is about and save yourself the trouble in the future. If you are a chocolate lover, do try it with cocoa powder added. If you have an electric whisk, you can save yourself from the sore arms the next day. It was still a lot of fun to do during the lockdown as we were stuck indoors for the summer months. As a newbie when it comes to appreciating flavourful coffee, I have since then developed a more refined taste (I can see you rolling your eyes!).      

Love in the Time of Corona

 So, 2020 is almost coming to a close. Most of us are tired and exhausted with the burden of cancelled plans, dreams put on hold, physical separation from the ones we love and most of all the crushing weight of uncertainty. We often refer to this year as one that was ‘wasted’. In these ‘unprecedented’ (I have heard and used this word more in 2020 than in my entire life!) times, I thought it would be a good idea to do some self reflecting.  

Sunrise at the Taj Mahal

Personally, 2020 began quite well. I visited my family with my partner. He did the whole scary ‘Meet the Parents’ thing and it went well (no arguments were had! Success!). We then did some travelling to see friends and visited the Taj Mahal (a big tick off the bucket-list). We sat at cafes in Kolkata plotting a Europe trip in June where we would start in Italy and end up in Belgium. We even planned a weekend away at Torqauy, relaxing by the English Riviera for his birthday. Needless to say, several weeks later, all plans were crushed and were locked down!  

I confess, I was quite panicked about the lockdown. I worried about my ability to work from home for an extended period of time, the lack of human contact and the state of my mental and physical health. There were days when my room felt like a prison, days when I felt like I wouldn’t be able get out of bed and days when I felt like there was no hope left. Even with everything going on, I feel like I managed to make some significant progress in certain areas of my life which I would happily neglect in other years due to my ‘busy schedule’. Here are few of those things:

• Exercise: Like many others, I would begin the new year bubbling with enthusiasm to get fit and exercise regularly. Much like many others, a few weeks in, the short days and cold weather would extinguish my motivation and I would conveniently slip back into watching TV shows all evening in my PJs and wanting an entire cake for dinner! Since commuting to work was no longer taking away my time, I was (still am) exercising regularly. Living on a floor above an office ruled out anything that required jumping so I focused on yoga. I began my year with a 30 Day Yoga Journey by Kino MacGregor and became an ardent fan of Tim Senesi. I have reached levels of flexibility and strength this year that I am truly proud of. Have I got on my yoga mat religiously every single day? No. I have showed up more often than other years though.

  

  Lemon Tea and Onion Bhajis

• Home Cooking: Makes sense to talk about food soon after exercise. I have cooked more this year than any other year of my life. Yes, there were days I ate a bag of crisps for lunch and couldn't be bothered to get up to get dinner. Restaurants and cafes being shut, forced me to learn more cooking from my great food guru (my mother) and my other great food guru (YouTube). Staying home through summer made me crave some signature dishes from my life in Kolkata and I finally had the time to learn how to make those!

• Reading: Wanting more time to read is my constant state of being. This year I have outdone myself and read a total of 75 books (okay, 73 and 2 that are nearly finished. Will be done before 2021, I promise!). I explored genres that I never bothered with before and I was fascinated! One of the many surprises in 2020 (this one is a pleasant surprise) is that I absolutely love graphic novels! I started with The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman and now am about to read Blankets by Craig Thompson.

Graphic Novels

• Relationship with Friends: I agree that virtual interactions pale in comparison to face-to-face ones. However, some friendships in my life have reached new heights this year. Two of my friends from school invited me to a book club where we read books from all over the world. We then have a discussion over video call. This has brought us closer than ever before! Previously, we would often be out of touch for several months! Some friends I had lost touch with reconnected with me this year. Maybe such reunions (though mostly virtual) would never have taken place if we didn't slow down for once.

• Relationship with Partner: Surviving a global pandemic together can help you get to know your partner like never before! Jokes aside, we had to deal with a constantly changing situation and plethora of restrictions. If nothing else, I have managed to transfer my love for reading, cooking and yoga over to him. For the last two months we have been separated geographically with little chance of him joining me due to travel restrictions. For a person who swore they wouldn’t be able to pull off a long distance relationship (that person is me by the way!), I am constantly surprising myself with the relative smoothness with which this is progressing. We have found a strange routine of video chats where we do yoga, discuss books and even cook together. I long for the time when we can see each other in person again but thanks to technology, the wait is less harrowing. 

Surviving or thriving?

Motivational speakers often ask this question. This year I would say that surviving and thriving are one and the same. This period has led me to redefine my sense of self-worth and truthfully examine the things that are important to me. 

When the lockdown began, social media erupted with people making most of the lockdown. Baking bread, learning new languages, completing online courses, exercising at home and excitedly attending events on Zoom. We know that for the majority of us, it may have gone quite differently with motivation decaying by the hour! Sometimes it is ok to just be and not reach for the next thing. In the world of free next day delivery and streaming services, we often feel uncomfortable with that concept. Going into the future, I want to remember to take time for myself no matter how many commitments I may have.