Earthly bodies Embracing animal nature

In this contrived blend of nature writing and memoir, herbalist Chakour (Awakening Artemis) strains to highlight the similarities between animals and humans by discussing how the behavior of cheetahs, octopuses, spiders, and other creatures dovetails with anecdotes from her life. Noting that seagulls use "choking displays as part of (often) contentious discussions over where to nest," Chakour recounts breaking up with her partner because he wanted to continue living in Brooklyn while she wanted to put down roots somewhere more rural after quarantining in the Scottish Highlands during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the connections between the animal trivia and the autobiographical material are often superficial. For instance, facts about bumblebees' eating habits do little to illuminate Chakour's account of going on Bumble dates after moving to western Massachusetts in 2021. The zoological sections mostly consist of well-known facts, as when Chakour describes how male seahorses carry their partner's eggs while discussing how she fell in love with her current partner (the author's assertion that love changes how the hippocampus, "a seahorse-shaped structure in the brain," processes memories serves as the tenuous connective tissue). There's too little science to satisfy nature readers, yet there's enough to distract from the account of how Chakour rebooted her life after the pandemic. This never quite gels. Agent: Terra Chalberg, Chalberg & Sussman. (Sept.)

Part memoir, part ecology, part fable. Chakour, who practices herbalism and leads rewilding retreats, argues that modern humans are "detached from [our] bodily existence" and presents the story of how she became a "more embodied, instinctual self." To invite readers to "embrace [our] animal nature," Chakour adds to her narrative the stories of 23 nonhuman ("more-than-human") animals. The interspersed vignettes--about foxes and bees, hawks, and black bears--are meant to correct the harmful misunderstandings that keep humans from living in harmony with these other species, to highlight what we have in common, and to serve up life lessons. Recalling a time when she worked as a personal trainer and encountered firsthand the appearance-based anxieties of other women, Chakour wishes we could emancipate ourselves from the "bondage" of caring about exteriors and, like fierce and matriarchal hyenas, focus instead on cultivating sisterhood and strength. Writing about a partner who wished to live in New York while Chakour herself favored Massachusetts provides an occasion to contemplate seagull pairs that argue so long over where to build their nests that they never make a choice. The animal parallels go some way toward adding interest to the story, which, for all the promised wildness, reads as relatively tame; after a period of indecision, the author leaves her relationship, joins Bumble (the animal that appears in this chapter is not difficult to guess), and buys some land. The animal stories allow Chakour to incorporate many urgent ecological topics into her narrative and give readers a chance to learn about the important systemic roles of wolves, beavers, vultures, and others. Inhabited by so many complex and interesting creatures,Earthly Bodies asks that we pay attention on behalf of the planet. Sometimes meandering, but makes an urgent case for ecological thinking. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.