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8th of June, '09 09:42 pm

1. Apocryphal Tales by Karel Čapek
2. The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks? by Jan Zalasiewicz
3. Life As We Do Not Know It: The NASA Search For (and Synthesis of) Alien Life by Peter Ward
4. Deaf President Now!: The 1988 Revolution at Gaullaudet University by John B. Christensen and Sharon N. Barnartt
5. Deaf in America: Voices From a Culture by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries
6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
7. Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements by Austin Burt and Robert Trivers
8. The Ethical Slut by Dossie Easton and Catherin A. Liszt
9. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle
11. Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer

Parasite Rex discusses parastism in a wide variety of organisms, both of hosts and of parasites, mostly multicellular, but also some unicellular organisms. The book discusses the various tactics used by parasites to evade their hosts' immune systems and to modify their hosts to fit their needs, including behavioral alterations (such as Toxoplasma making rats less fearful, and thus more easily caught by cats, which are thus themselves infected), as well as adaptations by hosts to attempt to control or evade parasites. It's a fascinating read. Parasites have some of the coolest adaptations in the natural world. In a way, they're really the champions of evolution, displaying far greater sophistication than many free-living creatures. Indeed, species of parasites are believed to outnumber species of free-living organisms by some four to one, there are even parasites that parasitize other parasites!

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