Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

I'm glad that my birthday gift to a friend ended up being a dupe, because I got to read this book. And I loved it! I've read the author's work before, and enjoyed her love of esoteric scientific topics, and her ability to make them accessible (fun, even!). It's rare to read a book that is so informative and also so funny. She has enviable journalistic talent delivered with such a delightful tone.

That, and I find this book's topic — humans attempts to deal with less-than-ideal encounters with animals (from the deadly to the annoying) — especially fascinating. She goes all over the world, from India to Italy to Colorado, to explore these animal-human encounters and all the varied and complex ways humans react (spolier: the problems almost always arise because we messed up the natural way of things, and by trying to fix it, we make it worse).

Definitely recommend this book, both for the writing and for buckets of fun facts to tell at your next party.