#dinosaurs

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This week's at the library: I contributed to the very successful Kickstarter campaign of the and received my copy this week (@goodomens_hq). A gorgeous book with a lush slipcase, illustrated by @ColleenDoran. I also adopted a damaged copy The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers from Oxford University Press, and bought a former library copy of a hardback of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, Supplement 4 from McFarland.

@bookstodon

A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books, a red curtain covering the door, and part of the beech-coloured laminate floor. On the left, standing up, Good Omens: The Graphic Novel, showing a black slipcase with the title of the book and signatures of the authors and illustrator in gold foil, while shiny black foil has been used to reproduce several panels of the comic in the background. Directly next to it is the actual graphic novel, a black hardback with gold foil used for the title and author's names. A colourful illustration in the middle shows a three-part church window with the angel Aziraphale on the left and the demon Crowley in the right panel. The middle panel shows a smaller figure of a boy in a red shirt and blue jeans standing astride planet Earth as if he were a mythical giant. Above him is the tree of all knowledge in the Garden of Eden, with a snake circling around its trunk. The middle book in the photo, lying down, is The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers, showing a colour photo of a river flowing over numerous rocks, churning the water white in places. On the right, standing up, is a hardback copy of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, Supplement 4, which is bound in black cloth with gold-coloured lettering used for the title and author name. A picture of a dinosaur is debossed in the cover, though no colour has been applied to it, making it quite hard to see
A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books, a red curtain covering the door, and part of the beech-coloured laminate floor. On the left, standing up, Good Omens: The Graphic Novel, showing a black slipcase with the title of the book and signatures of the authors and illustrator in gold foil, while shiny black foil has been used to reproduce several panels of the comic in the background. Directly next to it is the actual graphic novel, a black hardback with gold foil used for the title and author's names. A colourful illustration in the middle shows a three-part church window with the angel Aziraphale on the left and the demon Crowley in the right panel. The middle panel shows a smaller figure of a boy in a red shirt and blue jeans standing astride planet Earth as if he were a mythical giant. Above him is the tree of all knowledge in the Garden of Eden, with a snake circling around its trunk. The middle book in the photo, lying down, is The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers, showing a colour photo of a river flowing over numerous rocks, churning the water white in places. On the right, standing up, is a hardback copy of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, Supplement 4, which is bound in black cloth with gold-coloured lettering used for the title and author name. A picture of a dinosaur is debossed in the cover, though no colour has been applied to it, making it quite hard to see

THE SECRET LIVES OF DINOSAURS is out NEXT month!

We’ve been busy organising a book tour that will include talks & signings across the UK, USA, Canada, & Europe. The first will be at the wonderful Oxford University Museum of Natural History on Friday, 10 October 2025. I hope you can join us at one of these events – more details soon.

This week at the library: No new books; instead, I took two huge piles of books to and got them ALL signed (thanks @TetZoo and @markwitton for humouring me rocking up with a stack of your books). Overall, an excellent convention on which I will have more to say soon.

And yes, that is the just-published rerelease of Dougal Dixon's The New Dinosaurs from Breakdown Press! Keep your eyes peeled for a review in the near future.

@bookstodon @princetonupress

A photo of two stacks of palaeontology books lying on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books and part of the beech-coloured laminate floor.
A photo of the book The New Dinosaurs opened on its title page to show the author's signature. Partially visible behind this are two stacks of palaeontology books lying on a small, brown, wooden table.
A photo of the book The Sauropod Dinosaurs opened on its title page to show the author Mathew Wedel's signature and doodle of an Amargasaurus head and neck with long spines. The inscription reads: "Dear Leon - go big or go home!" Partially visible behind this are two stacks of palaeontology books lying on a small, brown, wooden table.
A photo of the book King Tyrant opened on its title page to show the author's signature and doodle of a young tyrannosaur. Partially visible behind this are two stacks of palaeontology books lying on a small, brown, wooden table.

This is very well done, like the rest of the episodes. Great , impeccable —or history of paleontology, in this case—and a story about predator-prey conflict that doesn't end the way you expect. I recommend the entire series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH57rtnKCEM

The Crystal Palace don't look like anything that's ever lived on Earth, but they do look like something that *could* have lived. In retrospect, they're a lot more believable than the upright tail-draggers that dominated for most of the following century! So it's good to see them brought to life, even briefly. Somewhere in the ...

It is 121 years ago today that the world lost . Meticulous in its historical detail, King of the Dinosaur Hunters is the definitive biography of this quietly famous and influential fossil collector.

https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2018/12/10/book-review-king-of-the-dinosaur-hunters-the-life-of-john-bell-hatcher-and-the-discoveries-that-shaped-paleontology/

This week's at the library: Very pleased to have found an affordable second-hand copy of the 2nd edition of The Dinosauria from University of California Press. Furthermore, the Geological Society had a sale on Evolution and of . And I found a second-hand copy of Modular from Cambridge University Press. @bookstodon

A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. On the left, The Dinosauria, showing a painting of several small dinosaurs at a river's edge. In the middle, Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, showing a classic engraving of a beautifully preserved pterosaur skeleton (the first pterosaur to be described in 1784 by Cosimo Alessandro Collini, though he mistakenly described it as a marine creature). On the right, Modular Evolution, showing a contemporary artwork called Yellow by artist Nathan Sawaya. It is made out of yellow Lego bricks and shows the torso of a man who has torn his chest open with his hands: yellow bricks have tumbled out of his chest cavity. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books.
A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. On the left, The Dinosauria, showing a painting of several small dinosaurs at a river's edge. In the middle, Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, showing a classic engraving of a beautifully preserved pterosaur skeleton (the first pterosaur to be described in 1784 by Cosimo Alessandro Collini, though he mistakenly described it as a marine creature). On the right, Modular Evolution, showing a contemporary artwork called Yellow by artist Nathan Sawaya. It is made out of yellow Lego bricks and shows the torso of a man who has torn his chest open with his hands: yellow bricks have tumbled out of his chest cavity. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books.

ZOMG, this just dropped, due end of November.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/spinosaur-tales-9781399412469/

I literally just finished reviewing Hone's The Tyrannosaur Chronicles and am in the middle of reading Witton's new King Tyrant. Both of them teaming up to write about spinosaurs? Yes please! @markwitton @bookstodon

This week's at the library has been silent for a few weeks as I was travelling to Paris for work and then the Netherlands for a family visit. Enjoy some behind-the-scenes snapshots (1/2) from my trip to the Paris MNHN, the Institut de France, and the French Senate. King Tyrant has been my constant companion, but, as you can see, I'm not quite done. It's *so* good! Look out for a review soon on https://inquisitivebiologist.com @bookstodon @princetonupress @princetonnature

A photo of a large mounted mammoth skeleton standing on a wooden dais at the paleontological gallery of the Paris Natural History Museum, standing amidst various other mounts and display cabinets. The background shows the balcony and transparent ceiling, covered with see-through material.
A photo of various rare books and prints on display on a large wooden table at the climate-controlled special collections section of the Paris Natural History Museum. The background shows books behind glass doors on floor-to-ceiling shelves.
A photo of mounted skeletons of various whales and other marine mammals on display at the comparative zoology gallery of the Paris Natural History Museum. The photo is taken from the balcony, looking down. A group of four people is looking at one of the skeletons. Trees are visible outside through the large picture windows.
A photo of a section of the library at the Institut de France in Paris, normally off-limits to the public, showing floor-to-ceiling wooden bookcases full of books stretching the full length of a long, rectangular room. There are long tables with reading lamps and chairs on either side down the middle of the room. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling.