Ahoy there me mateys! For those of ye who are new to me log, a word: though this log’s focus is on sci-fi, fantasy, and young adult, this Captain does have broader reading tastes. Occasionally I will share some novels that I enjoyed that are off the charts (a non sci-fi, fantasy, or young adult novel), as it were. So today I bring ye a memoir with cool fish facts!

Okay I now kinda have a thing for books that combine memoirs with science and fun animal facts. So far, I have read about ravens, hawks, owls, octopuses, and snails (seriously snails are AMAZING). I like fish and think they are cool denizens of the deep. With a name like dragon fish, I had to know more. Like this:

The Asian arowana is the world’s most expensive aquarium fish. It is a tropical freshwater fish from Southeast Asia that grows three feet long in the wild. That’s roughly the size of a snowshoe. It is a fierce predator dating back to the age of the dinosaurs. It has large, metallic scales, like coins; whiskers that jut from its chin; and it undulates like the paper dragons you see in a Chinese New Year’s parade. That resemblance has spawned the belief that the fish brings good luck and prosperity, which is why it has become a highly sought-after aquarium fish.source

I absolutely loved the beginning of the book and the introduction to the weird world of high priced aquarium fish. When I had guppies and tetras as a kid, I never questioned where the pet store got them. Now I know. I also know that there is a fish beauty pageant called the Aquarama International Fish Competition. I learned that a man named Kenny the Fish is one of the biggest fish sellers in the world . . .

Emily Voigt @ Emily_Voigt - "Kenny the Fish posing nude with fish. Tried this for author photo but fish bags too slippery."

View image on Twitter

So while the fish facts were excellent, I did have problems with the memoir part of the story. The author went on a search for wild dragon fish. This took up the majority of the book and seemed rather bland. Part of the problem is that it felt mostly like a listing of the people she met and the places that she went. It seemed more about the lengths the author went to try and set up trips. I never really got a feel for the scenery of the countries or people she met. The descriptions were so vague at times that some of the people and places could have been swapped and it wouldn’t have mattered. I did think her brief insight into wildlife protection laws were very interesting.

The most tantalizing bits: the murder of the fish store owner, the illegal animals of New York City, and fish surgery were glossed over. The minutiae of the author’s personal travel struggles were not. I wanted more fish and less author story. This is never a good sign for a memoir. I am glad I learned about the fish but ye could read the National Geographic article that I found and basically get a very nice overview of the good parts of the book. Arrr!