Re: [Killietalk] Fish books was Rivulins of the Old World

[Scott Davis <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

BrandtEdL at aol_com wrote: What's the point of your post?
Sometimes there is more to keeping fish than what we are already familiar with. I'm sure you've experienced this when working with a new group of fishes as a generalist or now with killies, when keeping some very different type of killie - let's say pupfish after breeding highland rainforest Aphyosemion.

I'm not trying to put on airs in suggesting those books. Perhaps mentioning those works is showing off, but I'm terrifically grateful to those who steered me in their directions. As a burned out history teacher, not a biologist, and unless you want to have a go at something like the Second Great Awakening, evangelicalism and the development of American religious freedom, I can't bring a lot to the table which I have been passionate about and systematically studied while being (sort of) trained to do something to pay the bills.

But reading about some new aspect of the world of killies or other fishes can also put a little fire in the belly, galvanize the soul and kick-start the mind. In a decade sometimes very disappointing vis-a-vis the hobby and myself, it is neat learning and even sharing a few of these things. (Sharing - what a scary term - reminds one of after dinner speakers.)

Buying books of interest need not be a super expensive process. For instance there are library sales all the time and big special ones where a library or university support group will offer 100,000 rare to common books for sale as fund raisers. The best are of books donated, not surplus from the shelves, but even then there may be some wonderful discoveries. Items may go for a lot of money, as with Neal Foster's original AKA Logo at the Milwaukee convention. Or one may encounter a gem such as Needham et al's Labratory Culture of Invertebrate Animals (about 1960, Dover Edition), which I'm pleased to say, involved dropping a whole dime.

Some people are into reading. Some are into e-mail lists. Some are into forums. Some are into a hands-on approach to the hobby. Some are into a mix of those things. Different strokes for different folks.

For bibliophiles, especially those of us on a budget (who isn't?), a site (and the e-mailings of) http://www.booksalefinder.com/
will prove a useful starting place.

All the best!
Scott
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