Every Creeping Thing

I’ll admit it: I picked up *Every Creeping Thing* expecting a parade of ‘eww’ moments, but Conniff’s book is far smarter—and funnier—than that. The real hook isn’t the creatures themselves (though the chapter on assassin bugs had me audibly gasping), but the *people* obsessed with them. Conniff introduces us to scientists who let leeches drink their blood for research, arachnologists who handle black widows like they’re kittens, and one unforgettable researcher who keeps his pet tarantula in a *tea cozy*. These aren’t just anecdotes; they’re windows into how passion reshapes fear. Richardson M. Davidson’s narration is a masterclass in balancing wit and gravitas. His delivery is crisp, but he leans into Conniff’s dry humor—like when describing a cockroach’s ability to survive nuclear fallout with the same tone you’d use for a superhero origin story. My only gripe? The pacing occasionally stumbles in denser scientific passages, where Davidson’s enthusiasm can’t quite mask the info-dump. And while Conniff’s globetrotting adventures are vivid, a few segments (like the deep dive into termite digestion) might test listeners who prefer their science with less… *visceral* detail. Still, by the end, I found myself Googling ‘how to build a bug hotel.’ That’s the mark of a great audiobook: it doesn’t just inform—it *converts*.