... we should be grateful that someone saw that Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live would not only be utterly fascinating, but also turn out to be an important voice in the science-based argument in favor of more biodiversity ... Never Home Alone is a spirited romp through the vast diversity that inhabits our daily lives and how we’ve changed our ecosystems, often for the worse ... The story of cockroaches is only one of the compelling narratives.

It probably takes the soul of an entomologist, or maybe of a 9-year-old child, to love these bugs as much as Dunn does. Still, it’s hard not to be occasionally charmed by his prose, as when he catalogs the arthropods with whom we share our homes... And it’s hard not to share, at least a little, his awe at their diversity, even in a single household ... There’s a real sense of 'gee-whiz' in this book, but it’s mostly in service of Dunn’s overarching goal: to preach the preservation of biodiversity, not only in the lush forests and streams that fit our traditional image of nature’s abundance, but in the most humble places, too, where the vast majority of us will have most of our cross-species encounters — our basements, mattresses, refrigerator drawers and showerheads.

In his fascinating new book, Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live, Mr. Dunn brings a scientist’s sensibility to our domestic jungle by exploring the paradox of the modern home ... Mr. Dunn is a fine writer, wringing poetry out of the microbial explorations of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who spent half the 17th century documenting all the tiny living things around him ... Mr. Dunn also gracefully explains, without getting bogged down in details, the technology that has allowed scientists during the past decade or so to sequence the DNA of millions of previously unknown microbes, making his book an excellent layperson’s guide to cutting-edge research.

In [the book's] attempt at persuasion, Never Home Alone succeeds extravagantly ... Rob Dunn excels [at enticing his reader] in Never Home Alone ... Never Home Alone is a thumping good book that raises alarm and offers reassurance in roughly equal measure. And it is funny ... Never Home Alone is an expert’s exploration of the limits of expertise ... What makes Never Home Alone so compelling is a sense of wonder and delight that encompasses all sorts of creatures and all sorts of science — black mold lurking in drywall, armpit bacteria on the International Space Station, the link between schizophrenia in humans and the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

... an amiable and often fascinating miscellany of... curiosities, forming a freewheeling survey of what might be termed domestic ecology ... Organisms have wondrous abilities, Dunn points out, because they need them to survive in highly specific conditions. This means that ecologists, who puzzle out these accommodations for a living, have a unique head start in the race to find new marvels. But while we may well nod along to all this, it is surely Dunn’s scientific colleagues who need to be convinced. Still, Dunn does have some guidance to offer the rest of us, if hedged a little by scientific caution.

Ecologist Dunn scores a direct hit on the deepest fears of most readers in the opening pages of this scintillating title. While studying the life-forms found within human homes around the world, he and his fellow researchers discovered mind-boggling numbers: more than 200,000 species are living with us. The typical response to this figure is to, as Dunn writes, 'go home and scrub, and then scrub some more.' But his delightfully informative message is that the overwhelming number of these mostly microscopic entities are beneficial ... in clear, concise, and often witty language, he covers the ongoing work of multiple scientists and researchers, providing dozens of examples that will be readily accessible to readers. In a time of clear-eyed assessment of the environment, Dunn is a voice of reason who should be heartily welcomed.

Cockroaches repel us, we run from spiders in our bathrooms, we kill crickets in our basements and moths in our closets, while our dogs and cats track in dirt full of bacteria. Much to our dismay, our homes are filled with uninvited guests. In Never Home Alone, ecologist Rob Dunn examines the biodiversity we live with every day in our basements, bedrooms and kitchens ... Never Home Alone posits that if we look around us as Dunn does, we can begin to see the glorious biodiversity of our indoor worlds and wonder at its complexity and capacity.

Dunn vents passionately about the possible benefits these creatures could provide to humans and urges his readers to think about those benefits ... although the tentacles and mandibles of his imagination might be waving in the direction of pan-species cooperation, Dunn's feet are planted firmly in the real world ... The book is crammed full of eeensy-weensy tales of wonder from the insect world, stories about the biological marvels that have evolved over eons among beetles, spiders, and all the various multi-legged thumb-long flesh-colored monsters that live in your bathtub drains. On virtually every page, readers learn about these marvels ... You'll never look at your bookcases the same way again.

Dunn reports on an impressively wide variety of fascinating creatures all over the world. For example, your hot water heater is home to the same thermal-loving bacteria found in hot springs. That cricket in the basement lives a meager existence, mostly eating dead stuff. The showerhead in your bathroom is a perfect biofilm sheltering bacteria not killed by chlorination. The learning quotient is high in this fact-filled text, but there are also opportunities for learning more, since, as the author notes, specialists tend to study exotic bugs in faraway places, ignoring what is literally underfoot ... The author also discusses pets; whatever the cat dragged in might alter readers’ behavior toward their feline friends. For a change of pace, Dunn provides a chapter on the fermenting bacteria and yeasts that give us beer, wine, and foods like kimchi and sourdough bread. The surprise is that long-time preparers of these foods impart unique flavor to the products because their hands acquire some of the same fermenting species not normally found on skin. Of course we must chlorinate our water, wash our hands, get vaccinated, and so on, Dunn argues persuasively and entertainingly. But we also need to relax and cultivate biodiversity for the good of all life on Earth.

Those who read this delightfully entertaining and scientifically enlightening book about the thousands of creatures who live alongside humans will never think about their homes in the same way again. As Dunn, an ecologist at North Carolina State University, demonstrates via his own fascinating research, houses abound with nonhuman life ... Throughout, he makes a compelling case for the value of biodiversity, while also conveying the excitement of scientific investigation, demonstrating that important discoveries can be made very close to home.