March Booklist

[eleneariel]

In case you've ever wondered how I keep a record of my reading, this is how:

From Misc

 

 

 

 

I started writing every book down as I finished it in this notebook in 2000. I've experimented with recording the information in a spreadsheet as well, for ease in searching, and of course I keep track now on www.goodreads.com, but I always come back to this notebook. Paper and pen will always be my medium of choice for record keeping.

 

This month's reading was good and bad. The good: this time I read four books from The Stack By The Bed. Still not great (I'd like to get to where the majority of books come from that stack), but better than the last two months. The bad: only nine books total.

 

1. Why Things Bite Back: technology and the revenge of unintended consequences, Edward Tenner

    This should have been so good. And it wasn't. While it did well in detailing the (often terrible) revenge effects, it had almost nothing to say in the way of solutions ... and lacking answers, it just read like a long and depressing lists of Bad Things.

 

2. Unscientific America, Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum

     I woudn't have read this if I had realized what a liberal slant the authors hold. Basically, America is falling behind on the scientific front and it is All George Bush's Fault.

 

3. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

    For the first half of this I was quite certain that it was nowhere near as good as Atlas Shrugged. The main characters were making choices I couldn't really understand, much less sympathise with, and their whole relationship had odd s/m undertones that just didn't seem to match with their characters and were rather disquieting in general. Then the second half came along and almost but not quite changed my mind.

 

4. Why We Buy: the science of shopping, Paco Underhill

    I need a genre name for books like this and Freakonomics and Blink. I love them.

 

5. Nine Coaches Waiting, Mary Stewart

    WHERE HAS THIS BOOK BEEN ALL MY LIFE. It's like Victoria Holt, only better written and just ... so atmospheric. It may have become my new comfort read. I'd rank it right up there with duMaurier's Rebecca.

 

6. The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary Pearson

    Thought-provoking YA book that asks questions about ethics and humanity.

 

7. Better than Homemade: amazing food that changed the way we eat, Carolyn Wyman

    I take issue with the title, obviously, but if you ever wanted to know more about foods - or "foods" - like velveeta, twinkies, marshmallow fluff, and wonder bread, this is the book for you.

 

8. Time Out for Happiness, Frank Gilbreth, Jr.

    A bit more sober of a look into the lives of the Cheaper by the Dozen family, focusing on Lillian Gilbreth, but still full of charm and love.

 

9. I Sing the Body Electric, Ray Bradbury

    My word. Some of these short stories just blew my mind. Some were just strange. A few were incomprehensible.

From the Stack: 5