Animals, Humans, and Disease
By E. Fuller Torrey, MD, and Robert H. Yolken, MD.
Well, this book is exactly about what the subtitle says: how we got our diseases through our various interactions with animals, and how those interactions changed over the years and as our technology advanced. Sometimes amusing, most of the time frightening, the descriptions here are pretty factuals, which is not to say it is a difficult read. Some interesting points about food safety and the cost of exotic pets (did you know you could get a buffalo for just $2,000? A giraffe is a bit more pricy: $60K). [191 pp., including a bunch of references, comments, and an index.]
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Friday, December 27, 2013
Friends Like Us
By Lauren Fox
A story about best friends and how their friendship ends... over a guy. In the background there was this horrible relationship with the brother, which I can't say I cared for. Couldn't really get into it the story or identify with the main characters, even though the narrator is a doodler. But parts of the book were amusing. [288 pp.]
Book link
A story about best friends and how their friendship ends... over a guy. In the background there was this horrible relationship with the brother, which I can't say I cared for. Couldn't really get into it the story or identify with the main characters, even though the narrator is a doodler. But parts of the book were amusing. [288 pp.]
Book link
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Sunset Park
By Paul Auster
I like to read Paul Auster. He's writing is very appealing to me. His stories are usually very interesting. But with this book I have a couple of problems. The first, and minor one, is the diversion into baseball trivia. Some of it was interesting, that's true, but a bunch of it I just read without paying too much attention. Which is not something I usually do. The second and major problem is the ending. I was very disappointed by the ending. It seemed unwarranted. That said, I quite enjoyed reading it. I mean, sure, the ending wasn't as good as I hoped, but it is just a small part of 320 pages. The story is still interesting. Still, it's a shame the ending was such a disappointment. [320 pp.]
Book link
I like to read Paul Auster. He's writing is very appealing to me. His stories are usually very interesting. But with this book I have a couple of problems. The first, and minor one, is the diversion into baseball trivia. Some of it was interesting, that's true, but a bunch of it I just read without paying too much attention. Which is not something I usually do. The second and major problem is the ending. I was very disappointed by the ending. It seemed unwarranted. That said, I quite enjoyed reading it. I mean, sure, the ending wasn't as good as I hoped, but it is just a small part of 320 pages. The story is still interesting. Still, it's a shame the ending was such a disappointment. [320 pp.]
Book link
Friday, November 29, 2013
Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body
By Jennifer Ackerman
This nonfiction book contains a lot of interesting facts about the human body and its function. Some of it overlapped with the information in Gulp, but there is also a lot of other information, especially about circadian rhythms and sleep. It is another excellent source for human biology teacher, but also for everyone who is interested in getting to know their body better. This is knowledge you can use to make your life easier and/or more productive and/or safer. Some think there isn't enough criticism in the way the information is displayed - the research behind it is mentioned, but no critical description of the methods used and whether or not other research supported the findings. This might be the case sometimes, but over all I think this book does a good job introducing the various aspects of human body functions. [272 pp.]
Book link
This nonfiction book contains a lot of interesting facts about the human body and its function. Some of it overlapped with the information in Gulp, but there is also a lot of other information, especially about circadian rhythms and sleep. It is another excellent source for human biology teacher, but also for everyone who is interested in getting to know their body better. This is knowledge you can use to make your life easier and/or more productive and/or safer. Some think there isn't enough criticism in the way the information is displayed - the research behind it is mentioned, but no critical description of the methods used and whether or not other research supported the findings. This might be the case sometimes, but over all I think this book does a good job introducing the various aspects of human body functions. [272 pp.]
Book link
Fieldwork
By Mischa Berlinski
I admit that I was a bit disappointed when I found out that the field work in this book is in the field of anthropology and not biology, but I can't say I was disappointed by the book or the story. It was fascinating and engrossing. Even though it says on the cover that it is a novel, I felt like this is a biographical book (of course, it's the author's fault of using his own name for the main character). I can't imagine how much research such book would require if it's not based on personal experience. The author definitely did a great job in my opinion. [356 pp.]
Book link
I admit that I was a bit disappointed when I found out that the field work in this book is in the field of anthropology and not biology, but I can't say I was disappointed by the book or the story. It was fascinating and engrossing. Even though it says on the cover that it is a novel, I felt like this is a biographical book (of course, it's the author's fault of using his own name for the main character). I can't imagine how much research such book would require if it's not based on personal experience. The author definitely did a great job in my opinion. [356 pp.]
Book link
Friday, October 25, 2013
The End of Diabetes
By Joel Fuhrman
I got this book to learn more about diabetes, and what diabetics should eat, because my nutrition class textbook did not really answer all of my questions about the disease. It helped in answering my questions, but it was obvious this book is made to sell something (the book, the website membership, related products), and in some cases it made me feel like some of the information is biased to make that sell. I do agree with the general approach, though, and I hope many people with diabetes (and physicians) would use the advice in the book to heal themselves (or their patients). [336 pp.]
Book link
I got this book to learn more about diabetes, and what diabetics should eat, because my nutrition class textbook did not really answer all of my questions about the disease. It helped in answering my questions, but it was obvious this book is made to sell something (the book, the website membership, related products), and in some cases it made me feel like some of the information is biased to make that sell. I do agree with the general approach, though, and I hope many people with diabetes (and physicians) would use the advice in the book to heal themselves (or their patients). [336 pp.]
Book link
Jamrach's Menagerie
By Carol Birch
This book was totally unexpected for me, even though the cover illustration of the hardcover version pretty much tells it all. It was very interesting, though sometimes I felt it went into too much detail. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. [304 pp.]
Book link
This book was totally unexpected for me, even though the cover illustration of the hardcover version pretty much tells it all. It was very interesting, though sometimes I felt it went into too much detail. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. [304 pp.]
Book link
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