Book Recs

Hee, Nefret fell off the bed this morning. Since she was trying to grapple with my hand at the time, claws out but not digging in, and trying to chew on my fingers, I didn't feel too bad. She wasn't hurt and she just licked herself to show how much she didn't care. But it was funny. Cats really aren't that graceful sometimes.

Anyway, on to the book recomendations:

Book Recs!

Okay, the first book rec is actually a book-on-CD rec, because that's how I got it. Actually, Jennifer Crusie did a great blog post about it, and I love Jenny Crusie so I went and requested the book she recommended on CD from another library and got it.

• Thin is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel. Valerie Frankel has been on my to-read list for years. I'm a fan of her mysteries, which no one else I've met has ever heard of, and I loved her book Smart Vs. Pretty about sisters. So, this book is about her going from cronic dieter with major weight and food issues to being happy with herself, happy with her body, and having a healthier attitude towards food. It's a nice autobiography at the same time.
  
  ( Emotional reactions under cut; it got a little long. )



• Fossil Legends of the First Americans by Adrienne Mayor. This books is a new-world study of a book Mayor had already written: The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times. This one is about the interpretation of fossils into Native American (or First nation, or many other names she uses in the book) lore and mythology. It's an interesting look and a surprisingly hefty read for a subject that is so underdocumented. The subject itself is interesting, but then Mayor also adds in several subtle "Up Yours" rebuffs to one George Gaylord Simpson, who published a book/paper/whatever (it's unclear) in 1957 stating in those oh-so-lofty academic terms that Native Americans were basically too stupid and savage to realize that fossils were anything but interesting rocks. She refutes his claim with documented statements, some from the mid 1800s from Native Americans talking about fossils having once been living things.
  
  I wish I hadn't had to return the book, but it was already overdue. It's a fun read, not a quick one, and it is a bit academic in areas, but it is mostly a very cool study and a new way of looking at mythology. I also learned a lot about American (both North and South) fossils that I hadn't even had an inkling of before, and now I kind of want to take a road trip around looking at famous fossil sites.
  
  Also, I just checked out the page on Amazon and looked at the customer reviews, and the only one less than four stars was a three-star review that points out that scientists are "afraid" to do carbon tests on dinosaurs becuase it might prove that humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs. So, yeah, that was good for an eye-roll.



• Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. This book is gross, disgusting, hilarious, thought-provoking, and awesome. I'm not even done with it yet, but even if I hate the rest of the book, I'll recommend it up to whatever page I'm currently on. Mary Roach has also written Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife and Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex both of which are on my to-read list.
  
  Stiff is one of those books that you probably shouldn't like, but love anyway. It's total guilty pleasure, gross-out reading. It's kind of like reality TV, only more information-laden. There's several facts in there you never wanted to know, and I actually gagged a couple of times reading some of the descriptions of things going on. But I laughed way more times than I gagged, simply because Roach's writing is extremely light-hearted considering the subject. But that just makes it even better. And still, there are some very touching and insightful moments in the book. It's kind of a roller-coaster read, but a good one.