Still catching up: books #26-30 for the year.
26: The Flat-Belly Diet, by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass. I read this one mainly to see what all the fuss was about. As diet books go, it seems reasonable...cut out foods which cause you to bloat! Eat in moderation. And eat monounsaturated fatty acids, which are good for you and make you feel full, so you consume fewer overall calories. The meal plans seem realistic, and the book is about half diet plan and half recipes. I'd buy it used, probably.
27: But Wait ... There's More!: Tighten Your Abs, Make Millions, and Learn How the $100 Billion Infomercial Industry Sold Us Everything But the Kitchen Sink, by Remy Stern. A history of the professional pitchman, with a side order of QVC. A very good read, if a little disorganized.
28: Overcoming Allergies , by Christina Scott-Moncrieff. Didn't tell me much of what I didn't already know ("avoid allergy triggers"), but the illustrations were nice.
29: The American Resting Place: 400 Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds, by Marilyn Yalom and Reid S. Yalom. Do you like cemeteries? Want to know how some cemetery customs originated? This is a VERY good book. They only covered cemeteries that they personally visited and photographed, so here's hoping for a Volume 2 in the future. The photographs are spectacular, especially the ones of the old "death's head" style tombstones, which are my personal favorites. Note: When I die I want a tombstone like that.
30: The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. What happens when a big ol' liberal journalism major from Brown, who was raised Quaker and has lesbian aunts, transfers to Liberty University, the house that Jerry Falwell built, and tries to pass as a Born-Again Christian? Lots of stuff, that's what. I found this book fascinating, and read it through all at one sitting. It's like a peek inside a crazy secret club that I'd never want to join. Two thumbs up.
27: But Wait ... There's More!: Tighten Your Abs, Make Millions, and Learn How the $100 Billion Infomercial Industry Sold Us Everything But the Kitchen Sink, by Remy Stern. A history of the professional pitchman, with a side order of QVC. A very good read, if a little disorganized.
28: Overcoming Allergies , by Christina Scott-Moncrieff. Didn't tell me much of what I didn't already know ("avoid allergy triggers"), but the illustrations were nice.
29: The American Resting Place: 400 Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds, by Marilyn Yalom and Reid S. Yalom. Do you like cemeteries? Want to know how some cemetery customs originated? This is a VERY good book. They only covered cemeteries that they personally visited and photographed, so here's hoping for a Volume 2 in the future. The photographs are spectacular, especially the ones of the old "death's head" style tombstones, which are my personal favorites. Note: When I die I want a tombstone like that.
30: The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. What happens when a big ol' liberal journalism major from Brown, who was raised Quaker and has lesbian aunts, transfers to Liberty University, the house that Jerry Falwell built, and tries to pass as a Born-Again Christian? Lots of stuff, that's what. I found this book fascinating, and read it through all at one sitting. It's like a peek inside a crazy secret club that I'd never want to join. Two thumbs up.