Reading Malcolm Gladwell has given me an unnatural draw towards books with single word titles. Single syllables seem to be an even greater draw as I had to wait list for this particular title and then was in a huge rush to finish up "Island of the Blue Dolphins" so I could start it.
Plus, I start feeling guilty when I read too many crime stories, so after finishing The Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson, I filled my to read list with all kinds of nonfiction and non-thriller/ crim stories best sellers . Bonk was not was I was expecting although I can't remember exactly what I was expecting.
Bonk is basically a witty history of the scientific 'research' (seriously, most pre-scientific method experiments are hardly science) into human sexuality and sexual dysfunction. The style is probably a bit too whimsical for me put Roach in my favorite authors list, but it does make it fun to read. There is quite a bit of interesting information hidden among the antidotes, but the cringe factor made parts of the book almost unbearable. I can only imagine that this would be much worse for a man who tried to read it!
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Memoirs of a Geisha is not the type of book I'd normally read, mostly because my twisted mind tends to want to read primarily crime and horror books. Stephan King's The Shinning is one of the first books I remember picking out to read when I was in grade school or junior high. Gavin has recently convinced me I'm missing out on a ton of great movies by taking this same attitude towards movies, so I'm trying to broaden my horizons. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. I have to admit, I disliked the author some after I didn't realize that the first chapter, where he describes a historical writter sitting down with the Geisha of the story to record her life story, was the first chapter and not a forward. I therefore spent the duration of the book believing that at least some of the character were real people.
I think the reader of this book, Bernadette Dunne, was amazing. Also, listening to this novel had the added benefit of me actually learning some of the names of the people and places. Often when I'm reading a book and an unfamiliar name recurs, I just make up a pronunciation based solely on the letter in the world. This resulted in me calling Hermione of Harry Potter "Her-Me" until I saw the movie. I can only imagine how badly I would have butchered the various Japanese words. Not to mention that I may have had difficultly keeping all of the character straight. I very much enjoyed the story.
I'm starting another mindless novel today.
Honeymoon by James Patterson
I'm also taking recommendations, so let me know what's worth reading. On that no, " I give a solid 'don't bother' to Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach.
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