All posts tagged: learn something new

December / January Book

Published by

It’s that time of year when your calendar starts to look really cluttered, your to do list grows longer, and you start to consider resolutions for the new year. Well, every year we resolve to read a book that teaches us something new. And something we all need to learn so much more about is our country’s healthcare system. So, the December/January book we’ve picked is T.R. Reid’s The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. It’s a brief 250 pages with chapters like “Different Models, Common Principles,” “Too Big to Change,” and five separate chapters examining the systems of different countries (France, Germany, Japan, Canada, the UK). Also, there’s an afterword titled “‘Obamacare’ Explained,” which we all need to read. Anyone else feeling like our healthcare system is intimidating and confusing?! We feel like reading this is a step in the right direction. The author Reid is a career journalist who, for this book, visited over half a dozen different countries to examine their health care and use …

The Quick and the Dead

Published by

I will be honest – I was not looking forward to reading this book, but I have been on an unintentional hiatus and I just didn’t want it to last any longer. So here I was, holding my Kindle, Stiff on the screen, simply dreading reading a book about dead bodies when I so recently had to confront the reality of death in my life. That being said, here’s the good side. Roach’s writing is engaging, the topic is (admittedly) interesting, and I even found myself chuckling more than just a bit – she seems to have a delightfully dry, witty sense of humor and it comes across clearly in her writing. I truly do understand the value in using human cadavers to study most of the things Roach wrote about, and it really is fascinating what important information and learning can come from the science of the dead. Also, it was a fast read – just what I needed to break the hiatus. And here’s the bad side. Not really bad, I suppose. More like… …

Fast and Loose with Stiff

Published by

It took me longer than I’d expected to finish(ish) this one. I was excited to read this one, but it came at a busy time… the holidays, my brother’s wedding, the onset of winter illnesses for every member of my family. Ya know, the usual December/January stuff. So, I started off strong, but things kind of tapered off toward the end. I definitely enjoyed what I read, and learned a lot. There is a surprising amount to learn from cadaver “lives.” But I guess that’s what I liked most about this book, not only was it well written with a healthy lighten-the-mood sense of humor, but you could jump around with the chapters if needed. For example, I didn’t really have an interest in reading about plane crash cadavers. As a nervous flyer, I thought I’d do us all a favor by avoiding that one. But “Crimes of Anatomy,” “Holy Cadaver,” and “How to Know if You’re Dead” were my personal favorites. But, admittedly, there were a few more chapters at the end that I didn’t read. …

Stiff: An Interesting Case for Coping with Humor

Published by

  As a physician and, I guess more specifically, someone who has participated in a gross anatomy lab, I have a specific point of view about human cadavers.  I will start by saying this – the book provides some truly interesting history on the matter.  For that point alone, I would say Roach’s book is a worthy one. Albeit, it is not one for everyone. The subject is a bit – um – macabre.  If you didn’t know that from the cover, I’m not sure reading is for you. Now what I really took away from this book is that how we deal with things that make us uncomfortable is rather universal. I often wondered why I wasn’t more bothered by anatomy lab my first year of medical school. I didn’t particularly want to get physically sick or feel overwhelming guilt. But I also didn’t want to feel how I did – like it was normal. There was nothing normal about what I was doing. History may suggest otherwise. Personally, though, gross anatomy lab was …

December & January Book

Published by

Happy holidays! Hope you didn’t come here for a good holiday selection, because our next book probably couldn’t be farther from the holiday spirit. But it should be interested none-the-less! Maybe just start reading after Christmas? We’ve combined December and January into one book. And in appreciation of the approaching new year we’ve picked our next book as a way to learn something new. Something that we might never otherwise have the occasion to learn. Have any of you ever heard of Mary Roach? She’s an author who has her roots in journalism and now writes books. She has published seven books, all of which deal with unique non-fiction subject matter. Most of which follow the same title formula of a single noun or adjective: Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife (2005), Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008), Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (2013), and Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War (2016). Her style is notable for its humor, curiosity, and interesting subject matter. She becomes a part of her …

Shopping the Periphery

Published by

Truth time: This book wasn’t as compelling as I expected it to be. I bought it years ago, and because of my habit of buying books (much) faster than I can read them, it sat on my shelf until just a couple weeks ago. I bought it not long after it was first published, when this idea – that how we were being told to eat might not be the best way to eat – first became popular. We clearly still have a long way to go in terms of changing the accessibility and affordability of whole foods in our society. But I like to think that at least a little bit of what Pollan talked about in In Defense of Food has taken hold. Organic fruits and vegetables are a tiny bit more readily available; farmers’ markets have risen in popularity; trans fats have disappeared; more and more discussions are being had about sugar and good fats and whole grains. Some progress has been made. What I found most fascinating, if not a little …

Logic, Meet Eating

Published by

One thing I appreciate more than possibly anything else is logic. This may sound obvious, but I just simply enjoy a well-reasoned and thought out argument. To that point that I have been known to change my mind multiple times about an issue (sometimes in the span of one discussion) simply because of logical, articulate points. That said, it should come as no surprise that I loved Pollan’s book. Full disclosure: I started reading In Defense of Food almost two years ago, loved it, got distracted by a few fiction reads, and, since I felt like I had pretty much grasped the concept of the book, never returned. Until now. I reread and continued reading and found myself just as impressed as the first time. It is such a good reminder of the fact that SO MUCH of what we as Americans are ingesting is not even food. Pollan points this out throughout the book and it’s worth repeating: we are not eating food. We are eating food product. I was about to make a …

Confused Eater

Published by

Hi all, long time no talk to. I hope your holidays were merry and bright… and you came away with plenty of new books to enjoy in 2016! Over the holidays I finished our December / January read: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Our goal with this selection was to learn something new for the new year. And that I did. Pollan’s book was a very interesting look into our eating habits and the food trends we’re exposed to as modern Americans. Pollan sheds light on the food industry as just another profitable business. If you think about it, this makes sense. Those operating in food-based industries are part of a competitive marketplace just like any other. So, as a result, producers make claims and alter their products to out sell the “other guy.” Although it’s a disheartening view, it’s good to be aware of this reality and to think before we eat. However, reading this book left me feeling more overwhelmed than anything. There are so many layers to the food industry, true and …

December / January Book

Published by

Book map / sketch © Austin Kleon With 2015 coming to a close, we decided our December / January pick will be a New Year’s resolution of sorts. Not to mention how busy things get during these months, hence the combining of December and January. Anyway, our resolution is to learn something new. So for these months we’ll be choosing a non-fiction book to begin 2016 with something new and different. Without further delay… this month(s)’ pick is Michael Pollan’s #1 New York Times Bestseller In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Pollan is an American journalist, activist and author. His books focus on our country’s growing dilemma with food, its process, the way we eat, and what we eat. In one of his earlier books published in 2006, An Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan established a critique of how agribusiness have lost touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine in mutually beneficial circles. His perspectives on food, farming, and our consumptions are unique, controversial and modern. Our selection, In Defense of Food published in 2008, …