Look me in the Eye by John Elder Robison

This wonderfully-written memoir is fantastic - by turns hilarious and sad. Robison, an "Aspergian" (as he calls himself), grew up at a time when Asperger's Syndrome was not known or diagnosed. For most of his life he wondered what was wrong with him, that he could not connect with or make friends with people. During his twenties, he worked as a sound engineer for bands such as KISS, and his account of that time is quite interesting. Finally, in his 40s, someone suggested that he might have Asperger's. Learning that his quirks and idiosyncracies had an actual diagnosis helped Robison realize that he was not alone. He has also developed a lot of good coping strategies and has painstakingly taught himself to interact more successfully with people. Interestingly, he theorizes that as he learned how to interact better with people, he lost some of his savant-like abilities to look at machinery and circuits and understand how they worked. (If Robison's story sounds a bit familiar, that's because he is the older brother of Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors.)

 

Babymouse: Skater Girl by Jennifer and Matthew Holm

As usual, Babymouse rocks my world. This time she wants to become an Olympic-class ice skater. But is she up to the challenge? It means no more cupcakes(!), and no more after-school fun skating on the pond with best friend Wilson and the gang, because she'll be too busy practicing.

 

You'll have to read the book to find out the rest of the story, 'cause I ain't telling. Babymouse: Skater Girl is available now, in a library near you (in the kid's section).

The Grail Bird by Tim Gallagher

What a fantastic book! This is an entertaining, well-written non-fiction account of the author's search for ivory-billed woodpeckers in the swampy bayous of Arkansas. Ivory-bills have long been considered an extinct species by ornithologists. Gallagher and some colleagues are convinced they've seen ivory-bills. But have they? The story of their current-day search for ivory-bills is interspersed with snippets of history about the ivory-bills descent into extinction (and boy, was it helped into extinction by mankind; we seem to have a strange need to shoot everything we see, *especially* if it's almost extinct).

 

Highly readable, interesting and enjoyable! Thanks to Bob N for recommending this to me, after I made him check out Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufmann.

The Spellkey by Ann Downer

Thanks to Jessica B for recommending this young adult fantasy book to me. I enjoyed it. It is not a new book -- it was published in 1987 -- but I had never heard about it till Jessica told me about it.

Hero by Perry Moore

This young adult novel is entertaining and interesting. It definitely kept my attention!

Houston, we have a problem

Hi, my name is Mary and I just discovered that I may have a problem. I now have so many piles and shelves of unread books scattered through my house that it just took me 10 minutes to locate a book I knew I had bought -- not only because I had to go into every room in the house, but also because I kept getting distracted by all the OTHER great books I came across during my search. Sigh. If only I could get the cat to go out and earn a living wage so that I could stay home and catch up on my reading...

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

Very funny and enjoyable!

D. A. by Connie Willis

Not a bad little novella from Connie Willis, but not her best effort either. She's turned to more lightweight stuff lately. I still enjoy her meatier stuff more, like Doomsday Book and Passage.

The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

Last night I finished this nonfiction account of Theodore Roosevelt's journey down an uncharted river of the Amazon. Wait! Where are you going? Come back here and listen! Are you one of those people who still thinks that nonfiction is dry and boring? Then you haven't read this book. It was so engaging and interesting and well-written (and such an amazing tale of a harrowing journey that I wondered how any of them made it out alive) that I couldn't put it down! I actually resorted to the "Mary-gulp" method of reading, where I get so excited about what's going to happen next that I skim the book more than I should. (It gets me to the end faster, but it sure doesn't help my retention rate after I close the book.)

 

Thanks to Kim and Diane for recommending this book -- I really liked it.

The Bourne Ultimatum (movie)

I forgot to mention that I went to see this movie with my friend Janet last weekend. I had enjoyed both of the other Bourne movies and was expecting to like this one too -- and I was not disappointed. Matt Damon makes an excellent tortured action hero, in my opinion. Plus, there was violence, but not too much blood and gore, which means I only had to clutch at Janet 3 times during the movie, which is not bad considering how much clutching and eye-hiding I have done at other movies with more violent content.

Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufmann

I loved this book! It's a memoir of Kenn Kaufmann's time on the road in 1973, hitchhiking around the U.S. trying to see as many different bird species as he could in one year (birders call this a "Big Year."  He was still a teenager. People who don't bird (and yes, it's a verb to those who do it) are usually a bit surprised to realize that there is a very thriving birding subculture, and this book is terrific at evoking what the world of birding was like in the early 1970s. Kaufmann (who has since written several field guides to North American birds and wildlife) is an excellent writer and he makes birding sound fun even to people who don't think they would enjoy it. Here's part of his description of a "Big Day" he did with some other birders in Texas (a Big Day means trying to find as many different bird species as you can in one long day, beginning before dawn and ending no later than midnight. It's a very active pursuit, as you can see from the following!):

 

"Pulling up to the Texas City Dike, we leaped out of the car like gunslingers, binoculars blazing. In a matter of moments we had checked off two dozen new birds. Two Common Loons floated low in the water, like enemy submarines. Several White Pelicans and a flock of Eared Grebes were valuable bonuses. Among the Ring-billed gulls and Royal Terns we picked out two Herring Gulls, a Caspian Tern, and a Sandwich Tern. In less than five minutes we were back in the car driving away."  (pp. 179-180)

 

See what I mean? He's a great writer, makes it exciting, and frankly, it's also cool just to read along and get familiar with all the weird bird names. (Eared Grebe?!)

She Got Up Off The Couch by Haven Kimmel

This is a terrific memoir of a girl growing up in a small Midwestern town, whose life is constrained by the borders of the town but not by her imagination and her adventures. It ranges from laugh-out-loud funny to downright sad. I enjoyed every last word of it. If you liked Bill Bryson's Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid or if you enjoy reading memoirs of growing up in quieter times (but no less complicated times), you might want to give this book a try.

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, edited by Jennifer O'Connell

Women of a certain age (like me) grew up reading Judy Blume's books as comfort against the raging storms of adolescence. The women who wrote the essays in this book are honest about the painful days of being a teenager, and also talk about how much Judy Blume helped them survive. If you grew up loving Judy Blume, if her books spoke to you when you were a young girl or a teenager, then I think you will also enjoy this collection of essays.

Dog Days by Jon Katz

Katz's latest book talks about life on Bedlam Farm in upstate New York, where he lives with his menagerie (including an overly-friendly cow named Elvis). I am not sure he'd be happy with the comparison, but I sort of think of him as writing in the style of a modern-day James Herriot. He writes about his life on the farm, observes his animals with wit and humor, and talks openly about the physical pains and problems that plague him as he gets older, and how he deals with them. The book was both funny and touching. And I always enjoy reading Katz' insights -- not only about dogs, but about the other animals on his farm, and also about himself.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I enjoyed this engrossing book. It sort of reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier -- it's a great old-fashioned gothic novel, replete with strange summonses from the country, odd stories, brooding heroines, and just enough suspense to keep me reading, without too much suspense that I felt the need to read the last few pages first! I recommend this book. It's a fun and entertaining read.

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman, MD

A fascinating and gripping book. We hope that doctors are "superhuman" and know more about things than we do, but it would be better for everyone if we all realize that doctors are just as human as the rest of us are, they screw up just as often, and they certainly don't know everything. Like the rest of us, doctors also have biases (some that they may not even be aware of), and they may also have hidden agendas. Scary stuff, but it's good to have it out in the open, because that's the only way we can address it and try to make things better. Expecting our doctors to be infallible superhumans only sets them up to fail, and sets us up for disappointment.

"Uncertainty creeps into medical practice through every pore. Whether a physician is defining a disease, making a diagnosis, selecting a procedure... he is walking on very slippery terrain. It is difficult for non-physicians, and for many physicians, to appreciate how complex these tasks are, how poorly we understand them, and how easy it is for honest people to come to different conclusions." (David M Eddy, professor of health policy at Duke Unversity, quoted on pp 151-152)

So what can we do about this? Groopman suggests: "Informed choice means, in part, learning how different doctors think about a particular medical problem and how science, tradition, financial incentives, and personal bias mold that thinking. There is no single source for all of this information... so a patient and family should ask the doctor whether a proposed treatment is standard or whether different specialists recommend different approaches, and why." (p 233)

The New Work of Dogs: Tending to Life, Love, and Family by Jon Katz

Another very interesting and readable book about dogs and their changing roles in our lives. Katz interviews several people in his hometown of Montclair, NJ about their relationships with their dogs, from the "Divorced Dogs Club" (women whose dogs have helped them get through divorce) to the woman whose Welsh corgi keeps her company and comforts her as she battles cancer, to the young boy who wants a "tough" dog to help him feel tougher on the streets. Katz treats all his subjects (including the dogs) with compassion and understanding. I enjoyed this book.

The Ghost Brigade and Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Two great military sci-fi books by Scalzi! Really glad I stumbled upon him. If you are a fan of military SF (think Lois McMaster Bujold, David Weber, even some early Heinlein) then you are in for a treat with this series.  Old Man's War is the first in the series, but it's the one I actually read the last -- I don't think you need to read them in chronological order, if you don't want to. Highly enjoyable.

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

I have enjoyed Ann Patchett's writing since I read Bel Canto a couple of years ago. I found this book (her first) at a yard sale and it sat, unread, on my shelf for a couple of years till I finally pulled it out the other day. I really enjoyed it. Patchett truly has a way with words. If you are a fan of Anne Tyler or Elizabeth Berg or Alice Hoffman, I think you would enjoy this book as well.

Katz on Dogs: A Commonsense Guide to Training and Living with Dogs by Jon Katz

Those who know me well know of my desire to have a dog, but so far this has been thwarted both by the fact that I am already owned by a strong-willed cat, and also that I can't take a dog to work with me. That doesn't mean that I can't read books about dogs and dream, though.

 

What I found most interesting is Katz' assertion that, when choosing a training method for your dog, you have to consider not only what is best for your dog, but what is best for you as well. Human beings are remarkably consistent in our inconsistency, and this confuses dogs, so we need to find ways to make ourselves more consistent in what we ask from our dogs.

 

Jon Katz has written an excellent, practical, down-to-earth book about dogs and humans and our relationships to each other. This book was very well-written and enjoyable. I look forward to reading more of his work.