Book 34: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Many years ago, I read The Kite Runner, and though I don't remember it well, I liked it. This is also a story of Afghanistan, which is a place I would like to learn more about.

The story focuses on women's lives over a period of time in Afghanistan. The audio book is read by an Afghani, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. The story is moving, but the writing style seemed a bit trite and formulaic. For instance, it seemed like every adjective came in a set of three. "The Rule of Three" is great, but it got tiresome after a while.

Book 33: Do You Believe in Magic?

Maybe it's just my imagination, but Paul Offit is a little defensive in this book.

Not that I can really blame him; Paul Offit developed the rotavirus vaccine and understandably has a bit of a chip on his shoulder regarding people who are anti-vaccine (and I used to be sort of in that camp, so I took some of the jabs).

Much of this information I was already familiar with, but some was new to me, and was very interesting.

Book 32: Crossing to Safety

I enjoyed my re-read of Angle of Repose so much that I decided to read another Wallace Stegner.

Crossing to Safety is a slow-moving, character-driven novel about two couples that takes place over many years. If that's up your alley, it's a good read.

Book 31: The Upcycle

I had such high hopes for this book. It takes a positive approach to solving environmental problems and in principle, is quite inspiring.

But with audio books, the reading makes or breaks the book. This book suffered from being read by someone who reminded me of Wilford Brimley.

Book 30: Angle of Repose

This was a re-read for me, which is a very rare occurrence, so you know something must be up. What's up is that Wallace Stegner writes a fine book, and that's just what I needed.

Years ago, before time began, I took a class in college that was focused on Wallace Stegner's work. I'd never heard of him before then, but I could tell he was a great writer, even as a really dumb college student. The book was even better this time around.

Book 29: 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

For a while I felt like I was being handslapped by Laura Vanderkam about misusing my time. If Debra (a real person) can run a business full-time, mother six children, sleep eight hours a night, and still have time to take afternoon-long hikes with her large dog, why was I whining about not having time for my hobbies?

Nobody likes to be handslapped, but I came to see that Vanderkam really has a point. There are vast swaths of time in my life that are filled with pointless activities. For instance, I was horrified to consider how much time I spent online, accomplishing very little.

Vanderkam also suggests reviewing activities that are necessary, but don't necessarily need to be done by you, like laundry, grocery shopping, or even cooking. I think it's valuable to consider if certain default activities are really worthwhile personally, professionally, and financially. I won't be outsourcing our laundry, but I did find it helpful to consider.

Book 28: Eat Move Sleep

I can't believe I stayed up late reading a book about how important enough sleep is.

I got a few good ideas out of this book, but overall, it wasn't really new information.