Book 40: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin

Jane Franklin was Benjamin Franklin's younger sister, and this book describes her life, as much as is known from the correspondence that survived. Most of her writings were lost, but a few of her letters, and a small book listing birth and death dates of her children (her "Book of Ages"), remain. Many of the letters Benjamin wrote to her in reply survive, so Lepore has read between the lines about what Jane might have written to her brother.

I found this book a little bit frustrating, since it seems to focus so much on Benjamin and not Jane. Lepore admits that was one of her main worries when writing the book: that it would become about Benjamin, not Jane. In spite of this weakness, it illuminates the experience of an ordinary woman during the time of the American Revolution, those of her words that survived.

Book 39: Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

I found it kind of funny to be doing my evening walks and having Arianna Huffington hand-slap me about not getting enough sleep.

Overall, this wasn't particularly interesting. There were a few new ideas, but mostly, it seemed like old news.

Book 38: Missing Microbes

I've started to hear the term "microbiome" used now and then, and I'm intrigued. It rolls off the tongue so nicely. Microbiome. It's in your gut, mostly.

Dr. Blaser's premise is that many diseases on the rise are increasing because of changes in our microbiomes, often because of antibiotic overuse. He describes his research regarding microbes and these diseases, including asthma, GERD, and obesity. It's intriguing.

Book 37: We are All Completely Beside Ourselves

I was drawn to this title, knowing very little about it, because hey, "beside ourselves" is a state I can relate to these days.

This is really quite a deep and thought-provoking book, for a work of contemporary fiction. The ending was a little disappointing; I wasn't satisfied with the way the author chose to resolve a few elements, and it almost felt like the ending to a different book, rather than the one I had started. Overall, though, it was worth the read.

Book 36: And the Mountains Echoed

Oh, this was positively delicious to listen to.

The stories fit together subtly but clearly, the characters are interesting and complicated, and the voice talent was wonderful. I felt like this was a much more mature piece of writing from Hosseini. I would gladly read another like this!

Book 35: The Triple Package

How about some more controversy from the Tiger Mother?

This book presents a theory as to why some cultural groups are more successful than others. It's an interesting theory. But I'm a bit at a loss as to what can be done with this information.