The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment
While I’ve always thought it would be fun to design and conduct sociological experiments, it never occurred to me to undergo them myself. Each chapter of this book describes the process and results of the author’s assorted undertakings, including outsourcing his personal tasks to India, impersonating an absent Australian actor on the red carpet at the Oscars, and navigating the online dating scene while pretending to be an attractive woman. Fascinating stuff! Be sure to read the notes at the end of the book for some excellent bonus material. My husband read this one the same month and has generously provided the following quote: “I would recommend this book to men and for men to give to their wives. Any husband will look good compared to what A.J. puts his wife through.”
“The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” is the book by Michael Lewis that is the basis for the surprise smash hit film starring Sandra Bullock. At the center of both the book and the movie is the incredible true story of Michael Oher and his climb from desperate poverty, neglect and dysfunction to wealth, support and football stardom. In oddly similar ways the strengths and weaknesses of the book and the movie are due to a central character taking over and dominating the narrative. In the movie it is Leigh Anne Tuohy as portrayed by Sandra Bullock, a wealthy white christian lady whose indomitable will and good humor are made the central force in elevating the African-American Michael Oher out of poverty and educational failure to football success and college admission. There is no doubt the movie’s success both financially and as an entertainment rest on Ms. Bullock’s shoulders, but I find it somewhat obscures the man, 
This collection of interrelated short stories based to a seemingly-large degree on Margaret Atwood’s own experiences is by far my favorite of her works since 2000’s The Blind Assassin. If you asked me what the stories are about, the images that stick out in my mind include a frightening Halloween costume accessory, a runaway former school horse (this one reminded me a lot of my own beloved chestnut, Carrots), “the entities,” and a knitted layette. Atwood is not known for her predictability, and her talent for storytelling is truly exceptional.
This book is the U.S. debut novel for author Tatiana de Rosnay. The story revolves around an American woman, Julia, who moves to Paris at age 20 and marries a french man. She is a writer assigned to a story about the alarming role that France played during WWII. Her investigation concerns the 60th anniversary of the “roundups” that took place from the Paris Vélodrome d’Hiver to Auschwitz. Thousands of Jewish families were transported and killed. (The roundups were factual events that took place in 
I loved Firoozeh’s first book, Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America, so it made perfect sense to purchase her follow-up publication. If you don’t like mass market fiction but want something light to read while traveling or at the beach, I’d definitely recommend this one. The short autobiographical chapters can be dipped into at any time without having to worry about keeping track of a complicated plot or a large cast of characters. I laughed out loud countless times and nearly cried at one point. I don’t usually choose books that deal with family relationships, but the anecdotes the author shares are easy to identify with and exceptionally entertaining. And you’ll learn about Iranian culture to boot!
The Showtime television series, which just recently won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and had the highest rating for any show in Showtime history is based on this book. Dexter is one of the best shows on television and recently ended it fourth season with a huge shock, but I won’t ruin it for anyone that hasn’t seen it yet. After watching that insane final I wanted to find out more about Dexter and found out the whole show is based on a series of books. 
I may be a little late in reading Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. I know many people have already read this thriller. The reason I picked it up was because I saw the movie and someone told me the book was much better—as is usually the case. This book is filled with symbols and history about the contraversies between religion and science that began centuries ago. It also has little known facts about Italy, italian artists, and scientists. I truly enjoy learning about all of it as I read along. I can’t imagine the amount of research that had to be done before writing this book! The details are engrossing.
I confess—this is my very first Jane Austen novel. Shocking, isn’t it? But then again I did major in the seemingly-more-useful-at-the-time French and political science fields rather than English…
I have been looking for different foods to bring for lunch. I found a few recipes that I am going to try cooking from a book called, Vegan Lunch Box Around the World by Jennifer McCann (Da Capo Lifelong Books - August 2009). The first dish I cooked was a from Tanzania, Black-Eyed Peas and Potatoes with Cilantro and Lime. It was very spicey, fragrant and delicious. I am not ready to become vegetarian. But it is going to be fun exploring a different way of cooking and eating.