Space Station Mir

  Clean: The New Science of Skin had been on my TBR for a while, and it recently caught my eye again. This time, I immediately checked it out of the library, and I'm glad I did. It was an interesting before-bedtime read that started out in familiar (to me) territory about our society's recent obsession with skincare, then wended its way through the fascinating recent history of skincare products and soap, a bit about the ineffable nature of the human longing for (spiritual) "cleanliness" and how being "germ-free" has recently subbed in for that role for many people, and finally and most interestingly, the upcoming probiotic and prebiotic skincare market as well as the ways in which our microbiomes really do affect our skin and overall health. The microorganism stuff was the most interesting to me, as well as the validation that pretty much no skincare products or daily cleaning routines aside from handwashing are needed from a healthcare point-of-view (altho...

I recently finished The Airbnb Story , which is highly unlike most of what I read. In the past, I haven't read a lot of (or any) nonfiction and while that's changing, the nonfiction I read is still mostly memoirs and some life improvement/motivational reads. But this topical, business, technology read caught my eye, recommended on LinkedIn, and I checked it out of the library. And read it in three days. It took me longer than a fantasy novel of the same length might have, but a few years ago, I probably wouldn't have gotten through this book at all. It covers the founding, development, and current state of the company Airbnb, which, interestingly, boasts three founders who have all stayed together and only one of whom is an engineer, and which is still not yet a public company. Like the author notes, it's still just the beginning for this controversial company that's been around since 2008. I think what made a difference for me now is I have something to grab on t...

Hope Jahren's Lab Girl was a surprisingly apt follow-up read to Helen Russell's The Year of Living Danishly.  Not only did I stick with the nonfiction female memoir trend, but the mood stayed Scandinavian (or 'Scandi' as Russell frequently abbreviates in what I'm not sure is magazine-speak, Brit-speak, or her own argot). Jahren describes her Minnesota childhood and immediately evokes the type of winter that Russell observes, except without the cozy sense of  hygge . As Jahren puts it, she traded the icy exterior for a different type of iciness when she entered her home. The writing in Jahren's memoir has a strong sense of place, grounded literally by her interpolated chapters on plant life. It reminds me of the best attributes of scientific writing--the ability to say a lot in a short space and to be precise where it matters. Jahren's goal also exemplifies the truest goal of scientific writing today, to inspire research, by way of grants. As she s...

 As a toddler, I literally ate books. It's a trait that characterized the rest of my childhood, figuratively. Each new book was so exciting. Each story became engraved on my consciousness as I read it over and over, the same way I watched Disney movies:  Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Little Men, A Little Princess, A Wrinkle in Time, Matilda. I still   quote and picture scenes from these books from memory. They formed the landscape of my mind and the context against which I measured my life, and still do. I wasn't as interested in nonfiction. The closest I came was Little House on the Prairie, the autobiography of Rosa Parks, and Anne Frank's diary. Still, I read far more of the American Girl, Royal Diaries, and Dear America series to satisfy my interest in history than I read actual biographies or memoirs. Who wanted to read the truth when I could read about hobbits singing bathtub songs or an imaginary orphan pretending to float down a river as another imaginary ...

22. The Best American Travel Writing 2013 Edited by Elizabeth Gilbert Travel and short stories make a marvelous combination in my book, and so when I found out that Elizabeth Gilbert had edited a compilation of travel short stories, it seemed like a magical combination. In her thoughtful introduction, Gilbert promises "you will not be bored"-and I was not disappointed. Every single one of these stories is unique and meaningful. I liked some better than others, but I did not skip or skim a single one. For example, bull-running and rooster-eyeball-licking are not really elements I look for in my stories, but I can think of quite a few students who'd get a kick out of it. The story that appealed most to me included "Blot Out" by Colleen Kinder about what it's really like to wear a niqab , a full head and body covering with a grille for eyes to see through. When one of the characters says "the best part was looking strangers square in the eye," I...

Just Finished: 12. Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky Borrowed from the library, it was a quick and entertaining read.I'm fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes, and according to Tomsky, there's plenty of intrigue behind the front desk of a luxury hotel. Plus, he'll give you the low-down on how to score free minibar items and other perks (Warning: Not for the morally uptight). A bit too profanity-laden for my taste, and fluffy in parts, but I definitely wanted to keep reading after it ended. 13. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min Another historical fiction tome for my commute, I really enjoyed both the writing and the narrator. I'm glad I listened to it too, because I'm sure I would have pronounced the Chinese names all wrong. Min tells the story of China's last empress from her girlhood until she solidifies her regency (in her son's name). Despite ending rather abruptly, I really enjoy...

10. The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett, and Amanda Pressner For the first few chapters of this book, a sanitized crossbreed of The Devil Wears Prada and Sex and the City , I was mildly intrigued. Then, it became a rather straightforward and not particularly interesting account of partying across South America. And then, it began to breathe. This is the true (but melded and simplified) story of three New York women who took a trip around the world. There is nothing special about their descriptions of the places they went, but it is their encounters with other people, and with each other, where their narrative shines. The book is divided into chapters narrated alternately by each of the three. Each woman has a distinctive voice and character, but the writing style is cohesive and the content rarely repetitive. Jennifer is searching for direction, though more in terms of romance than career. She and Amanda are both feisty and outgoing, while Holly is quieter. Holly ...

6. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain I've been looking forward for some time to Cain's well-publicized paean to introversion. For over a year, I've been trying to get it out of the local library and finally, my turn came around. In the meantime, I'd read the critics who said it focused too much on the business world, or overstated the barriers to introverts in pop culture. I actually think Cain covered introversion in a respectable variety of settings relevant to the contemporary American audience. And I agree that she generalizes, but even she admits that in several places. What was really, ironically, lacking from this book was a depth of focus-the very quality that Cain praises so much in introverts. In fact, the book itself is an excellent example of how the media caters to extrovert culture. Quiet is organized into easily navigable chapters, it's filled with personal anecdotes, lists, and repetitive tagl...

3. The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir Weir, my favorite popular historian, concludes that Richard III murdered the eponymous princes in the tower. Even to this day, the mystery has not been definitively solved, nor, Weir argues, will it likely ever be. But she bases her conclusions on the existing contemporary evidence, asserting that it is a historian's job to deal in probabilities. And so, while Richard III could not be convicted in a modern court, she feels comfortable pointing her finger. Weir's evidence and reasoning are strong, but not overwhelmingly so. She bases her conclusions on contemporary or near-contemporary sources, relying most heavily on Italian monk Mancini, Henry VII's Italian biographer Polydore Vergil, the anonymous Croyland Chronicles, and Sir Thomas More's unfinished biography of Richard III. Weir makes strong arguments for the accuracy of these sources, not least of which that they corroborate each other in many places even though the ...

30. Mary Boleyn: Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir I've been fascinated with Mary Boleyn since I learned of her existence. Everybody knows the story of her sister, Anne Boleyn, whose charms caused the king of England, Henry VIII, to divorce his first wife and break with the Roman Catholic Church in order to marry her. Everyone also knows the sad end of that story, which culminated in Anne becoming the first of Henry's six wives to be beheaded. But what is known about Mary? Nothing much, until more recently, with the release of Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel The Other Boleyn Girl . Alison Weir points out that it is this novel, and the movies of the same name, along with the "Tudors" television series, that have propelled Mary out of obscurity, and into what Weir claims is undeserved notoriety. While I am a huge fan of Gregory's novel, it was not my first encounter with Mary Boleyn. My first knowledge of her stems from a book that is significant in ...

19. Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves Wanderlust has a particular significance to my life right now, as I just finished a job, picked up a suitcase, and began a trip around the country to visit friends and find employment. Although I finished the book a couple months ago, I often still turn to the pages I've marked (with convenient sticky markers like these , you didn't think I'd really deface a book, did you?)and marvel how much I can identify with the author. I'm also jealous; she's traveled in Egypt, Yemen, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and more. She's lived in Vancouver, in Paris, and in New York City. But this book is more than "a love affair with five continents" or even a series of love affairs with a wide range of interesting and international men (though there's that too). Eaves reflects on her motivations, strengths, and failures, in prose that sounds like the ruminations of a particularly thoughtful and word-associative friend. T...

In reviewing my reading last year, there was quite a significant lack of nonfiction, and I've decided this year that I would like to more actively seek out nonfiction to read. I know I will always prefer and probably have more fun reading fiction (although I'd love to hear of books that will challenge this assumption), but I do enjoy biographies and some memoirs (not of the celebrity or gimmicky variety i.e. I liked Reading Lolita in Tehran , reading Kim Kardashian's memoir I would regard as a punishment), and I've enjoyed being challenged by Stephen Hawking's The Theory of Everything and Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene . Bill Bryson has been recommended to me, so he's on the list, and I think I would be fond of travel writing, which I've heretofore mostly pursued in article rather than book form. What nonfiction books do I have to read? Which authors will make me change my mind about the relative entertainment value of nonfiction? Which books wil...