2013 Reading List
Dec. 30th, 2013 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxReading List from 2013
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Short summary: Eat Real Food. Mostly plants.
Real Food by Nina Planck
Short Summary: Eat Real Food. Especially milk and eggs.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
Similar to Bryson's a Short History of Nearly Everything where Bryson used science as the spine for jumping off on all sorts of historical tangents, in this one he's discussing the history of both his own home and of various objects around the house. There was some interesting stuff there throughout. However, the thing that has most stuck in my head was his discussion of the way that during the Victorian era there developed a concept of that the poor 'deserved what they got' in sort of a punishment-like concept that resulted in truly Dickensian situations. The reason I remember that bit about the Victorians is that more and more it feels like our current society has adopted the exact same sort of Dicken's era outlook.
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
The sweetest apocalyptic zombie love story ever. It's rather more philosophical than the movie (and the ending is somewhat darker than the movie) and the plot... is basically the movie. But, I read the book before the movie and I enjoyed the book (but in a rarity, I think the movie is better).
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Yeah. That one. Re-read it. I got a hankering.
Fat Chance by Robert Lustig
Ah, yes, part of my year-long diet involved self-hypnosis of reading lots of books on dieting. Lustig is a doctor who convinced me that fructose is the devil. Well, not the devil exactly, but he did convince me that it is something we should moderate because we eat too darn much of it.
A Suspicious Affair by Barbara Metzger
Regency romance. Rather odd one in that a LOT of it is told from the POV of a third party (and that places the reader at such a distance to the hero and heroine that honestly, I liked the narrator more then either of them). Anyway, pregnant Duchess' husband was murdered immediately after having been caught sleeping with a married Marchioness. Prime suspects in the murder are the pregnant Duchess (the heroine) and the neighbor (forgot his title but he was the aristocratic war hero...er... hero). The novel is told mostly from the Bow Street Runner/investigator POV, and he decides that the Duchess and the neighbor are perfect for each other... and a way for career and social advancement for his entire clan (he basically manages to place all of his children in the hero and heroine's employ by the end of the novel). It's okay enough in a Downton Abbey sort of way, as a romance it wasn't very involving. As a mystery...well, you never care that the heroine's husband was murdered in the first place.
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
Another "Sugar is the devil, and nutritional research is really quite shitty" book. Still, the best of the lot. I rec it.
Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes
Same book as Good Calories, Bad Calories only shorter (and updated as it's about a decade younger than Good Calories/Bad Calories). More succinct and less full of the actual science. That could be an improvement or a downgrade based on your POV.
What Belly by William Davies
Variation on them. Wheat is the devil. It went a bit too far, but it is interesting (shocking) some of the things that they do to our food.
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Yeah, that one. I never got around to seeing the DiCaprio movie when it came out, but the commercials made me hanker to re-read the book. So I did.
The Grandeur that was Rome by Jennifer Tobin
Ancient Roman history. I know far more about ancient Roman history than I have any possible need to know. I don't know why I read so much of it, but I do.
Zealot by Reza Aslan
It's basically trying to discover the context of the times in which Jesus (most probably) lived, trying to look at his life and times from a historical perspective rather than a religious one (though there is precious little historical info on Jesus the individual). I enjoyed the book a good deal, and it did draw some interesting conclusions about the context of time.
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective by Gregory Aldrete
My main interest in this one was to branch out beyond ancient Rome. This one actually did some on the ancient Mayans (but not all that much). Where it was also good was that it covered ancient India and China so that it isn't merely looking at history through the Western perspective.
The Genius of Dogs by Brian Hare
Evolutionary biology and cognition of dogs (and monkeys and foxes and wolves). Interesting book that's far more science than dog book.
14 by Peter Clines
Ah, fun. LOST in a Hollywood apartment building meets the apocalypse. It's a bit Buffy, a bit LOST, and generally fun (if you don't mind the preposterous... which, hey, I was in the mood). Won't give anything away except to say that I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking it would be aliens. It's not aliens.
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones
This is what I get for watching The White Queen. I wanted to know the actual history instead. The Plantagenets goes back much further than the War of the Roses. Pretty extensive book. It's a bit of a slog though. But, hey, at least now I know more about a period of history than I used to. And it's about something other than Tudors.
A Storm of Swords by GRRMartin (re-reading it. Read it a couple of years ago)
Re-reading apace with the show. So I still have a few more chapters to re-read.
The Great Cholesterol Myth by Stephen Sinatra, M.D.
Actually quite similar to Good Calories, Bad Calories. Reading it primarily for my Dad, though. It makes me wish that he weren't on statin drugs. But if someone is on statin drugs, they really should take CoQ10
Off to Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer
Another "because I want to be amused" books of questionable orgin and even more questionable quality. Computer hacker finds a hidden file in an unanticipated place that seems to say...we're living in the Matrix. Change the file, change the world. We're all subroutines. So he changes his bank account at will, tries to learn how to levitate (which finds him falling a lot) and then delving into time travel. Haven't finished this one yet, but he's clearly in over his head.
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Short summary: Eat Real Food. Mostly plants.
Real Food by Nina Planck
Short Summary: Eat Real Food. Especially milk and eggs.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
Similar to Bryson's a Short History of Nearly Everything where Bryson used science as the spine for jumping off on all sorts of historical tangents, in this one he's discussing the history of both his own home and of various objects around the house. There was some interesting stuff there throughout. However, the thing that has most stuck in my head was his discussion of the way that during the Victorian era there developed a concept of that the poor 'deserved what they got' in sort of a punishment-like concept that resulted in truly Dickensian situations. The reason I remember that bit about the Victorians is that more and more it feels like our current society has adopted the exact same sort of Dicken's era outlook.
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
The sweetest apocalyptic zombie love story ever. It's rather more philosophical than the movie (and the ending is somewhat darker than the movie) and the plot... is basically the movie. But, I read the book before the movie and I enjoyed the book (but in a rarity, I think the movie is better).
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Yeah. That one. Re-read it. I got a hankering.
Fat Chance by Robert Lustig
Ah, yes, part of my year-long diet involved self-hypnosis of reading lots of books on dieting. Lustig is a doctor who convinced me that fructose is the devil. Well, not the devil exactly, but he did convince me that it is something we should moderate because we eat too darn much of it.
A Suspicious Affair by Barbara Metzger
Regency romance. Rather odd one in that a LOT of it is told from the POV of a third party (and that places the reader at such a distance to the hero and heroine that honestly, I liked the narrator more then either of them). Anyway, pregnant Duchess' husband was murdered immediately after having been caught sleeping with a married Marchioness. Prime suspects in the murder are the pregnant Duchess (the heroine) and the neighbor (forgot his title but he was the aristocratic war hero...er... hero). The novel is told mostly from the Bow Street Runner/investigator POV, and he decides that the Duchess and the neighbor are perfect for each other... and a way for career and social advancement for his entire clan (he basically manages to place all of his children in the hero and heroine's employ by the end of the novel). It's okay enough in a Downton Abbey sort of way, as a romance it wasn't very involving. As a mystery...well, you never care that the heroine's husband was murdered in the first place.
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
Another "Sugar is the devil, and nutritional research is really quite shitty" book. Still, the best of the lot. I rec it.
Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes
Same book as Good Calories, Bad Calories only shorter (and updated as it's about a decade younger than Good Calories/Bad Calories). More succinct and less full of the actual science. That could be an improvement or a downgrade based on your POV.
What Belly by William Davies
Variation on them. Wheat is the devil. It went a bit too far, but it is interesting (shocking) some of the things that they do to our food.
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Yeah, that one. I never got around to seeing the DiCaprio movie when it came out, but the commercials made me hanker to re-read the book. So I did.
The Grandeur that was Rome by Jennifer Tobin
Ancient Roman history. I know far more about ancient Roman history than I have any possible need to know. I don't know why I read so much of it, but I do.
Zealot by Reza Aslan
It's basically trying to discover the context of the times in which Jesus (most probably) lived, trying to look at his life and times from a historical perspective rather than a religious one (though there is precious little historical info on Jesus the individual). I enjoyed the book a good deal, and it did draw some interesting conclusions about the context of time.
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective by Gregory Aldrete
My main interest in this one was to branch out beyond ancient Rome. This one actually did some on the ancient Mayans (but not all that much). Where it was also good was that it covered ancient India and China so that it isn't merely looking at history through the Western perspective.
The Genius of Dogs by Brian Hare
Evolutionary biology and cognition of dogs (and monkeys and foxes and wolves). Interesting book that's far more science than dog book.
14 by Peter Clines
Ah, fun. LOST in a Hollywood apartment building meets the apocalypse. It's a bit Buffy, a bit LOST, and generally fun (if you don't mind the preposterous... which, hey, I was in the mood). Won't give anything away except to say that I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking it would be aliens. It's not aliens.
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones
This is what I get for watching The White Queen. I wanted to know the actual history instead. The Plantagenets goes back much further than the War of the Roses. Pretty extensive book. It's a bit of a slog though. But, hey, at least now I know more about a period of history than I used to. And it's about something other than Tudors.
A Storm of Swords by GRRMartin (re-reading it. Read it a couple of years ago)
Re-reading apace with the show. So I still have a few more chapters to re-read.
The Great Cholesterol Myth by Stephen Sinatra, M.D.
Actually quite similar to Good Calories, Bad Calories. Reading it primarily for my Dad, though. It makes me wish that he weren't on statin drugs. But if someone is on statin drugs, they really should take CoQ10
Off to Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer
Another "because I want to be amused" books of questionable orgin and even more questionable quality. Computer hacker finds a hidden file in an unanticipated place that seems to say...we're living in the Matrix. Change the file, change the world. We're all subroutines. So he changes his bank account at will, tries to learn how to levitate (which finds him falling a lot) and then delving into time travel. Haven't finished this one yet, but he's clearly in over his head.
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no subject
Date: 2013-12-31 08:54 am (UTC)He doesn't mean actual fruit does he?
no subject
Date: 2013-12-31 04:49 pm (UTC)He's speaking of the actual molecule of fructose. Fructose is handled in much the same way as alcohol, which is why both can cause fatty liver disease. They both have to be handled by the liver in order to be processed at all. And in a way they are similar in that the dose makes a great deal of difference. A little alcohol is fine. A lot of alcohol all the time is very bad.
So in regards to fruit, the fructose is fructose regardless. However the fructose in fruit is bound up in fiber, so the fructose is released slowly over a longer duration and thus you aren't dosed with a great deal all at once. Also because it is bound up in fiber, it reduces the the amount you eat. For instance you'll eat one apple. You can easily DRINK six. Plus, fruit contains lots of good vitamins, etc.
So overall the answer is to eat the fruit. Now, it's probably best not to be the 20 bananas a day guy (who actually is a guy on youtube), but as far as most people go. Yes, eat the fruit. However, avoid the fruit juice. Juice is divorced from most of the fiber and you'll end up drinking far, far, far more fructose than you'd consume in actual fruit.
Sucrose on the other hand to be digested will be slit into fructose and glucose, so table sugar also has fructose in it. So it matters how much table sugar you eat.
And high fructose corn syrup is all fructose which makes it all fructose. A steady diet of that isn't good either.
But fruit... it's mostly a good thing. But the fructose aspect isn't the good part of it (nutritionally speaking).
no subject
Date: 2013-12-31 10:32 pm (UTC)Explains why you need to limit fruits when attempting to get rid of the sugars.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-31 10:29 pm (UTC)Oh so true. IT's in EVERYTHING. I do not understand why food producers feel the need to add sugar to things. Bacon? Come on. Chicken Broth? Really? And Sunkist Tuna Fish? WTF?
I've become an expert at reading labels.
Oh...two more diet book recs - this time from my sisterinlaw.
The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease
And...
The Paleo Manifesto
I literally cleaned my cabinets of all grains, all sugars, and most diary. Although I'm not completely convinced on the dairy.
Also apparently there's a wee bit of disagreement on buckwheat and dairy from Paleo experts. (Sigh - the only thing they appear to agree on is wheat and sugar are evil.)
Won't give anything away except to say that I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking it would be aliens. It's not aliens.
Hee, this made me giggle out loud. I may want to read that book.
I honestly can't remember half the books I read. I know I read a lot of them. Vaguely remember Ready Player One, the book by Kim Harrison, and The Heiress Effect...also my attempt to read Dance of Dragons, but everything else is a blur.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 05:55 am (UTC)Evolutionary biology and cognition of dogs (and monkeys and foxes and wolves). Interesting book that's far more science than dog book.
I ended up getting this for my dad for Christmas. He's always talking about dogs and evolution, so I figured more science than dog book would be right up his alley.