"Bonk" by Mary Roach

May I squeeze it? (183)

After reading Mary Roach's Stiff, I was enamored and ready to read her other books. So it didn't take me long to pick up Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008). Roach turns her investigative eye in her latest book from death to sex, by researching past and present scientists and laymen who have studied the physiology of sex.

Marie Bonaparte was not willing to accept her destiny. Drastic measures were undertaken. The princess had her clitoris moved. (73)

Sex, much like death, is another topic that can get touchy for some people, but Roach handles it with an open-minded curiosity and enthusiasm, including a willingness to volunteer herself (and her husband) as subjects.

Dr. Deng never tells us to lie down, but it seems that that is what must happen. (125)

Later, in the lobby cafe, he will pass by my table and we will pretend not to recognize each other. (274)

I found myself laughing often as I read this book, partly in amazement at what kind of experiments are actually being done out there, and many times at Roach's droll humor. The book is a little bit all over the place, but consistently interesting, and often informative.

You may well be wondering why a dog would need prosthetic testicles. (163)

France in the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was really and truly a place where you did not want to be an impotent male. (149)

Research by the Department for Nutrition and Reproduction at Denmark's National Committee for Pig Production showed that sexually stimulating a sow while you artificially inseminate her leads to a 6 percent improvement in fertility. (87)

For instance, I had no idea that one study has shown that when it comes to actual physical arousal, men are the ones who tend to be more picky about their porn. Show women any kind of porn and they'll have a physical--but not necessarily mental--reaction, while heterosexual men tended to only physically respond to heterosexual porn. Interesting stuff.

The best sex going on in Masters and Johnson's lab was the sex being had by the committed gay and lesbian couples. (300-301)

I was also intrigued by a section on women who could obtain orgasm without any physical touching, succeeding by using only their mind. Not one to back away from a challenge--any challenge, apparently--I gave it a go...and had a relatively frustrating experience. Oh well, maybe I just need more practice.

...You can ejaculate now. (126)

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants (2006) by Sara Gruen is yet another novel that I picked from Doreen Orion's recommendations. I'd seen it around and the cover looked interesting, and I guess that's really all it takes for me to read a book.

Jacob Jankowski is in his nineties and unhappily living out the end of his life as a dependent in a nursing home. While placed in his wheelchair in hallways and in front of windows, he looks back on the summer of 1931 that he spent working with the animals on the circus, the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Jacob Jankowski was a happy twenty-three year old, about to sit for his finals in Veterinary School at Cornell University when his entire world falls apart. With nowhere to go and unable to deal, Jacob finds his animal knowledge helpful in getting some work at the Benzini Brothers Circus. And he immediately falls in love with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and the wife of the often angry and sadistic animal trainer, August.

With some interesting supporting characters including Jacob's "roommate" Walter and his terrier; Camel, the old man who first befriends him; and Rosie, the smart and stubborn elephant that joins the show, there is more to the story than a simple love triangle. What I enjoyed most, though, were the glimpses into the hard, unglamorous life of the circus during the depression. Apparently a lot of the more incredible things that happen in Water for Elephants, Gruen took directly from her history of circuses of the time.

I liked this book: the characters and animals (I'm always a sucker for animals) were interesting, the story kept me involved, and there were some nice parallels tying in the animals in the menagerie and Jacob Jankowski in the nursing home. However, I didn't love this book. The ending tied everything up into a nice, tight little bow, which is where it lost some of it's appeal, creativity, and realism; but I was entertained and learned a bit about the circus so I'm not complaining.

"Columbine" by Dave Cullen

Okay, I just can't help myself. I have no reason to write up the books I read anymore, but I feel like I'm slacking off if I skip it. Maybe I'll stop when I get a job...or when I get bored, I don't know, but for now I'll just try to keep them short. I heard of and picked up Columbine (2009) by Dave Cullen when I read a Cannonball Review on Pajiba. I naturally veer away from teary disaster stories that have been constantly exploited by the media--basically anything that Nancy Grace would stick her craw into; so even the thought of this book kind of made me cringe. But I grew up in Boulder and currently live in Denver, so I decided that it wouldn't hurt for me to know something about what happened so close by. I figured that ten years is enough to allow some perspective on the whole thing, even though I was still a little wary as I picked it up.

I was immediately drawn in. I only read some of the stories that came out right after the shooting and then tried to avoid the coverage, so much of the information was new to me. Cullens gives a clear picture of what occurred on the day of the shooting, delves into the past of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, and discusses some of the fallout after the shooting. I had always thrown Klebold and Harris together, but Columbine delves into their writings and tapes and shows a more complete picture of them-- with some compassion but certainly not excusing their behavior in any way. Eric Harris was a classic psychopath and Dylan a suicidal depressive who probably wouldn't have acted on his own. Also, Cullen has been a part of the media storm that covered the Columbine Shootings since its inception, and I appreciated his honest views of where the media got things wrong and how the picture changed as time went on.

Some things that surprised me include the fact that Detectives had a search warrant executed at the Harris and Klebold homes even before the bodies of Dylan and Eric were found in the library. I was also a little surprised and disappointed that Jefferson County hid information and delayed their final report for so long. The information came out anyway, as it inevitably does, and it made the county look much worse in the long run. The book kind of petered out at the end with less information to go on. There were only a couple sentences written about various lawsuits, but I found the entire thing incredibly interesting, detailed, and fair, and I'm glad I read it.

And then I was done

I kind of stumbled into this challenge, at first never even intending to participate, and then never thinking I would actually read 1oo books. I started blogging a couple book reviews because I liked the idea of keeping track and writing about what I read, but I didn't officially join the contest right away because I'm sometimes ridiculously private and sensitive. The books I read and my reactions to them seemed too personal, somehow. I finally joined because Prisco sounded so excited about the growing number of participants and I figured no one would read my reviews anyway. It's a good thing that Dustin only started publishing our reviews on Pajiba after a couple months had passed, or I would have balked again. Weirdly enough, my friends know that I'm taking part in this challenge, but they don't know where or have my blog's website, and I trust them not to search me out. It's not like I'm baring my deepest, darkest secrets, but even my choice of books say an awful lot about me, and I'm always afraid I'll be misunderstood.

I started this project at the beginning of a break in employment, thinking I could give myself some time to read, learn, and figure out what I want in life. Besides my obvious love of reading for the stories, learning, and the procrastination technique of staying busy while avoiding anything I didn't want to do, the fact that I even finished 100 books actually says more about my ability for sustained unemployment than any kind of fast-reading ability. It took hours and hours and hours to read these books. I can't skim. Even if I get really excited about what's going to happen next and skim a page, I always go back to make sure I didn't miss anything. There is no possible way I could have finished all 100 while gainfully employed. Even while I was doing some temp work, I could barely read 10 or 20 pages a day; there's just too much to do. I am very impressed by all those with less free time and who still managed to read a great number of books.

Looking back at what I've read this past year, I find a pretty random selection of books from dense histories, to romance novels, to vampire books, to Oprah-approved drama. A few of the books that stick out the most for me were: The White Tiger, Middlesex, and The Book Thief, with my favorite non-fiction book of the year being In the Heart of the Sea. And I really liked the majority of the rest of the books I read. Being somewhat naturally compulsive, I read 50 fiction and 50 non-fiction books when I discovered I was trending in that direction anyway. I also decided to read a book beginning with every letter of the alphabet when I realized I was just missing about 9 letters. Although both these goals were rather unnecessary, they did encourage me to find and read some books I otherwise wouldn't have read.

I've read a number of complaints about writing the reviews for this contest, but I never felt the reviews were too much of a burden. I like the idea of having a record of what I've read and my thoughts about the book; it's what drew me to the contest in the first place, and the forced reflection did me good. I also think it helped that I wouldn't let myself finish my next book until I had written the review for the one before. I am a tremendous procrastinator, so I know that if I ever got behind, there'd be no catching up. But now I'm not sure what to do with myself. I get almost all the books I read from the library, so writing a review allows me to keep a part of it with me, which I especially appreciate when the book is really good or meaningful. I've gotten into such a pattern of reading and writing that it might be hard to give that up. But even if I do keep writing about books, the push to 100 was pretty intense, so there will be no more counting or goals, just reading what I want when I have the time.

#100 - "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell

I had a little trouble deciding what to read for my last book in this challenge. Most importantly, I wanted it to be good. Who wants to read 99 books and then push through something boring and sucky at the very end? I have a number of good books still waiting to be read, including some by Cormac McCarthy, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens, and John Irving. But I have already read something by all of those authors. So in the spirit of Cannonball Read and expanding my literary choices, I read The Sparrow (1996) by Mary Doria Russell, which included both an author I had never read as well as a genre I rarely read. I was not disappointed. The story, the characters, the adventure, the mystery of what had occurred, and the questions of religion and morality drew me in and kept me deeply involved throughout the book.

We know almost nothing about Father Emilio Sandoz's past when we first meet him, a mysterious figure coming home as the sole survivor, injured, shattered, and in disgrace from a missionary expedition to a far-off planet. The narrative jumps back and forth between Sandoz's struggles to come to terms with the aftermath of what occurred and how the missionary expedition came to be many years earlier. Anne and George Edwards are an older, childless married couple, infinitely capable, constantly moving forward, and always fun to be around. Sophia Mendes is a brilliant creator of Artificial Intelligence programs, Jimmy Quinn is the youngest of the group, a giant of a man who is sweet and loyal and makes the crucial discovery that begins their quest. The group is rounded out by three more Jesuit Priests, D.W. Yarbrough, an ex-military priest with a strong Texas attitude and accent as well as the naturalist Marc Robichaux and musicologist Alan Pace.

The appeal of this book for me stemmed from a number of reasons, most importantly the characters. They were smart, felt relatively real, and they were fun to be around. A simple dinner party in The Sparrow would quickly turn into funny, sometimes emotional discussions about life, religion, and morality. Another appeal was the constant mystery. First, you want to find out what happened to Sandoz's hands, then what his mysterious past contained, then how the expedition came to be, then what the new planet was like, then what could have gone so horribly wrong. I quickly came to care about the characters so much, that I'd get nervous at any little thing that went wrong, dreading their inevitable ends, and cringing at what I was imagining. Mary Doria Russell also brings up a number of interesting dilemmas about God, religion, and love, so besides the captivating characters and mystery, she asks some pretty stark, open-ended questions that keep you thinking. In addition, the sentient creatures the party encounters on the planet and their relationships, both to the humans, as well as each other bring up some interesting themes of dominance and morality.

With so many things to think about and the incredibly likable characters, I very much enjoyed reading this book and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Children of God, although I am already concerned that it can't be as good. However, The Sparrow wasn't perfect. I found a couple major plot twists a little hard to believe. Spoilers! First, I couldn't understand how Father Sandoz could come back in such disgrace. Although the media can glom onto a scapegoat with great tenacity, I only halfway believed that Father Sandoz had done something horrible when I knew almost nothing about the story. The people who saved him found him caged, naked, bloody, and beyond comprehension, but they assumed he'd turned from a chaste priest to some kind of sex fiend? Then why didn't he just find some hot, young, alien, boy-toy and set up house? From what I've heard, prostitution isn't all that fun. Also, I couldn't believe that Sophia Mendes would forget or not realize that she was using too much fuel so they wouldn't be able to get home. She's not one who would overlook such details.

#99 - "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998) by Bill Bryson was another book I found on a "recommended books" list at the back of Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion. From the books on her list that I had already read, it seemed that Orion and I have very similar taste, so I've been using it as a major resource lately.

I haven't read any other books by Bill Bryson, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Bryson, currently living in New Hampshire with his family, realized that the Appalachian Trail wandered by near his new home, and he decided one day to hike the whole thing. I have, of course, heard of the AT and know that it's in the East and very long, but details and history have always been obscured by my lack of knowledge. So, when I started listening (another Book-on-CD, which I have to stop doing; it's just not the same as having the book in your hands), I was immediately entranced and laughing. I like to camp and hike, so I could relate to Bryson's experiences; but something as formidable and long as the AT is way beyond my tendonitis-riddled body and time management skills, so experiencing the trail vicariously sounded perfect.

Bryson discusses his inspiration, packing, and planning as well as some history of the trail before he heads down to Georgia with his last-minute hiking partner, Stephen Katz. (Bryson is desperately afraid of bears and wanted a partner to help abate his fear--another thing I can relate to). Again, I loved this section of the book. Katz and Bryson's clash of personalities is classic odd couple stuff, and as they begin their adventure, I wondered how long it would take Katz to give up and head back home. But the two stick with it, and I was able to see the challenge, wonder, and fear of beginning such a formidable journey. Katz and Bryson climb mountains, battle snowstorms, and meet a variety of other hikers as they continue north on their quest. Bryson takes some time out to describe some history of the land around him and many of the birds and animals that no longer populate the area.

Spoilers? It is in Gatlinburg, Tennessee when it dawns on Bryson that they are never going to make it the entire way, and they skip a large chunk of trail and start again in Roanoke, Virginia. I was a little disappointed that they weren't going to hike the entire trail. Being a very goal-oriented person myself, if I were attempting to hike the entire trail, anything less would be inadequate. But I was enjoying hearing about life on the trail with Katz and Bryson. They were still traveling huge distances, on foot, by themselves, carrying everything they need. And they're both pretty amusing people--as described by Bryson.

But then they got off the trail entirely: Katz headed back to some work in Des Moines, and Bryson headed out for a book tour. For the rest of the summer Bryson did some day hikes of the AT by himself, and I quickly lost interest. It's one thing to not hike the entire trail, but I don't find much romance, excitement, or adventure in day hikes. There's no survival or independence, just walking back to your car at the end of the day. And without Katz, there were just stories (some interesting) of the neighboring towns and people surrounding the AT. With the great and demanding goal of hiking the AT shredded, I started getting tired of hearing about Bryson's opinions about his surroundings, other hikers, and Americans' views of nature. I was so relieved when Katz came back in order for him and Bryson to hike the last 100 miles in the Maine wilderness. But that ended in disappointment as well.

Although the second half of the book did not live up to my expectations and enjoyment of the first half, it wasn't bad. Bryson was entertaining and witty. In fact, I wonder if some of my annoyance with Bryson was inflamed by the reader, who sometimes rubbed me the wrong way and incomprehensibly mispronounced a number of words. I really wish I could enjoy books-on-cd as much as the real thing, but now that I've tried a number of them, I think I should stick with the written word.