i've been reading a lot the last couple months, visiting the library every couple of weeks, and also attempting to power through my massive backlog of books (i'm kind of overboard with the book-collecting, oy!). i had slowed down with my book consumption around the time that poppy was born in 2008, and for most of her first year because i was so excruciatingly tired and couldn't really seem to find the time, but this year i've been blessed with more and more blocks of free time and thus, my reading appetite has returned with a vengeance.
primarily, i like to read non-fiction: biographies, food, science, history, culture/sociology and any combination of the previously mentioned. i especially love books that focus on subjects relating to health/medicine.
here's what i've been reading lately/have finished this year/hope to start and/or finish soon:
-isabella blow: a life in fashion by lauren goldstein crowe -- just finished it yesterday! also have blow by blow by detmar blow and tom sykes in my possession but haven't had a chance to crack it yet; the reviews on the latter are not so good but i'm going to read it anyway for compare-and-contrast purposes.
-the food book by james trager -- found this @ a thrift store in NYC before we moved from there last year; it's a book that concerns itself with food history and trivia. one of my favorite thrift book finds of recent years.
-kitchen confidential and medium raw by anthony bourdain -- i have a bit of a crush on anthony; i love his sense of humor, bravado, potty mouth, punk rock ethos and acerbic wit. the way he slices and dices and skewers the (in)famous and drops drug/counter-culture references with abandon in his shows has me in stitches. after reading both of these books and watching just about every no reservations ever made, i think he's incredibly intelligent, and kinder and more humble than many people may think. he may not be everyone's cup of tea but i devoured his books (with relish). the nasty bits is on my bedside table. i read the first two back-to-back, so i thought i'd take a little break from anthony and come back to him later, after i'd read some other books in the backlog.
-the mother tongue: english and how it got that way by bill bryson -- started this last year, finished it this year. all about the history of the english language...where it came from, how it's changed, who uses it, where it's going. lots of funny anecdotes about english told in a light, entertaining way. i think languages are an incredibly interesting subject; i don't know any other language besides english fluently (i wish i had a million lifetimes to learn them all!), but find the subject of linguistics (in general!) fascinating nonetheless.
-AIDS doctors: voices from the epidemic: an oral history by ronald bayer and gerald m. oppenheimer -- found this one at the local library while browsing around. as said above, i have always had an interest in books about medicine, infectious disease and the like. it's an incredibly poignant, personal historical narrative the story of AIDS via the words of doctors who have worked with people who have/had been stricken with the disease over the last 30 years. very compelling read; enlightening as well, as i grew up in the age of AIDS, the 80s and 90s, when the disease was front page news and the subject was omnipresent in the minds of many. it's interesting to read about it's discovery and treatment retrospectively.
other books on the nightstand:
-plagues and peoples by william h. mcneal (about how infectious disease has affected the course of history/humanity)
-the omnivore's dilemma by michael pollan (just bought this yesterday; have heard a lot about it to date)
-bonk: the curious coupling of science and sex by mary roach (loved stiff.)
because i am always on the hunt for good books (and always curious about you!):
what are you reading right now?
what kinds of books do you like to read?
please share!