Four books finished since my last post.

Nicholson Baker's Checkpoint was something I picked up both because of all of the hype but more importantly because I tend to quite like Baker's books. It was a short book, read in one sitting. It feels like it should have been just one long chunk in the middle of a longer book. Whether you get offended by the content probably solely rests on who you're voting for in November, so I won't go into that part at all. I'm guessing most of the outraged people won't even read the thing though.

Eat, Drink and Be Healthy by Walter Willett is an overview of some of the current scientific thinking on diet, nutrition, exercise, etc. There wasn't anything too shocking to me, but it wasn't a bad reminder of things I've heard over and over.

Philip K. Dick's Time out of Joint was an interesting contrast to Checkpoint in a way, though discussed a very different sort of government conspiracy. PKD's book was far subtler and not so overtly political, but overall better written. (Baker's book felt like it was rushed through publication and could have used some more polishing). I have a feeling I'll be catching up on the rest of PKD's books over the next few years.
posted by kristin at 10:17 AM