Our Babies, Ourselves

This should be mandatory reading for anyone who is about to become a parent and is still caught up in the "mainstream" perceptions of parenting infants. It talks about various ways children are dealt with in various culture, from primitive to modern. It also talks a great deal about how biology factors into it all. It has several light bulb moment ideas from breastfeeding to where the baby sleeps. It doesn't mention elimination communication vs. diapering but perhaps that would alienate people who are already on the fence. However, at times the text can be a tad bit dry for the average reader, and I'm not sure whether the material was really repetitive or whether I just knew it all going in. (OK, that sounds conceited.)

I did get quite a few interesting facts out of it though, both historical and anthropological. Like how at one point of American history, the guy who invented the incubator, I think his name was Cooney, actually made a museum of (living) premature babies in incubators. And their mothers weren't allowed to touch them or go near them, but they were given free admission to the show. Wowsa.

Surviving Iraq: Soldiers' Stories

By FAR the best of the Iraq books I've read recently. They are anecdotal accounts from various military members and their times in theater and when they got home. There was a definite anti-war slant to the overall book but there were many pro-war quotes too. While I think the interviews were definitely "led" in a way, there were a variety of opinions from the various service members. Obviously they conflicted between the various people, but were presented honestly. There was also a pretty good variety of soldiers, from barely 18 to late 50's I think, some educated, some straight from high school, etc. More later.

The Old Curiosity Shop

Oh dear. I am so glad to be done with this one. As a high schooler I used to adore Dickens, and I had wanted to read this particular title for ages. Umm. I no longer like Dickens, to put it bluntly. Perhaps I just felt sophisticated reading it, back in the day. Or maybe this is just one of his shoddier novels, but I tend to think it's the first of the two. Either way, I forced myself to read the whole 600ish pages. It was boring, stuffy, and that's pretty much all there is to it. I did sort of like the Swiveller character towards the end of the book, but that's pretty much it. Kit was alright, Quilp was memorable though not particularly deep, the Nell storyline was horrid, and just, ugh. At least I read it and no longer have to worry about it. But I definitively no longer classify Dickens among my favorite authors. Bah. Maybe I'll try him again one day, but not one day soon.

P.S. - The illustrations in the Everyman's version I had, were TERRIBLE. The characters were all depicted as caricatures and it didn't help me visualize or internalize the already-boring story at all.

Ruff's War: A Navy Nurse On the Frontline of Iraq

The title is something of a misnomer. The book is less about the front lines of Iraq and more a biography of Ruff. Not to say it's a bad book. I learned interesting factoids about the Navy itself (about which I know next to nothing), and I appreciated this lady's very organized lifestyle. It is almost painfully optimistic; every hardship she has she sees the silver lining of. And her whole life seems very clear and purposeful. I really liked the image that came across from her. And the writing style, on the whole, was refreshing and light and clear. All good points.

However, once the lady actually deploys to Iraq, I find it a bit confusing. She doesn't, well, do a whole lot. She is there for something like two months before coming home, and from what it sounds like, most of that was spent without having much of a job to do. She had a few nursing duties but it seems like it was only sporadically.

I don't think she went too much into detail about the "hardships of Iraq" as one Amazon reviewer wrote. I don't think she was necessarily complaining, more like describing the conditions to someone who has never experienced it before. I think she did a commendable job overall with the book, despite those few sticking points.

Also, I found it odd how the lady mentions tons of friendships and family members but not ONE romantic interest in her entire life? Not even in passing? Hmm, how odd. It's an interesting thing to leave out altogether from a biography (of sorts).

DVD: Into the Wild

I had so looked forward to this movie, and was so disappointed. The scenery was amazing, the filmography good, Vince Vaughn and the hippie lady were happy surprises, and the lead actor wasn't half bad either. Decent soundtrack, for what that's worth, etc. But oh LORD did the movie take itself seriously! When I read this in high school I thought it was a totally inspiring story, etc. etc. The guy was my hero. And then, I don't know whether I got older and slightly wiser (or at least less naive) since then, or whether seeing this movie put things into pictures, but... it was just a ridiculous and kinda delusional guy. I guess at one point I'll have to read the book again to see where I stand with it. But the movie was so bad I never even made it to the end before sending it back to Netflix...

Hour of the Witch

As much as I respect all religions, and people of all faiths, I have to admit I have a cynical streak in me. When an author of ANY religion decides to get on a soapbox, I usually take it with a grain of salt. I found this book by accident in the library, and it seemed to take itself so seriously that I brought it home merely for a little light hearted giggle factor. I wasn't too disappointed. There's a part where the author quotes a passage from Harry Potter regarding how Bill, an older Weasley brother, was dressed in a leather jacket and a fang earring. And then he goes on and on about how evil it is to dress in leather jackets... Erm, what? Maybe it's not your personal taste but evil? Come now. That's just one little example of the arguments the book used to prove the Harry Potter series was immoral. And then towards the end he compares him having a six week old baby in the house (good) to the evil in HP, oh and JK Rowling was possessed by spirits to write this series... It was amusing, to say the least.

Nickel and Dimed

Unfortunately I read all the reviews on Amazon.com for this book before I got the chance to write out my own opinions, and I really can't say anything new about it that hasn't been said before. Basically, my opinion is that it's an interesting enough account, but the author considers her mission to be a little more important than it actually is. Perhaps the rich have an easier time reading a book about the poor written by someone else who is rich but I suppose that's really the best argument for it that I can come up with: that it provides some window into that different world.

I actually think that I've seen both the rich and the poor sides of America with greater intimacy than the author has, and for what that's worth, I didn't find this book to be terribly honest or impressive. (And the snarky little points she makes intermittently don't really help her case much, either.)

I'm actually a bit more disappointed than I might have been, and that's because I have been looking forward to reading this for several years after seeing it mentioned very positively in a sociology textbook, and I guess the years of anticipation really built it up too much. :)