Books I've Read This Week

Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs is about the third book I've ready by the professed self experimenter. The unfortunate part about reading so many of an author's books in a short period of time is that they don't seem to have the same impact anymore. Consequently this is the least enjoyable of the three books by Jacobs I've read. In Drop Dead Health Jacobs attempts to put as much health advice as possible into practice. One of the things that's always occurred to me is that if you did all the things recommended to be "healthy" you wouldn't have time to do anything else in your day. Forget about eating everything they suggest you eat as well as you'd be consuming too many calories. It's fun to watch him stumble through the often conflicting healthy advice. The book is certainly enjoyable and a somewhat informative read which can be boiled down to exercise more and eat less (except veggies).

Surface Detail by Ian M Banks is another in the long line of Culture novels and boy is it great. We follow a couple of inter-twined stories during the novel. First we have an escaped slave girl who is seeking revenge upon her former master. Secondly we have a "war" between two factions one which wants to do away with the virtual "hell" while the other wants to keep them around as a they are one of the only forms of deterrent in a society that is effectively immortal. As always Banks does a great job of writing space opera with interesting characters while posing moral quandaries at the same time. If you haven't checked out any of Banks other culture novels I suggest The Player of Games and Use of Weapons.