Good and Cheap (Books)! Day 6

I spent most of the weekend trying to catch up on my Mary Roach reading. She has a brand new book but I really want to finish reading her backlist before I move on. This weekend,  I finished Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, so I only have Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void.

I was hooked on Mary Roach from the start with her first book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and I think that first book remains my favorite. The book starts off with cadavers being used so cosmetic surgeons can practice (so gross). Then it goes on to the ins and outs of decomposition (I once listened to a podcast about body farms so this was sort of right up my ally, sadly), and then goes on to interesting things that maybe you didn’t know would be interesting, like body snatching or cannibalism. [Who doesn't think cannibalism is interesting?]

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex is probably Roach’s funniest book (although she is pretty hilarious in every book I’ve read). She delves into the history of sex research, including medieval sexy times, which, you know, good riddance. The best part of Bonk is when the author and her husband volunteer for a sex experiment, and yes there is an observer. Hey, are you running low on dirty talk with your special someone? [Dear Gianna: I am NOT your special someone. Love, Liz.] Pick up this book and you’ll have her swooning. You learn sexy terms like vaginocavernosus reflex. I think anytime you put the words vagina and cavern together, you’ve won. And for you ladies, whisper this little nugget in your fella’s ear: nocturnal penile tumescence monitoring. I think this simply means watching a penis at night. Liz knows for sure, just email her for details. [I'm distancing myself from everything mentioned in this entire blog post.]

You can’t lose with Mary Roach. She is funny, smart, and really has a knack for finding interesting subjects to write about. Her new book is called Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, which I think has something to do with the stomach or mouth, neither of which I  think I have any interest in, so you know, Mary Roach will probably change all that.  

What You're Not Reading, Day Nine

I never leave home without a book, especially when I travel. Wait, no, that’s not true. What I meant to say is, I am constantly forgetting to bring a book when I travel. I am not an e-reader fanatic and the only thing I read on my phone is news (and by news I mean celebrity news; it’s the only thing worth reading in miniature).  It's not that I hate e-readers (I have two) it's just that I am constantly losing things when I travel, so I would rather lose a fifteen dollar book and yet another pair of socks than my iPad.

I get major anxiety when I enter a bookstore--too many choices. I could probably make a life and death decision within seconds but picking out which book I want to read on my three hour flight sends me into panic. The solution used to be to take a Xanax and talk myself through the genres and then authors; in total, choosing a book took between 45 minutes to an hour. By the end of it I was completely exhausted and ended up sleeping the whole flight, making the entire exercise futile.

I found a new solution. When I find myself sans book on the road, I buy a volume of the Best American series. Most recently I purchased the 2012 edition of The Best American Mystery Stories edited by Robert Crais, which is filled with gems. Mary Gaitskill’s "The Other Place" about a man who is obsessed with violence, Thomas McGuane’s "The Good Samaritan" about a man who hires a mysterious ranch hand, and my favorite story in the collection, "Returning the River," by the great Daniel Woodrell, which might just be the most dark yet beautiful Woodrell story I’ve read.

Filling out the Best American Series this year are Best American Comics, Best American Essays, Best American Nonrequired Reading (next on my list), Best American Short Stories, Best American Science Nature Writing, Best American Travel Writing, and Best American Sports Writing. 

So that’s it, that’s my solution to travel. Now, I’m like everyone else, I take Xanax just for fun.