Books I like.

You want to know a little bit more about me? This is what I am reading right now.

1. The BIG Necessity, The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why it Matters by Rose George.

Chances are, the last time you read about excrement was back in the days of Everybody Poops. Yes, this book is about poop, and where it goes once you are done with it. It is a fascinating look at the underworld of the sewer systems and how disease would quickly spread were it not for these systems. And, guess where you can read this little gem?

Fun fact: 850,000 cell phones are flushed down British toilets a year.

I believe it. I almost drop my phone in the toilet a few times per day.

2. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon w/Mary G. Enig PhD

If you love chemistry or food science, you'll love this book. This book is pretty in your face about the politicalization (is that a word?) of food and is all about da fat in your diet. I'm a high-fat diet kind of girl. 60-70% of my food comes from fat, and no, not sugary or processed fats, but nuts, avocados, cold-filtered oils. I'm mostly plant-based, but this is a great book that not only has tons of recipes, but a lot of fun info - especially for those interested in the history of food culture.

Favorite recipe: How to make your own coconut milk. This lacto-intolerant lady loves plant-based milk. How cool to make it in your kitchen!

3. The Barefoot Book, 50 Great Reasons to Kick Off Your Shoes by Daniel Howell, PhD.

Reason number one is not because Katy Says So. Can you believe it? There is lots of interesting stuff on bare feet (the author is a bare foot runner). Some stuff I agree with and some I don't -- and I know he feels the same way about my book (he read an early edition of mine and was kind enough to do a blurb for me. His basic premise is excellent - human feet were not designed to wear shoes. Right on. My bigger issue is (as with many) is what starts out as science-based material turns into opinion quickly. Pet peeve: He feels that flip flops are better alternative than fully attached shoes. I'm guessing this is because he doesn't thoroughly understand the biomechanical changes that come with toe gripping (really bad for wanting to keep healthy nerve conduction to feet) and what *natural gait* really is. It's ok. He's a biochemist, not a biomechanist. I don't hold it against him and I'm hoping when my book comes out later this year, we can talk about it via blogging for y'all to benefit from. If you are wanting to go totally barefoot, this is a great resource.

Cool stuff: As a biochemist, he has a lot of info on the *real facts* behind what diseases you can catch walking around barefoot. Hint: Nothing.

4. Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

This is my favorite book of all time. Don't know what else to say, but go and get it. In a nutshell, this book looks at what happened to people once we stopped hunter-gathering and started farming. Hint: Guns, Germs, Steel. But you saw that coming, right?

It's a little text-book-y, so if you don't like to read your facts straight from the professor's mouth, then read this book instead:

5. ISHMAEL by Daniel Quinn.

This book is essentially Guns, Germs, and Steel in a nice bed-time story. In fact, start with Ishmael and get to G,G, & S next year.

Best quote: "Any species that exempts itself from the rules of competition ends up destroying the community in order to support its own expansion." Heavy. But, the story features a talking Gorilla, which softens the info a bit 🙂

6. Euclid's Elements (all 13 books in one volume!)

In case you didn't know, the Geometry class you took in HS that seemed boring, was really the life's work of Greek mathematician Euclid. If you like math and love philosophy, you'll love reading how Euclid wrote out his books more like poetry and less like "if A, then B".

"If a unit measure any number, and another number measure any other number the same number of times, alternately also, the unit will measure the third number the same number of times that the second measures the fourth."

I know, right?

7.Baby in a Car by Monica Wellington

I can't tell you how captivating this book is. See, there's this baby in a car. What does baby see? Taxi Cabs. Garbage Trucks. Flags. Fire Trucks. This is obviously a baby in a car in Manhattan. And, there's a plot twist too. I won't give it away, though I will say it has something to do with an Umbrella and a Dog.

8. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard P. Feynman

KB+RF. There, I said it. I love RPF. He is smart, funny, and cool. I love science. Real science -- not biased results from data collection by people who have forgotten to stay open minded.  My favorite Feynman story: It doesn't matter what things are called. There is nothing important about what things are called. Science is not memorizing what things are called -- that is classification. Science is understanding how nature works. Knowing the word photosynthesis doesn't mean a thing if you don't understand that this word means that plants are able to grow by getting their mass from the air. (Yes, they do!)

Brilliant.

So, what are YOU reading this summer? I'm noticing a trend in my books after writing this. Can anyone recommend a novel or something? (I like those too!)