#CBR7 Book 109: "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex" by Mary Roach

Page count: 336 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

I don't read a whole lot of non-fiction. What little I do read is usually in the celebrity biography genre. But for my Eclectic Reader Challenge, I needed to read something qualifying as Micro history. I didn't even know what that was, but the internet was very helpful in clearing up my confusion. Goodreads even has a lot of useful suggestions of what I could read. As Bonk had a fairly high average rating, and was very highly rated by several of my like-minded book friends, not to mention that I was curious about the subject matter was handled.

I really wasn't sure what to expect, as I mentioned, this is pretty much my first foray into micro history, but Ms. Roach is a very entertaining writer and covers the topic from a number of angles. She writes about famous researchers like Kinsey, Masters and Johnson who worked diligently during the 20th Century, but also goes back earlier, looking at the way sex was viewed historically and how the research of it developed. She's clearly travelled all over the world for her answers, interviewing pig farmers in Denmark, doctors in Asia and on occasion, she even volunteers herself (and on one occasion) as a research subject.

Some chapters were absolutely more fascinating than others. I must also confess that my reading of this book was interrupted by the release of Carry On, and having to read the last third of this book with one heck of a book hangover after a book about gay wizards probably meant that I was no longer really in the right frame of mind for scientific facts about sex and sexual research, no matter how entertainingly it was written. I may try to re-read the book at a later date, when I can give my full attention to it.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR3 Book 20: "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Publisher: Black Swan
Page count: 686 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: February 18th, 2011
Date finished: March 20th, 2011

I was never the most enthusiastic student of science, and gave it up as soon as it was no longer mandatory in school to study more languages and literature instead. I occasionally have to sub a science lesson, and looking at the textbooks the kids in my secondary school are studying, there's a huge amount of stuff I probably did learn in school at some point, but that I've happily forgotten. I figured it might be a good idea to try to re-learn some of it, and since I've enjoyed every Bill Bryson book I ever read (and this seems to be one of his most acclaimed books yet), I picked up A Short History of Nearly Everything a few years ago.

When I started reading it the first time, I think I got halfway through the introduction before something else distracted me and the book was left to languish on a shelf. It seemed a bit boring to me, and I just couldn't muster up the willpower to get through such a big book (which is ironic, as I will happily read an epic fantasy novel way bigger if the mood strikes me) at that point. Yet when I started it again this year, determined that my 52 books for CBRIII wasn't just going to be fantasy, romance and romantic fantasy (cause let's face it, that is the majority of what I read), I found that it was very enjoyable and not at all hard going. I'd read over 400 pages before I put it down for a little break (big mistake - there were so many other shiny books I needed to read that got in the way of me starting it up again) that turned into three weeks. I found myself not just re-learning many of the things I'd been taught at school, but learning new and fascinating and odd stuff about geology and evolution and DNA and biology and realized that the scientists of the 18-19th Century were often extremely colourful and peculiar individuals.

While Bryson covers a huge array of scientific subjects, he still writes in his usual witty and informative way, and the book explains fairly complicated things and ideas in ways that even I, a disinterested linguist and historian can understand. I strongly recommend the book to anyone fond of well-written non-fiction, especially if you want to brush up on your general science knowledge.