Three Weeks!

Wow, I have not blogged in a long time.  Almost like I've been busy or crazily exhausted in the last few weeks...

First, I've finished a couple more books since my last post.  As always, my reviews are on Goodreads; this month I read The Wise Man's Fear (5 stars) and The Forgotten Garden (3.5 stars).  Wise Man's Fear was the second really excellent book I've read this year and Forgotten Garden is my latest book club read, which I think will yield some very interesting discussion!

Second, I haven't hyperlink spammed you recently:

• Elementary Math vs. The Real World - You'll be unsurprised to see how disconnected they are.
• Good Social Science - Were you aware there's a growing epidemic of whooping cough (pertussis) in this country?  If not, you should be, especially if you have young children.  This short article makes a great point about people who cannot vaccinate because of health complications.  If you can (and most people can), please vaccinate.
• Bad Science (i.e. NOT science) - What are all those researchers doing when we can just use how people feel about radiation to make judgments?  ~sigh~
• Sad Science - Well, not so much sad as disappointing.  Evolutionary theory is better proven than Newtonian theory.  No, really.  I'd love to see a similar survey from past years for comparison.
• Science & Society - This is a longer interview with the author of Panic Virus, a book about the autism/vaccine scare and what caused and propagated it (I have not read the book).  Fascinating mostly because the author fully acknowledges something that most scientists overlook: anti-vaccine (and anti-science) movements are popular because they give people answers, even if they're wrong answers.  Regardless, it's an interesting look at how misinformation gains credibility and the role that major media plays with its lack of fact checking.

Okay, that's a lot of science, but it's all relevant and readable and interesting, I promise.

And lastly, I have planned another financial post in honor of what would have been our debt payoff next month.  Coming soon!

Book Issues

This month the book club I'm part of is reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  I sort of wish it was here this morning because it is storming outside.  It is so gray and nasty, the perfect day to cuddle up on the couch with hot tea and a long book.

Speaking of long books, I recently finished Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule.  As you can see in my review, I was un-enthused.  Very disappointing, as I had several friends whose opinions I trust recommend this series.  I'm pushing through the second one, Stone of Tears, which seems to be picking up a bit, but even on this rainiest of days, I don't feel compelled to read it.

What I'd really like to be reading is the penultimate Wheel of Time door-stopper, Towers of Midnight.  I tried to order it last night, along with this month's book club selection.  On Amazon, the order came to around $24.50 and on Barnes & Noble, $26.03.  Those of you familiar with online ordering know that I wanted to order from B&N because I would get free shipping.  So I put both books in my online cart and, lo and behold, the price of Towers of Midnight dropped by $1.42.  Which would normally be great, but this time would in fact cost me $4.98 in shipping, a losing deal.  I'm not going to the store to pay full price for either book, so I guess I'll wait a few days and see if either book price increases by $0.39.  Only I could be upset at prices dropping!

So instead of reading today, I'm applying for a new job.  Wish me luck...

September Book Club

One of the true joys I have in being currently unemployed is that I've had time to not only pursue my own diverse reading, but to join a book club started by a friend of mine.  The ladies in the book club are an exceptionally interesting group and we always have fun meetings.  We even manage to discuss the book at least a quarter of the time!

Last month we read Addition by Toni Jordan, a new Australian author.  We all enjoyed the book very much but the best part of the experience was, of course, the discussion.  The book's protagonist, Grace, suffers from OCD brought on by childhood trauma.  That led us into a discussion of what OCD-like tendencies we all have.  Our list included everything from hand-washing to eating food in even pairs to playing number games in our heads.  I play number games with digital clock readouts (which is pretty common) and, when I was a child, could calm myself by counting in multiples of 2.  2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64... I used to be able to get to 2^15 or beyond  before I actually had to start adding.

So what about you?  Any slightly odd habits (that you're willing to share) lurking in your past or present?