Beth F
Sandy
bermudaonion (Kathy)
Stephanie
Trisha
The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs
Once upon a time before I blogged about the books I read, I picked up a book solely based on the title. ”The Know-It-All” by A.J. Jacobs just called to me. Luckily, his book was just as awesome as his title. Ever since then I’ve been on the lookout for more books by A.J. Jacobs because I really enjoy his forays into participatory journalism.
For “The Guinea Pig Diaries,” Jacobs tried something a little bit different. In the past he his books have been about year-long endeavors – reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica or following all the laws in the Bible. This time, he attempted a series of month-long challenges, such as using only rational decision-making, outsourcing basically his whole life, living by George Washington’s rules of conduct, or completely omitting lying.
I thought “The Guinea Pig Diaries” was fantastic. Sure, some of the essays were more interesting to me, or funnier, than others, but they were all quite good. They reminded me far more of Jacobs’ style in “The Know-It-All” than “The Year of Living Biblically,” which was good but not quite AS good.
In my opinion, A.J. Jacobs is always good for a bit of a laugh. Since these essays are not dependent on one another, it would be a lovely book just to pick up now and then when you want something fun yet thoughtful. Of course, I read the whole thing straight through and loved it that way too.
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Source: library
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I enjoyed The Know-It-All. I’ll have to add this one to my TBR list. I really like his writing style.
.-= ColleenFL´s last blog ..Happy Veteran’s Day! =-.
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This sounds like a clever idea! I love the way you introduced this review – I too remember those long-ago days when my reading was sometimes dictated by a clever title or a pretty cover, not a ton of praiseworthy reviews or a stack of review copies. LOL.
.-= Meghan´s last blog ..Review: The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner =-.
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devourerofbooks Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Isn’t it strange how much blogging has changed how we choose books?
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I loved The Know-it-All, and this book sounds wonderful. I haven’t picked up The Year of Living Biblically yet; although it is sitting right there on my shelf staring at me…
.-= Trisha´s last blog ..Book Review: U and J =-.
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This one’s on my TBR list; I’m really looking forward to it
.-= A Bookshelf Monstrosity´s last blog ..Atonement by Ian McEwan =-.
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I haven’t read this one yet (and am dying to!) but have read his other two books and just loved them. He is so funny. I’m excited to hear it’s more like The Know-It-All, which I enjoyed slightly more than Living Biblically. I have it on hold at the library so I suppose I’ll get my hands on it eventually. I’m so glad you loved it!
.-= Heather´s last blog ..When You Reach Me =-.
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I love AJ Jacobs. Both of his otther books were hilarious. I have this one on hold at my library but I think I have over 100 people before me.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Library Loot =-.
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I love AJ Jacobs, but I always feel a little sorry for his wife.
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Hehe, I TOTALLY agree with you, that woman is a saint to put up with him as well as she does! To partially make up for it one of his experiments in this book is to do whatever she says for a month, which is nice to see.
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I am reading Year of Living Biblically very very slowly. I’m interested while I’m reading it, but when I put it down I am not compelled to go back to it. Fortunately, I read multiple books at one time so this is not a problem for me. I am sure I’ll pick this one up too, just because this is the type of book I love.
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Random Friday, again. =-.
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Sounds interesting and I love the title! I need to read The Year of Living Biblically after reading The Unlikely Disciple.
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I just ordered this with a gift card I got for my birthday – I loved his first two books!
.-= Carrie K.´s last blog ..Should I finish The Invention of Everthing Else? =-.
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As I said to you once on Twitter, I really need to read him!
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Glad you enjoyed it! I bought it a short while ago and can’t wait to read it. It will be my first read from the author, apart from a few articles.
.-= Kay´s last blog ..Sunday Salon : Christmas Suggestions? =-.
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I haven’t read anything by the author. So I need to find one of his books soon.Thanks for the review.
.-= Shona´s last blog ..Guest Post by Michelle Moran plus a Giveaway =-.
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I can’t wait to read this book. Thanks for the review!
.-= S. Krishna´s last blog ..The Magicians – Lev Grossman =-.
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