Devourer of Books

Charlene Ann Baumbich: <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/01/alice-i-have-been-book-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15759" title="On: Alice I Have Been - Book Review and Giveaway">Finished this book a couple days ago. Could barely put it down. Great tension and storytelling. Your...
bermudaonion (Kathy): <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/03/beautiful-dead-jonas-book-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15754" title="On: Beautiful Dead: Jonas - Book Review">Sorry this didn't work for you. I don't think it's for me either since I haven't gotten into the pa...
Sue: <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/03/the-opposite-of-me-book-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15752" title="On: The Opposite of Me - Book Review">I picked up this book last week, I started reading it the other day and it's great so far. I picked...
Melissa: <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/03/beautiful-dead-jonas-book-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15751" title="On: Beautiful Dead: Jonas - Book Review">Honestly, I decided against this one once the kids' were all named. Talk about waaaay too hippie.
Katie: <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/03/beautiful-dead-jonas-book-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15749" title="On: Beautiful Dead: Jonas - Book Review">The premise sounds so interesting, so I'll check it out of the library instead of buying it. Als...
Sandy: <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/03/beautiful-dead-jonas-book-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15745" title="On: Beautiful Dead: Jonas - Book Review">Good Lord that is a HUGE tour. I don't think you are the only one who didn't care much about the ch...
Stephanie: <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/03/remarkable-creatures-mini-review/comment-page-1/#comment-15738" title="On: Remarkable Creatures - Mini Review">I absolutely love Tracy Chevalier. Hopefully I will get a chance to read this one soon!

The Guinea Pig Diaries – Book Review

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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.

Buy this book here and support this blog:
Powells.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.

Source: library