Although I call this blog "wilditude", the sharp-eyed may not that the website is "bookgeekbabe.blogspot.com". That's because I am a huge book geek. (And a moderate babe). I LOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE books. So much. Reading is my number one form of entertainment and stress relief. I don't drink, take drugs, watch much TV, or exercise and I'm trying not to over-eat (HA!) so my first and last line of stress relief is reading.
Many years back, my work sent me on a speed reading course. I'd asked for a course on team leading but apparently speed reading is close enough - maybe because they kind of rhyme? In any case, before I took this course I was a fast reader at 700 words a minute. Now, depending on the type of book, I can get up to 2,000 words a minute, although reading too long at that speed makes me kind of dizzy. I still have 93% comprehension and 85% retention at that speed. This is pretty much my sole claim to fame.
I've often thought I should keep a book journal where I can record the books I read and what I thought of them. I usually read several books a week and, since I read so much, I sometimes find once I start a book that I've already it. Disappointing! Anyway, I've tried keeping a journal in various notebooks but I tend to get one or two entries in and then misplace the notebook, or forget, or let the kids draw in it, or spill tea on it . . . .
Last night it occurred to me -- I could keep a list on this blog! Sometimes I amaze myself. So here are the books I have read in the last week:
*"Bedside table" also means floor beside the bed, back of the toilet, passenger seat of the car . . .
Brain Rules (John Medina) -- Interesting book on how the brain works. I enjoy books like this although what they mostly say is "We have no idea why the brain works the way it does." Which this one mostly said. What I liked about it was that the author set out 12 "brain rules", devoting a chapter to each one, and at then end of each chapter summarized the content and made recommendation on how to change school/work life to optimize our brain power. My take-away: Chapter 1 was about how our brains evolved to work best while our body was in motion, so maybe I should reconsider exercising. May also explain why exercise is so helpful for people with anxiety, depression and ADHD.
Guitar Zero (Gary Marcus) -- Another brain book, although I didn't realize it at the time. I had ordered a bunch of books on guitar playing from the library for Aaron and this was among them. The author was approaching his 40th birthday with a burning desire to learn to play guitar and absolutely no musical skill, in fact he is congentially arrhythmic. He is also a brain researching guy (I can't remember his actual title and I've taken the book back to the library), so he decided to take a brain researching approach to learning to play. It was interesting to see the impact music has on the brain, and how difficult it is to explain! My take-away: I'm not going to learn music because holy cow! it seems hard. And I have a much greater appreciation for my guitar-playing man.
Tanglewreck (Jeanette Winterson) -- A YA fantasy novel set in 2009 London that involves time tornados, worm holes, time travel and parallel universes. I thought the book was kind of interesting, although the protagonist, Silver, is an 11 year old girl and I had a hard time following the time manipulation plot so I suspect most children would have a hard time too. My take-away: In the "holding area" (300 years away and in another galaxy) there is a cat named Dinger, as in Schrodinger, who is sometimes dead and sometimes alive. This is cool.
Peter and the Starcatchers -- Dave Barry and Ridley Scott wrote the "prequel" to Peter Pan and, while I love both of their work individually, I was prepared to be disappointed as prequels tend to have an afterthought feel to them, or you can see so clearly where they are going that it's barely worth reading. This one was great! The story was awesome stand-alone but also nicely tied in the Peter Pan story details we are familiar with. Excellent characters, good action and lots of humour. My take-away: I totally wish I'd though of the name "Black Stache" for a pirate name.
The Woman Who Changed Her Brain (Barbara Arrowsmith-Young) -- Another brain book -- what was with me this week? I should be super smart about the brain now. This was an interesting book about Barbara who was severely learning disabled throughout her school years yet managed to achieve a graduate degree through sheer determination and mind-numbingly hard work. As an adult she heard of some research in which researchers where able to change the make-up of rats brains through training. Using herself as a guinea pig, she developed training exercises to learn to tell time on a clock, something she had never been able to do. She found that not only was she able to (with a LOT of hard work) learn to tell time but doing this also helped with other seemingly unrelated difficulties with symbolism, speech etc. She eventually opened several Arrowsmith schools where people of all ages can learn to overcome their cognitive difficulties. The book highlights the journeys of several students and draws a good picture of the shadow LD can cast over an entire life, and how it can change when the LD is addressed. My take-away: Two really. 1-- Sam has poor handwriting and maybe some of the tracing excercises they have their students do would be helpful. 2. I wish I had the money to send Nathan to this school because I think he would benefit the most.
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