#16 Bryson

This book came out after I created this list, but my library had it so I figured wtf, let's just read it. Right up front Bryson tells you we hardly know anything about Shakespeare. So, you figure, how'd he manage to write 200+ pages? It's a cutural study of the period, and a good one. It's in his usual snappy style, but if you've ever read an academic book about the period, you can skip this one. If you haven't, this is a good one!

Finis #34

I finished the Toy Gatherer, one of my WIPS.

I've got a Bill Bryson book to report on, and another one nearly done. And four ordered through interlibrary loan. Thursday and Friday, I'm between jobs, so I'll have some time to update here.

#15 More Non Fiction, Still Scientific

I'm writing an article about changes in medical education, a sort of "then and now" piece. It's why I was in the anatomy lab hallway today; all that formaldehyde got me feeling a little lightheaded. But on some level, I was prepared for it because I just finished Christine Montross's book, Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab, which I am reading for the article. Before Montross went to medical school, she was a poet and you can tell. She looks at anatomy class historically and culturally as well as opening the specifics of dissection of her group's particular body to the reader. She writes with compassion. She skillfully negotiates emotion, drama, comedy and does it all while examining the larger issues of medical ethics and training. I thought this book was remarkable and if you've got the stomach you should read it. You'll never look at your doctor quite the same way again.

Non-fiction: 15.5 (finish the damn flu book already!)