GEEKERY  
ADVENTURE  
CONTEMPLATION  

20140302

February books

If last month had the theme of poverty, then this this month's theme might be discovery. That said, I can't guarantee a theme for every month.  Unless you want me to make things up, and weave insubstantial connections to paint a pretty, if ephemeral, picture. Because that's kind of what I did this month.  Discovery?  Every halfway decent book is about discovery of some kind.  Sure, the science history and murder mystery might plug in nicely, but what's particularly discovery-like about a family biography?  Discovering your home in a foreign land?  Discovering human connections?  That's just blather.

A Short History of Nearly Everything 
I can see this book being great for folks who aren't scientists, but there's only so many times I can take being told how many zeros are in 1043, seeing numbers written like 1,000,000,000,000, or reading "one million million."  The science history (who discovered what under which circumstances) was interesting, but the science itself--the history of nearly everything--was less so.  (Sorry, Gwen!)

Still Life ★★
I haven't read a lot of detective books, probably in part to balance out the universe because my grandmother has read so many.  This was a delightful read--very human and slow in the way that crime dramas on television usually aren't.  Despite that, I ended up reading almost the entire thing in one day. I anticipate continuing to read this series, but I'll need to moderate myself.

Rain of Gold ★★
A beautiful non-fiction of two Mexican families immigrating to America and crossing paths; their union resulted in the birth of the author, Victor VillaseƱor.  This was a book abounding in feats of strength, both physical and spiritual, and so much so that they seemed almost unreal.

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