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Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach Published: 2013 Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller I loved Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers when I read it last year, so I was quite excited to pick this up. It’s all to do with the digestive system and the research that goes into understanding it and treating its problems. It’s a topic that must have a lot of bizarre stories, which is what Mary Roach likes to dig up. As someone with Crohn’s disease, I figured this would be right up my alley. They even mentioned it in the blurb! I wanted to love this, but I found a…
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The Polysyllabic Spree
The Polysyllabic Spree: A Hilarious and True Account of One Man’s Struggle With the Monthly Tide of the Books He’s Bought and the Books He’s Been Meaning to Read by Nick Hornby Published: 2004 I’ve been meaning to pick this up for ages. It’s a collection of Nick Hornby’s monthly column, from a magazine called The Believer, where he discusses what he read over the previous month, as well as what he didn’t read. It’s essentially a professional book blog. I don’t want anyone writing in to point out that I spend too much money on books, many of which I will never read. I know that already. I certainly…
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Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy by Isaac Asimov Published: 1993 Every now and then I get a hankering to write some fiction, but writing is hard, so I usually just read a book about writing instead. I have a whole shelf of them, and this time I came across Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy while thumbing through. I bought and read this over ten years ago, but I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it. This is a collection of essays on different aspects of writing, from the fundamentals of plotting and dialogue right up to submitting manuscripts and dealing with editors. Isaac Asimov is listed as the author, but…
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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (audio) by Mary Roach Published: 2003 Narrated by: Shelly Frasier What uses are there for cadavers? How have they been acquired over the years? What eventually happens to them? These are the questions that Mary Roach sets out to answer in this surprisingly funny, and often disgusting, book. We begin with an introduction into how they’re used medically. From anatomy students to a plastic surgery workshop, the cadavers help train our medical professionals so they don’t screw up on the living. I couldn’t help but imagine accidentally walking in on that plastic surgery workshop just before it had started – a large conference…