Stiff

Title: Stiff
Author: Mary Roach
Year Published: 2003
Finished: December 19, 2008
Pages: 304
Challenges: Fall Into Reading 2008

I have been waiting patiently to read this book for a very long time, and it’s been sitting on my shelf waiting for the right moment.

Mary Roach’s first book is all about cadavers and all aspects of the dead. Including topics about war, cremation, medical research, cosmetic surgery, body snatching, crash test dummies, crucifixion, decapitation, cannibalism, and much more.

Everything I’ve heard from reviews, says this book is quite funny, and it had it’s moments but it wasn’t as funny and I thought it was intriguing. For the first time in quite awhile I actually found myself quoting passages to people around me that I found interesting, such as the woman who was arrested for leaving the scene of a hit and run with the injured man still stuck in her windshield.

Some the examples I found humorous, some of the tests done in early studies were quite interesting, and overall I found the book to be very informative.

I’m looking forward to reading her other two books.

Fall Into Reading Wrap Up

While a few days late in my wrap-up of this challenge, I’m finally getting around to it. Here’s my original post.

Did you finish reading all the books on your fall reading list? If not, why not?
Unfortunately I did not finish all the books on my reading list and the main reason is because I kept finding new books I wanted to read that weren’t on the list and read them instead of the ones I had written down.

Did you stick to your original goals or did you change your list as you went along?
Somewhere in between. I didn’t technically change my original list, but I did read more books that were not included. On my original post I started including these in addition to marking off the ones that I read. Overall, I read more than I had originally listed, I just missed out on 4 books from the original list.

What was your favorite book that you read this fall? Least favorite ? Why?
My favorite book was probably wither My Sister’s Keeper or The Lovely Bones. Both books were page turners and very emotional, I was wrapped up in both stories until the very end. They were also first time authors for me and very good experiences. My least favorite was probably the Purpose Driven Life. It was a good book but very much of it was repetitive for myself. It’s a great beginners book, but not as in-depth and I wish for where my faith is at.

Did you discover a new author or genre this fall? Did you love them? Not love them?
There were no new genre’s but I did discover Alice Sebold and Jodi Picoult whose other books I would love to read in the future.

What was your favorite thing about the Fall Into Reading Challenge?
I like the time frame, and getting to pick how many and variety of books. It makes the goal more realistic and for the most part fulfilling. Even though I didn’t finish, I did read a lot of books that have been on my list all year and I never managed to get too. Those that weren’t read are first on my list of this coming year.

Would you like to participate in another challenge here this spring?
Already looking forward to it!