February 24—Yes, my birthday, because shelf reading doesn’t stop for high holy days. I wonder what archaeologists of the future will have to say about us when they see all the books about diet and health, books on every conceivable body part including The Prostate Book, brain, kidney, IBD, IBS, Alzheimer’s, anti-Alzheimer and anti-aging. And orgasms. Lots of books about orgasms, like Come As You Are, Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm, and The Orgasmic Diet, which happens to currently be checked out. Some of the spicier books are only available as ebooks, like 365 Sex Positions, possibly to be read in tandem with An Orgasm (or More) a Day, also only in ebook format. These are the 600s—Applied Technology—but the 610s focus on medicine and health. Unlike the 500s, which center on primates and prehistoric humans, the 610s concentrate on modern humans. Especially the human body. Especially diet and health. And death. Quite a few books on death, like How to Die, How Not to Die, and the How Not to Die Cookbook. Then there was Goddesses Never Age, by Christiane Northrup. They may never age but they do use make-up, heavy make-up.
Titles here include Kale and Coffee, What Doesn’t Kill Us, and Toilet Yoga: Because Sometimes Sh*t Doesn’t Happen. (I looked at this one but did not check it out. It’s mainly thirty pages of little diagrams of yoga postures. Good to know.) There was also The RBG Workout. Keep it up for a few more months, Ruth!! I must be getting better at this because when I saw The Sinatra Solution next to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I knew there was a problem. The former book was definitely misshelved. That and the fact that it had nothing to do with Frank Sinatra. Another book that was misshelved was Headwaters of the River of Bullshit, which appeared to be a self-published memoir, perhaps deserving of getting misplaced, or mislaid (see paragraph above on orgasms). But I haven’t read it so shouldn’t judge. I have discovered the secret to getting published: become a celebrity and then you become an authority on anything. I found Judy Collins’ book Cravings: How I Conquered Food, Leslie Stahl’s Being Grandma, Oprah Winfrey’s Food, Health, and Happiness, and Suzanne Somers, who has published at least five books, including I’m Too Young For This, Sexy Forever, Being Sexy, and Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer—and How to Prevent Getting it in the First Place. I think there might be a better source of information on cancer prevention, but you never know. Most inspirational, least scary, title of the day: Save Room for Pie, by Roy Blount Jr. Although The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully by Aaron Carroll was a close second. Comments are closed.
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Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
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