The Book Blawg

Molly Remer of Citizens for Midwifery reviews Fathers at Birth by Rose St. John in: Fathers at Birth and More About Fathers at Birth. Some good links in those posts, too.

The Sum of All Fears, by Tom Clancy.

I'm going to take a break in my quest to read through all the Jack Ryan novels. It's becoming tedious; I need some variety. Plus, I want to go back and read the John Clark novels, which often feature Jack Ryan in a cameo roll, and are set in the same "universe".

The Host, by Stephenie Meyer.

I took a break in the middle of re-reading Meyer's Twilight saga to read her "other" novel, The Host. I liked it a lot better than I though I would. If you just really love teenage vampires, you might not enjoy this one so much. Likewise, if you are a hard-core sci-fi buff, it might just not be science fiction-y enough for you. But if you like Meyer's writing, there are plenty of similarities between The Host and Twilight; a young, vulnerable heroine with an old soul who is selfless to the point of self-sacrifice; a bizarre love triangle; and two groups of people - humans and aliens - who, though natural enemies, find a way to get past their prejudices, understand each other, and work together.

The May, 2008 edition of Veritas Press' Epistula contained a fascinating article, "A Brief History of Children’s Literature".

This looks interesting - The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir by Patricia Harman.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer.

No, it's not great literature and yes, it is that good.

Sheri Menelli is offering downloadable copies of her book Journey into Motherhood: Inspirational Stories of Natural Birth for free. Get your copy here.

Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters, by Bill Tancer.

Bill Tancer loves data, and in his job he gets to work with a lot of it. He works for Hitwise, a company that analyzes online information, particularly search terms and online traffic. One of the examples that he gives in the book is that searches for prom dresses spikes in early January. He could come up with no explanation for this data, so he spoke with insiders in the prom dress industry, who were equally as clueless - they target their marketing for April and May, since most proms take place in late May. Finally, after sharing his data at a conference, a magazine publisher clued him in to the fact that teen magazines publish prom fashion issues in late December - a fact that, I'm sure, the prom dress industry needs to know.

While this book is in the same category as The Tipping Point or Freakonomics, it's not quite as good. Perhaps Mr. Tancer, being a data guy, is a bit more uncomfortable with "the big picture". But there is still a lot of great information here. I found the discussions of Web 2.0 and social networking particularly interesting.

Joe Hodnicki of the Law Librarian Blog writes a review here.

Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?: An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More, by Peter Walsh.

I listened to the audiobook of Walsh's It's All Too Much and loved it, so I was anxious to read his new book. It's really just the it's all too much philosophy applied to weight loss and food, with lots of Walsh's insights into human nature, as he has observed the connection between body clutter and "too much stuff" clutter.

The Tatum Family blogger reviews several great books on pregnancy and childbirth.

Molly Reads reviews three books I own and have read (though not necessarily blogged about):

Childbirth Education: Practice, Research and Theory, by Francine H. Nichols and Sharron Smith Humenick. (review)

Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding, by Naomi Baumslag, MD and Dia L. Michels. (review)

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care, by Jennifer Block. (review)

Audition: A Memoir, by Barbara Walters.

This book is really interesting, not so much because Barbara Walters is that fascinating - in fact, her constant low self-esteem and indecisiveness gets to be a bit wearing on the reader - but because she knew so many important, famous, and infamous people. In fact, I would suggest this book to someone older than me, as her career spans decades which I know little about, having been too young to experience them firsthand, and too old for them to get much coverage in history class.

Via Birth Pangs, a "laborious work of non-fiction" titled Great Expectations: Twenty-Four True Stories about Childbirth.

How to Write a Children's Book and Get It Published, by Barbara Seuling.

So obviously this book is helpful if you want to write a children's book, but I also learned a lot about the history of children's literature and the publishing industry. There is also a helpful list in the Appendix of recommended children's books in each category which may be useful for parents.

In honor of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day:

Death of a Dream: Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Newborn Loss, by Donna and Rodger Ewy.

Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich, by Robert Frank.

This is a very interesting and enjoyable read about really, really rich people and how they live. It stands in sharp contrast to The Millionaire Next Door, which characterizes the ordinary millionaire as buying used cars and drinking Budweiser.

As previously mentioned, I am reading through the Jack Ryan novels:

Red Rabbit

The Hunt for Red October

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Clear and Present Danger

My HG-sister Diana of Birth at Home in Arizona writes a review of Managing Morning Sickness: A Survival Guide for Pregnant Women by Miriam Erick. While you are at it, check out her related blog, The Whining Puker.

Your Pregnancy Recovery Guide, by Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler.