I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson

A collection of weekly articles published in a British newspaper by 'the king of everyday' following his return to the USA after some years spent in Britain  Although it was slightly dated with figures and studies coming from the '90s the majority of the sentiments hold true, or are even more pronounced these days. Some truly laugh out loud moments as well as some interesting insights. Perhaps a few too many murder and suicide jokes for my liking but otherwise it's like the jacket says 'Bryson could write an essay about dryer lint [...] and still make us laugh out loud.'

December 2012 - January 2013
8

Paradox of Choice - Barry Schwartz

Seems like a pretty straightforward concept: there's an overwhelming amount of choices in our lives today and we need to make the best decisions. However there's a great deal more that goes into decisions, as well as our feelings following the decisions, that surprised me. Rifling through this book caused some personal reflection and pointed out a few aspects of my personality that seem obvious but weren't recognized until this reflection. Apparently I am a maximizer. There were a few studies mentioned which actually proved the opposite of what many people, myself included, would have reasoned when it comes to decision making. The advice is primarily common sense, but again until you spend the time to contemplate it you may not realize.

January 2013
7

Santaland Diaries - David Sedaris

An overtly sarcastic collection of tongue-in-cheek short stories loosely surrounding the Christmas holiday. The negativity persists even if it is veiled behind the sarcasm and really doesn't make for an uplifting read at all - in fact it was quite the opposite. Not funny so much as borderline offensive at times. The first story, about working as an elf, is the highest point and gives hope that the rest may be worth its while but that expectation is not met.

3
December 2012