Title: Dexter's Final Cut
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Genre: fiction, books-to-TV, mystery

I've been on a non-fiction reading bender lately, so it was nice to take a "break" and read some fiction. That said, I had mixed feelings about this book. Lindsay's writing and Dexter's wittiness was spot on, as always, but Dexter got him into some major moral dilemmas in this book which I was uncomfortable with (Dexter, of course, was not).
A TV show is filming in Miami and Dexter and Deborah become "technical advisers" to the show. Basically, this means they become glorified babysitters for the celebrities who will be playing their characters on the show. Dexter becomes caught up in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood as his duties are taken a step further and he becomes bodyguard to Jackie Forrest, the beautiful starlet. Our favorite serial killer who keeps a low profile and stays in the shadows, becomes enamored with publicity, his client's fame and the wonderful food that surrounds celebrities. This infatuation with a different world causes Dexter to become dissatisfied with his "normal life" that he had previously created for himself: Rita, the kids, work, etc. As Dexter is about to make a choice that will change his life forever, his first foray into the world of humanity and human emotions comes crashing down on him.

Title: Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal
Author: Melanie Warner
Genre: non-fiction, food issues, health

"Just because it's edible doesn't mean it's good for you" (xvii)
Melanie Warner's mom, quoted above, was onto something and way ahead of her time. While most kids had the freedom to eat whatever processed food came their way, Melanie was only allowed to eat whole foods; "gooped-up" foods were not allowed in the house when Melanie was growing up.

Nowadays, food science has taken technology and food processing to a whole new level: hexane is used in the manufacturing of soybean oil, synthetic Vitamin D is created from sheep grease in Chinese factories (won't be buying vitamins anymore), other vitamins are created from coal tar and acetone. Yuck!

Warner takes us through the history of American cereal. Americans used to eat oatmeal and various meat products for breakfast until the Kellogg brothers figured out how to create cereal flakes. Sugar was added to make the flakes more palatable and now modern cereal grains undergo extrusion and gun puffing before they are filled in the cereal box. Unfortunately, "industrial processes like extrusion and gun puffing ... dismantle foods to the point where there's not much left for our digestive systems to do" (65). So what's the big deal about that? "Depriving our stomach of its gastric duties by giving it disassembled food appears profoundly to alter energy metabolism and the dynamics of hunger and satiety" (65). Sounds like our stomach needs to work out too.

Warner, like other food-issues authors I have read, discovered that food scientists don't partake of the products they create; the food scientists she interviewed bought their produce at farmer's markets, planted their own garden, and cook their own meals from scratch (one scientist she interviewed even makes his own yogurt!).

Not only are synthetic chemicals and vitamins added to our food, but there is special category that food scientists refer to as "food-contact substances." These are "things manufacturers use in their packaging and apply to machinery to keep it running" (109).

The American food industry is like a dog chasing its own tail. Natural nutrients are taken out of a food to make it cheaper to produce. Then synthetic vitamins and nutrients must be added back to said food product so that it can be marketed as healthy. To make sure these vitamins stick to the product, more chemicals must be used. Oy vey, when will it all end?

Title: The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think
Author(s): Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods
Genre: animals, non-fiction, science

Is your dog smarter than a 5th grader? Could your dog possibly be smarter than you? If you answered yes to these two questions, you are not alone. Brian Hare is an animal behaviorist who has been studying canines and their cognitive abilities. Using various experiments, Hare hypothesizes that dogs' genius came about due to domestication. (No, he is not saying that wolves and foxes are dumb but dogs perform better on animal intelligence tests which are talked about extensively in the book)
Hare also hypothesizes that canine domestication occurred through the use of breeding for non-aggressive personalities (friendliness) versus breeding for a certain physical trait.

Title: The Cat Whisperer: Why Cats Do What They Do- and How to Get Them to Do What You Want
Author: Mieshelle Nagelschneider
Genre: non-fiction, animals, cats

We used to have a cat with "issues." Rusty would chew things; this was a habit he acquired as an adult cat. He would chew shoelaces, holes in clothes (new clothes, of course), and chomp on computer mice cords and speaker wires, yet, he somehow never shocked himself. Our vet never found anything physically wrong with Rusty and I would always joke that Rusty needed a shrink... Imagine my pleasant surprise when The Cat Whisperer  appeared at my local library.

I have had pet cats for my most of my life; after observing various felines for so long, you think you have a pretty good understanding of the feline universe, but I did learn a few things:
1. Your sweetest cat is usually the most anxious. All that cuddling and rubbing against you may actually be your cat's way of trying to self-soothe (29).
2. Spatio-temporal hierarchy (61). This is a mouthful that means "kitty timesharing." I have noticed this behavior among my four cats but I didn't know it had a name. Examples: Midnight and S'mores will follow me into the bathroom in the morning as I get ready for work. My other two cats, Oreo and Cocoa, will not be in the bathroom at the same time as Midnight and S'mores. At night, Oreo will snuggle by my feet or behind my knees. Cocoa will snuggle near my chest. Midnight will be hanging out in the room but not on the bed. S'mores will be hiding in the closet and will come out every now and then for some head rubs. Oreo will groom Cocoa but not the other cats; Midnight and S'mores will groom each other but not Cocoa or Oreo.
3. Flehmen response. Do you ever see your cat sniff a spot (or some stinky shoes) and make a weird face? This is the cat sniffing and tasting a scent, "A can take in the taste and scent of something simultaneously with this organ [Jacobson's organ], which is just behind the incisors in the roof of the mouth" (209).
4. The plague spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages after widespread persecution of cats.
5. There are 40 to 70 million homeless or feral cats in the United States but "relatively few homeless or stray dogs (21)." Why the feline to canine disparity? Cats are not highly valued as dogs (21).

So how did Mieshelle Nagelschneider become a cat behaviorist (and get paid for it)? As a little girl she would (try) to befriend the feral cats near her family's ranch. A combination of patience, experimental techniques, and having a special gift set on her on the track of helping cats and their humans resolve difficult cat psychological issues. Working as a vet tech and moonlighting as a pet sitter helped solidify her work with cats. When she starts feline behavior therapy, she first corrects the behavior of the human (usually the cause of the cat's behavior problem):

"Cats are more often killed for unwanted behavior than for any other reason. Imagine if the number one killer of human beings was not disease but behavioral problems. We'd view this as a mental health epidemic" (20).

Title: Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper Than Swords
Author: Henry Jacoby (editor)
Genre: non-fiction, books on TV, fantasy

Game of Thrones and philosophy in the same sentence? This pop culture/philosophy mash-up caught my eye because 1. Game of Thrones is my favorite show and I need something to hold me over until next year, 2. Since I'm going back to school, I thought this book would help get my brain back into a semi-scholarly mode.

Topic Covered                                     Case Study
biomedical ethics                                   Bran Stark, Khal Drogo
metaphysics                                           direwolves, wargs, wights
evil & injustice                                       Cersei (need we say more?)
moral luck vs. moral responsibility          Tyrion Lannister
cultural relativism                                    Dany
fatalism                                                  "Winter is Coming"
game theory                                           Lannisters' modus operandi
why be moral?                                       Joffrey Baratheon

Other topics include Ned Stark's idealism and how/why that ended badly for him; epistemology- "what we know, how we know it, and what it means to know something" (143)- "You know nothing, Jon Snow"; the dangers of chivalry (keeps women dependent and narrowly defined gender roles & societal roles for both sexes); virtue ethic theory (how to lead the good life), and the golden rule of game theory: "Understand others as they understand themselves" (262).

Sounds mind numbing, but the essays are written in down-to-earth styles (with some humor here and there) and really helps the reader think about the characters and "what makes them tick" and they approach life.

Title: Dad is Fat

Author: Jim Gaffigan

Genre: non-fiction, humor, parenting

Hot pockets!

This book was hilarious and a great stress relief after the past few weeks: getting my son ready for kindergarten and  dealing with the financial aid nightmare at the college I'll be starting at on Monday. Jim Gaffigan adds a humorous spin to the normal parenting/frustration nightmares: taking (multiple) children on an outing, sleep (or the lack thereof). Another bonus: he loves his wife, which shows in his writing but he doesn't get too mushy. The Gaffigans also practice attachment parenting which is usually wonderful until you get a foot slammed in your mouth at 3am. I laughed so hard at some passages during my lunch break that my coworkers demanded I read the passages out loud.

Title: River Cottage Veg
Author: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Genre: cookbooks, non-fiction

The photography in this cookbook is absolutely gorgeous- almost makes you want to reach through the picture and eat the selected dish.

This is not a vegetarian cookbook and but a cookbook devoted to the encouragement to eat more vegetables, without getting preachy- for our personal health and the planet's environmental health.

Lots of inspiring recipes that make me want to try something new.