BibliovoRX: read one book and thank me in the morning

At a loss for new reading material?  Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the wide range of choices?  Never fear, for Dr. Bibliovore is here to assess, diagnose, and treat your literary lurgy with just the book to set you to rights.  Whether you're a parent of young children, an amateur chef, a reality TV junkie, or an armchair activist, there's something here that's right up your alley.

If your roommate is on a nostalgic kick for the Beatles and has played A Hard Day's Night on repeat so often you hear it in your dreams, then pick up a copy of:
The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles, edited by Kenneth Womack

One of two things will likely happen when your roommate spots you lounging on the sofa with your nose in this book.  Either she'll beg to borrow it from you and you'll have a few blessed hours of peace and quiet while she's off reading it, or you'll become a source of wisdom regarding all things Beatlemania and a converted fan in spite of your best efforts.  No matter what the outcome, you will soon be able to control the volume of the speakers simply by casually saying things like "Did you know that 'Can't Buy Me Love' was recorded in only four takes?"  She'll be more than willing to hit pause while you help fill in the gaps in her knowledge.  Side effects may include memorization of minutiae, overwhelming fondness for the band, and a sudden need to fend off requests to team up with your roommate for Beatles themed trivia nights down at your favorite bar.


If you read to your child each night, but don't know what to offer up instead of yet another rereading of her favorite picture book, then head out to the library to grab:
The Seeing Stick by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini

This heartwarming story is as much for you as it is for your adorable offspring.  The tale of the wise old man who helps the young blind princess see makes for a good lesson in tolerance and appreciation of diversity, and as an added bonus, there are some vocabulary building words in here (strop, ascended, incantations) to help little Juniorette's brain grow.  Terrazzini's illustrations are exquisite, and even if the story hadn't been written by the immensely talented Yolen, the pictures alone would make it a worthwhile purchase.  Side effects may include an increase in your child's word bank, gratitude at the break from reading The Three Little Pigs for the umpteenth time, and a new favorite nightly read that just might not wear out its welcome quite as fast as the last book.  

If you're burned out on the dating scene and are ready to call it quits, I strongly suggest you read:
Meeting Your Half-Orange by Amy Spencer

Meeting Your Half-Orange is a delightfully optimistic approach to dating and relationships.  Spencer uses gardening metaphors for laying the groundwork needed to cultivate the right relationship: "getting the soil ready" refers to getting into the right dating mindset; "choosing your seed" is all about figuring out what it is you want to get out of the process.  It's a little gimmicky, but Spencer's ebullience -- and her statement in the introduction that regardless of pronouns the book is intended for people of all gender identifications and sexual orientations -- won me over in the end.  The advice on recognizing your half-orange is solid, and the appendices are a crash course in successful dating strategies.  Side effects may include renewed confidence, a spring in your step, and a perplexing tendency to affectionately refer to your s.o. as "mi media naranja."

If the miserable winter weather has your culinary creativity in a rut, flip through the recipes in:
The Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews

There is never a better time to break out the hearty soups and savory pies than in the dead of winter.  The Country Cooking of Ireland provides so many tasty recipes based around seafood, cheeses, fresh produce, poultry, pork, red meat, wild game, and (yes, of course) potatoes, your problem won't be a creative rut so much as not knowing where to start first!  I'd suggest trying your hand at the Colcannon Cakes first, or if that's not enough to warm you up this winter, there's always the classic Irish Stew, which can be found on page 170.  Side effects may include noticeable weight gain, a desire to affect a brogue while cooking, and an addiction to Ballymaloe Brown Bread.

If politics is your forte, but you still haven't found a satisfactory chronicle of events that explain why the United States invaded Iraq, look no further than:
The Iraq Papers edited by John Ehrenberg, J. Patrice McSherry, Jose Ramon Sanchez, and Caroleen Marji Sayej

At 574 pages in length, not including the acknowledgments or index, The Iraq Papers offers a comprehensive and intelligent look into the behind the scenes communiques and memos that, through their combined influence, led to the second Gulf War and preemptive invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq.  In chapter one, the editors shed light on the writings that lay the foundation for a policy of preemption as early as 1989.  In chapter two, the papers -- laid out in chronological order -- clearly illustrate the post-9/11 shift from responding to the terrorist threat of Al Qaeda to turning their sights on Iraq and Saddam Hussein.  In Part Two, the consequences of a preemptive war are made clear on all fronts: religious fatwas, proposals for an oil industry, privatization of various industrial sectors, "enhanced interrogation techniques," terrorism, and warrantless spying.  It's hard to imagine that any of the key people in the Bush administration will be pleased with this book's release, but it should be read by people on both ends of the political spectrum.  Side effects may include cynicism, stress induced ulcers, and an urge to flee to Canada.

If Food, Inc. got you up in arms about the food industry in the U.S., and you're looking for additional information with which to argue your case against your conservative uncle, get your hands on a copy of:
Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristram Stuart

We've fallen far and we've fallen hard from our early 20th century mentality of thriftiness and frugality.  Stuart's meticulously researched and excellently reported book gathers together the grim reports and the inescapably clear statistics regarding food waste and the Western world.  While one in eight Americans go hungry, half the food produced in the U.S. is thrown out.  It would only take half of the discarded food in the U.S. alone to feed the one billion malnourished people on the planet.  And that's just scratching the surface.  The insert of glossy photos in the middle of the book depict waste bins outside various grocery stores, heaps of "surplus" food left to rot, and English and American war propaganda posters from WWI and WWII discouraging wastefulness.  If this doesn't make you clean up your consuming habits, nothing will.  Side effects may include enhanced propensity for activism, intense scrutiny of grocery store items while shopping, and actually getting around to planting that vegetable garden you resolved to create this year.

If your curiosity outweighs your common sense, and you view reality television as an interesting sociological experiment rather than a harbinger of the end of days, take a peek inside:
How to be Famous by Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt

When people say that a book had them laughing and crying, they usually mean that it resonated with them emotionally.  This book had me laughing hysterically at its very existence and fighting the urge to cry when I let myself consider just how shallow and self-serving our society has become.  Montag and Pratt, a pair of vapid and opportunistic reality television stars who are famous simply for being famous, wrote this book as a how-to manual for how to become a celebrity for absolutely no good reason at all.  It's baffling to read; the narrative is so aggressively up-front in acknowledging the shamelessness of the game that it seems almost as if it had been written as a biting satirical invective against the morally bankrupt Hollywood mentality, yet Montag and Pratt are entirely in earnest.  Side effects may include putting your foot through the television, ranting to friends and family about what constitutes an appropriate role model for children and teenagers, and feeling your soul die a little bit.