Where Am I Wearing

Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes by Kelsey Timmerman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kelsey Timmerman kind of sweetly and naively traipses off to "bridge the gap between consumer and manufacturer" and meet the people who make his clothes in Where am I Wearing. In doing so, he brings a fresh perspective to the shouting matches about sweatshops and child labor that we're always hearing. He interviews garment workers in a number of countries, takes them bowling and visits their families. In the end, he comes to some sane, well reasoned views on consumerism. Recommended.


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The Franchise Babe

The Franchise Babe: A Novel by Dan Jenkins

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dan Jenkins is a guilty pleasure. He's so non-pc, he's got it patented, I think. But for all that, he's extremely funny and hits the nail on the head more often than not. This book is basically Dan Jenkins takes on the LPGA Tour, and is pretty much classic Jenkins. If you like his work, grab it - it's more of the same great stuff.


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The Price of Everything

The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity by Russell Roberts

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This caught my attention when cataloging it and trying to figure out where to put it. It's "didactic fiction," a story that seeks to teach something, and as such has kind of a Celestine Prophecy feel about it. Prophecy of economics, though. It's definitely interesting, and kept my attention throughout. I'm not sure I agree with all of the economic views contained in it, but it was fun to see a few of them outlined this way.


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Follow The Roar

A lot of good things I could say about this book - insightful, interesting, etc. - but what kept coming back to me was that I was chuckling all the way through. Not laughing uproariously, but a nice level of background humor coursing through the whole book. Fun and funny, a solid golf book. Just makes me wish Tiger would've played in a few more tournaments last year...

Vanished Smile

Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Pretty fun and interesting book looking at the Mona Lisa's theft in 1911. Covers lots of different facets of the Mona Lisa, all coming back to the still incompletely resolved disappearance. Good read even for someone not totally familiar with the art world.


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Rainsticks

I've been saving the stiff cardboard tubes that our library's clear book cover material come rolled on to make rainsticks. Yesterday seemed like the perfect time to do one with Julien.

We made sure we had all the materials - had to run out for more 2 1/2 inch nails - and were all set. First we marked off one inch increments down the seam of the tube, and Julien hammered nails into our marks:



This is what it looked like from the end:



We taped one end shut with duct tape (what else) making sure not to leave sticky on the inside, and then tried a few different kinds of beans to see what gave the best sound. We tried lentils, black beans, and chickpeas - the chickpeas made the coolest noise.



Taped up the ends, a little more duct tape decoration (after much consideration, camo, turquoise and orange stripes), and there's our rainstick!

Caught reading

This morning:

American Buffalo

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is what non-fiction should be: Interesting, captivating, a mix of old and new, near and far, and written by someone who's passionate about the subject. American Buffalo hits all of those. The story of the buffalo in North America, framed by the author's experience hunting buffalo in Alaska. Fascinating.


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