Book #40 - Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts edited by David Baggett and Shawn E. Klein

I came across this collection of essays in the bargain book section of Barnes & Noble a couple of years ago. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and since I can't re-read any books as part of this challenge, I decided to pick up Harry Potter and Philosophy in order to gear myself up for the release of HP7 Part 1 next month.

The only ethics/philosophy class I ever took in college was regarding ethics in journalism, so my knowledge on the subject was somewhat sparse. But the authors of the essays in this collection apply their passion for philosophy to their passion of Harry Potter. It's enlightening and interesting to see these academic interpretations of the themes within my favorites books. Like Hogwarts, the book is divided into four parts, with essays that touch upon the key values of the four houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor.

These essays uncover the deeper meanings within Harry's adventures, as well as the relationships within the first five books (it was published before the completion of the last two novels.) Although I've loved reading every book in this challenge, Harry Potter and Philosophy took me back to the critical reading and thinking I've been lacking since college. Learning about Aristotilean ethics, reading observations on feminism, racial discrimination and morality or just discovering what dementors have to do with happiness in reality, were all scholarly treats found in this collection to satisfy any Potter buff.

Book #35 - Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs was recommended to me by my boss. Not because she had read it, but because she read about it and its entire chapter devoted to "Saved by the Bell." A whole section on Bayside and Bayside alone? Sign me up.

I like non-fiction books where the chapters are episodic. It's much easier to read, and you don't feel like you need to keep reading because something just got good. I like books like that too, but sometimes it's nice to step away from the paperback.

I felt like I could've read this book in college for a class. Klosterman's observations on mass media and its impact were not only thorough, but they also included sound arguments and insightful comments. And best of all, it was FUNNY. How could a discussion on your hatred of John Cusack (not as a person, but his characters) not be funny? Obviously the SBTB chapter was my favorite, but I also enjoyed his account of traveling with a Guns 'N Roses tribute band.

I think the review on Amazon sums it best: "There's quite a bit of intelligent analysis and thought-provoking insight packed into the pages of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, which is a little surprising considering how darn stupid most of Klosterman's subject matter actually is." Pick it up if you want to be intellectually stimulated and entertained at the same time.

Book #24 - The Best Wedding Reception Ever by Peter Merry

As the wedding planning continues, naturally so does my desire to read book about planning weddings. I think it's only natural. This book was actually recommended to me by one of the entertainers at the DJ company we booked. He said it was the best book to read when planning a reception and that he gives it as engagement gifts to all of his family and friends. I figured if a wedding-industry professional was pushing it, it had to be worthwhile reading.

The main focus of this book is how to create an exciting, well-planned reception that runs smoothly. What I liked most about his advice was that Merry didn't offer up just one formula for a successful wedding. Instead, he provides a number of different scenarios to complement the type of wedding you're throwing, making it easy and natural to incorporate some of his unforgettable ideas into your special day.

Although Merry thinks that keeping guests engaged during the reception is key, I'm not so sure I agree. I don't think the guests attending my wedding reception will really want to spend the evening playing games and answering bride and groom trivia as if they were at a birthday party.
But don't get me wrong - that's not to say I didn't get any good ideas from reading. Sorry though; I can't give them away now, especially if I want to have the best wedding reception ever. Everything is under lock and key until 5.28.2011.

Book #17 - The Big White Book of Weddings by David Tutera

I figured that my reading project should help along my wedding planning process. So, for one of my non-fiction reads, I thought it would be a good idea to delve into a wedding book to help my cause.

David Tutera is a wedding planner to the stars, and one of my bridesmaids keeps telling me how much she loves him on the WE network. At the beginning of The Big White Book of Weddings, he clearly states his mission to help any bride have a sophisticated and classy wedding of her dreams.

The book had some great ideas for the little things like favors, centerpieces, etc. and I was glad I read it to get those tips. But as a bride-to-be who is taking wedding planning at a snail's pace, the rest of Tutera's advice utterly freaked me out and made me feel like I'm doing a terribly inadequate job in prepping for the big day.

I think it will help to re-read this book closer to my actual wedding date, so I can double check that I have everything in order. But right now, it was a quick read for some ideas to file away for that perfect day that's yet to come.

Book #9 - The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

One of my coworkers read this book a few months ago, so I vowed to keep it on my radar. When I started this challenge, I knew that I needed to read it as one of my non-fiction selections. After finishing, I'm not sure if The Accidental Billionaires should even classify as non-fiction, since I was skeptical as to how much of the story was even true.

The story begins with Eduardo Saverin, who allegedly helped Mark Zuckerburg launch facebook while they were both students at Harvard. You're probably thinking that same thing I was: who in the world is Eduardo Saverin? I've never even heard of him. Then I read that Zuckerburg declined to participate in the writing and research of this book. Big. Red. Flag.

If that wasn't enough, my skepticism kicked into an even higher gear with the tale of the Winklevoss twins, also Harvard students, who claim to have had the idea of facebook before Zuckerburg. They say he stole their program, and The Accidental Billionaires continues to outline the ridiculous measures the Winklevosses take to try and stop Zuckerburg and facebook.

As someone who was in college when facebook was in its infancy, I remember the reasons that made it a success, which are discussed in the book. The privilege you felt by being able to have a facebook account; your university had to be selected by facebook in order to join. There were no high schoolers, no corporations and definitely no parents. I remember a time before the writing on walls and tagging photos. And although it was only a few years ago, to see what facebook has now become, it feels like it's been a lifetime.

If Mark Zuckerburg really did steal others' ideas, shame on him. But more importantly, shame on them for letting him get away with it for five years. I don't think having some third party author write about Zuckerburg's transgressions is the most effective way to tell your story. It didn't make me hate Zuckerburg; heck, it didn't even portray him as the villian in this saga. Instead, The Accidental Billionaires reminded me of a simpler time of social media, before that classification even existed. It made me long for the days in my Denison dorm room, when after the semester's first day of class, you could easily get 50 new facebook friends based on who was in your new set of classes and the voyeuristic feeling was thrilling and new.

Now, it's just part of my daily routine.

Kudos to Mark Zuckerburg, for giving the world the ability, and the social acceptability, to keep tabs on people we actually care about, but more importantly, those we're just nosy to know about.

Book #3 - I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

I don't even know where to begin describing this book and the author, Tucker Max. He is craaaaaazy. I don't know if I even knew someone as crazy as him in college, and at times, my college could get wildly out of control. This book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, contains some of the most outrageous stories, stories I couldn't make up in my wildest dreams.

Most of Max's chapters include a lot of drinking, a lot of sex and a lot of random girls. At times I was honestly embarrassed to be laughing, afraid that the person next to me at Starbucks would know I was chuckling at Max and his extremely inappropriate tales.

I would go into detail, but I'm pretty sure my grandmother keeps tabs on this blog, so there's no need to shock her. But if you're okay with cussing, sexual explicit descriptions and promiscuity, I would definitely read this book. Although many would call me a prude, or even a goody-goody, I laughed out loud at Tucker Max and all of his antics. I can't wait for the film version to be released on DVD in January, and to be laughing uncomfortably at "Tucker Max Drunk" once again.