Spotlight: "Freakonomics" and "Live a Little"

Currently reading.
I don't know why I delayed reading this book for so long. A fellow book hoarder lover gave this to me for Christmas 2007, and it somehow got lost in the pile of all my books. I rediscovered it, added it to my reading list, and finally decided to start on it since it had already waited so long to be read.

I now regret delaying it. Freakonomics is one of the most interesting things I've read in a while. It's non-fiction, which is a good break from all the fiction I've been reading. But it's a little hard to explain what it's about. Steven Levitt is an economist but a very creative thinker at the same time. I used to hate economics classes because they all seemed so technical-- though in high school, I remember thinking that economics was an easy subject that teachers just like to complicate. There's a lot of logic involved in understanding economics and its basic principles like supply and demand (which is probably the only thing I ever learned of the subject). Levitt applies the same logic needed to understand economics into unearthing the truth behind many other things. How is legalized abortion connected to the crime rate decline in the US? What makes teachers cheat? (Yes, teachers. Not students.) How did one man bring down the Klu Klux Klan? Levitt is able to present data in a way that is not boring at all-- they just seem like important elements to understanding a story. I'm only in the second (or is it third?) chapter, so I'm sure that there's still so much more to learn from this book. It just really appeals to my Connect-the-Dots sensibilities.


The latest addition to my reading list. Yes, I'm fully aware that I currently have 13 books on my reading list, but I couldn't resist this one.

I have a confession. On days when I have nothing better to do, I browse the websites of Fully Booked and Powerbooks and look for interesting reads. If I find a title I like, I log on to Amazon and read reviews. I found this book on one of those days.

The premise intrigued me. A housewife neglected by her husband and taken for granted by her bratty teenagers is diagnosed with breast cancer. All of a sudden, her family is being very appreciative of her, they treat her really well-- basically behavior you would expect from people who know that you're on the brink of death. So she's loving all the attention, when her doctor suddenly tells her, "Oh, sorry, we made a mistake. You don't have cancer after all." What does she do? She doesn't tell her family that she doesn't have cancer. Why should she, when they're finally treating her well? This makes me wonder where the book will go. Will someone discover that she's not sick after all? Will she eventually have to break the news to them? Will there be a twist that has her dying by accident in the end? What, pray tell, happens when you let your family think that you're dying? Do you actually get the chance to, ironically, live a little? (Yes, I figured out the story behind the title!)

So on my next trip to Fully Booked, I tracked it down and just made a mental note to consider it for my list. This went on for months-- I'd be in Fully Booked High Street, I'd see one copy lying there, I'd walk away, strangely comforted by the fact that it was still there. Finally, when I went to Fully Booked High Street this week, I checked it out and read the first chapter. Lo and behold, it was actually funny! Realizing that this wasn't a somber book and I was probably going to be in for a few laughs, plus that lone copy had been sitting there for months (okay, maybe it's not the same copy, but I've always just seen one copy in all these months), I finally decided to buy it.

I can't wait to keep reading Freakonomics this weekend! And I'm glad I have Live a Little waiting in the wings. :)