READING LIST::JANUARY 2011

I am a voracious reader.  I have been since I was a wee lass and my eccentric mother taught me to read at an age when most children are still trying to make sounds that resemble words.  I don't believe for a second my mother taught me to read for my edification but rather as a means to get me to stop harassing her to read the same book over and over again each night (as most parents are challenged to do).  My reading has never been linear, I am of the 'more is more' camp when it comes to reading and often start multiple books at a time.  I haven't met many individuals like myself but when I do, we feel a certain kinship, we are like a secret society of reading rebels. For all the readers and rebels alike I shall let you in on what is currently stacked precariously on my nightstand:

• Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler.  Mr. Wilson happens to run a museum a stones throw from my abode that I have every intention of visiting sometime in the very near feature.
• Modoc-The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer-This came highly recommended by Betty White and if Ms. White enjoyed it, I think that I shall too.
• Dry Storeroom No.01, The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey-I downloaded a free sample from Kindle and had to high tail it to the library the next day to get more.  You get the impression that Dr. Fortey never loss his sense of wonder at his good fortune to work in this prestigious institution. His narrative deftly leads you behind the hallowed halls and invites you into the inner sanctum--blissful.
• The Rarest of the Rarest-Stories Behind the Treasures of the Harvard Natural Museum by Nancy Pick.  Are you sensing a theme? Yes, I read a lot about animals and science. The Harvard Natural History museum is particularly of interest because it has (as the title suggests) a rare collection.  Example you ask? Well for starters they have the only bird specimen remaining from the famed Lewis and Clark expedition.
• Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent, The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin's Lost Notebooks by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. This one falls under, I liked the cover and the title (and of course the subject) so what the heck?  I already plowed through a book on Dodo's , Galapago's and the H.M. Beagle why not the lost notebooks? This book does not focus on natural selection but Darwin's five years away on what could only be described as an adventure of a lifetime.
  
•  Rediscovering Jacob Riis Exposure Journalism and Photography in turn-of-the-century New York by Bonnie Yochelson & Daniel Czitron. I am fascinated by the turn of the century, and photography so this book immediately had my attention.  For lovers of photo journalism and anyone inspired by the depression era images of Dorthea Lange, Riis could easily have been her inspiration.  In 1890 he produced a book How the Other Half Lives that documented such poverty that you can not imagine existed in our bountiful country.  A world where children worked the night shift at factories and people slept on wooden boards for beds. Riis wanted to harness photography for reform, which he did.  The images in the book are new prints from his original negatives and are shockingly ahead of their time.   

So there you go my fine friends this is my reading list for January 2011, which I am sure will continue to grow as the months progress. What books shall I add?  You know now I have a soft spot for Swedish thrillers as well.