#82 "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

This was my first Bryson book, even though A Short History has been sitting on my bedside bookshelf for the last two Christmases. Listening to it while hiking across Ireland was wonderful, Bryson is clearly a good author and his popularity is not undeserved. But I have to say I was astonished and enraged at Bryson's irresponsible, one-sided presentation of all public silviculture policy in the US. As someone who spent a reasonable amount of their undergrad reading and analyzing the scientific and political influences on US silviculture policy and practice, I know it's a mixed bag. The US has had to create most of these practices from theory and test them before the world can know what practices are successful and which aren't. And when you're talking about trial forestry practices you're talking about 40-100 year dedicated studies that run across entire states.

We still don't know how to foster forests the ideal way, and Bryson doesn't help the matter by informing the public of his single opinion, and suggesting that we all just do it his way. It's so socially irresponsible I could spit.

#81 "Fifth Avenue, 5am" by Sam Wasson

Wasson is so in love with Audrey Hepburn that this book was at times intolerable. But if you ignore the 10 to 20 times where he goes off on a rant about how Audrey is queen and we should all bow down to her, then there is still some good information about the transition of this novel into a motion picture. Middle of the road non-fiction.

#67 "Saturday Night Widows" by Becky Aikman

This memoir was entertaining enough for an audio book in the background of backpacking preparations, but it made me feel really old and out of place. Note: 20 somethings should not read memoirs about groups of widows.

#53 "Daily Rituals" by Mason Currey

I started reading this book because of a YouTuber review of it, and a mutual desire to be reading more non-fiction. But after the first 100 pages of almost exclusively authors, I practically gave up on it. Ultimately the only thing you will learn in this book that is not simply an anecdote for your next cocktail party, is that creative people access their creativity in a multitude of ways, so don't feel bad if you fall asleep at 8 or don't get out of bed until noon, someone very successful and famous, probably kept a similar lifestyle to yours.

#52 "The First 20 Minutes Personal Trainer" by Gretchen Reynolds

As part of training to walk across Ireland I'm trying to actually follow a practical training schedule. Right now that means adding cardio and strength training and building up the hours spent hiking every week. The First 20 Minutes is full of little tid bits and cultural hearsay versus the latest scientific studies to help you form a guilt-free and reasonable exercise routine.

#43 "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg

There were passages in the introduction where I thought I was going to hate this woman. She was using having a leadership position in your chosen career as the ultimate definition of success. And consistently she told the reader what they "should" do and feel, unequivocally. But somewhere around the middle of chapter 2 I found myself thinking "Oh. Yes! This is why I do that."

Sandberg's book is enjoyable and easy to read, full of facts about the female (and human) feeling of inadequacy, and a necessary read for any woman who has ever debated between having a "woman's" family life or a "man's" career.