Summer reading.

During the past semester, I barely had any time to read real (ie, non-school) books. Thus I am trying to cram in reading as many books as possible in the time I have between semesters. I have read two novels in as many days, and I think I'd like to keep the book-of-the-day club going. But let me tell you a bit about what I read. First, I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Now, this book is young adult fiction, which, despite being almost 22 years of age, I still enjoy. However, despite its YA status, this was an amazing book. It was pretty emotional reading, but well worth it. Today I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I couldn't put down simply due to the fact that I had to find out what happened, what it all meant, if the characters could somehow escape the cruel hand of fate! The whole plot started me thinking about bioethics and what it means to be human, which are always fun topics to kick around (but will probably keep me up at night).

Having finished those books, I'm now taking suggestions for what else I should read. Any genre is acceptable, as long as it's interesting and at least moderately intellectually stimulating.

Questions of Science and Progress

My animal development prof points to the first picture on the diagram and says, "This is the little cutie-pie we all started out as." Aww, precious!

To be honest, as interesting as facial development might be, I'm getting a little sick of it. I'm pretty tired of school in general. Well, I'm pretty tired in general. I'll be glad for a few weeks off.

As of tomorrow afternoon, I'm officially done with all the science I'm ever going to do. I'll have completed all the chemistry and biology courses I need for my degree. That is a pretty good thing, I think. I'm excited about moving on to things I'm more interested in and better suited for (namely, psychology). Yet in a way, I'm slightly sad about not doing science anymore. After all, it has been my entire life up to this point. I liked being able to understand the nuances of complex subjects like biochemical pathways and such. Friedel-Crafts acylation! How 'bout some good old fatty acid metabolism? I like being able to understand innuendoes about SN2 reactions. Good bye, science! I'll miss thee!

Not that I'm giving up on it entirely. My desire to know everything about everything prevents that. I'll still listen to the Nature Podcast and Slacker Astronomy. I'll still peruse Scientific American from time to time. I just won't stay up til all hours of the night studying for a damn animal development exam anymore.