BUY BUY BUY!!!

If you're the slightest bit cynical about modern advertising, my current read is for you. Ad Nauseam: A survivor's guide to American consumer culture by Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky has to be the most interesting collection of information about advertising I've ever seen.

We all know that sex sells and violence grabs our attention, but marketing is much more complex than just that. My grandma is always complaining about TV commercials these days because they seem to be completely irrelevant to the product they are advertising. But with TiVo and DVR, it's essential for advertisers to spend most of their efforts in grabbing our attention. Telling us what they're selling is secondary. Even if companies want to spend their time informing us of the product, they have to yell and rave (eg. Menards, OxyClean, etc.). Some cable companies (coughMediacomcough) are even boosting the volume of commercials, just to grab the attention of the ever-evolving viewer before he scrambles for the mute button.

So while Baby Einstein lowers vocabulary skills, SUVs spend most of their time in mall parking lots, and ionizing air purifiers emit ozone, the writers of this book attempt to help me survive this "slow creeping brain death".

Perhaps I should keep reading.

Ad Infinitvm

Ad Infinitvm by Nicholas Ostler is a biography of Latin. At first glance, I was a bit wary of the pop trend of over-using the "v" instead of a "u" in Latin. One chuckles at the film I, Clavdivs and wonders about the university's Hydravlics Laboratory. But I got over it.

The book, itself, is very informative...VERY informative. Those of you who know me, know that I'm a bit of a closet linguist. Thus said, even I had difficulty caring about all the details in the book. If you're studying Latin, feel read it. If you take an interest in European history, you may find it interesting. If you are neither of these people, don't bother.

2

Ad Hoc At Home

This library is going to make a cook out of me yet! This new addition to the library is a cookbook/mentoring guide by Thomas Keller, acclaimed American chef and owner of California's Ad Hoc restaurant.

There are a handful of reasons I love this cookbook.
1. PHOTOS! There is nothing so dull as a cookbook that has no photos. The words themselves can be inspiring, but as most professional chefs know, we taste first with our eyes.
2. Keller himself. Yes, he's an amazing gourmet chef, but he's also very down to earth and hilarious
3. He doesn't make me feel dumb. This book is meant for home cooking, not for a fancy restaurant. Yes, the food is amazing, but it doesn't require me to own tons of obscure cookware or know a bunch of odd techniques. If anything, he's taught me a few cooking tips and I'm excited to try them out.

The only downfall to this book is the sense of jealousy I have when I remember that this isn't California and I can't just go buy monkfish, and I don't have a local cheesemonger.

All in all, I will be consulting this book again. I give it a proud 4

The Accusers

It's the Roman empire and someone's just committed suicide. OR HAS HE???!!! The informer, Marcus Didius Falco, is brought in to find out.

This is the first mystery novel by Lindsey Davis that I've read. A female mystery novelist? Yes, it's cliche, but she's pretty talented. Marcus Didius Falco is a recurring character in her books, and his snarky witticisms just charmed me. The chapters are very brief, and it took me quite a few of them before I had a handle on the character names. I wasn't on the edge of my seat till halfway through, but I had a great time reading this book and would recommend it to anyone.

3

The Accountant's Story

What an interesting book! The Accountant's Story is written by Roberto Escobar with help from David Fisher. As one might guess by the names, it's a first-hand telling of the life of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian legend who ran the largest cocaine cartel in the 1980s.

As Pablo's accountant and brother, Roberto Escobar gives insight on who this man was who became the world's most wanted. One reads about their childhood dreams, the corruption everyone dealt with, how violence was introduced in their world, how they escaped death on so many occasions.

The book is well-written and compelling. I give it a 4