IntelliQuest In Review: A Year of Reading Smarter (So YOU Don't Have To!)

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Ahh, another auspicious New Year’s.  I am starting it off in style: once-again finding myself hanging out at the local Burger King, blogging while Mr. C approaches stranger’s children to ask them to play (with the sob-story that “My parents won’t play with me”). 

(Because I’m classy, that’s my cue to call out, “Shuddup and come eat yer chicken nuggets, Junior.”)


Despite my current surroundings, I can’t help but feel that 2014 has found me at a higher intellectual plane than did 2013.  I have the IntelliQuest to thank for that.  As you may recall, my self-imposed IntelliQuest had me pledge to read 6 non-fiction books and watch 2 documentaries by the end of the year.  I can’t actually tell you if I was successful in this, because – despite my vows to be more intelligent – I never got around to actually writing down what I’d accomplished.  And remembering eight separate items, apparently, is much too much for my un-flexed brain.  Here’s what I do remember, however:

At your suggestion, I read Plenty: A Raucous Year of Eating Locally.  A book that as equal parts inspiring, intimidating, hilarious and depressing, it really helped remind me that it is entirely possible for me to get a majority of my food locally, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t.  So I’ve spent the year trying to be better at that that, which I think was a worthwhile goal.

Next, also at your suggestion, was The Omnivore's Dilemma.  This was a fascinating chronicle of how America gets it food, and what that means to our environment and economy.  Naturally, I’ve forgotten all but the basics of the book (and even most of that); but I know enough to know I’d be a hypocrite were I to preach about the lessons of the book while I’m sitting in my current location.

Following this, I went on to a lighter read: your suggestion of The $64 Tomato.  Considering that all I got from my own garden this year was 2 small pumpkins and a handful of basil, I think I could give the author a run for his money.  The good news is that the book (combined with my abysmal planting year) helped me realize that I’m better off counting on getting mass-quantities of vegetables from the farmer’s markets and my best friend, craigslist.  Because even a well-researched gardener, such as the author of The $64 Tomato, has to deal with his share of crop failures.

Somewhere within this time-frame was also when I paid good money to see the documentary Chasing Ice.  As I’ve already moaned about it in a previous post, I won’t go into detail about it again.

(I must pause here to update you on Mr. C’s current playmate situation: no one is in the Kid’s Club room, but a family has just appeared in the regular dining area.  So Mr. C has taken it upon himself to go out and invite them in [“HEY!  Why aren’t you guys eating in here?  You know you can eat in here, and then I wouldn’t be so lonely.  I’m lonely ‘cuz my mom won’t play with me.”]  Sorry, Kid; Mommy’s got important blogging to do.)

Now comes the part where I don’t remember what else I’ve read/seen.  I DID pick up a copy of Memoirs of a Monster Hunter, written by the host of some show on the Scyfy channel.  It was more a travelogue than anything else, but I still enjoyed it.  Also, Bee and I watched The Best Of Ancient Aliens, a History Channel series  about which I won’t go into great detail, for the sake of those who may still be reeling from my “The Candy Cane Means Jesus” post.  (I found the ideas behind Ancient Aliens to be fascinating, though – oddly-enough – the show itself seemed to be a guaranteed sleep-inducer.)

Within the last few months, I’ve also skimmed through books such as No Impact Man, which chronicles a modern-day New Yorker’s attempt to live without leaving behind any waste.  I loved the premise, but was immediately annoyed by how very ignorant the author was when he began his no-impact journey; after a pretty-boring chapter or two, I decided I hadn’t the time to waste waiting for the book to get better. (I also had the advantage of having Bee, who’d already read the book, inform me that it DOESN’T get more interesting; so I felt free to drop that boring-ass book and switch to a romance novel instead.)

My latest intelli-conquest was reading part of Far From The Tree, which is a fascinating look at raising children who may be very different from their parents (such as children with hearing impairments, learning disabilities, those conceived in rape, or those who turn to a life of crime).  And, while Mr. C doesn’t fall into any of these categories (at least, not yet), I still found the book to be good for ALL parents to read: I especially appreciated the realization that we have a “vertical identity” (those traits passed down from our family) and a “horizontal identity” (the parts of ourselves that manifest because of what we learn from peers or our environment).  Parents are often challenged by their children’s horizontal identities, since these are usually so foreign to their own (“I just don’t know how to handle him; I never behaved that way when I was a kid.”).  Conversely, parents are (usually) comforted when their children are just like them.  Reading the book reminded me to be supportive of Mr. C’s differences . . . which means I’ll probably need to re-read it several times as Mr. C approaches adolescence.

(Burger King update: two younger boys have finished their nutritious burgers and apple slices and have joined Mr. C for a rousing game of “Zombies”.  The goal, apparently, is to chase Mr. C around until he starts to lose, at which point he declares that he “needs some alone time”.  “Alone Time” evidently means sitting at our booth just until the Zombie has turned his back long-enough for Mr. C to sneak past and shout “You didn’t get me!”)

Although I can’t say for certain that I met my 6-book, 2-movie goal for the year, I still consider the IntelliQuest to be a success, since it has encouraged me to at least be OPEN to other books besides light fluff (hence the shocking fact that I recently read Middlesex AND The Book Thief back-to-back, with no romance novel buffer).  The IntelliQuest has also persuaded me to take a look at various movie genres, which explains why I watched 10 whole minutes of Bee’s documentary on The Beatles before I went upstairs to finish my episode of Desperate Housewives.

The point to the IntelliQuest, in the end, is not what it made me read/watch, but that it just made me try new things.  Hell, if you need further proof of its success, may I just point out that I’ve listened to NPR twice within the last week?  (A fact I like to casually work into as many conversations as I can; the actuality that I don’t remember the program’s content is inconsequential.  [All that matters is that I was able to use both “actuality” and “inconsequential” in the same sentence].)

So, I think I will continue the IntelliQuest into the new year, with the goal, again, of reading 6 non-fiction books and watching 2 documentaries (so send me recommendations again!).  Because I am feeling magnanimous, I will probably again be forgiving in the event that I am unsure if I actually meet this lofty goal.  (I wouldn’t want to set my sights too high, after all; then I’d have nothing to aspire to in 2015!)

Unfortunately, it looks like Mr. C’s Burger King companion is leaving, and no other children are in sight, so I guess that’s my cue to pack up my deep thoughts and shove off.  We’ve been here for 2 hours and 20 minutes; a fantastic use of $3.59.

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