I am a sucker for science books written to the layperson. I love Mark Leyner's series about why men have nipples and similar questions. I devoured Michael Stein's The Lonely Patient. I like any book that gives me answers--even if I didn't know that I wanted to ask the question.

It's like Soulbliss said so eloquently this week: sometimes you just wish for an explanation more than anything else. At this point, I feel like I could even be at peace with foregoing control (I guess since I have to forego control) if I could just have an explanation.

Enter Suzy Cohen.

While she may not cover my fertility drugs in The 24-Hour Pharmacist (though I hope, hope, hope they make the sequel if there is a sequel), she does an excellent job covering all the major pharmaceuticals and remedies as well as helping you "think outside the pill." The best part about this book beyond the wonderful information? Every person will read it differently. It's sort of the Oreo of books--everyone will find their own method to getting the most out of this text.

How did I read it? Well, first I looked in the index for any situation I have or drug I take. Then I jumped to any chapter that concerned my own current health status starting with a lovely chapter titled "Do You Have the Guts to Throw Away Your Antacids?" (do you think I could actually be this high-stress without being a Tums addict?). And I have to admit, she made a pretty convincing argument--enough that I've made some minor changes and taken fewer antacids in the past few weeks since I read the chapter. Afterwards, I tackled the chapters that would probably affect me in the future such as heart health and hot flashes. And then lastly, I went back in for the chapters that I was pretty sure would never be an issue such as the one on birth control. We're sort of past the idea of birth control at this point...

One of my favourite chapters was called "The Most Misunderstood Drugs in America" which ran through a list of what people believe about common drugs such as Xanax or Lipitor and the reality behind what these drugs can or cannot do (as well as how they actually work vs. how you think they work).

Overall, it was a fascinating read and others who have seen it in my house have already called dibs on reading it next.