Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs

Writer A. J. Jacobs is always ready for self-improvement. He read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and spent a year trying to follow every rule in the Bible, resulting in the books The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically. A case of pneumonia has A.J. ready to listen to his wife’s pleas for him to shape up, especially as he gets winded while playing with their three young sons. So, at 41, he consults numerous health experts as well as his hippy aunt Marti. A. J. spends more than two years on his project to become healthier, and we follow along as he tries all kinds of exercise programs, including playing cave man in Central Park and literally running to do his errands. He explores many different diets, looks at noise pollution, the dangers of sitting all day, and tries to avoid toxic chemicals, all the while chipping away at a very long list of health related goals. Becoming an Okinawan woman seems impossible, but how about the fact that Academy Award winners live three years longer on average than non-Oscar winners? Always interesting and frequently funny, A.J. comes away from his quest with some very sensible suggestions on how to get healthier.

 Brenda