2 for 1

I didn't write a book for last week so this week I am going to review 2 books. First up is Austenland by Shannon Hale. The premise of the book is an Austen addict attempt to overcome her obsession with Mr. Darcy by having one last hurrah at a vacation spot that recreates the Austen universe (including the manor house (a la Mansfield Park), costumes and a ball (a la every Austen novel except Mansfield Park). Now when I first heard about this novel I really wanted to read because I was curious if or how the author would work in some of Austen's themes and plot points. She did but not very well. There are a few subplots and the main plot line that are borrowed from Austen but the introduction of them is so clunky that it doesn't really work. And the are some subplots that are so obviously from Austen that you wonder why the heroine doesn't immediately recognize them (and is puzzled about what is going for several frustrating chapters). The dialogue between the hero and heroine that is supposed to be in the Austen universe doesn't have the same spark.
The second book (and first non-fiction book) is Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (an evolutionary biologist). In this book, Diamond attempts to explain that dominant ancient civilizations were a product of environmental factors rather that any inherent intellectual or genetic advantage. It was really interesting because Diamond not only discussed topics like better land farming (like the Fertile Crescent) but domestication of local plant and species, geographic barriers (like the Sahara Desert preventing the spread of technologies from the southern part of Africa northward), infectious diseases (leading to decline of certain populations and the greater prevalence of diseases in groups with greater populations), and the willingness to adapt to new technologies (or be conquered). I never really thought in depth about domestication of local plants and animals but Diamond discusses that ancient peoples of Latin America and Australia were at a disadvantage because there were few local animal species that would be worthwhile to domesticate (or even could be domesticated). The book was really thought provoking (and well researched!)