Things you can know about me by the books I have read

Inspired by a post on skulls and ponies  I thought I would share with you some books I have read recently or am currently reading, in the hope that you can know a little more about me, my thoughts, feelings, opinions and sensibilities. I have many interests and passions and see myself as having quite an eclectic personality and I feel this can at least partially be revealed through a peek at my literary conquests.

I have very nearly finished reading this book; "The Attachment Parenting Book" by William and Martha Sears.  The book is based on the principle of the the 7 baby b's; Birth bonding, breastfeeding, baby wearing, bedding close to baby, belief in the language of your baby's cries, beware of baby trainers and balance.  What I love about this book is that it isn't an all or nothing approach to parenting, there is no sense that if you fail in one of the baby b's then you fail as a parent, it allows you to pick and choose according to what suits your family and circumstances.  Also the approach seems more natural to me, a parenting style that is more in tune with how one might raise a baby without the trappings of modern day life.
So far I am breastfeeding, carrying Orren in a sling for about half an hour a day, and responding to his cries.  I was having him in bed with us but am trying to get him to sleep in his moses basket more because when he is in bed with us I don't sleep very well and find myself worrying that I will roll on him; I feel this fits in well with the "balance" baby b.  Surprisingly I am finding it difficult to ignore the baby trainers in all their guises.  We are often being told not to pick him up when he cries, and not to let him sleep with us, and I am often being encouraged to express milk and bottle feed, it is difficult when this advice is coming from people I love but I have to just nod and smile, then do it my way.

What this book says about me:
I like alternatives and alternative approaches to the typical way of doing things.  I like to do things naturally; the way nature intended.

I read All Consuming by Neal Lawson while I was pregnant and found what he said to be very true.  What stuck out most from this book was the authors idea that the way people value themselves has changed.  Whereas in the past people valued themselves by what they did, i.e. their job, now people value themselves by what they have. This is a problem because not everyone can buy the things that they feel they need to give themselves a sense of place in the world.  They counteract this by getting things in any way they can; taking out loans they can't afford to pay back, buying fakes and even stealing (think the riots in 2011).  Advertising, and throwaway culture mean we are never satisfied with what we can buy and thus with life.  It made me think about what the world could be like if people stopped wanting more or better and focused on the things that really matter like friends and family...but that's for another post.

What this book says about me:
I don't like commercialism, I don't like to be controlled by the media, I like my  personality to tell people what I am like, not the clothes I wear or the things I own.  I don't place much value is stuff, don't get me wrong, I like pretty things and clothes but I control it, I don't let my desire for things control me. 

The New Rulers of the World is a book I actually bought for my husband but I started reading it because I had nothing else to read and it looked interesting.  The book reveals a lot of shocking and evil things that the British and American governments have done throughout modern history mainly for the sake of oil.  The incidents that are recorded in this book were hidden by the government and not reported widely in the press, I felt quite disturbed and outraged by some of the things it talks about.  However the vast amount of information in this book makes it a bit difficult to follow, there are a lot of names and places that are mentioned and I sometimes felt that I was only getting a glimpse of what the book was really saying, I think you have to be quite intelligent to follow it properly. I will probably have to re-read it in order to fully understand what it is saying.

What this book says about me:

I like to know what is really going on, I don't entirely trust our government, I want to know the truth about world politics and how the truth differs from what is reported in the press.  I feel like I am a bit of an anarchist, but I prefer to read books than actually do anything about it!

What books have you read recently?  What do you think hey say about you?