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Feb 09, 2012

Petra X rated it:

This is a great book for a gift or to read on the plane. It's funny, somewhat informative and finishes with an essay at the end by the author's long-suffering but not necessarily quiet or patient wife. It's better than The Know-It-All (which was pretty good) in which AJ attempts to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica. But its not as good as A Year of Living Biblically - dressed in a long robe with sandals and a wild beard he makes some serious points while making a total fool of himself and writ More...

1 comment like (14 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2011

Michelle rated it:

I was planning on reading The Year of Living Biblically by the same author, but The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs was here and the other hasn't come in the mail yet.

However, I'm glad I read this first because I LOVED it! I think we should all read it. It chronicles the author's life as he (1) pretends to be a woman on a dating Web site, (2) outsources his personal life to assistants in India (including a book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKSXdDvBa... ), (3) tries Radi More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2010

Benjamin rated it:

This was a very short stunt book, but a satisfying one at least. The third in the author's library, except the Guinea Pig Diaries is a collection of small lifestyle experiments which Jacobs has conducted for other articles in magazines in the past. Overall, the book was entertaining but not necessarily authoritative in any way. It seemed the resulting commentary on said lifestyle experiments were comedic in nature and not really contributing much to serious social issues.[return]Still, it was a More...

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Dec 15, 2011

Katie rated it:

Having read 'The Year of Living Biblically' by the same author, I already knew that I liked his writing style but I was wary that it wouldn't be as fulfilling to read. In a sense, I was right. This book wasn't as eye-opening as The Year of Living Biblically, in my opinion. However, it was extremely interesting to read and felt more light-hearted. The varying experiments and projects he conducted ranged from outsourcing almost every aspect of his life to pretending to be a woman on a dating site. More...

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Aug 10, 2011

Liza rated it:

Never let it be said that I don't love the work of A.J. Jacobs.

What I will say is that Jacobs, who does neuroses like Microsoft does updates, works better on a grand scale. A collection of vignettes simply highlights the obsessive compulsive side and leaves much of the self-deprecating humor behind.

When Jacobs has a large-scale project to work on, he more frequently finds the odd corners that need to be explored; in a collection of stories, he doesn't really have the mot More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Lynne rated it:

This is the 2nd book I have read by A.J. Jacobs and I really enjoy his style of writing and sense of humor. I would have to say that I enjoyed The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible a little more simply because it was a more in depth study than any of the experiments in this book.

Here Jacobs uses himself as a human guinea pig in order to explore various social issues ranging from telling the absolute truth, impersonating a bea More...

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Jul 30, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Quite enjoyed this book. I liked the writing form a lot and I can't wait to pick up more from this author. He also used to write for EW (my favorite magazine) and when he wrote this book, he was writing for Esquire, which I picked up at the State Library while in Melbourne and loved it. So we are already off to a good start!

This book was a mish-mash of various experiments the author undertook. Not multi-tasking. Farming out all his jobs. Doing everything his wife asks for a month. Perf More...

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Jul 21, 2011

Elliot rated it:

Life changing wisdom can be gleaned from unexpected places; I learned more from AJ Jacobs’ hilarious “immersion journalism” than from Gandhi’s “My Experiments with Truth.” This is the most stimulating book I’ve read in weeks—Jacobs is like a combination of Malcolm Gladwell, Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris. I’m a sucker for this sort of edutainment, and just went back to Borders’ bargain section to buy more copies. In previous books he tried to read an Encyclopedia and live “Biblically” for a year More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Jessa rated it:

Witty, interesting ... and to its credit, not much else. Jacobs wasn't trying to be an amateur psychologist or discern human nature; he simply tells interesting stories, and allows readers to find humor and, if they desire, "truths of life" in that. I personally found his outsourcing his life and catering to all his wife's whims to be particularly interesting experiments.

My problem with the book, I guess, is that he has a tendency to overstate things. "Having someone in More...

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May 29, 2011

Khaya rated it:

Okay, I don't want to oversell this book or anything. It didn't quite live up to its predecessor, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible. But life with A.J. Jacobs is always fun, at least if you're a reader and not his long-suffering wife Julie (who does get hers in the end, happily).

With his trademark earnestness, A. J. Jacobs throws himself into a variety of life experiments, occasionally shocking or annoying unwitting b More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2011

Alisha rated it:

So, I’m totally going to admit this. The only reason I even knew about The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment is because it’s scheduled to become a pilot entitled My Life as an Experiment starring Paget Brewster (whom I’ve decided to support in every endeavor considering she got kicked out of hit show for no discernible reason). After hearing about the pilot, I decided to read The Guinea Pig Diaries to see if I should be going into the show with the thought that it’s going to get can More...

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Feb 01, 2011

Allison rated it:

I really loved this book. Interactive, investigative journalism is my favorite. I love when people immerse themselves in the story, or try to live that life for a set period of time. AJ Jacobs is the king of doing just that. He's written two previous books: The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All, which I have yet to read, but I'm pretty sure I will. The Guinea Pig Diaries is a book of essays that could stand alone, but some call back to previous experiments. I think most were original More...

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Jan 06, 2011

Judy rated it:

I love the books of A.J. Jacobs and this one is no exception. In The Guinea Pig Diaries, Jacobs devotes a month each to several "experiments". He outsources his life to two firms in Bangalore, India--this was actually an on-going experiement--and representatives of the firms took care of his schedule, answered his email, argued with his wife, and even, on occasion, read to his son at bedtime. He spends a month practicing Radical Honesty, which is removing all filters between the bra More...

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Aug 17, 2010

Cassandra rated it:

I didn't realize Jacobs had written and published another book. When I found mention of this book on his website, I immediately headed over to the library to check it out.

Well... I'm disappointed. The previous two books covered long term challenges (reading the entire encyclopedia and a second challenge to live according to one interpretation of Biblical rules for an entire year). This book was about a series of short term challenges, such as outsourcing his personal life to India, More...

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Jul 19, 2010

Ensiform rated it:

The journalist author notes that being essentially ordinary in life, he must put himself in extraordinary situations in order to get a story. He relates some of these: outsourcing his life, by hiring personal assistants in India; posing online as his attractive nanny in order to get her an date (something not so unheard-of, perhaps); living like George Washington for a while (it boils down to not gossiping and bowing instead of shaking hands); saying exactly what is on his mind at all times; tr More...

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Jul 11, 2010

Jill rated it:

Jacobs lives his life in memoir, narrating to himself and eventually, to us. It's good then that he leads himself through a life worth hearing about (although I'm sure other reviewers will disagree - we do pick our friends, after all, and Jacobs may not be your type.) I enjoyed his other two books, and was interested to see what other experiments he'd tried on himself.

We all know someone who has tried being vegetarian, or going without a car, or generally making New Year's resolu More...

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Jul 09, 2010

Harkinna rated it:

The Guinea Pig Diaries is a book of crazy stunts, not unlike the stunts I dream up to try in my life. What fun to read about someone else pulling these silly stunts! And boy, is the author's wife a saint, which the author knows. His first two books I have heard of but not read: The Year of Living Biblically, and The Know-It-All.

The book collects Jacobs’ various articles written about experiments doing things such as outsourcing his life to India, or trying to behave rationally all of More...

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May 09, 2010

Kelly rated it:

I cannot tell you just how much I love him. He's so incredibly funny and this was just as good as his other two (The Know-It-All, about reading the entire encyclopedia for fun, and The Year of Living Biblically, where he spent a year following all Biblical commands).

In this one, he does several little social experiments--he outsources his life to India, for example. (His "assistants" order Christmas presents, talk to his wife and relatives for him and once read a story to More...

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Apr 12, 2010

Malbadeen rated it:

I checked this book out from the library to scan and see if it would be a good gift for my (non-fiction-only reading) brother. I ended up reading the whole thing including all the notes within a few sittings.
I love the idea of doing something wholly different for a month at a time. I love finding out how "the other side" lives. For about a year, I was a "business woman". I wore suites, I flew places and gave presentations and I went to fancy dinners. It was soooo intere More...

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Feb 09, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

A.J. Jacobs has created his own little niche market: conducting experiments in his life and then writing about them. The first of these books, The Know-It-All, chronicled his experience reading every single page of the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover. He followed that up with The Year of Living Biblically, in which he spent a year trying to follow every rule in the Bible as literally as possible. I loved both of these books, so when I heard that Jacobs had a new book last year, I was More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2009

Carrie rated it:

A.J. Jacobs has one of the best jobs in the world. An editor at Esquire magazine, the man writes and edits essays on pop culture and social experiments. This book is a collection of articles (with follow-up notes) written over the course of a year for Esquire. He spends about a month on each, trying out various approaches to life. These approaches include living in accordance with George Washington's code of conduct (don't touch your genitals in front of people), outsourcing his life to India (a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 20, 2009

Susy rated it:

I love AJ Jacobs, and enjoyed this book, but at times it rehashed stories from The Know-It-All. Probably my favorite story is the time he was forced to pose naked for Esquire so he could understand what women go through when they pose for cheesecake pictures. The photographer, named Nigel, kept telling him to "Sook in yer goot!"

In Jacobs's own words: "My goot? Nigel taps his stomach.

Ah, he's talking about my problematic belly. I sook in some air.

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 29, 2009

Kate rated it:

This book was a mix of humor and food for thought. The author spent a month each immersing himself in some very disparate situations. One month, he met with the founder of the "Radical Honesty" movement, which advocates not only never lying, not even "white lies," but even turning off the "filter" between what you think and what you say. Another month found him reseraching George Washington & trying to adhere to his 110 Rules. Yet another month, he put overseas More...

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Sep 18, 2009

Abby rated it:

aj jacobs is the man. yeah yeah yeah he's kind of a tool, he recycles his jokes, whatever. anyone willing to spend a month checking his email with the TV, phone, and radio off is a hero in my book (see the chapter on unitasking).
i must say i liked this one significantly less that his other two. the problem laid in the fact that each experiment is only devoted a short essay rather than a whole book. don't get me wrong, i doubt i would enjoy an entire book about what it was like posing nake More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Kim rated it:

The third of A.J. Jacobs life-experiment books, unlike the others which focused on one idea only, this book encompasses a variety of different experiments A.J. makes with his life.

Firstly I enjoyed this one a lot more than The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible. There was a lot more humour in this one and it flowed much better. His last book just felt overly long whereas here each experiment is only fairly short. I also like More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

♥Xeni♥ rated it:

I finished this book in record time. It was very easy to read, had a good pace (sometime too good of a pace... more details in some areas, please!) and was amusing while also being educational.

I think I will try implementing some of Jacobs' ideas into my own life. Perhaps not to the extent that he decided to, but there are quite a lot of Washington's Rules which are still applicable! That, and finding a very rational toothpaste is something I've been trying to do for years. Okay, so pe More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2011

Katie rated it:

Book number 5 of 2011 done...holy lord...at this rate, I'll read my whole collection by the end of the year....or I probably won't. I'm glad this was book 5, I was excited for this book...and for good reason. This was a very good book. My favorite books right now are ones where the author's voice is his own and sounds like his own, like it would be if he were speaking to me (I used to get in trouble in 11th grade english, because my voice sounded too much like my speaking. Well suck it, cause th More...

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Nov 05, 2009

Shiela rated it:

This man is hilarious. This book is hilarious. His interpretations of the results of his “experiments” are pee-in-your-pants funny. What more can I say?

Coming off from his bestselling book The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs risks life and limb (and possibly his marriage) undergoing a series of experiments and entertaining his fans with the results. Have you ever wondered how the world would receive you if you were a faithful practitioner of Radical Honesty—as in telli More...

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Nov 06, 2009

Turi rated it:

A.J. Jacobs's two previous books, The Year of Living Biblically One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible and The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest Person In The World fall into a category I really like - the "guy-takes-a-year-off-to-do-something" (it's usually a male, for some reason. Women must be too smart to do this stuff.) Whether it's making no trash, trying to qualify for the Olympics, or tracing Odysseus's voyage, I find thi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 20, 2009

Debbie (Readerbuzz) rated it:

You know who Jacobs is. You’ve probably heard about him, even if you didn’t read his book. He’s the guy who read all the Encyclopedia Britannica, A to Z. He followed that up in his second book by attempting to live by the precepts of the Bible. I will never forget the chapter where he decides to take up stoning the sinners.

This new book also falls into the genre of what I call Challenge Books.
I like these. The woman who visited a different church each Sunday for a year. T More...

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