This is Jacobs' fourth quirky memoir. In this one, he decides to become the world's healthiest man by focusing on different aspects of his body and improving them. Obviously he changes his diet and exercise habits (as in, he begins to exercise) but he also does things like use moisturizer and apply sunscreen, have sex more often, and change what he uses to clean his home and laundry (there are many, many more changes). He tries several different diets and, best of all for my purposes, learns that moderate drinkers live longer than people who don't drink at all and people who drink too much. AND this counts for beer and liquor, not just wine. So my occasional margarita habit is healthy! (My regular french fry habit, not so much.)

I don't generally read nonfiction, but AJ Jacobs is a must-read author for me. His books are incredibly funny but I also manage to learn something. For example, even lazy Americans will walk the equivalent of the circumference of the earth over the course of their lifetime. So even though I live a lifestyle that's incredibly sedentary, that still sounds like quite an accomplishment. (I probably should not view it that way and should probably actually consider it a challenge to get off the couch and walk more.)

The problem with trying to get healthy is that there are so many conflicting ideas about what's good for you and what's bad for you. For example, there are people who say that the healthiest diet is one that consists of no or little meat and then there are just as many people who say that carbs are the problem. (Probably as long as you avoid fried food, you're ahead of the game.)

Anyway. This is an incredibly entertaining book (especially when he decides to try pole dancing). This book reinforced why I will always buy everything that AJ Jacobs writes. Recommended.