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The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs

Reviewed by Suzanne M., Director

My brother-in-law and I have a running joke as to who is the biggest know-it-all in the family (it's him, by the way). So a couple of Christmases ago, he gave me A.J. Jacobs' book The Know-It-All as a gag gift. In it, Jacobs decides to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover. This "gag" gift turned out to be funny, smart, and bursting with interesting factoids, and I immediately became a fan of Jacobs. Jacobs followed-up with The Year of Living Biblically in which he spent a year following The Ten Commandments complete with growing a beard and wearing a robe and sandals.

The Guinea Pig Diaries is Jacobs' third book and chronicles some of his smaller experiments. In it Jacobs outsources his life to a team in India, practices Radical Honesty, crashes the Academy Awards, follows George Washington's 110 rules for life, and dedicates one month to following his wife's every whim. A funny, light-hearted memoir, The Guinea Pig Diaries is also insightful and educational.

The smallest of Jacobs' three books, this one took me the longest to read. The middle drags slightly, and I wondered how much was filler to meet a publication deadline. Nevertheless, the beginning and end make this a worthwhile read. If you are a fan of Jacobs' previous works, then you will enjoy this one as well.

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment can be reserved through the Chester County Library System. To learn more about New York Times bestselling author A.J. Jacobs visit his website.