Since my previous copy of this book seems to have gone missing in mid-book-ring, I picked up this copy as a replacement.

In the "I can't believe it's a book" category: this cute little number from Chronicle Books - really, truly all about poo! From the first line of the introduction, I knew this was going to be fun: "Not unlike a snowflake, each bowel movement has a uniqueness that should be regarded with wondrous appreciation." [Not only will I think of bowel movements differently now, I'll also think of snowflakes differently {grin}.]

Most of the book consists of different, um, styles of poo, with descriptive names such as "Deja Poo" or "The Streak" [aka "Skidmark"]. There are comments about the specific type, including probable causes and what, if anything, one should do to avoid them, plus the occasional scientific tidbit or trivia item. There's a discussion of "Floaters" vs. "Sinkers", the fascinating fact that a species of caterpillar can propel its stool over five feet in the air, and the even more fascinating [if a bit upsetting to contemplate!] item about "stool transplants" which can help repopulate the patient's gut with healthy bacteria. There's even an item about poo-paranoia, in which it is stated that there have been attempts by international intelligence agencies to gather the poo of various world leaders in order to attempt to ascertain their state of health; I wonder if that will turn up as a plot element ("plop element"?) in the next "Mission: Impossible" movie?

New parents might appreciate the section on "pediatric poo," in which the different types are compared to commonly-used condiments and spreads: for example, meconium is equated to Marmite or Vegemite (in appearance only; "thankfully [it] lacks their overpowering aroma"), and "breast-fed poo" to Grey Poupon [I swear I'm not making this up!].

And among the healthful hints - the section on sitting vs. squatting, in which it is mentioned that "there is a burgeoning movement that believes squatting can improve digestive health. Not to mention the fact that squatting, also known as the bombardier method, will give you quads of steel."

The book's tone overall is chatty and amusing, but it does include warnings about certain poo-symptoms that might indicate very serious illnesses indeed, so it seems that your poo could tell you some mighty important things if you only let it!

[On a, um, somewhat related subject, check out Toilets of the World...]

[Update, 12/14/08: I was tickled to see this book included in today's "Unshelved" comic-strip "book club" entry, Books About Poop. And I may have to hunt up some of the other books listed there as well!]

I'm sending this out as a replacement copy to continue the bookray announced in the forum post here. [The book weighs under 6 ounces and is on the small-and-thin side (a mere 100 pages), so postage might not be too bad - within the US it might even be cheaper to mail first-class than media mail.]

Bookray instructions:

When you receive the book, please journal it, and PM the next person in line for their address so you'll have it ready when you've finished the book.

Note: even if you've sent books to that person before, please PM them before mailing this one, to confirm that the address is correct and that they're able to take on a bookring book at this time.

Try and read the book promptly - ideally, within a month of receiving it. (If you expect to take longer, you can request to be put at the end of the list. If you find you're swamped with other books when the person before you contacts you about the bookring, you can ask to be skipped, and then let me know whether you'd like to be moved down the list or dropped entirely. If you receive the book and find it's taking longer than you'd planned to get through it, I'd appreciate an update in its journal entries or on your profile, just to let me and the other participants know you haven't forgotten it.)

When you're ready to pass the book along, please journal your comments, and then either use a JE or the controlled-release-note option to indicate where the book's going next. [If you find that you're having problems contacting the next person in line, or don't think you can manage to mail the book as originally agreed, please let me know; I'll be glad to try to work something out.]

***

Participants, in mailing order:

piemunga [Australia]
cat207 [Australia]
juli2007 [Australia]
jessibud [Canada]
synical [Malaysia]
ScruffyKaz [UK]
littlebooklover [California]
PamRae [Maryland]

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sending this book to BCer piemunga in Australia, to kick off the replacement bookray. Hope you enjoy the book!

received today. i had a quick flick through and i had tears of laughter streaming down my face..... don't think i'll be reading this one on the bus!

i love the poo book!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

posting off to cat207

Arrived in today's mail. Thank you piemunga, and Gory for sharing - your poo!

Very interesting..... and a quick read.

Waiting for an address from juli2007.

Off to juli2007 in tomorrow's mail.

Received safely in today's mail. Can't wait to find out what my poo is telling me, I will pm jessibud now as it looks like a quick read, thanks for sharing!

What a really interesting little book. Quite humorous and educational, what more could you want in a book! I will never look at my "poo" the same way again, thanks for sharing!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posting this one off to jessibud, hope you enjoy!

The poo has hit the... oh wait, that's something else... ;-)

Book is here, safe and sound. Only 2 more days of school left until my winter break begins. I will start this book on the weekend and in the meantime, will PM ahead for the next address.

I finished this book in one...sitting! I haven't laughed this much in ages! At times, I felt like I was 10 years old again, laughing at the bathroom humour. But in fact, what these 2 authors have done is deliver good science, and decent factual information about a subject that everyone experiences but no one talks about, and they do it in a manner that anyone and everyone can relate to. In some ways, this is the adult version of the wonderful kids' books and website developed by Sylvia Branzei, *Grossology* (http://www.grossology.org/)


Not to give too much away here, I will quote from page 51 of this book, where it reveals some interesting tidbits of information about poo in the animal world: rabbits can produce more than 500 pellets of poo every day, bears don't poo at all while hibernating, and geese poo, on average, once every 12 minutes. Which may be what prompted some local parks and beach signs here in Toronto (where we have a lot of geese!), to appeal to the public to refrain from feeding them (the geese, that is)!

:-)

This book will be on its way tomorrow to the next person in line

OMG!! If you hit the *browse booksellers* button, above, and go to amazon, there is actually a *What's Your Poo Telling You* daily calendar!!!


TMI alert!! Bwahahahaha!

Just a quick PM to say that it's arrived safely in Malaysia!

Will PM ScruffyKaz for address soon.

Forgot to journal about it sooner and now I don't know what to say about it, but...

Excellent reading!

Still awaiting PM from ScruffyKaz

Edit: Book is already on its way to the UK!

Really sorry I forgot to journal this book!

This book brought me and some friends untold hours of amusement! I think we are all now inpecting our poo to see what it is telling us!

Going to message the next person on the list and get this book on its way.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to sunny california via surface mail!