I finally read "SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance", after having read "Freakonomics: The Hidden Side of Everything" a few years ago. I was pretty excited about the sequel, having really enjoyed the first book and all of the interesting correlations it revealed.

But I was kind of disappointed in the second book. I didn't feel the same interest, shock and excitement I had when I read "Freakonomics." Maybe it was because I had been through it before. But it also seemed the writing in the second book wasn't as good as in the first - or maybe I was so interested, shocked and excited when I read the first book that I didn't notice how much the authors jump from topic to topic to topic to topic. I like the connections and conclusions that are drawn in each scenario, but I just found it more difficult to get into them the second time around - or to even follow where they were going.

I'd probably rather listen to these stories and studies than read them, so I'm glad the Freakonomics podcasts exist to let me do just that.

If you haven't checked out the original "Freakonomics," you should definitely do so. If it really grabs you, there's always a second book to pick up (and then the podcasts if you just can't get enough).


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl