A Day in the Life of Your Body

Just a few days ago I finished reading Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body by Jennifer Ackerman. As a body worker, I found it fascinating and wished it had been assigned reading while I was still in massage school. While none of what she covered was in-depth in any one area, she did address a broad range of bodily functions.

I particularly found her discussions of circadian rhythms in relation to drug therapy and our changing sleep habits and suspected effects on our bodies engaging and wished for more depth. Some of her discussions on hormones and neurotransmitters would have been helpful before I took that particular exam in Anatomy & Physiology.

Overall it was a good review / reinforcement of what I learned in school packed into a small book. It has only 272 pages and includes an extensive reference area at the end of the book which is fully a quarter of the page count.

Nonetheless, it is fully accessible to the lay person with little technical jargon, has a good pace, and an entertaining quality. In other words, if you’re halfway interested in how your body works you will enjoy this book.

I’ll be placing this book on the shelf in my office. I enjoyed it enough that some day I will probably re-read it.