I don't read a whole lot of non-fiction. What little I do read is usually in the celebrity biography genre. But for my Eclectic Reader Challenge, I needed to read something qualifying as Micro history. I didn't even know what that was, but the internet was very helpful in clearing up my confusion. Goodreads even has a lot of useful suggestions of what I could read. As Bonk had a fairly high average rating, and was very highly rated by several of my like-minded book friends, not to mention that I was curious about the subject matter was handled.

I really wasn't sure what to expect, as I mentioned, this is pretty much my first foray into micro history, but Ms. Roach is a very entertaining writer and covers the topic from a number of angles. She writes about famous researchers like Kinsey, Masters and Johnson who worked diligently during the 20th Century, but also goes back earlier, looking at the way sex was viewed historically and how the research of it developed. She's clearly travelled all over the world for her answers, interviewing pig farmers in Denmark, doctors in Asia and on occasion, she even volunteers herself (and on one occasion) as a research subject. 

Some chapters were absolutely more fascinating than others. I must also confess that my reading of this book was interrupted by the release of Carry On, and having to read the last third of this book with one heck of a book hangover after a book about gay wizards probably meant that I was no longer really in the right frame of mind for scientific facts about sex and sexual research, no matter how entertainingly it was written. I may try to re-read the book at a later date, when I can give my full attention to it.

I am really glad I read this book of short stories about my favorite state, New Jersey. I learned several surprising incidents that were overlooked during my fourth-grade social studies class. Although the writing is a bit academic, it is still easy to read and enjoyable for the most part. My favorite part is when he tied two men from Jersey with the founding of California.

So why only 3 stars (and I am feeling generous with that rating)? First, when describing Jerseymen and women, their is so much praise given out like candy that the people come off as saintly and not real. At the opposite spectrum, there were more than a few instances of calling Africans "savages" and ignorant in their dealings with white American people. Commence eye-rolling. Also, while the technical aspects of the writing was on point, there was a formatting issue with references made within parenthesis.

This seemed to be a possible work for an academic degree, such as Masters' or PhD, because the subject matter was so specific, very few people would read the book. It was a freebie in the NOOK store and I am glad I downloaded and read more about my state.