“The Honors Project” In Review

At the end of 2011, I launched a reading project for myself for 2012 centered on preparing to write my honors thesis entitled “The Honors Project”. Given that 2012 has come to a close, I am wrapping up this project and preparing to move on to the writing stage.

As I stated in my introductory post and on my project page, I concentrated on non-fiction books about food, economics, and geography. Food is the central topic of my thesis, but the theories I use are shaped by both the fields of economics and geography. I was also hoping to use the project as an excuse to read some of those titles that my professors had mentioned in class or in passing that I had yet to find the time to read.

I read six books on food, ten books on economics, and four books on geography for a total of 20 books read. This wasn’t nearly as many as I had hoped to read but given that I made zero progress on this project in November and December, it still created a rather sizable dent in my list of possible titles.

Highlights of the project include finding the book that will most assist me in my thesis (Harvey Blatt’s America’s Food), finding the book I can use to teach economics to my friends (Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman’s The Cartoon Introduction to Economics), finding the book I most want to discuss with a professor (Linda Polman’s The Crisis Caravan), and finding the book that I recommended to all my relatives over the holiday season in light of the Fiscal Cliff crisis (Bob Woodward’s The Price of Politics).

All in all, a successful project, if I do say so myself. You can see my thoughts on each book read for the project by checking out the category, “Honors Project”, or by visiting my my project page.