I read this book because my district and insurance company asked me to. It was surprisingly wonderful. I liken this book to a Malcolm Gladwell book, but this book is all about eating...why we eat what we eat and the triggers that trick us into doing so. It is really interesting, with lots of trivia and facts that you can use to entertain your friends at dinner.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Malcolm Gladwell, would like to lose a few pounds without dieting (really!), and to anyone who gets incentives from the insurance company for reading it :).
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Book 22: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
This is a YA book that kept popping up in recommendations. It is by the author of 13 Reason Why and a female author that I haven't read. The plot is pretty intriguing. It's the story of a boy and a girl in 1996 who, while logging on to AOL for the first time, see their facebook pages from 15 years in the future.
I read this book in about a day because the chapters are really short and...it's pretty light, I guess. This book really bugged me because I felt like the authors kept inserting things from life in 1996 needlessly. For example, someone talks for about 2 seconds about wanting a beeper, the girl runs with a discman strapped to her arm, and her mom tapes Seinfeld on her VCR. These asides do not advance the plot and are just inserted to give a wink to older readers and to astound younger ones. Irritating. Also very irritating that one of the girls slips her 1996 cell phone into the pocket of her tight jeans. Really?! Pretty sure the first cell phone I owned in 1997 would never have slipped into any pocket I had.
If you have some extra time and want to see what happens to this couple, I suppose you could read this book, but it's not high on my list of must reads.
I read this book in about a day because the chapters are really short and...it's pretty light, I guess. This book really bugged me because I felt like the authors kept inserting things from life in 1996 needlessly. For example, someone talks for about 2 seconds about wanting a beeper, the girl runs with a discman strapped to her arm, and her mom tapes Seinfeld on her VCR. These asides do not advance the plot and are just inserted to give a wink to older readers and to astound younger ones. Irritating. Also very irritating that one of the girls slips her 1996 cell phone into the pocket of her tight jeans. Really?! Pretty sure the first cell phone I owned in 1997 would never have slipped into any pocket I had.
If you have some extra time and want to see what happens to this couple, I suppose you could read this book, but it's not high on my list of must reads.
Book 21: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
This book was written in 1966 and was recommended to me by my awesome reader friend Alison, who I see too rarely for my liking (because she lives on the wrong side of the state). It is a page-turner!
This is the story of three single women living in New York in the 40s-60s. The plot is nothing too brain-busting (my mom said she read it and loved it at 13), but I think it is worth a read. Especially in the current culture of misplaced nostalgia for the "good ol' days". In this book, life is anything but perfect. While this doesn't really examine the lives of midwestern, "normal" housewives (which I would love to see from that era), it does give a good kick in the pants to the idea that life was ideal in those days. And I see a lot of parallels between those pill-popping ladies and the pill-poppers of today. We might not still use Seconal, but Lexapro and other drugs are very prevalent in our society today... I would recommend this book.
This is the story of three single women living in New York in the 40s-60s. The plot is nothing too brain-busting (my mom said she read it and loved it at 13), but I think it is worth a read. Especially in the current culture of misplaced nostalgia for the "good ol' days". In this book, life is anything but perfect. While this doesn't really examine the lives of midwestern, "normal" housewives (which I would love to see from that era), it does give a good kick in the pants to the idea that life was ideal in those days. And I see a lot of parallels between those pill-popping ladies and the pill-poppers of today. We might not still use Seconal, but Lexapro and other drugs are very prevalent in our society today... I would recommend this book.
Book 20: The Catholics Next Door by Greg and Jennifer Willets
I was given this book by my wonderful aunt-in-law as I was on the search for some good Catholic reading for my church book club. This book started off wonderfully and then just kind of fell flat. Maybe it's because I've read a couple of books like it lately... This the story of a loving couple and their five kids as they defend the religion they love and strive to uphold its values.
I think it's a good book for beginners who are wondering about Catholicism or Catholics who are looking for a little boost in their spritual life.
I think it's a good book for beginners who are wondering about Catholicism or Catholics who are looking for a little boost in their spritual life.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Book 19-Swamplandia by Karen Russell
Swamplandia is a story of real sadness as we watch the "death" of an alligator-themed amusement park and the effect this has on the family who runs it. I really knew very little about the book when I started reading it, other than it had been recommended by magazines and other readers online. It is well worth the read, but you need to know that it is heart-breaking to read what happens to this family. To me, there is nothing sadder than a lost adult male...that creature who tries to do the right thing, but always fails.
I won't tell you much else because I think it's better that way. I sometimes like picking up a book and reading it without knowing a darn thing about the plot. I will say that this novel of family failure has love at the center, unlike The Corrections or some of those other "I hate my family because they created me to be so sad...or because they are so stupid and backwoods..." books that seem to be popular. I love my family and hate reading a novel where all families are assumed to be dysfunctional in a hateful way.
I won't tell you much else because I think it's better that way. I sometimes like picking up a book and reading it without knowing a darn thing about the plot. I will say that this novel of family failure has love at the center, unlike The Corrections or some of those other "I hate my family because they created me to be so sad...or because they are so stupid and backwoods..." books that seem to be popular. I love my family and hate reading a novel where all families are assumed to be dysfunctional in a hateful way.
Book 18-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime by Mark Haddon
I've been hearing about this book for a long time, so I finally put it on my library list and read it. It is a story told from the point of view of a teenage boy with autism. It was a very quick read, and I would recommend it to people who work with children or anyone who is curious about how autism works in the mind.
The plot is supposed to be the search for a dog's killer, but it turns out to be more about what the young boy goes through and discovers about his family as he digs around for the dog's killer.
I would say that this is an okay book, really fast to read, but I still would recommend Look Me In the Eye by John Elder Robison (Augusten Burroughs' brother) for a better understanding of autism/aspergers.
The plot is supposed to be the search for a dog's killer, but it turns out to be more about what the young boy goes through and discovers about his family as he digs around for the dog's killer.
I would say that this is an okay book, really fast to read, but I still would recommend Look Me In the Eye by John Elder Robison (Augusten Burroughs' brother) for a better understanding of autism/aspergers.
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