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Ada's Rules: A Sexy Skinny Novel

3.24 of 5 stars 3.24 · rating details · 186 ratings · 68 reviews

Ada Howard, the wife of the preacher at Nashville’s Full Love Baptist Tabernacle, has a whole lot of people to take care of. There’s her husband, of course, and the flock that comes with him, plus the kids at the day care where she works, two grown daughters, and two ailing parents. It’s no wonder she can’t find time to take care of herself. And her husband’s been so busy...more

Hardcover, 342 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA

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Oct 25, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I saw this book, I wasn't too sure what to expect and as soon as I cracked it open , I could swear I was reading an autobiographical novel of Alice Randall's life. Ada's Rules is in fact a fictional autobiographical set novel about housewife and Preacher Wife Ada Howard. The novel starts when she recieves an invitation to her college reunion , once skinny and beautiful Ada has felt that she has let herself go over the years and feeling deprived of love at home she has her eyes set on her co...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Hilary rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am def not the target market for this book (skinny and white), however I thought the book was very well done. It is basically a 'how to lose weight' guide, disguised as a novel.
This was sometimes to the detriment of the story.

What REALLY bugged me (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT)....

She was so desperate to find out if her husband had cheated that she went around asking people. They all said no. It turned out he had cheated, yet he never owned up to it, and she never said anything about it. It just irrita...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who like learning while reading

Recommended to Sam by: sent from publisher - thank you

Ada’s Rules is subtitled ‘A Sexy Skinny Novel’ which is apt. This book is novel, taking the journey of one (fictional) woman’s weight loss, combining weight loss tips (some good, some I’d doubt the scientific validity of) with the problems of ailing parents, a husband who might be cheating and daughters that might be taking the wrong path.

Ada’s motivation for losing weight is a common one – the dreaded school reunion and meeting of a former flame. However, this girl is determined with a capital...more Ada’s Rules is subtitled ‘A Sexy Skinny Novel’ which is apt. This book is novel, taking the journey of one (fictional) woman’s weight loss, combining weight loss tips (some good, some I’d doubt the scientific validity of) with the problems of ailing parents, a husband who might be cheating and daughters that might be taking the wrong path.

Ada’s motivation for losing weight is a common one – the dreaded school reunion and meeting of a former flame. However, this girl is determined with a capital D. Organising herself with a diary/food journal and an ever-growing list of rules (every chapter is titled with one of Ada’s rules), she begins to kick butt. Some of these rules are common sense – such as exercising - but I’m not too sure that the diet based on your DNA has much supporting evidence.

But it’s not just excess weight plaguing Ada. She’s worried that her husband might be cheating. She’s worried that she might cheat with a former flame (especially as he likes ‘skinny girls’). Her daughters are starting to put on weight and all her sisters died from complications relating to diabetes. Her mum doesn’t recognise her, living in an alcoholic delirium. Her business is trying to stay afloat to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Despite all this, Ada manages to stay positive and on the weight loss wagon most of the time. I found this book to be inspiring in places (telling me that it is a good idea to walk up 10 flights of stairs or ignoring work morning tea goodies) but sometimes some of Ada’s positive steps rubbed off on me the wrong way, leading me to think, ‘I deserve that ice cream!’ Not so good.

It’s definitely a unique idea to wrap self-help tips for weight loss around an interesting, light novel. I wonder if this book could be treated as some cognitive behavioural therapy? (I did lose 1kg while reading it!) I also thought it was good that Randall brought to light the complications of diabetes and their consequences, as I feel this isn’t something that it widely known or taken seriously in the general media. The overall positive tone makes you feel that weight loss is achievable, whether it be 1kg or more than 20kg – it’s just a series of small steps.

It’s an easy and fun read, but you’ll take away some important messages about food and exercise. I really like books that teach while entertain and if you do too, you’ll be cheering Ada on the whole way.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com (less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: women-s-fiction, chicklit

This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.

“[Ada] admired great big women. When she was small, she had coveted their authority, their beauty, and their significance. Then she got some for her own damn self.”

A Nashville, Tennessee native, Ada Howard has spent her entire life internalising the narratives that surround the large black women in her community: these are the women that run the church, the committees, and who are looked upon as strong and powerful. And though Ada k...more This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.

“[Ada] admired great big women. When she was small, she had coveted their authority, their beauty, and their significance. Then she got some for her own damn self.”

A Nashville, Tennessee native, Ada Howard has spent her entire life internalising the narratives that surround the large black women in her community: these are the women that run the church, the committees, and who are looked upon as strong and powerful. And though Ada knows that some of her own weight gain is to do with having to juggle her family commitments and her long work hours at the KidPlay daycare centre, she knows that it’s partly to do with the fact that she has always wanted to become one of these women whom she so respects and admires.

But when Ada receives an invitation to her twenty-five year college reunion, and with it an invitation of sorts from her old college days flame, she begins to reconsider things. At fifty, she’s already lost her three sisters, and she sees her mortality looming large in her ailing mother’s eyes. And so she becomes determined to change her body–and her life with it–for the better. But weight loss in a culture and community that values and looks up to large women is not simply a matter of calories in, calories out: it’s a social and political decision as well.

Ada fears that by losing weight she’ll be buying into a foreign concept of beauty and thumbing her nose at the community she so treasures. She fears that she’ll be undermining the authority and status that she and those around her have worked so hard to achieve. In one scene, for example, Ada frets over only ordering a small salad and a glass of water when dining out at a fancy restaurant: ordering up big, you see, is a way of proving to the world that she has the means to do so. And then there are her concerns over whether her husband Preach, who loves larger women, will continue to love her when there’s less of her to love.

But as Ada slowly changes her habits and personal narratives relating to food, she learns that the diet is only a small part of the change she’s longing to effect. Her new habits are about focusing on herself, affording herself time and care enough that she’s in a better frame of mind to be able to achieve the things she wants to. By sleeping more, drinking less, and getting out and about, her outlook changes, and despite her concerns, she becomes stronger than ever. It’s not merely the weight loss that’s causing this change, however; it’s all part of a larger shift in ideology.

“Ada had treasured the seclusion fat afforded,” we hear towards the end of her journey. “And Ada had enjoyed using her body as a hard-to-read symbol. Ada was ready to be done with all that. Her body was not a metaphor or an aide-memoire. It was her body.”

Throughout, Randall offers a thoughtful examination on the role and power of the body, and how identity can be so readily shaped by physicality and the associations made with it. She also reflects on the changing cultural attitudes towards food and dining habits, looking often to “skinny old folk” for their take on the shifts they’ve seen in their lifetimes. “Get back to your food roots. Peanuts and sweet potatoes are the mama and daddy of soul food,” preaches an old woman in the supermarket when Ada reaches for a low-fat, low-taste snack. “I don’t know why you young people insist on thinking of fried chicken and Kool-Aid and God knows what else as soul food.”

The book does, however, at times vacillate uncomfortably between novel and diet manual. The chapters are headed things such as “Don’t Stay off the Wagon When You Fall off the Wagon” and, perhaps as unsubtly as it’s possible to get, “Identify and Learn from Iconic Diet Books”, and characters frequently pop up out of nowhere to cheer Ada on her way to the weight loss finish line. There’s a good deal about diet types, diet aids, and cooking meals to suit different metabolic types, and these often nudge the book over towards the diet handbook side of things.

Given its positioning of itself as a cheerleader for weight loss and change, it’s little surprise that the book is unassailably upbeat and optimistic. But it’s sometimes so much so that it fails to capitalise on the complexity that Randall offers up every now and then, and there are moments where you can almost imagine a group waving attagirl! pom poms in the background–these occur mostly at the very end of the book. In particular there’s the jaw dropping sermon delivered by Ada’s preacher husband about, erm, not having entered Eden often enough of late, and his subsequent impassioned demands that everyone show their partner some love, as well as the fact that when Ada approaches her friends about her concerns about her marriage, they all but bow at her feet in validating the love that she and Preach share. It’s heart-warming, but sometimes sweeter than the high fructose corn syrup that Ada is trying so hard to avoid.

Although I’m not going to pretend to be anything but an Aussie white girl whose understanding of black culture in the American south is superficial at best, I did appreciate the food for thought (if you’ll pardon the pun) relating to how food and body shape influence perception of self in this community. On the whole, forays into the diet book realm aside, this one’s a winner: Randall’s exposition is sharp and cutting, her dialogue witty and zingy–if occasionally too sparing with the speech identifiers–and the sheer determination of Ada as she sets herself towards becoming more in touch with who she wants to be is admirable. (less)

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Jul 20, 2012 Vicki rated it 4 of 5 stars

I checked this book out of the public library while visiting there with two squirmy, impatient grandchildren. I took the book on two road trips and didn't get it read. Then, close to the time it was due back to the library, a fair three weeks of time, I decided I needed to read it. I am very glad I did. I think I would like to become best friends with this author, because she speaks a language I want to learn. Reviews call this a thinly-veiled diet, self-help book. I think it is a magical journe...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: women who must watch their weight

Shelves: 21st-century-fiction

Any woman who has ever been on a diet would enjoy this book. Ada Howard is a large 220 lb black woman, wife of a preacher at a Nashville church. She carries more weight than her own pounds, running a daycare center, caring for her aging parents, keeping track of her grown daughters, and serving on numerous church committees.

When the sexual side of her marriage to the reverend has dwindled to zero, an invitation to her college reunion brings back memories of Ada's first love, who will be there. S...more
Any woman who has ever been on a diet would enjoy this book. Ada Howard is a large 220 lb black woman, wife of a preacher at a Nashville church. She carries more weight than her own pounds, running a daycare center, caring for her aging parents, keeping track of her grown daughters, and serving on numerous church committees.

When the sexual side of her marriage to the reverend has dwindled to zero, an invitation to her college reunion brings back memories of Ada's first love, who will be there. She resolves to lose 100 pounds, go to the reunion, and if possible cheat on her husband! It's a big deal because Ada takes her Christianity and its commandments seriously.

I am a rabid fan of Alice Randall's two earlier novels, The Wind Done Gone and Rebel Yell. They were written in a more literary style and in my opinion she is at her best being literary. Ada's Rules is more along the lines of How Stella Got Her Groove Back; a sort of lightweight and light-hearted shout out to women of color and their strengths.

But still, this is Alice Randall who never writes without an issue or two up her sleeve. Here it is the health problems that accompany obesity, especially diabetes, and the eating habits as well as the "food deserts" that plague black populations in America.

I am a white woman who tends to pudge, hence a serial dieter since I turned 30. Alice Randall has also struggled with her weight. The introductory chapter in Ada's Rules is entitled How To Us My, Ada Howard's, Novel As A Diet Book. As far as I know, that's not been done before, and it works: a diet manual that is also a novel.

I couldn't put it down and I felt for Ada as she drank her water, walked her 30 minutes, and watched her portions, but also as she not only transformed her body but found her true self underneath all that fat. I have never come across a more realistic and sensible book about dieting (which is just another name for eating properly.)

If you are naturally slim with a high metabolism you are forbidden to read it!(less)

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Jun 25, 2012 Lighthearted rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, contemporary-fiction, humorous-fiction, self-help

When she receives an invitation to her 25 year college reunion, signed with a wink by her first love, Ada starts comparing her life then and now. For years she’s been taking care of everyone but herself: her husband, his congregation, her daycare, her parents, her daughters. She’s gained 100 pounds or so since her college days and she’s lost 3 sisters to diabetes; she also suspects her husband is cheating on her. Ada decides it’s time for a health and beauty revival and starts listing some rules...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Hattie Norman rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a KINDLE edition.

Ada's Rules by Alice Randall
Ada is a woman with a heart for change. Not comfortable with her weight Ada decides to make healthy lifestyle changes. "It's genes and stress and corn syrup in everything. And food pornography, every where we look, creating appetite." As she made this journey I had the chance to meet the people closest to Ada. There is her mother and father, Temple and Bird. There is her husband, Preach. Also, I met her daughters, Ruth and Naomi. "God was merc...more This is a KINDLE edition.

Ada's Rules by Alice Randall
Ada is a woman with a heart for change. Not comfortable with her weight Ada decides to make healthy lifestyle changes. "It's genes and stress and corn syrup in everything. And food pornography, every where we look, creating appetite." As she made this journey I had the chance to meet the people closest to Ada. There is her mother and father, Temple and Bird. There is her husband, Preach. Also, I met her daughters, Ruth and Naomi. "God was merciful. When she had stopped treasuring her own beauty, he had given her beauty to treasure--the twins." Not much is told about the daughters. Perhaps, they will appear in a future novel written by Alice Randall. Who knows? Surprisingly, I met an old flame too. His name is Matt Mason. If I've left out any of the characters, I apologize because all of the characters in the book are well developed or have the potential to be well developed in another book.

Since I am an older adult, I was especially moved by Temple and Bird's story. As they have grown older, they have suffered the knocks of life along the way. Still, they continue to struggle onward with the help of their daughter, Ada. I found it amazing that these two people could still walk forward each day after the loss of three grown daughters. The couple proves it's possible to endure the most painful situation. However, Ada's mother does succumb to Alzheimer's disease. Alice Randall writes about the couple's mistakes too. "Bird drank to drown and kill it. When she wasn't drunk, she thought of jumping into her front-yard lake..." Bird is not always able to recognize her daughter, Ada. Neither parent is able to clean their home. So the house is cluttered with items in wrong places and items no longer needed.

As I read the novel, I felt intrigued with Ada's ability to balance all of her roles in life. She loses touch with what she wants for herself. Soon she finds the way back to herself. She doesn't let go until her goals are reached. Ada's honesty about sex made me laugh. She's not ashamed to admit wanting it. Maybe it's her honesty that Preach loves so much. It's invigorating to read about a marriage where both the man and woman remain loyal to one another. Preach loves Ada whether she's big or small. I hope there is a couple in Nashville just like the couple made up by Alice Randall in Ada's Rules. Alice Randall scores well on writing about a tough subject."Writing about the body is an intimate undertaking. Writing with humor and love about the black woman's body is a delicate...."alicerandall, potw.org/archive (less)

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Jul 05, 2012 Beckie Samuel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books-read, black-female-protagonists, caring-for-parents, caregiving, fitness, midlife, not-worth-reading

I give this three stars mostly because I like how the author wraps a self-help missive into a story. There are points where it just doesn't work, and it comes off like an infomercial, but for the most part, proves to be somewhat interesting. I think a more skilled author would have done a better job of writing a stronger narrative around the health points. Randall is the same author who wrote a parody of Gone With the Wind. I read an excerpt of the novel and I wasn't interested in reading more....more

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Mar 16, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

PB/Women's Fiction: I got this book because my work roommate (WRM) was in a rut after surgery. (She came back to work and had not read one book while she was out for six weeks.) Ada's Rules to the rescue. I let her read it first. It's interesting because we thought pretty much the same thing.

The Diet: My biggest issue throughout the first 75% of the book was that is was like a self-help book disguised as women's fiction. Some of the diet tips make a lot of sense, like, "See what skinny old peop...more PB/Women's Fiction: I got this book because my work roommate (WRM) was in a rut after surgery. (She came back to work and had not read one book while she was out for six weeks.) Ada's Rules to the rescue. I let her read it first. It's interesting because we thought pretty much the same thing.

The Diet: My biggest issue throughout the first 75% of the book was that is was like a self-help book disguised as women's fiction. Some of the diet tips make a lot of sense, like, "See what skinny old people eat". The diet is the supporting actress in the book. Ada goes through all the stages of dieting, including peaks, sabotage, and body image.

The family: There was too much of a distance between Ada and her children. My WRM felt that Ada was living in her own abyss, but we both felt that had to do with her husband's distance. My WRM had a problem with Ada's relationship with her parents, but later began to like the parents. I had to point out that the parents were close to 90. I liked and understood the relationship more.

The Husband: When your husband wants to get a shower put in his office, that is more than suspect. Ada put her head in the sand about him potentially having an affair. Girl, get a STD test. At the end, we did not understand the relationship between the husband and the best friend. We both got laughs out of the "visits" to other women. My WRM and I also had discussions about the amount of money Ada spends while getting mad at her husband for spending money. FYI, I pictured Preach as Billy Dee Williams.

Ada's abyss is strange to me. Like I said, most of the book is self-help with fiction wrapped around it. But, SPOILER, you read that the author is Ada and this was dramatized journey to lose the weight and get healthy. So I felt the story should have had more insight into the relationship with her family. Only her father and husband have any reaction to the weight loss. Otherwise there is really no reaction to her weight loss from her daughters and friends. But then, I felt that maybe the author was hesitant to open up her real family life to the reader.

Honestly, if this had not been a Vine book, I probably would not have finished it. I am glad I did. The last 25% of the book is very entertaining. My WRM gives it four stars and I give it three; so 3.5. (less)

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Aug 18, 2012 Monica rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is not a book I would have picked up on my own to read but I did enjoy reading it and liked the story. The Zumba class I'm in is using this book as part of a "book club" within the class. One day a week, Zumba is thirty minutes long with the other thirty minutes devoted to discussing the chapters read for that week. It is very motivating especially when we all share virtually the same experiences with weight gain/loss as the character, Ada, does in the story.

There's more to gaining weight t...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Emily Wheeler rated it 3 of 5 stars

The novel focuses on Ada Howard, a middle-aged preacher’s wife in the American south, who is invited to a college reunion and uses that as the catalyst for a weight-loss campaign.

This is a journey of self-discovery more than anything. Ada fears that her husband is having an affair, and the promise of seeing an old flame at the reunion has her considering doing the same for the first time. In the twelve months that the book covers, she learns much about herself, her friends, her family and her hu...more The novel focuses on Ada Howard, a middle-aged preacher’s wife in the American south, who is invited to a college reunion and uses that as the catalyst for a weight-loss campaign.

This is a journey of self-discovery more than anything. Ada fears that her husband is having an affair, and the promise of seeing an old flame at the reunion has her considering doing the same for the first time. In the twelve months that the book covers, she learns much about herself, her friends, her family and her husband, and comes out at the end a much happier woman.

I wasn’t able to relate to all of Ada’s journey. For one thing, I’m one of the few Western women who has never gone on a weight-loss binge, but then again I have a lot of friends who have so it wasn’t wholly foreign. For another, her weight was always counted in pounds. For someone who grew up on metric, I was forever having to translate her weight into kilograms in my head so I had some idea of what her progress was. These aren’t terminal problems by any means, but they did diminish my enjoyment of the book somewhat.

The other thing that was new to me, though I was happy to learn, was the aspects of African American culture that featured so heavily in the narrative. The group of women who lunched in white-owned restaurants once a month to prove to themselves (and others) that it was acceptable for them to do so was an eye-opener for me, and it reminded me that many of these battles are far from over, even fifty years after the civil rights movement. I also wasn’t aware – and this is key to the diet theme – that there is a strong “big is beautiful” belief about the female form, and that many women choose to be larger-figured because it affords them more respect and self-belief.

The book was structured well, too. Each of the chapters is titled by one of the “rules” Ada sticks with in her journey, such as “Don’t keep doing what you’ve always been doing”, “Manage portion sizes”, or “Create your own spa day”, all of which correspond to that part of her journey. Then at the end there is a chapter called “How to use my, Ada Howard’s, novel as a diet book”, which I thought was an innovative way of tying the narrative with a greater objective. As a book, it fits itself well – which I suppose is appropriate given the theme.

Ada’s Rules is an enjoyable, easy read which handles some very sensitive issues with grace and tact. It’s easy to pick up and hard to put down, and leaves the reader feeling satisfied – and (for me at least) also that they’ve learned something. Overall, it’s a well written insight into southern America and into the mind of an intelligent yet somewhat insecure heroine. I believe it’s well worth looking at.
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Nov 16, 2012 Deanna Burrell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: womens-fiction

When I go to the library to pick up a specific book or books, I always pick up a random "catch my eye" selection. I peruse the featured book displays and stacks until something "catches my eye" and I add it to my check-out items. Ada's Rules caught my eye. I had never heard of Alice Randall, but I liked the red script of the title, and sassy, curvy black woman on the butter yellow cover. I say all this to say, I wasn't sure what to expect. When I read the author's note and how-to-guide at the be...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Iejones rated it 4 of 5 stars

I could not resist this title - at the bookstore even though my favorite story does not have a bathroom and I really needed to go. The cover sold me! Ada is close to my name and the sister is wearing a purple dress - the screamed buy me!! So I did. Not my preferred genre - I love historical fiction. This whole story about an educated, wife, mother, daughter/person fighting personal and inherited demons resonates with anyone working to find their authentic voice in the chorus of populism and supe...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would classify this as sort of a weight loss fairy tale sort of a kin to "The Cinderella Pact". The story line is very well done and Ada's journey is very realistic. You may not like all her tips but many of them are very doable and make a lot more sense then following some of the rigid diet plans out there.

After reading through the acknowledgements in the back, I was interested to learn that the author wrote this while she was a writer in residence at Vanderbuilt with the goal of trying to fi...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Toni rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction

This was a fun book to read. Ada Howard has just received an invitation to her college reunion and, like most of us, uses it to motivate her weight loss journey. But there are other reasons as well: her marriage has hit a sort of roadblock as she has to share her preacher husband with his flock (and is he sharing too much?), taking care of her aging parents and running a daycare business is taking its toll, and she wants to be a better example to her two adult daughters.

So Ada comes up with some...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Pr Latta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: families, humor, momlit, sense-of-place, strong-women, man-woman-relationships

I'm a white woman of a certain age reading this novel that is classified as "African American fiction." I loved it - marked spots to read to my husband, laughed out loud, stopped to think about some of the cultural implications. I appreciated this quick read as the story of one woman's midlife "readjustment" -- yes, there is a lot that is culture-specific but hey, that just gives me an opportunity to put a different perspective on things -- but there is a lot that is funny, heartwarming, thought...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Mistinguette Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

In a brilliant novel,Randall takes an existing form -- the diet self help book -and a stock character - the preacher's wife, and uses them to tell an extra-ordinary story. In a conscious effort to address the medical impact of obesity on black women, Randall explores the complex relationships women have with our bodies, fat or not. Time, sex roles, desire, nurturance, black female experience of power and powerlessness, and questions about cultural maintanence infuse Ada's Rules, which is written...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Dana Schroeder rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of chick lit

Shelves: romance, fiction

For anyone who has ever struggled with their weight, or had doubts about their choice in partners, this book is for you. Ada turns 50 and decides she wants to slim down for her 25th college reunion where she will see her first love, Matt Mason. Always faithful to her husband, Preach, Ada is so unhappy about her marriage that she even considers rekindling her old flame. What she finds out about life, love, and herself throughout her journey to lose 100 lbs. is both entertaining and insightful. Th...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Amanda Tennent rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any female who has struggled with their weight and/or happiness in relationships.

I really loved this book. I had a little trouble getting into it at first, but I think that was mostly because it's so different to most books that I've read recently. Also, the reviews I had read about it didn't, in my opinion, really give the book justice so I was going into it with low expectations. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. I found any reason or excuse to read it. I felt I had a lot in common with the main character, as far as weight loss and happiness were concerned, and t...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Angeljem rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story of a big black southern Momma who decides to lose weight and in doing so runs against the Big is Beautiful tradition. Pastor's wife, Ada loses her weight and regains her life as she tries to decide between her first love and her husband. I love how she records her feelings and the way she loses weight... good tips to follow! but how the book covers so much more than just the weight. I found the characters sympathetic and I identified with Ada as a person. I'd like to...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Lilmissbookworm rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-books

There are a few helpful suggestions, but I couldn't relate with Ada since I am a young college student. I was given this book through a health and wellness group, but the book is just someone's narrative through there own health and wellness journey as a married adult. This book is a good example of how wellness affects all aspects of your life not just physical fitness. However I didn't like the fact that this book was so focused on weight loss and physical fitness. I also could not stand the w...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Continualknowledge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poc-reading-challenge-2013

Good book, interesting take on health and nutrition and a black woman taking care of herself. There are various plots revolving around the main character losing weight and I enjoy the way the author weaved health, politics, economics, class and a whole host of other issues in the politics around losing weight. She was able to show how losing weight isn't as simple as stopping to eat. There are other factors impacting that loss and she got at the bottom of why this woman wanted to lose weight. I...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Flashette rated it 3 of 5 stars

When Ada receives an invitation to her college reunion, she embarks on a weight loss journey. She wants to shed the excess pounds that she has accumulated over the last 25 years. Ada is a preacher's wife who had been accustomed to looking after everyone else. Now she would have to turn the tables and begin looking out for herself.

I applaud the author for introducing middle age characters, aging parents and tackling the problem of obesity. However, I didn't know if this was supposed to be a weig...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anyone who has ever been on a diet will empathise with Ada, the sassy heroine of this novel. But this is not just about a struggle to lose weight. With her rules for transforming herself, Ada becomes an inspiring role model for a total change of lifestyle and outlook. There are many useful tips and interesting insights into Afro-American culture along the way, plus the novel can even be used as a diet manual. What more could you want!

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Jul 07, 2012 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I hadn't read any of this author's previous works so I didn't know what her writing style would be like. I assumed it would be similar to Terry McMillan's- whose works I really like. Unfortunately, this book turned out to be rather boring at times so I skipped several chapters and managed to finish reading it but didn't really enjoy it.

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Jul 19, 2012 EMP rated it 2 of 5 stars

There must have been something that kept me reading since I finished it, but I won't pick up anything else by the author and I won't be recommending it. I liked how she combined self help with a novel, but there were parts that definitely felt preachy and like an infomercial for certain products.

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Jun 17, 2012 Merceda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Decent book on being overweight, and being a Christian black in Tennessee in today's society. Very funny at times. Great information on losing weight as well. Interesting information on how much preparation she did for getting ready for the "second" honeymoon with Preach.

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Apr 25, 2013 Geri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: won

I got this book free through Goodreads First Read.

When I read the synopsis of this book I thought it sounded really good so I was thrilled when I won it.
Then I opened it and groaned when I read that the author suggested we use it as a diet book. I thought maybe this isn't what I'd hoped for. A good fiction story.
Well I'm happy to say its even better than I originally thought it would be. A book filled with interesting people surrounded by an enjoyable story.
Mainly its about Ada & Preach. Th...more

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May 02, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, food-cooking-recipes

This was a fun book. I liked Ada's list of rules in the beginning and how each chapter was devoted to that rule. Ada spent a lot of money on her diet - DNA testing for herself and her family, many diet books, food programs, shoes and clothes for exercising and the list goes on. I did like that Ada's weight loss goal was a year long process.

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About Alice Randall

Alice Randall (born Detroit, Michigan) is an American author and songwriter. Randall grew up in Washington, D.C.. She attended Harvard University, where she earned an honors degree in English and American literature, before moving to Nashville in 1983 to become a country songwriter. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee and is married to attorney David Ewing.

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