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November 25
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Kim
gave
 
to:
Skinny Bitch: A No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous (Paperback)
by Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in November, 2007
Kim said:
"Brilliant marketing. I don't exactly know what compelled me to buy this book, since I don't diet and I don't read chick lit. (Some reviewers surmise from the book's cover and sassy tone that Skinny Bitch is targeted to a chick lit market.) I kept see...more
Brilliant marketing. I don't exactly know what compelled me to buy this book, since I don't diet and I don't read chick lit. (Some reviewers surmise from the book's cover and sassy tone that Skinny Bitch is targeted to a chick lit market.) I kept seeing the book on forays to Borders, where I seek periodic respite from my high-decibel children and ideas for coping more gracefully when I'm back in the fray. When I picked it up one evening and opened it to a section on aspartame (a vice I have since found it easier to avoid), I was intrigued. The book is more an expose of the food industry than a diet book, but it's more accessible than many books that approach this agenda directly. I'm not sure how I feel about the bait-and-hook tactic; apparently some readers have demanded refunds because they expected straightforward weight-loss advice and felt duped by the appeal for veganism. I'm all for honest labels (and it strikes me as hypocritical that Barnouin and Freedman call for honest food labels when their book's packaging is intentionally misleading). But as a lapsed vegan, I welcome a book designed to motivate readers who aren't already embracing a vegan lifestyle.
My biggest criticism of this book is that it details ad nauseum (literally) what not to eat and offers only a general list of what to eat instead (fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans). Yes, they offer a list of approved convenience foods and a menu for a month of vegan eating. But that only goes so far in helping readers implement changes in their own lives, particularly when they have spouses and children who won't happily adapt to a diet without meat, dairy, or refined sugar. Having a family is the primary reason I'm a lapsed vegan--and a compelling reason to resume that lifestyle. So I enjoyed this book as an appetizer and look forward to reading and revisiting more substantial pro-vegan fare that will help my whole family adopt a healthier diet. ...less
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Kim
gave
to:
East of Eden (Centennial Edition)
by John Steinbeck
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2003
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Kim
gave
to:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Mass Market Paperback)
by Betty Smith
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in October, 1990
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November 18
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Kim
gave
to:
Great Plains (Paperback)
by Ian Frazier
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in November, 2007
Kim said:
"This one gets a grudging four-star rating. I wanted to be blown away, but man, there are parts of it that read like a high school geography text. I almost stopped reading sometime during Chapter 3. Ian Frazier drove all over the Great Plains and wrot...more
This one gets a grudging four-star rating. I wanted to be blown away, but man, there are parts of it that read like a high school geography text. I almost stopped reading sometime during Chapter 3. Ian Frazier drove all over the Great Plains and wrote about his travels, the region, and its history. If that one-sentence description doesn't grab you at least a little bit, you might wimp out long before the third chapter. My suggestion: Keep reading. When Frazier moves beyond summary to interpretation, his writing is breathtaking. He's at his most compelling when he weaves together disparate themes, as in Chapter 10 where he connects Catherine the Great's role in Western expansion with the nuclear arms race. In fact, the entire book is a tapestry of the Great Plains (depicting subjects like fur trading, Sitting Bull, agriculture, black homesteading, Lawrence Welk, gun fighters, and high school mascots) and an explanation of why the tapestry matters to Frazier, a New Yorker, and why it should matter to us. (Actually, he communicates that quite nicely in the last few pages of Chapter 5. Glance ahead to those pages for motivation when you're mired in Chapter 3.)...less
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November 12
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Kim
gave
to:
How to Write a Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript (Hardcover)
by James N. Frey
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in November, 2007
Kim said:
"It's hard--and maybe not fair--to evaluate a how-to book when you haven't executed whatever project the book outlines. I haven't written a mystery, either following James Frey's method or any other approach. But books about writing make up a good por...more
It's hard--and maybe not fair--to evaluate a how-to book when you haven't executed whatever project the book outlines. I haven't written a mystery, either following James Frey's method or any other approach. But books about writing make up a good portion of my leisure reading, so I can compare this one to others. Frey's approach seems executable and potentially effective; as evidence, he's coached a number of successfully published mystery writers and has published several of his own mysteries. In this book, his style is engaging, though all the references to his other "damn good" writing books are a bit distracting. The most interesting aspect of the book is the application of Joseph Campbell's hero cycle to the mystery genre. My main criticism concerns the hypothetical mystery novel Frey outlines to demonstrate his approach; I wouldn't pay money for it and might not finish reading it if I checked it out from the library. Frey comments on the predictability of the "Murder, She Wrote" series, but his mock novel is evocative of that very program. Still, I'm glad he included a demonstration and can see myself applying his approach....less
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November 09
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Kim
gave
to:
The Very First Thanksgiving Day (Paperback)
by Rhonda Gowler Greene
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in November, 2007
Kim said:
"Greene uses a "House That Jack Built" approach to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving, working backward from the feast to the pilgrims' departure from England. The result is an absorbing narrative that prompted a lively discussion betw...more
Greene uses a "House That Jack Built" approach to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving, working backward from the feast to the pilgrims' departure from England. The result is an absorbing narrative that prompted a lively discussion between my son and me (though one of his questions was why the sequence wasn't carried through on each repetition--in his words, "Why didn't you keep going?"). The text and illustrations are well researched, as explained in the author's and artist's notes. Yet there's no explanation for why the pilgrims chose to leave England, which seems to me a detrimental omission. The reverse-chronological structure almost begs the question, but it's easy enough to supplement the text with your own explanation. (That hands-off approach might be the author's intention, which seems odd considering she previously wrote a book called "The Stable Where Jesus Was Born.") All told, this book is a nice choice when you're looking for a picture book to introduce children to the history of Thanksgiving....less
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Kim
gave
to:
Write Is a Verb: Sit Down, Start Writing, No Excuses (Hardcover)
by Bill O'Hanlon
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in November, 2007
Kim said:
"If you've read other writer-motivational books, you won't find anything earth-shattering in this one. Still O'Hanlon's advice is solid, and his voice is engaging. The book is a quick read, packing a lot of motivation into relatively few pages. The DV...more
If you've read other writer-motivational books, you won't find anything earth-shattering in this one. Still O'Hanlon's advice is solid, and his voice is engaging. The book is a quick read, packing a lot of motivation into relatively few pages. The DVD, which includes footage from O'Hanlon's presentations and several printable worksheets, is a nice bonus....less
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Kim, I like your reviews, especially the one on Skinny Bitch.
