Book Review: Plan D: Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes

plan-dPlan D: Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes (Even If You Don’t Have It) is a fun, enlightening approach to living a healthful life. Even if you don’t have diabetes, author Sherri Shepherd’s approach to living healthfully is practical and attainable.

Sherri Shepherd grew up in the south side of Chicago, in a neighborhood where diabetes was almost the norm. In her family alone, her mother, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, plus her neighbors, seemingly everyone eventually got diabetes. African Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as non-Hispanic whites, and it wasn’t uncommon in Shepherd’s neighborhood to see people with amputated limbs, people with serious vision problems and heart disease, to say nothing of early deaths. She thought her mother’s fatigue, lack of energy and irritability were normal. Her mother died from complications of diabetes when only forty-one. The disease was called “the sugar.” It’s hard to get too upset by something with such a sweet name.

In the book Shepherd describes her childhood and early adulthood. She found she could “fit in” by being funny–a talent that took her into adulthood as a stand-up comedian by night and working at a law firm by day. As a young adult, she lived a fast life and had some risky relationships. As it turned out, her most dangerous relationship was with food. At 5’1″ Shepherd could pack on weight easily, and, as a younger woman, could take it off fairly quickly. This yo-yo cycle of binging and starving played havoc not only with her health, but with her emotional well-being as well.

She married, had a baby and was soon offered the enviable position as cohost on the television show The View. In the meantime, she had been diagnosed with pre diabetes, but ignored all the warning signs and advice that might have prevented the full-blown disease. Inevitably, after many scary and telling symptoms, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Finally, a crises occurred that made her look at her life and her responsibilities as a mother.

The book outlines a practical, healthy way to live. She describes in detail how a diabetic can prepare foods ahead of time for quick healthy meals. Exercise, vital to anyone, but especially to a diabetic, can be snatched from spare moments–it isn’t necessary to have gym membership.

Plan D isn’t only for diabetics or pre diabetics. It’s an enjoyable read for anyone wanting a healthy lifestyle. Shepherd’s writing is candid, fun and funny. For readers serious about changing their lives for the better, or even just looking for new ideas for healthy living, I highly recommend Plan D: Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes. The book is available in paper and ebook formats.

Book Review: The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness

Girl's Guide to HomelessnessBrianna Karp has written a brutally honest memoir, The Girl’s Guide to Homlessness.

Sexually abused by her father as a very young child, then physically and psychologically abused by her bi-polar mother, Karp still manages to excel in school while working numerous jobs to help the family eke by. She stays focused on her desire for independence and finally realizes her dream when, in her early twenties, she has a good job as an executive assistant. She’s able to rent a small cabin and acquire a big, goofy dog. Brianna is happy and finally in a position to live a positive, useful life.

But then comes the recession of the 1980’s and, like millions of others, Brianna is laid off. She scrambles for work, even temporary work. Brianna inherits a 30-foot travel trailer from her biological father in which she lives on a Walmart parking lot. The trailer offers only minimal conveniences and she must go elsewhere to bathe and use the bathroom.

Brianna continues her job search, in person and on-line. Later, she begins to blog about her search for work and about living a homeless life. She joins a cyber community focused on the homeless and acquires a following. Through the Internet, she meets a Scotsman, Matt Barnes, a columnist who advocates for the homeless and they begin a cyber romantic relationship which eventually blossoms into a personal relationship when Matt visits Brianna in California.

Brianna’s life takes unfortunate turns when she is confronted with a multitude of overwhelming problems.

Brianna Karp’s memoir is well articulated and informative about homelessness. She addresses common misconceptions, judgements and fears about homeless people. For those of us fortunate enough not to have faced this problem, it’s easy to fall into a trap of stereotyping, judging and assuming that “those people” could help themselves if only they would make sound decisions. Karp gives her readers something to think about, another view of one of America’s greatest problems.

Book Review: In a Sunburned Country

In a Sunburned CountryIf you’ve always wanted to go to Australia but haven’t had a chance, reading In a Sunburned Country is the next best thing. Bill Bryson presents a thorough and humorous look at a country that remains mysterious to most of us.

As Bryson goes off the beaten track to thoroughly explore this vast country–the cities, the deserts, the outback, the tropics–he takes the reader along, even when conditions aren’t that comfortable or convenient.

It’s obvious that Bryson loves Austrailia and I’ve now had the pleasure, through him, to appreciate its uniqueness. His historical and trivial facts are enlightening and enrich his story.

Although he’s not the most organized traveler, it’s fun to laugh at Bryson’s ineptitude and his ability to poke fun at himself. During his travels, he has at times a sidekick and those encounters add spice to the adventure.

I especially enjoyed vicariously visiting places so often mentioned such as the Great Barrier Reef, Alice Springs, the Gold Coast. At times I laughed out loud with his historical asides, observations, and wry humor. Bryson doesn’t strictly stick to the usual touristy cultural icons, but delves into the weird and wacky, too.

Reaching many of the remote places involves hours of travel by car. Searching for a radio station for distraction to while away the miles, Bryson finds only one station, a cricket match. His description of that match is hilarious.

If you want to learn more about Australia and have some good laughs along the way, read In a Sunburned Country. It’s a treasure.

 

Book Review: Exploring Camano Island: A History & Guide

Exploring CamanoVal Schroeder’s Exploring Camano Island: A History & Guide is an enjoyable, informative guide to Camano Island, the second largest island in Island County, Washington. Comma-shaped Camano’s 95 square miles has no town and is connected to the mainland by bridge. The island is about an hour’s drive from Seattle and is nestled on Puget Sound between its larger sister island, Whidbey, and the mainland.

Great strides have been made to ensure that Camano’s wild spaces are being preserved for future generations. Since 1994, more than a dozen nature preserves and parks have been established by islanders working together to protect the land from further development. Even before then, in 1949, 500 local citizens united to create Camano Island State Park, literally in one day. They cleared land to make roads and trails, campsites and picnic areas. They built buildings and picnic tables, and cleared a spring for a clean water source. By the end of the day, that dedicated group had transformed 92 publicly owned acres into a park that is still thriving 65 years later.

The well-organized book has sections identifying Camano’s major nature preserves and protected land. The author describes each place, how it is today, its history, and its legacy and what it contributes to its people and wildlife habitants.

Schroeder quotes the famous anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” It is this principal and commitment that has kept Camano Island a special place for its inhabitants. The author emphasizes the many contributions that individuals and organizations have made through the years to protect and preserve the island’s cherished natural sites.

Val Schroeder, a high school teacher, is a strong advocate for the protection of wildlife and was recognized by the National Wildlife Federation in 2006 as Volunteer of the Year. She resides on Camano Island and has been instrumental in furthering public awareness of wildlife preservation.

Camano Island explorers will find Exploring Camano Island a helpful guide. Those who live on the island will appreciate what it took to make the island the special place it is today. Readers from other areas will learn from how they might manage, preserve or restore their own natural habitats. I highly recommend this enlightening book.

 

Book Review: Much Ado About Mavericks

Much Ado About MaverickBenjamin Lawrence returns to his childhood home, a ranch in Owyhee County, Idaho, to settle his father’s estate, sell the ranch, and take his mother and sister home to Boston. He’d left the ranch an embarrassment to his father, a boy who didn’t take to ranch life. Now a successful lawyer, he will take his mother and sister back to Boston and give them the prestigious home they deserve.

To Ben’s dismay, to meet the conditions of his father’s will he must learn the cattle business within a stipulated amount of time.

Jake (Janelle) O’Keefe, ranch foreman, has her heart set on a section of the ranch to call her own, a piece of land she’s worked for and that was promised to her by Ben’s father. But now she can’t have clear title unless Ben complies with his father’s demands, a demand that seems unlikely to happen. That city lawyer isn’t a likely candidate as a rancher.

It’s hard not to notice Jake’s ability as the ranch foreman. She can out-rope, out-ride and out-smart any man in the county. To top it off, she’s beautiful. But don’t tell her that. And don’t mention her big heart either. What she calls her “strays”–three little kids who needed a home–are dear to her heart and she’ll protect them with her life.

Ben’s tidy life in Boston has to take a back seat until he can meet his deceased father’s demands. It seems the old man insists on making his life miserable even from the grave. Ben’s life takes another step in the wrong direction when he learns his mother and sister have no intention of leaving ranch life.

Even “simple life” in the country can get complicated. When hearts get lassoed, there’s no predicting what will happen. Mix that confusion with an intriguing turn of events and you have a hot branding iron on your hands.

Much Ado about Mavericks by Jacquie Rogers is the third book in the Hearts of Owyhee series. The first two, Much Ado About Marshals and Much Ado About Madams are also stories about 1800’s Idaho. Rogers’ solid understanding of the rollicking old west is apparent. She combines her extensive knowledge of ranch life in Much Ado About Mavericks with generous handfuls of humor and sexiness. A good, fun read.

For more information about the author, visit http://www.jacquierogers.com/

Book Review: I Am We

I Am WeChristine kept her secret until she was forty-one. She didn’t even tell her husband, nor the counselor she’d gone to for ten years. Then, sick with anxiety, she uttered to her therapist the seven most difficult words of her life, “There is more than one of me.”

Although it was a huge relief to share her secret, now she faced learning to deal with managing a life with Dissociative Identity Disorder, sometimes called Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). Christine Pattillo has done a remarkable job of sharing her life and those of her husband and “alters” in I Am We: My Life with Multiple Personalities.

It is believed that Dissociative Identity Disorder is caused by early childhood repetitive, extreme, physical, sexual or emotional abuse. As a young child Christine suffered repeated sexual abuse from a friend’s stepfather. In addition, Christine also endured physical and emotional abuse from her own father.

One might think the natural tendency might be to attempt to rid oneself’s of multiple personalities, but a child fears ridicule, so the condition is often kept secret. Not only that, but in Christine’s case, she was actually fond of and derived great comfort in some of her alternate personalities. But not all. Some got her into trouble.

When Christine married Christopher, he had no idea what was in store and how he would have to juggle his time between Christine and “the gang”: Hope, Rim, She, Q, Chrissy, Cyndi, and even a boy, Tristan. The alters include personalities of different ages, temperaments and desires.

I found I Am We fascinating. It would be easy to dismiss this type of mental illness as an over-active imagination, but when faced the strong evidence this autobiography presents, even the most skeptical would find it difficult to believe the condition contrived. Christine’s life has known joy, especially in her marriage, but also rage, confusion and deep sadness. I Am We is an attempt to help “normal” people realize that, although rare, some lives are filled with complicated, multiple, and abnormal mental health issues.

To learn more about the book and author Christine Pattillo, visit www.iamwebook.com

 

Book Review: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

blink_usBlink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell provides an interesting study into the art of coming to a conclusion based on the observer’s snap judgement and first impressions. When burdened with facts, decision is often clouded. However, according to Gladwell, snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled.

An example Gladwell gives for this phenomena is a marble statue, a kouros, which was said to be dated back to the sixth century BC. Experts studied the various features and concluded its authenticity. But then a snap judgement, what Gladwell describes as thin-slicing, occurred from another expert. The statue didn’t “look right.” As it turned out, all the knowledge accumulated by experts couldn’t deny the fact that, once pointed out, the statue wasn’t what it was presented to be.

Another example of the power of a blink-of-an-eye decision is the current practice of having candidates auditioning for a symphony orchestra play behind a screen for anonymity. In the past, a woman auditioning for a position wouldn’t have had a chance. The listener’s viewpoint would be clouded by thinking a woman wouldn’t have the lung power or stamina to properly play, say, a wind instrument. In 1980, candidates auditioning on trombone for Germany’s Munich Philharmonic were placed behind a screen to avoid bias. As it happened, a woman was among those auditioning and the conductor strongly voted in her favor. When it was revealed it was a woman, the judges were amazed, and dismayed. A woman in a symphony orchestra? That started a trend. Rather than lengthy discussions on awareness programs, assertive training, social discrimination, etc., the problem about who is the best player is determined by blind auditions. A decision is made without the bias of gender clouding the issue. Today, thirty years later, approximately 50 percent of symphony players are women.

Without giving it thought, many of our decisions are based on bias, even when we know it isn’t fair. If we remove bias we often come to a different decision. Many people have the skill to quickly size up a situation. They don’t dwell on a person’s race, his clothes, what car he drives, or where he lives. Skilled rapid decision makers have developed an inner sense to accurately assess a situation based on a “gut feeling” or rapid cognition. Some people are born with this skill; others have developed it over time.

Although in places Blink gets somewhat off-track, I think Gladwell’s premise is worthy. We often talk something to oblivion, becoming blinded by too much information. Although snap judgements aren’t always accurate, there can be merit in listening to our gut feelings about a situation before it gets cluttered with facts.

I recommend Blink. I found it entertaining, but more, I found it helpful in determining how to make decisions without the clutter of weighing every aspect of the problem.

Book Review: Sarah’s Key

Sarahs Key

In 1942, Sarah, ten years old, was frightened when she and her parents were rounded up in the middle of the night by French police. Her younger brother, only four years old, refused to go and Sarah helped him hide in their secret hiding place, believing they’d only be gone for a short while and then return home.

A multi-layered, well-crafted novel, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay alternates between 1942 France and present day. The story evolves around the true events of the dark period in France’s history where thousands of Jewish families were rounded up and forcibly kept in the Velodrome d’Hiv, eventually taken to transit camps and finally packed off to Auschwitz.

Even before the roundup, Sarah realizes grim changes in her homeland. Jews are required to wear yellow stars on their clothing, even to school. They are no longer allowed in some stores and restaurants, places of business are closed, leaving many Jews without income. The year 1942 signaled dark times for Jews, but they had no idea of the horrors that awaited them.

Julia Jarmound, a present-day American journalist living in France with her French husband and daughter, investigates the little known Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup of Jews, conducted and enforced by French authorities in the heart of occupied Paris under Nazi Germany command.

When Julia uncovers truths that took place in 1942, she is consumed by Sarah’s story. Even when she discovers secrets about her husband’s family and stirs up resentment of repressed guilt, she is compelled to seek the truth about Sarah.

Sarah’s Key is a moving novel that delves into a little known piece of history now often referred to as France’s Dark Years. The author’s handling of the two time periods is flawless, her characterizations vivid.

For more information about the author and her work, visit http://www.tatianaderosnay.com/

 

Book Review: Dare to Dream

Dare to Dream, the third novel in Heidi Thomas’s Cowgirl Dreams trilogy, brings a satisfying conclusion to the story of Nettie Moser, a strong woman who dares to fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a champion rodeo steer rider.

Dare Cover Final 1.5x2Now in her thirties, Nettie’s time has finally arrived. She and her husband Jake are eager to sign up as riders at a Cheyenne RAA (Rodeo Association of America) rodeo, Jake as a bronc rider, Nettie as a steer rider. Since she was fourteen it had been her dream to be a professional rodeo rider and she had found success. Much to the surprise of the audience, and to the dismay of her family, this tiny 105-pound girl had sat atop of a half ton of writhing steer muscle and bone and rode it to the end.

Nettie had held on to her dream through the years though for a while had to put it aside because of injury, family illness, the tragic death of another woman contestant, starting her own family, and working with her husband and young son on their horse ranch. But now her dream is again becoming a reality. The time is right for her to resume her rodeo competition.

But her dream is shattered when in 1941 RAA refuses to let women compete in rough stock riding. Sometimes dreams take a detour. It’s up to Nettie’s creativity to find a way to be a part of rodeo.

Dare to Dream is the continuing story of ranch life in the early forties. WWII is threatening and Nettie and Jake’s son is approaching draft age. Love and sorrow is a part of life and it takes courage to handle them with grace. The war years bring sorrow and hardship and it’s left to those at home to carry on.

Author Heidi M. Thomas grew up on a Montana cattle ranch. Her first two books of the series, Cowgirl Dream and Follow the Dream are based on Thomas’s grandmother who rode rough stock in the 1920s heyday of rodeo. Dare to Dream follows a historical timeline, but is more a work of fiction than the first two. I found the trilogy a worthy and fulfilling account of the early days of ranch life and rodeo. Thomas brings warmth and believability to her characters and to the countryside in which they live.

For more information about the author and her work, visit www.HeidiMThomas.com

Book Review: Killing Jesus

killingjesus-3dKilling Jesus: A History by co-authors Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard is an extraordinary account of the most influential man who ever lived: Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus is born surrounded by fear, fear that the baby boy will be slaughtered like other baby boys in the small town of Bethlehem and surrounding area. King Herod will kill anyone who threatens his throne. For centuries, Jewish prophets have predicted the coming of a new king to rule their people. What people of power don’t realize is that the “power” is not of this world.

Jesus’s parents, Mary and Joseph, strive to keep a low profile. As the baby Jesus is presented in the temple, it becomes obvious that he is a special child. He leads a fairly normal childhood, learning his father’s trade as a carpenter. He often shows signs of wisdom beyond his age.

As he becomes an adult, it is clear to Jesus that he must see to his Heavenly Father’s work. He acquires a following, and he acquires enemies, people who fear they will lose their political power.

Killing Jesus is not a religious book, it is a study of a man “who galvanized a remote area of the Roman Empire and made very powerful enemies while preaching a philosophy of peace and love.” Many familiar people play roles in the political and historical events that made Jesus’s death inevitable: Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Caesar Agustus, Herod the Great, Pontius Pilate and John the Baptist.

Throughout the book extensive footnotes support facts presented. In the forward, Bill O’Reilly states, “To understand what Jesus accomplished and how he paid with his life, we have to understand what was happening around him.” O’Reilly and Dugard do a thorough job of helping the reader understand the political mind-set of the time.

I found Killing Jesus riveting. No matter what religious beliefs the reader follows, this book brings to light the meaning of Jesus’s life. The book is quite graphic in describing extremely cruel executions. Life was cheap and political power safe-guarded at all costs.

Authors Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard have also co-authored two other notable books, Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy. To learn more about these books and the authors, visit http://killingjesusthebook.com/