Eat It To Beat It (David Zinczenko)

What I love most about David Zinczenko is that he never minces words; he has no qualms about saying that most of the food we put in our bodies is filled with stuff we should back far, far away from. He has no problem calling out specific food and restaurant companies for adding "anal scent glands of beavers" to our food, and some of the things he writes will probably make you lose your lunch. However, I'm the type of person who needs tough love when it comes to diet and exercise (I need Jillian Michaels yelling at me rather than Denise Austin's encouragement), so Zinczenko has always been right up my alley. I say always because I've been reading his Eat This Not That and Cook This Not That series of books for years now. I always look anxiously ahead to January so I can get my hands on the new updated version. I was a little surprised to see that he changed things up a bit this year with Eat It To Beat It. However, the message is always the same...eating healthfully never has to be dull.

Eat It To Beat It looks very similar to Zinczenko's other books; they are all filled with colorful pictures and easy-to-read information. The only real difference I can tell is that he seems to focus more on what you should eat to fight disease; however, his other information pretty much remains the same. When you're reaching for juice at the supermarket, which one should you grab? Which produce should you choose the organic variety? Eat It To Beat It is definitely not as extensively packed as his other books, but it's still a worthwhile read.

The Eat This Not That books are popular for a reason, and I've used the information within them to make the right choices at the grocery store and in a restaurant. I've made many recipes in Cook This Not That, and I can tell you that they are delicious and definitely not "diet food." Zinczenko understands that diets don't work for the long haul; make little changes in your everyday eating habits and you'll soon be reaping the rewards.

MY RATING - 4

The Museum of Extraordinary Things (Alice Hoffman)

It's hard to believe but The Museum of Extraordinary Things was the first book I ever read by Alice Hoffman.  Even though many of her novels were bestsellers, I just never got around to reading them.  However, I knew I had to check our her latest when I saw the synopsis.  Historical fiction set in New York in the early 1900s is right up my alley; couple that with a love story built into a Coney Island "freak show," and I knew this was my cup of tea.

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the man behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, who also performs as the Mermaid alongside the "Wolfman" and the "Butterfly Girl."  One night, she catches sight of Eddie Cohen, a photographer of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and instantly falls in love.  When Eddie launches an investigation into one of the factory workers' deaths, he and Coralie come across each other again, only to discover that the museum is much more sinister than it looks within its depths.

Mesmerizing in its language, The Museum of Extraordinary Things is about young love prevailing in one of the most tumultuous times in our country's history.  It also begs the question "Are things ever really what they appear to be?"  If this is Alice Hoffman's writing, all I have to say is what took me so long to find it?

MY RATING - 4

Destiny of the Republic (Candice Millard)

Wow, never in a million years did I think a book about the assassination of James Garfield would affect me as much.  I found myself finishing this late into the night on my eReader and didn’t want it to end.  In Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, Candice Millard has taken an obscure leader of our country and made him real for the modern generation.

It’s hard to believe how much the average American does not know about this period of our history (myself included).  I knew that James Garfield was one of the assassinated Presidents…end of story.  However, I found myself shaking my head throughout about how much I really didn’t know.  A.) Garfield most likely would have survived the attempt today because his gunshot wound was NOT fatal.  He died from a massive sepsis infection from a parade of doctors sticking their unsterilized and ungloved fingers in his wounds.  B.) Alexander Graham Bell played a huge part in trying to save Garfield’s life.  C.) Robert Todd Lincoln, President Lincoln’s oldest son, was present at THREE of the four presidential assassinations.  How’s that for bad luck?

More than anything though, Millard succeeds in giving Garfield a real voice and letting the reader know what kind of a man he was (a kind friend to all).  It’s a shame that most people know so little about his short administration, but hopefully with this very worthwhile read, that will change.

MY RATING - 4

S. (J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst)

One of my favorite television shows ever is Lost.  I quickly became addicted to trying to solve the puzzles surrounding Jack, Kate, Locke, and the rest.  I was a staunch defender when people tried to say that it “jumped the shark” and was one of the few who loved the ending (I could analyze it forever.). 

When S. came out, conceived by Lost producer J.J. Abrams and written by author Doug Dorst, I was excited to dive right in and even more excited when I saw the actual book.  If I could give a 5 just for presentation, I would, for no small detail is spared with S.  From the slip jacket cover to the musty book smell, every incidental is well thought out.  A reader could get overwhelmed with all the multicolored margin notes, footnotes, and slips of paper inside, but I was too excited to begin to think about that. 

S. is the very definition of a multifaceted reading experience.  There is the story itself, The Ship of Theseus, but there is also a story in the margins about a budding literary relationship.  Combine that with the editor’s manuscript footnotes and all the extras inside, and there is a whole lot to read.  There is also quite a bit of disagreement on how to read it; some say read the story, then the first colored notes, then the second colored notes, etc., but I read it all at once.  And I wonder if that was my problem.  I quickly realized that, much like some aspects of Lost, there were parts to S. that made no sense or puzzles that were left unanswered.  However, unlike Lost, I found myself not really caring about either the main story or the side story and just wanted to be finished with it already.  A book shouldn’t be a chore to pick up; Abrams and Dorst should have concentrated less on the gimmicks and more on the meat.

MY RATING - 2

Safe With Me (Amy Hatvany)

Amy Hatvany's Safe With Me begins with the ultimate horror for any parent -- the sudden death of their child.  Life changes in an instant for Hannah, who is grieving the loss of her beloved daughter, Emily, in a tragic accident.  When the doctors ask Hannah to make a decision about organ donation, she is thrust into something that no parent should ever have to decide.

At the same time, Maddie is a teenager with a diseased liver, having spent much of her life in the hospital and wanting more than anything to have a sense of normalcy.  Without an immediate liver transplant, Maddie's prognosis is not good, and Olivia, her mother, is forced to think about the probable death of HER child.  She is also in an abusive marriage but feels that she can't possibly do anything about that unless Maddie gets well.  Safe With Me goes back and forth between narration by Hannah, Maddie, and Olivia; Hannah realizes soon after Maddie and Olivia come into her hair salon that Maddie is the recipient of Emily's liver.  What she will do with that information and how all three slowly move on with their lives makes Safe With Me a compelling read.

The novel ends a little suddenly, and I would have loved it if Hatvany had provided her readers with an epilogue.  However, this is the sort of thought-provoking book that gets people talking about issues and the "What ifs?"  That, to me, makes Safe With Me the most rewarding type of book.

MY RATING - 4

The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd)

Author Sue Monk Kidd is definitely not riding the coattails of her phenomenally successful The Secret Life of Bees.  Instead, she has written an extremely well-researched historical fiction novel chosen by Oprah's book club, no less (of course, that makes it an instant bestseller).  Still set in the south like TSLOB, The Invention of Wings takes place in the early 1800s, when slavery was widely rearing its ugly head and abolition started to gain serious ground.

One birthday, Sarah Grimke, the young daughter of an extremely wealthy Charleston plantation owner, is given her own slave (Handful) for a "present."  Sarah would much rather Handful be her friend, but her parents are insistent.  Thus begins the relationship between Sarah and Handful, the first who would go on (along with her sister) to be a staunch abolitionist, and the latter willing to do anything to be in control of her own life.  A supporting cast of characters adds much to the narrative that is so truly hard to read at times.  To Kidd's credit, she in no way glosses over anything related to this tragic time in our history.

Goodreads tells me that I began reading this novel on November 30, 2013, and I did not finish it until last night (February 2, 2014).  It's not that The Invention of Wings is that long, but the prose is so beautiful that you definitely want to take your time with it.  I'm sure this will be just as successful as The Secret Life of Bees.

MY RATING - 4

Early Decision (Lacy Crawford)

I seem to have very specific tastes in books.  Favorite topic?  Ghost stories set in English houses during the turn of the 20^th century.  Another favorite topic?  Books about the high-stakes drama of school admissions.  I remember being on vacation in Boston and not wanting to do anything except read Jacques Steinberg’s phenomenal The Gatekeepers.  Another great book on that note?  Karen Stabiner’s Getting In (which I've reviewed on this site).  For this reason, I was excited to read Lacy Crawford’s Early Decision, an account of one woman’s job as a “college consultant," and which Crawford says is "based on a true frenzy."

As is usually the case with these books, this is the story of a bunch of kids on their quest to gain entry into some of the most elite schools (mostly the Ivies and those adorable little schools in New England).  If Crawford stayed here and just highlighted the kids and the sometimes wacky lengths their parents would go to gain admittance for their children, Early Decision would be looking at a solid 4 rating.  However, the novel truly suffers and is bogged down from the unnecessary details of Anne’s (said consultant’s) personal life.  It seems like odd writing to go from stories about working with high school kids to the crudely represented minutiae of Anne’s bedroom.  This jolting back and forth really weighs Early Decision down.

I was excited to finally get this book but disappointed in the ultimate outcome.  Hopefully the next great school admissions novel will soon be on the horizon.

MY RATING - 2