Category Archives: Book Reviews

12 November 2011

Real Moms Love to Eat – A Book Review

By Nicki

How is your relationship with food? I know when I get in one of those funks about what I “have” to eat to stay healthy and what I “want” to eat to make myself happy, I want to talk out my thoughts with a good friend. That good friend attitude is what I found when I picked up Beth Aldrich’s Real Moms Love to Eat. The tone of this book drew me in faster than a good mystery and I love a good mystery.

The first section of the book is all about the Real Moms Love to Eat plan. Each chapter has five simple items or action steps for you to use in that week. Most of these are things that you have heard for a long time, such as getting rid of high fructose corn syrup in your diet. The thing is that it is not a huge list to tackle all at once. Please pardon the pun but the to-dos are in bite size pieces.

I am very excited about the amount of time Beth spends on salt. I crave salty items frequently. I also frequently give in to my cravings. Beth talks about changing your table salt as gourmet salts add more flavor. Also, she gives several recommendations for differing spices to use in your home to add more flavor to your food.

Beth also talks about raw foods. I have to admit I have frequently thought about eating raw but have been a bit apprehensive. It seems a bit drastic to me. After reading about raw, I am now thinking it is a much easier alternative that will allow me to eat some foods I really should ignore.

As any busy mom knows, we can read about an eating plan all we want. If it takes too much time to work it into our lives, it is going in the trash can. The second part of Real Moms Love to Eat is all about how to make it work in your life, how to make it fit. This section may be more important than the actual eating plan. Once you read it and see how easy it will be to put the plan into your life, you will want to go back and re-read the plan again. Perspective is everything and this chapter puts it in perspective.

Once you have read how to fit the plan into your life, there is a section that is actually the plan in practice. In this section, Beth actually gives you a three week plan to follow. The plan continues menus for three meals a day and snacks. There are recipes for the menu items. The book ends with a short “letter” from Beth. Throughout the entire book, Aldrich continues to sound like a good friend who is just telling you what works for her and how she sees it working for you.

 

You can currently find out more about Real Moms Love to Eat at www.realmomslovetoeat.com and you can preorder by clicking here.

 

I was given a free galley copy of the book to read for review purposes. I also received a goodie box that had a lot of fantastic sponsor foods in it. The opinion of the book is all mine, not at all influenced by these.

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26 June 2011

Imperfect Birds: A Book Review

By Nicki

I just finished Anne Lamott’s Imperfect Birds.  The problem is now I will be suspicious of everything my children ask to do as I have an almost 17 year old who is about to start the summer before his senior year in high school.  Do I think he is similar to Lamott’s Rosie?  Absolutely not.  Do I think he could possibly be?  All teens could.

 

Lamott tells the story of a family who is looking at the promise of youth, a family that was once struck by tragedy and has rebuilt.  Many families fall into this description which is part of the wonder of Lamott’s story telling.  This could be any family.  Just because the setting is in California, it does not mean that this could not be in New York or Nebraska.  Just because the tragedy was the death of a spouse, a father, it does not mean the tragedy could not be divorce or debt.

 

Lamott weaves the story of teenage deception into an already damaged family.  When I look around, this family could be many that I see, including my own.  Maybe the deception is not drugs but we all have our share of deceptions.  Any teen could be the one lying.  The lies could be about alcohol, about drugs, about sex.  On top of that, very few families these days are whole.  About half have suffered divorce and have tried to mend themselves in different ways from that.

 

The part of the book that is redemptive is that the adults find hope.  They find hope in each other and in a faith community while they profess to not believe.  Elizabeth, Rosie’s mom, even finds hope in herself while taking part in a women’s sweat lodge. Feeling she was not strong enough, she amazed herself by staying for four rounds while her friend Rae crawled out during the first round.

 

I highly recommend Lamott’s Imperfect Birds to anyone.  The story telling itself is wondrous, weaving all major fiction components from the characters to the setting to the plot.

2 comments | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts

25 March 2011

Home Ec – Book Review

By Nicki

Back in the day – and this will date me, girls took home ec in junior high and high school and boys took shop.  Now, I am not so old that there were not a few boys in home ec and a few girls, like myself, in shop.  Fast forward to my own children and they have all taken a course called home and careers – ten weeks each year during middle school so almost a full school year of classes.  On top of that, most families have two bread winners so the household chores are not getting done as they use to be done.

 

Let me ask.  If you have a child in college, have you ever gotten that call about how to do laundry? How to get a stain out? How to fix the hole put in the wall to hang something? Or better yet, the first month or two out on his or her own, the call comes asking how to stop the toilet from running all the time.  I usually joke about having finally found a running partner but that is not the answer.

 

The answer is to provide these young adults with the knowledge to survive and thrive on their own.  While I do not mind the phone calls from my adult children – whether living on their own or in college, I know that there are times when I am not available.  There are also issues that are easier to deal with if you are at the location in person.  In steps Heather Solos and her new book Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living.

 

The first thing I think is great about this book is the way it is organized.  There are four main sections: Clean It, Wash It, Cook It and Fix It.  These cover the four areas that I get the most questions on from my adult children.  I do not think I get these questions because I am tending to their every need when they live at home.  I have not ever been that mother that does everything for her children.  I want successful adults.

 

Even though my own mother has sent my adult children sewing kits, I will get the questions about how to sew that button back on to a favorite shirt or pair of pants.  While  not a permanent solution, Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living has easy instructions for sewing on that button.  There are also instructions for fixing a frayed button hole which tends to happen.  Truthfully, this is an area that I never spent time with my kids practicing.  If a button needed to be sewed back on, chances were we were all heading out the door and I did the sewing so we could get going.

 

I strongly suggest that Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living become a standard gift for those graduating high school or college and moving out into the “real” world alone.  The information in it is practical and needed by most young adults.

 

5 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Family, Just my Thoughts

1 March 2011

Surviving Your Serengeti – A Book Review

By Nicki

I haven’t sat down on a Saturday and read a book from cover to cover in ages.  I know that a lot of that has had to do with getting in the “long run” in my training plan for February’s marathon I ran.  I also know that some of that has had to do with finding a book that captured my attention enough to want to just read.  Last week, Stefan Swanepoel’s Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life showed up at my doorstep.  My goal for last Saturday was to read it.

 

Having some artistic blood flowing through my veins, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the cover immediately caught my eye.  The coloring around the image seemed spot on and made me want to open the book.  Another underlying reason for wanting to open that book was that the school district that I sit on the Board of Education is a District of Leadership.  The district trains and using Stephen Covey’s 7 habits.  The number seven was in this title so I wanted to see, compare, contrast if necessary, and synergize.

 

Swanepoel’s book is written in fable format.  I personally love this format as it makes it easier to imagine applying the lessons within the book to my own life.  I was a tad bit concerned as I kept going to my marathon as ways to apply the seven skills.  I can see all seven making me a better distance runner.  Then I started thinking in terms of other parts of my life.  All seven skills – you should read the book to find out what they are – can be applied to my business, to my personal life, to relationships and to my school board experience.

 

Each skill is associated with a particular animal found in the Serengeti.  The skill is what enables that animal to survive the desert climate of its homeland.  The animals include the wildebeest, the lion, the elephant, the crocodile and more.  You can find out what animal you are and get a taste for the book by visiting What Animal Am I?.

 

The book is written in fable form but the end of each chapter has detailed information about the skill that the end of the chapter.  Both the fable itself and the individual skill information captured my attention.  On top of the actual skill set that is discussed in the book, the fable portion provides the reader with a beautiful picture of the Serengeti area.  The details of both the landscape and the wildlife made me want to go on a photographic safari.

 

I strongly suggest that you pick up a copy of Swanepoel’s Surviving Your Serengeti. The insight you will receive from the book will allow you to move through challenges in your life with a greater awareness of yourself and your skills.

 

I received a complimentary copy of Stefan Swanepoel’s Surviving Your Serengeti for the purpose of reviewing the book.  The opinions above are my own.

 

 

4 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts

14 January 2011

Social Nation – A Book Review

By Nicki

Have you ever wondered what social media does for those who use it?  I know that I have used it to make additional contacts and to find some freelance assignments.  I have, on many occasions, wondered about companies and their use of social media.  I think almost all corporations can use social media.  The problem is most do not know how to begin or what interaction with customers should be like.  Social media is not a one way street.

 

Enter Social Nation by Barry Libert.  If I were to teach a course on social media to businesses or freelancers, I would use Social Nation as the text book.  Libert is the founder and CEO of Mzinga.  Mzing provides social software that manages social interactions on behalf of 300 well-known companies.  Libert starts his book by talking about why social media is important.  He also goes over why social skills – just as if you were in the same room as a person – are important in the world of social media.  The first part of the book ends with an assessment of your personal skills, putting each person in one of eight categories.

 

The second part of Social Media has seven principles for building your social nation.  These principles, well common sense, are very important guidelines.  I have watched companies, and individuals, on social media ignore community and just spew out one statement or opinion over and over.  These entities and people are the ones that no one wants to continue to associate with as time goes on.  People want to be able to know that interactions, conversations – whether in person or on a computer – are important to whoever is at the other end.

 

The third part of Social Nation is a single chapter that includes how to get yourself started and pitfalls to avoid.  Getting started is an important part.  There are definitions so we all know what we are talking about.  It is sometimes hard to know exactly where to expend energy.   The pitfalls also help one know where to avoid expending energy.

 

All in all, if you are interested in social media, if you are responsible for a business’s social media, Social Nation is a MUST read.

 

I did receive a copy of Social Nation: How to harness the power of social media to attract customers, motivate employees & grow your business for review but the thoughts here are my own and were not influenced by the author or his agents.

2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Book Reviews

29 November 2010

Advent

By Nicki

Yesterday, I awoke and made some cookies for a friend at church.  I looked around my home to find where I had stashed the Advent wreath from last year’s clean up after the holidays.  I, then, came to my blog to attach two pages back to the blog.  Both of these pages had been private during the year but now it is Advent so they are live again.

 

Advent is a season in the church  year.  Remember here I am Catholic but was not brought up Roman Catholic.  I have only been Catholic for 27 years.  I was, though, raised in the Anglican church which also celebrates Advent.  The Advent season is the four Sundays prior to Christmas and is the beginning of a new church year.  Isn’t it wonderful to start off the church year with a season of anticipation and waiting for the celebration of a wonderful event – the birth of Christ?

 

Similar to the weeks of Lent, Advent is a season of waiting and a season where sacrifice can be practice.  Do we have to practice sacrifice during this holiday season?  Isn’t the last month of a pregnancy normally a time of nesting and anticipation?  I like to think of the sacrifices that we make during Advent as different than the almost penance-like sacrifices of Lent.  In Advent, we may reach out to our neighbors more.  We may help the elderly or those who do not have enough by using some of our wealth to allow them to celebrate Christmas.

 

I spend, and have for 20 plus years now, the Advent season following a book called Awaiting the Child. Isabel Anders has provided daily devotions to help us slow down during the Advent season.  I was brought back to this concept in church today as the homily discussed taking time to enjoy the season and the anticipation of what is to come.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Family, Just my Thoughts, Religion

1 September 2010

Eat, Pray, Love – Indonesia

By Nicki

First, I want to thank Maria at BOREDMommy for leading this group of women reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. I had read the book previously but jumped on the band wagon – although I fell off along the ride – to re-read the book before I head to the theatre to see the movie.

Second, I had not re-read the Indonesia part before reading several people saying they thought it was boring or that they did not like the book at all.  Because of this, I think I re-read with a different outlook.  I wanted to see if I could figure out what would turn people off about this section of the book.  I have my theory but first my thoughts on Indonesia.

I think the whole section circles around some words on happiness that are on page 260 of the book.  If this theme is not in the movie while Gilbert, played by Julia Roberts in case you live under a rock as I can’t imagine that no one knows this, is in Indonesia, I will be sorely disappointed.

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and  sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.  You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.  And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.  If you don’t you will leak away your innate contentment.  It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.

Not only does this discussion of happiness explain why Gilbert was in Indonesia, it ties in the time spent in India when it discusses praying.  I could have put the book down at this point and been thoroughly thrilled with it.  I didn’t but I could have.

Now, on to why I think this part of the book is hard to take.  I do not think it is boring.  I think it hits to close to home.  The section on Indonesia talks about balance, about how the Balinese people have it, about how they keep it.  Balance should be a four letter word, a dirty one at that, in other societies.  Women, in particular, are always striving for balance and we never seem to achieve it.  I think we are looking for something that does not truly exist.  How the Balinese find it and keep will not work in the US or other industrialized societies as we live differently.  We can adjust how we view life but that will not adjust where we live.

To close, I will say that I loved this book.  I could relate to so many portions of it.  I am now ready to see the movie…soon!

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts

30 August 2010

Eat, Pray, Love – India

By Nicki

Yes, yes.  I am behind.  While BlogHER caused the first delay (no, I didn’t attend but Maria did), my mother being in town for a two week vacation caused my personal delay in my sticking with the Eat, Pray, Love postings.  Here’s the background. Maria of BOREDMommy fame is reading and writing about Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love.

The section of Eat, Pray, Love that deals with India also deals with Gilbert’s internal search for spiritual recognition.  Gilbert heads to an Ashram in India that practices yoga and meditation.  Even my first read of this book left me thinking that this was not me.  Of course, with the exception few moments in my life, I have been a big follower of organized religion.  I question parts of organized religion, still, to this day.  But I am not sure I am fit for an Ashram or for meditation on a regular basis.

Near the beginning of this section of the book, there is a bit about yoga and that the word means UNION.  This is an idea I can get behind.  I have spent a lot of time trying to create a union between my beliefs and my way of living.  I have spent a lot of time creating a union between my mind and my body.  I believe I do live as I believe but know I sometimes slip up.  I also have moments of that mind-body union.  These mind-body moments frequently occur as I am on a long run.  I can see myself running, feel my feet hitting the pavement but not truly feel it.  I love the idea that both my mind and my body will come together.

I also had a huge feeling of being just like Gilbert as she described introducing a new chicken to a flock and how her arrival at the Ashram was the same – under cover of night and so no one knew she had arrived.  I can picture times in my life when I have wanted to be silent and arrive without notice.  This is not like me but I do see the benefits.  I, on the other hand, like to be noticed, at least at some points in time.

I am awed by Gilbert’s progress in her life as she is at the Ashram.  She goes from not being able to still her mind at all – a feeling I can relate to in many ways – to being able to be still while anticipating her departure.  I do not know that the discipline acquire while during her stay in India is one I could grow into.  My mind does not like being still, does not like being quite.

Have you read Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love?  If so, what did you think of her time in India?

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts, Religion

16 August 2010

Operation Beautiful – Book Review

By Nicki

Lately, I have been obsessing on numbers – my times on the my runs, pace on my run, the length of my runs, and, unfortunately and very new for me, my age.  I have not put it straight in my mind why this sudden obsession with age.  I really do not recall having these issues as I approached 20, 30, or 40.  Why should have them as I approach – and it is still over a year away – 50?

To my rescue comes Operation Beautiful – the web site and the book.  While the goal is to stop negative body talk, I read and read and applied the stop talk to my age issues.  I have decided I am just going back to being me, not the obsessive almost 50 year old.  Me – the mom of six who is running a marathon in about two months.

Caitlyn Boyle has edited a book about the Operation Beautiful mission.  While Operation Beautiful is mostly based on stopping “fat” talk, I have taken the “love yourself” message to my aging this past week.  As I read of the struggles these younger women were having with body issues, I could definitely relate to a time back when I was their ages.  Now, I have pretty much come to terms with my body but aging is a different issue all together.  Operation Beautiful helped me through this little bump in life.

Back when I first read Mary Pipher’s Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, I started recommending that book as reading for any parent – with girls or boys.  Now on my recommendation list will go Operation Beautiful for all people, not just parents.  I am also going to order two copies for my local school district’s middle school and high school libraries.

Disclaimer:  I did receive a copy of Operation Beautiful from the publisher for no cost and for review purposes.

15 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts

2 August 2010

Eat, Pray, Love: Italy

By Nicki

Just a quick note or two.  I may spoil the book, or possibly the movie, for you in any of these upcoming four posts on Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Love, Pray.  I am re-reading the book with Maria at BOREDMommy.  Those of us who choose to do so will be posting four pieces on the book: one on Italy, one on India, one on Indonesia and a final wrap-up.  You can visit her blog to see all those posting, reading along.

As I said above, this book is a re-read for me.  I first read it last summer with a notepad in hand.  I have this issue about writing in books other than text books.  Not sure how that came about but it is just what it is.  This time through I didn’t take notes so I am hoping that all those thoughts I had as I was reading about Italy return to my mind as I am typing.

For those of you who live without television and visits to the movie theatre, the book chronicles a year in Gilbert’s life where she travels alone to Italy, India and Indonesia.  Her first four months are spent in Italy – mostly in Rome but she does travel around the country on short trips.

First, I can just relate to the beginning of the book and the ending of Gilbert’s marriage so intensely.  As I read that initial part, I was torn between it being like my marriage’s end and it reflecting a friend’s journey.  Her quip about hoping no one ever has to go through a divorce in New York State is so true, or was until the past couple months.  Until just recently, NYS was the only state in the US that still required “grounds” for divorce.  These grounds were laid out in law and turned many divorce proceedings very ugly.

The simple act of asking that was discussed while Gilbert was on a book tour prior to leaving for Italy sticks with me to this day.  She had been experiencing the horrors of divorce.  Her husband had refused to talk settlement at all and then decided to take everything that had been offered and ask for more.  Gilbert had to negotiate and finally a settlement had been put on paper but the looming question was would her husband sign it as it was not all he had asked for.  As Gilbert and her friend were driving to book tour stops for a previously written book, the friend just asked her if she had asked God, or whatever higher being there is, to have him sign it.

The simplicity with which Gilbert composes a letter to God asking for this simple act from her husband just shows the strength that her faith provides.  It shows that she has faith and a belief  that had held her back from asking but that also enabled her, when this flaw was pointed out, to just ask.   Watching Gilbert grow in faith and her faith grow in strength before she ever leaves the US is a part of the book that I love.

There are so many other parts – mostly the people, the characters – that call to me in this book.  I could go on forever on those but will close here.  If you are wondering if this book is a travel book, the answer is yes but it is not one to use as your sole guide to any of the countries involved.

Go pick up this book!

8 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts

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