Speed Shrinking

When I first started reading this, I thought it wasn't going to be very good. The woman just seemed whiney and ridiculous. But then I realized that it is basically faction -- a book of fiction based on facts, a semi-autobiography of the author. And that made it more interesting, just because if someone is going to be that whiney and neurotic, they might as well be real!

It just amazes me that there are so many people on this planet who spend so much time WORRYING about nothing. Not nothing to them, of course. But still. This poor woman loses not only her shrink, but her best friend in the same week (or so it seems) and her husband has to leave for six weeks for work. So she falls apart and eats cupcakes. Which I find ironic because I used to love cupcakes, but after reading how she was obsessed with them, and ate all the frosting off slowly, and then her teeth rotted out ....

Well anyway, a good read, definitely sucked me in. The name is because she had to replace her shrink, so she interviewed all these shrinks in like ten days.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

This was a book that was recommended via some magazine and I was quite drawn by the title. At first I thought it was little far out, but then I started to relate to it. Here is this poor girl who can feel the feelings of the person who has prepared the food. The title refers to the birthday cake her mother makes her for her 9th birthday when this particular "gift?" hits her, and she realizes how unhappy her mother is. So she starts to pay attention, not only to her mother but to everyone. The only food she can eat without experiencing the feelings of the cook is factory food, and she becomes very adept at recognizing which particular factory food comes from. To me, it was a good analogy for the way we eat today: Just eat it fast without any feelings because we've lost the art of enjoying our food.

Of course it would be difficult to actually FEEL the feelings of whomever prepares the food on a daily basis, and she actually doesn't much like it, and she is also afraid to cook for herself because she doesn't want to explore that idea either. But it was really good. She also has a brother that has his own special gift. As does her father, though his is just plain odd.

Check it out!

HALLIE: This book was very very different to read. It was cool for me to experience this strange power with the girl. My favorite part was that she was just so real and genuine with her feelings and emotions. The book ends though with a out of the blue twist that doesn't even really make sense. The whole powers thing seemed so impossible that for me it was hard to believe. The book itself is a great read and fun!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

This book was adorable...heartwarming...heartbreaking...frustrating. But through all of that it was a truly incredible story from the view point of a dog which just made it so much sweeter. Very easy read... the only thing that annoyed me was how effed up our legal system can be, and those horrible horrible grandparents! ARGH! I wanted to slap them... have to read to understand what I'm saying.

The Wolf and the Dove

HAHAHAHA! This is a true bodice ripper -- and I used to read her books when I was in high school. I bet I could find a torn copy or two (from re-reading) laying around. Anyway, Christiane Northrup suggested if you wanted to spice things up in the bedroom, you should read certain authors. And so ... I don't know about anything in the bedroom but I absolutely devoured this book! Such a perfect book to sit on the dock in the sun and read, read, read. It was long, but I finished it in bed last night. Now the only question is, do I get ANOTHER one?? LOL