Living Rhetorically in the Real World

Lifestyle Editing: Books I read in May 2011

Books books books! Happy sigh.

Books that I both started and finished in May:

- Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. I read this in a record day and a half. Brilliant book! It's all about the health benefits of drinking green smoothies, and why they're an important addition to any diet, no matter what types of food you eat (cooked, raw, vegan, vegetarian, meat, etc). It also looks at what's lacking in a normal raw diet, and that's something that you don't normally find. Boutenko has eaten a high-raw diet for about 15 years, and she strongly advocates for it but also notes that it isn't entirely ideal unless you incorporate high quantities of leafy greens (particularly in green smoothie form).

- Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin. I picked this up at the airport and had it finished before I arrived home. It was decent for airport-reading, but... I don't know, any book with a premise where the main character is a cheater just doesn't appeal much to me. Why would an author want to glamorize cheating? Maybe it's supposed to illustrate how complicated relationships are, but I don't like that. Still, it was a captivating enough story with pretty good writing style. And I'm sure I'll see the movie at some point.

- Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth. I finally, finally understand what the "big deal" about Geneen Roth is! Everyone raves about her (mostly for her book Women Food and God), but I hadn't read anything by her until this book. I'm so glad that I picked it up. She's very real. I feel like she gets me, and many of the exercises that she lays out would be very beneficial. If anyone's out there with any kind of emotional eating issues, I would absolutely recommend that you read this book. It's wonderful.

Books that I started reading in May and have yet to finish:

- The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. This was the boyfriend's favourite novel when he was growing up. After finishing reading Dostoyevsky, it was time to choose a new book to read when I'm at his place... and I decided I wanted a break from heavy reading. Fantasy novel it is! It's a pretty good story, too.

- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I've heard a lot about this book and then when Liz recommended it a month or two ago, I knew I just had to read it. I really love Kingsolver's writing style; it's incredibly engaging and she offers such a candid view of the farming lifestyle. Thank you so much for the recommendation, Liz! I'm really glad I finally read this book.

- Don Quixote by Cervantes (I started this a couple months ago... working my way slowly through it!). I liked this book, but it also made me feel a little sad. It's both funny and sad at the same time - at least, that was my reaction. I'm not sure what the intended response is supposed to be. I'd love to know what others think of this book - have any of you read it?

- This I Believe: An A to Z of a Life by Carlos Fuentes (like Quixote, I started this book a couple months ago but still haven't finished reading it). Fuentes is incredibly insightful. He makes lots of great points, but it's also a very personal book, so at times I felt almost uncomfortable reading the book. I've never read anything by him or had even heard of him before finding this book, which might be why I didn't entirely connect on the personal commentary. But as a whole he was insightful and it made for an interesting read.

What books did you read this month?