Skinny Bitch

2009, Books in Bed, Don't Read This, Non-Fiction /

I really could have and probably have sworn that I’d read Skinny Bitch shortly after it was published. But awhile back during a Chatter-fest of book review posts, @elisac led me to realize that I had not read it at all.

I was pretty troubled by this. A popular diet book that I have not read? Impossible.

So, I reserved it.

And now I’ve read it.

I did not enjoy it. In fact, I growled my way through it.

I’m not a vegan. I’m not anti vegan, either. And this book would not ever inspire me to become a vegan, for any reason at all.

There’s some good nutritional info lurking in this book but it’s twisted up in not so good info.

There’s some good food industry and food politics info but it’s twisted up in propaganda.

There are about two lines of information about how making smart food choices will help you be healthier but that’s twisted up in all of the profanity and all of the offensive and stereotypical commentary.

I’m glad I read it but I didn’t enjoy even a second of it.

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Two more books, yes I’m behind again

Daily Dose /

First, Dream it! List it! Do it! is a 43 Things book I picked up as a graduation gift for Michelle, while we were at A Room of One’s Own in Madison.

I was really really tired on the flight to Florida so rather than work or read my “real” book, I flipped through this one. It was fun. Just like surfing 43 Things but better because I wasn’t looking at a computer screen and because I didn’t have to sort through crummy lists.

Michelle and I are both “list” people and she promptly put the book in her purse and I saw her pull it out and flip through it several times during grad weekend.

Next, Eat, Drink and Be from Mississippi. I’ve been trying to read this book for a long long time. But the very long work hours and the exhaustion due to work hours caused me to have a lot of trouble getting into it. I wanted to read it, I just couldn’t read more than a chapter at a time. Finally, the last couple of days have left me with more reading time and I thoroughly enjoyed digging into this. I was also very disappointed when it ended. I think I need a sequel.

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2 books – I’m behind on blogging

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Fiction, Non-Fiction /

I’m behind on everything. I’m also up at 10:30pm and have decided that I can’t do what I got up to do so I might as well catch up on the books before another three days go by and I’ve got to blog six books instead of two.

First, The Dead Beat. I saw this mentioned in a forum thread on the BlogHer Book Club group and reserved it at the library. I liked it but it wasn’t compelling. It wasn’t drop dead funny, either. So I kept putting it down rather than reading it straight through.

I’ll tell you what it did cause though – it caused me to spend a ton of time reading the obits of the little local paper. They were fabulous! It also has caused me to consider reading the Chicago Trib’s obits. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have no free time for obit fixations.

(By the way, you should definitely join the BlogHer Book Club group – it’s fun! Really.)

Next, I read Infinity in the palm of her hand because A) I got it for TW and she seemed to enjoy it B) I got it for me because it is a creation story and I am a sucker for a good creation story.

This one didn’t let me down. Nice Adam & Eve story. I liked it a lot.

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Poken Giveaway aka Who do YOU want to Poken at BlogHer 09?

4 Comments / Daily Dose /


I’m giving away two Pokens and I’ll make it easy for you to win… but first, what is a Poken? (I know some of you are wondering…)

A Poken is a cutie! (that’s what Liz, the 10 year old says) It’s a cutie that stores information on its cute little memory thingy so that when it touches another Poken cutie, the two Pokens can share that information like magic. This means that those of us with Pokens at a conference (or the Bump app for iPhone) don’t have to exchange business cards. Instead we can Poken each other and have all of the normal biz card information (and more!) available to us via our Pokens.

So, I have two to give away (they were not provided to me by the company as a give away, I bought a dozen and have two that aren’t spoken for so I’m just giving them away, rather than selling them.)

Panda
panda-poken.jpg
VooDoo
poken-voodoo.jpg

To be eligible to win one of these Pokens, you need to meet one criteria, you must be going to BlogHer 09. (In order for me to verify that you’re going to BlogHer 09 without driving Lori or Jeanne nuts, you’ll need to update your BlogHer profile to indicate you’re going to BlogHer 09 (log into BlogHer, click settings, click public profile, click My BlogHer Conferences, select BlogHer 09, submit) or you need to be visible on the I’m going! page for BlogHer 09.

If you meet that criteria, the next thing you need to do is blog about who you would most like to Poken at BlogHer 09 (ie who would you most like to exchange business cards with.) After you’ve written that post, insert your BlogHer user name with the link to that post into Mr Linky. That Mr Linky link will be your entry so make sure you’ve used your BlogHer username AND the link to the post on your blog. Inaccurate entries may be tossed out if it takes me too much time to figure out just who you are or where you meant to link me.

Mr Linky will close at Noon CT on May 6 and drawing will take place whenever Liz (the 10 year old) is available to video tape the drawing.

Questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

I am employed by BlogHer.com. This giveaway is entirely mine and in no way represents BlogHer, Inc or its employees.

Update: May 10, 2009: This is why I don’t do giveaways. Hah. I’m too busy to promote them. And I completely forget that I’m even doing them! We have two entries. We have two pokens. We have two winners. I’m emailing Megan and Liz right now – congrats, I look forward to Pokening you both at BlogHer 09. 😉

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Mighty Queens of Freeville

2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

I am not an Ann Landers fan, I much prefer Dear Abby, so when Landers died and Ask Amy took her place, I really didn’t pay any attention. What led me to read The Mighty Queens of Freeville is simply…. I liked the title. I don’t even think I realized it was about Ask Amy until I got it home and TW started to read it.

TW didn’t really like the book very much. So, I didn’t know what to expect. I really started reading it because it was short and I was trying to decide what I wanted to read and couldn’t make the decision.

By the second chapter, I was hooked and didn’t want to put it down. I don’t know why TW didn’t love it… I certainly did. I’m almost tempted to read the Trib just to read her column. Almost. I mean it arrives in the driveway, you’d think I could take two minutes to find her column, right?

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The Hunger Games

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

I’ve heard an awful lot about The Hunger Games. I’ve seen blogs recommend it. I’ve had people I know recommend it. Sassymonkey has been bugging me to read it for ages and she hasn’t even read it yet (though she’d better have started it by now.)

Finally – got it from the library. TW read it and found it “oddly compelling” and could not put it down. She even stopped reading the second book she was reading so she could focus just on it.

I picked it up right after she finished it and oddly compelling doesn’t even come close to describing it.

Kids. Horrible controlling government. Survivor but for reals. Crazyness.

Sequel in September and I cannot WAIT.

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Handle with Care

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I am a Jodi Picoult fan and every time I read one of her books I find myself wanting to throw the book across the room at some point (multiple points) in the story. Handle with Care caused that feeling at least six times. That probably means she did a good job with the story.

Jodi Picoult writes the adult version of the YA “problem” novel.

You know there’s going to be a serious problem with a kid (or several serious problems with several kids.) There’s going to be a law suit, or multiple law suits. There’s going to be a twist (or several twists) that you know is coming (but don’t really want to BELIEVE is coming.) That’s a Picoult novel.

Handle with Care had all of those Picoult elements.

I was worried this one was going to lose its way in the debate over abortion – it didn’t.

If you haven’t read this yet, but are planning on it – I recommend you not read the last entry by “Willow”. Just don’t bother. I liked the book until the ending. Picoult needs to stop going further than she needs to go – just leave it alone for goodness sakes before I stop reading your books.

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