Read This!

Anybody looking for a good book recommendation? I've got one for ya! :)

Good Enough to Eat by Stacey Ballis.

I found it kind of by accident while researching a book that was recommended on another blog.  You know how Amazon is...always trying to sell you more than what you're looking for? lol Good Enough was on the "People who purchased this book also purchased..." list and I really liked the description.

Basically, it's a book about a woman named Melanie who lost a boat load of weight a couple of years ago when she was diagnosed with diabetes. Now that she's finally healthy and in charge of her new healthier lifestyle, her husband dumps her for a woman three times her new size. Turns out he was a chubby chaser and wasn't attracted to Melanie's trimmer body. *frowny face* (Oh, the irony!) The story reveals how she deals with this, finds a new "family" along the way and even finds love again.

The best part, for me, about this book was the emphasis on how Melanie struggled to maintain her healthy lifestyle in the midst of a major life crisis. The fear, the temptation to revert to old habits...even her own acceptance of her new body. Also, sneaked in between the fabulous plot and interesting characters are tips on how to achieve and even maintain life goals like weight loss, starting over, following your dreams, etc. Just an overall fabulous and well rounded book.

Even if I weren't in the midst of my own life overhaul, I would have enjoyed it. The characters truly were interesting, believable, and entertaining. The plot was fun, traumatic, dramatic, believable and lovely.

On the other hand, the book that lead me to this one and which I also purchased, Angelina's Bachelors by Brian O'Reilly was a bit of a predictable snoozefest. The plot was stale, unbelievable and monotonous. The characters were over the top, not terribly realistic and lame. One of my biggest beefs with the characters is the completely male driven perception (or wishful thinking!) of women. The author had the title character, Angelina, on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor because she just couldn't stand an untidy kitchen. I'm all for keeping a clean kitchen but you'd be hard pressed to find me--or any woman I know--on her hands and knees scrubbing a floor.

The third person omniscient POV was a little too artsy and difficult to follow, too. Back when I was studying writing techniques there was this thing called head hopping that was a huge no no. But apparently, in third person omniscient, it's perfectly fine to hear everyone's thoughts, POV's and whatever because you're in everyone's head and know everyone's thoughts. Beyond the irritating confusion, it also lent itself to a huge distance between the characters and the reader. I couldn't be bothered to care about what happened to them because everything I knew about them was TOLD to me instead of shown to me by the characters themselves.

Ooooo, and there's another scene that really irked me. In the description of her husband's death as he's dying he swipes one last taste of the cake she'd baked earlier because he wanted the taste of sugar on his lips to the the last thing he felt. WHAT?

First of all, if I'm dying of a heart attack, I hardly think I'm going to be worried with cake. But also, if my husband died of a heart attack and the last thought on his mind as he died was a cake, I'd be FURIOUS. What about me, Bub? Remember me? Your wife? The woman who loved you and put up with your BS for 13 years? But Angelina was such a 1950's throwback she'd have probably been proud that he'd love her cooking so much that it was his last thought before death.

I think the problem here, is that I'm a bit too much of a feminist to enjoy a book written by a man about a woman. lol

But also, the recipes included are so stinkin' pretentious, I'll bet even Giada would laugh in their face. Definitely nothing a home cook would attempt. Whereas, the healthy recipes included in Good Enough To Eat are ones I definitely plan on trying. Oh, did I forget to mention them? Yes! At the end of Good Enough the author included several of Melanie's healthy versions of foods mentioned in the novel. She also includes the not so healthy (original) versions for comparison and the occasional treat. Things like macaroni and cheese. Mashed potatoes. Chili. You know, regular people food. Not some Bavarian cream pie with twenty million ingredients and five pages of instructions.*shudders*

So really, I guess this post could be what Smart Bitches calls "Good Sh** vs. Sh** to Avoid".

Now, get thee out there and buy Ms. Ballis's book!