Whoops, March is almost over and I barely made posting this in time.

My reading volume slowed down a bit this month with the increased demand on my time from a few little projects I’ve been working on, but I still managed to meet my quota of at least one fiction and one non-fiction book before the first half of the month was through. After that I dwindled, having got sucked back into Facebook toilet breaks. I really need to work on that.

FICTION:

The Anniversary Waltz by Darrel Nelson

I know I sort of suggested that I might swear off sappy Mormon romance novels in my last book review post, but hear me out: this was a gift from my father, who came with my mother to visit a few summers ago and bought this book for me from the author himself. It is signed and addressed to me and everything. I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to reading it. (Oh yes I do: I was in school and as soon as school was done I was in work and I never read anything for fun ever again, the end.)

Why is it signed by the author, you asked? Because the author is from right here in humble little Mayberry, and he went out and got his book published and for sale on Amazon and everything. He’s legit.

Anyway, it’s another book that has been sitting on my shelf for far too long, so I finally dusted it off and read it.

Verdict? It was pretty good. I won’t say it was life changing by any means, but it didn’t make me want to poke my eyeballs out. The story was believable, if not a little predictable, and it was sweet.

As with most sappy romance novels, it did make me wonder where I failed in life to end up marrying a man who never built me an entire gazebo with his bare hands and then decorate it with giant bouquets of flowers and twinkle lights and hire a personal jazz band to serenade us as we waltzed together in the moonlight and then propose on bended knee…but it’s not Poor Kyle’s fault. The sappy romance novel industry holds men to impossibly high romantic standards these days. I’d hate to be one. A man, I mean. (Actually I think I would make an awesome man but I was trying to be nice.)

Final Score: 5/10 (Not more because it wasn’t any great beacon of literature, but not less because it was a good, quick read. And no typos. And: published. Unlike my books.)

•••••••

Non-Fiction:

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

This book is apparently quite divisive. Check out the reviews of it on Amazon—there are nearly as many one-star reviews as there are five-stars.

I myself really liked it…until I read all those one-star reviews. Then I felt stupid for thinking it was so good. I’m really impressionable that way.

But I DID make an effort to step back and really decide for myself, and in the end I concluded I liked it more than I disliked it. The majority of the one-star reviewers complained that 1) the book’s tone was insulting to its readers, 2) that it didn’t have enough proof to back up its claims, and 3) that it was really a promotion for veganism in disguise. However, when I read it I 1) didn’t feel insulted by the straightforward (and yes, sometimes vulgar) language; I am smart enough not to feel insulted by words of people who have never met me. What would you expect from a book called Skinny Bitch? And 2) even though the authors didn’t have volumes of proof for their claims, they cited their references thoroughly enough for me. I don’t need or want to hunt down every single resource they mentioned. Who has the time? As for 3), this part is true. The book’s description mentions NOTHING about veganism, but by the time I got a few chapters in I realized that’s exactly what it was promoting. Rather than incensing me, however, I felt excited. It was a surprise. I didn’t feel tricked; I felt excited.

So, was this a good book? By my standards of a good book being one that is life-changing, I would have to say yes. This book changed my life.

How?

It encouraged me to try being vegan, stop drinking pop, and cut out sugar and white flour/rice/pasta for 30 days. Which I did (my 30 days just ended yesterday, in fact). It was hard. I kind of hated it. But I lost 9 pounds in the process.

I have a lot more to report on that experiment but this post is already long so I’ll defer that conversation for another day. For now I will just say that, although this book will not be for everyone, I still recommend it. If nothing else, it should at least help you *consider* the *possibility* of *maybe* not eating meat or using animal products anymore. And if a book can even slightly improve the way you’ve always lived your life, even the tiniest little bit…

…isn’t that worthwhile?

I think so.

Final Score: 8/10 (Not more because even though it didn’t offend my hard-boiled disposition, they really didn’t need to be so crude; and not less because I lost 9 pounds.)

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