Book Review: Women Food and God

Have you ever read a book that articulated something you have been thinking - or feeling - in a way that finally clicked...you know, gave you that "AH-HA!" moment that you have been waiting for?!  Well, I just finished reading exactly that kind of book, and I am looking forward to sharing it with you today.  The book is Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth.

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No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all. 

After three decades of studying, teaching and writing about our compulsions with food, bestselling author Geneen Roth adds a powerful new dimension to her work in Women Food and God.  She begins with her most basic concept: The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive.  Your relationships with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation, and, yes, even God. 

A timeless and seminal work, Women Food and God shows how going beyond the food and the feelings takes you deeper into realms of spirit and soul - to the bright center of your own life.

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Yes, back in 2010, Oprah Winfrey had Roth on her show.  In fact, after reading Roth's book, Oprah vowed that she was through with dieting - forever - as in, never again.  I don't know about you, but if something as simple as a book could get Oprah off of her decades-long diet rollercoaster, well then, I'm intrigued.  After reading the book myself, I can understand Oprah's reaction.  Practically every other page of my copy is dog-eared, lines upon lines of Roth's words are underlined, and the margins are covered with my written reflections, reactions, and responses.

If you struggle with body image, disordered eating, or a full-blown eating disorder, this book is a life-changer.

Roth says, "every single person has a shtick with food and therefore everyone should read this book." 

The take-away is this, whoever you are, READ. THIS. BOOK.

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Just in case you aren't convinced, here is a L-O-N-G list of my favorite quotes from the book.  If these quotes don't perk your interest, well then, I give up.  Here goes:

• About God - "And I believe in love.  And beauty.  I believe that every single person has something they find beautiful and that they truly love...And I believe that if you follow this love all the way to its end, if you start with the thing you find most beautiful and trace its perfume back to its essence, you will perceive an intangible presence, a swath of stillness that allows the thing you love to be visible like the openness of the sky reveals the presence of the moon." (Pg. 25)

• Ending the War - "But fixing ourselves is not the same as being ourselves...The relentless attempts to be thin take you further and further away from what could actually end your suffering: getting back in touch with who you really are.  Your true nature.  Your essence." (Pg. 32-33)

• Beyond What's Broken - "Realize that brokenness is learned, not innate, and that [your] work is to find [your] way back to what is already whole. " (Pg. 65)

• Breath by Breath - "The problem isn't that we have bodies; the problem is that we're not living in them...Change happens not by hatred but by love.  Change happens when you understand what you want to change so deeply that there is no reason to do anything but act in your own best interest.  When you begin to inhabit your body from the inside." (Pg. 120-121)

• Being Hot Fudge Sundaes - "It's never been true, not anywhere at any time, that the value of a soul, of a human spirit, is dependent on a number on a scale.  We are unrepeatable beings of light and space and water who need these physical vehicles to get around   When we start defining ourselves by that which can be measured or weighed, something deep within us rebels." (Pg. 174)

• Breath by Breath - "There is no way back to the body; the body is the way.  You leave and then you return.  Leave and return.  You forget and then you remember.  Forget. Remember.  One breath and then another.  One step and then another...And it doesn't matter how long you've been gone; what matters is that you've returned...Soon you begin wondering where you've been all this time.  How you wandered so far.  And you realize that torture isn't having these arms or these legs; it's being so convinced that God is out there, in another place, another realm, that you miss the lavender slip of moon, your own awakened presence." (Pg. 125)

Question of the Day:

Have you ever read a book that said something in a way that you had an "AH-HA!" moment?  If so, I would love to hear all about it in the "Comment" section below!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Book Review: The Night Circus

Since early September, I've been suffering from a SERIOUS "book hangover." The culprit, of course, was Tiger's Destiny (The Tiger's Curse Series: Book 4).

And that's the problem with a really good book.  

Inevitably, that really good book makes it incredibly hard to find another book that grabs your attention and makes you want to read again.  With that said, over the last month I have picked up no short of half a dozen different books, only to put them down again after reading the first 20-30 pages.  They just weren't good enough to follow-up Tiger's Destiny.

Until now.

I just finished The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and it was AWE-some!  I think the fact that it falls into the "fantasy fiction" genre didn't hurt either.  That certainly helped it's case in following up one of the books from my favorite series of all time (of course, I'm talking about the one and only Tiger's Curse Series).  So, without any further ado, here's a synopsis of this newly released must-read!

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Synopsis:

The circus arrives without warning.  No announcements precede it.  It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.  Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements.  It is called Le Cirque des Reves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.  Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing.  Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

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Review:

Pros:

For fans of The Time Traveler's Wife and The Tiger's Wife, The Night Circus will be an automatic hit.  Much like The Time Traveler's Wife, the novel jumps back and forth through place and time during the 19th century, "and that dislocation mirrors the magic afoot in the circus tents.  Points of views shift, narration and tangential vignettes occur, and the short chapters are more cinematic in their pacing than literary." (Source)  If you like novels that jump around while narrating from different times and perspectives, well then, Morgenstern's book will be right up your alley!

If you are drawn to stories rich in detail, background, and description (much like The Tiger's Wife), then the telling of The Night Circus' decades-long duel will be a perfect fit for your reading pleasure.  Uniquely, the duel is not punctuated "with wands or light sabers - but via [Celia and Marco's] heartfelt creations and manipulations - a maze of clouds, an ice garden, a living carousel.  They one-up each other until they fall madly in love. (Source)

Cons:

The Night Circus is a relatively slow read.  Much of the book is constituted by elaborate descriptions of the circus and its main characters; and if for no other reason, that means that this book is a perfect fit for some readers and a total misfit for others.  If you are a reader that craves action and dialogue, well then, The Night Circus might not be the book for you.  However, if you appreciate descriptive narrative and enjoy learning about what's going on in the hearts and minds of a stories' protagonists, then this book should be a perfect fit!

Finally, some of the books biggest potential questions are left unanswered...untapped...undiscovered.  In some ways, I am inclined to say that Morgenstern played it a little too safe.  So many of the questions related to love and loss are left untouched.  I was left wondering - or rather, having to figure out on my own - how two orphaned children that were raised without love or affection could so naturally have the ability to love one another.  Is love innate?  Is it learned?  How are children that were unloved for so long inherently able to love one another so perfectly?

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Regardless, in the end I was happy to have read The Night Circus.  It was fun.  It was beautiful.  It was a love story...albeit an imperfect one.  And, thankfully, at the end of the day, it pulled me out of an almost month-long "book hangover"!

Question of the Day:

What's the best book you have read recently?  I NEED suggestions!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Book Review: Tiger's Destiny (Tiger's Curse Series: Book 4)

What is better than The Hunger Games;

better than The Twilight Saga; and

better than The Divergent Trilogy?

THE TIGER'S CURSE SERIES, that's what!

Don't get me wrong!  I still love The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games as much as almost any fan reader (Heck, I am am flying to Boston in November to visit a friend and watch the final Twilight movie!), but there are so many things about The Tiger's Curse Series that make it far and above my favorite series of all time.

For instance:

• the action is bigger, better, and much more imaginative;
• the story is punctuated with ancient Indian mysticism, Chinese folklore, as well as myths from all around the world;
• the characters are nuanced and multi-dimensional (i.e. Kelsey is stronger than - and not as needy as - Bella, less hardened by the world than Katniss, and just as tough - if not more - than Tris); 
• the love triangle is heartbreaking and yet believable (no offense to Twilight, but Edward and Jacob have nothing on Ren and Kishan in this department); and
• finally, the series is infinitely more imaginative than any other series (or book - for that matter) that I have EVER read!

Yesterday afternoon I finished the fourth book in the series (there will be five total).  Since finishing Tiger's Voyage last November, I have been waiting over ten months for Tiger's Destiny to be released.  In fact, I pre-ordered a copy back in July so that I would be one of the first readers to get my hands on a copy!

Funny side-story: I received my pre-ordered copy of Tiger's Destiny last Friday.  Immediately I scanned through the book - you know, just to make sure everything was there - and whaddya know but my copy was missing the last chapter and the epilogue!  Yes.  MISSING.  As in, NOT THERE AT ALL.  I think my jaw dropped.  And then I just stared at the book in total disbelief for a few minutes.  SERIOUSLY?!  All this waiting and I don't have the final chapter?! 

Well, I ended up calling Amazon, reporting my complaint, and having a new copy sent out for free.  The copy finally arrived on Tuesday (which was a good thing, because I had already read the entire book and was patiently impatiently waiting to read the final chapter and epilogue).  Now, I've read the entire book, and the saga behind my pre-ordered book dilemma has been solved.  WHEW!

Now, back to the book review at hand:

Synopsis:

With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse.  But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.  

It's a race against time - and the evil sorcerer Lokesh - in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling Tiger's Curse series, which pits good against evil, test the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tiger's true destinies once and for all.

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Review:

Seriously, I don't know how author Colleen Houck does it, but every. single. book. in this series just gets better and better!  Her creativity is endless, the plot thickens in ways that I couldn't ever imagine, and the twists and turns result in an emotional roller-coaster that leaves you feeling a bit of "reader whiplash" (in a really good way!).  Houck makes you want to never stop reading!

In addition to the amazing creativity behind the story itself, the saga's main characters of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan have increasingly matured and evolved.  Unlike the series' beginning, each character has become less selfish, more independent, and stronger both in body and spirit.  In Tiger's Destiny, I also really enjoyed gaining a better understanding of Lokesh as a boy...it helped me to understand is villainy (even if I still find him to be one of the creepiest villains of all time!).

At several points in this book I got teary eyed - and yes, a tear or two might made its way onto the pages of the book.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to by the incredibly happy ending to this book, and am interested to see how Houck shakes things up for the series finale in book five!  I can hardly imagine what crazy amazingness she will come up with!

So, if you have not read this series you are missing out on a brilliant, original masterpiece that is unlike anything you have read before.  

What are you waiting for?!  

Go pick up The Tiger's Curse series N.O.W.! 

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Now - as my friend Emily would say - I need to go nurse my "book hangover."  What's a book hangover, you might ask?!  Well, it is:

"The inability to start a new book because you're still living in the last book's world!"  

On that note, maybe I will just re-read Tiger's Destiny.  After all, there might be some foreshadowing for book five that I missed!

Question of the Day:

What is the best book series YOU have ever read?!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Book Review: The Dovekeepers

I have already told you that a dear friend sent me The Dovekeepers as a gift.  At the time - when I told you that the book was so "passionately magical" that I was trying to read it slowly, savoring every page, and enjoying Alice Hoffman's narrative voice - I didn't realize that I would come to write this review as a changed reader.

In every reader's life there is a book - perhaps two or three - but rarely more than half a dozen, that forever alter the experience of reading a novel.  Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers was the third novel in my life to do just that.

Note: Just in case you are wondering, Wurthering Heights by Emily Bronte was the first, and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion was the second.

Through its pages I felt wonder, pride, and such an intense sorrow that I even shed a few tears (which makes The Dovekeepers only the second novel to have made me cry...Didion's Magical Thinking was the first).

Synopsis:

Nearly two thousand years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert.  According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived.  Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman's novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path.  Yael's mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death.  Revka, a village baker's wife, watched the murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed.  Aziza is a warrior's daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier.  Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power. 

The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege.  All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets - about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love.

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Review:

Books are like food in the sense that everyone has slightly different taste buds.  So, while I found The Dovekeepers to be an enormously rewarding and engaging novel, I don't expect my review to convince everyone that Hoffman's novel is a "must-read".  Obviously, I am not a professional book critic.  My review will not be particularly academic or over-analytical.  Instead, my review is based off of the fact that I read for enjoyment - and sometimes to learn a thing or two - and in regards to that criteria, The Dovekeepers was outright phenomenal!

I am not a huge history buff, nor do I particularly enjoy reading historical books, but I did learn tid-bits about the battle at Masada in college, and I always had a vague curiosity about what really happened.  Obviously, Hoffman's telling isn't necessarily the "real story," but while it might not be 100% real, it is most certainly compelling in the most beautiful of ways.

Perhaps unexpectedly, Hoffman's "creative path into Masada is from the ground up: not through its generals and warriors, but through its mother, daughters, and wives." (Source)  While the story unfolds through the voices of four distinct narrators, I found myself being entranced by Yael (the first of them), only to be further entranced by Revka (the second), and then Aziza (the third), and finally Shirah (the fourth).  By the end of the novel, the four, distinct, narrative voices blended together in a single voice saying: "Let my burden be your burden, and yours be mine." (Source)

The Dovekeepers is not for the frail of heart, or the reader that only enjoys a lighthearted tale.  It is beautifully raw and incredibly emotional (at least for me) to read.  Reading it is an exercise in dichotomy, for it left me feeling both heavy and light, depressed and hopeful.

In the end, it left me contemplating persecution.  

As Jennifer Raymant - a goodreads reviewer - wrote, "the persectution of Jews over and over again just completely baffles me.  They truly are one of the most formidable, strong, and resilient race the world has ever seen."  After all, "we are all souls anyway, aren't we?  Here to learn.  Here to grow.  Let us see each other as souls. Let us bounce around in the imperfection of our soul bodies, dancing in their pure light way, on this dense earth planet." 

So what's my thesis?!

It's simple really:

The Dovekeepers is elegant.

It is graceful and intelligent.

It is haunting.

It is devastatingly tragic.

It is beautiful.

READ IT.

Question of the Day:

Have you ever read a book that made you cry?  If so, which one was it...I might want to put it on my reading list!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Book Review: Chasing Redbird

For the past few days I have been reading "a harrowing, thrilling, feminist historical novel" by Alice Hoffman entitled The Dovekeepers.  Hoffman's book is so passionately magical that I am trying to read it slowly, savoring every page, and enjoying her narrative voice (THANK YOU to the dear friend that sent me the book!).  Without a doubt, there will be a review of The Dovekeepers on the ABC blog.  However, you will have to wait until I finish the book first!

In the meantime, I recently paused - for less than 24 hours, mind you - to read Chasing Redbird.  Written by Newberry Medal-winning author Sharon Creech, Chasing Redbird is commonly found on middle and high school English curricula.  I'm not sure how, but Creech's book never made its way onto any of my teachers' lesson plans; and as a result, I never got around to reading it.

It was only recently, when I was reading a friend of an acquaintance's blog, that the book was mentioned as a "life-long favorite" and "must-read."  In fact, this particular blogger said that she re-reads Chasing Redbird at least once a year!

"Heck," I thought, "if a book is good enough to read once a year, I must be missing out.

I have to read this book...NOW!"

So, what did I do?  

I immediately set down The Dovekeepers (besides, it would make it last longer if I took a little break from it), and drove off to the library.  Thankfully, Chasing Redbird was available.

Less than 24 hours later I had read Creech's 261-page book from cover to cover.

While I can't say that Chasing Redbird is a "life-long favorite" or a book that I will read "at least once a year," I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Although a quick read (honestly, what would you expect from a book geared towards 12-17 year olds?), it was definitely a fun and enjoyable read.  Moreover, I think that Chasing Redbird contains wonderful life-long lessons about grief, loss, and finding one's place in the world.

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Summary:

Zinny Taylor: Explorer

It started out as an ordinary summer.  But the minute thirteen year-old Zinny discovered the old, overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her family's house, she realized that things were about to change.

Right from the start, Zinny knew that uncovering the trail would be more than just a summer project.  It was her chance to finally make people notice her, and to have a place she could call her very own.  But more than that, Zinny knew that the trail somehow held the key to all kinds of questions.  And that the only way to understand her family, her Aunt Jessie's death, and herself, was to find out where it went.

From Newberry Medal-winning author Sharon Creech comes an intricately woven tale of a young girl who sets out in search of her place in the world - and discovers i tin her own backyard.

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While researching for this post, I ran across the author's website.  In it, Creech offers insight into her writing experience:

As I was writing [Chasing Redbird], I was vaguely aware that the trail was working on many levels.  Not only was it a real, literal train in the woods, but it also seemed to mirror the trails we all follow in our lives (Which way should we go?  What should we do?) and also to mirror the writing process (Which way will this story turn? Why can't I see where it's going?). (Source)

Review:

After reading Chasing Redbird I realized something...while there are some books that call out to be read, dissected, and then reviewed, there are others that are meant to simply be enjoyed.  Maybe that is why I am finding it a bit difficult to review Creech's book.

I just want to enjoy it.

In the end, I came to appreciate that although Creech took on the difficult topics of death, grief, identity seeking, and finding one's role in a large (and complicated) family, she did so in a way that was - ultimately - accessible to young readers.  Although I, myself, am not a young reader; I did gain something from its reading, and would certainly recommend this book to my own future children.  

Zinny teaches us that, sometimes, the best medicine is to explore the unknown.  

That "unknown" might materialize in the form of an undiscovered trail, like it did for Zinny; or it might take the form of unknown emotions, fears, and/or dreams.  Whatever the "unknown" is, Zinny empowers her readers to take a chance, take a leap, and explore it! 

Favorite Quotes:


"Life is a bowl of spaghetti...every now and then you get a meatball.  Sometimes it's a good meatball, and sometimes it's a bad meatball." (Source)

"Sometimes it seems too crowded on our side, and you don't know who you are.  You feel like everybody's spaghetti is all tangled in one pot...I discovered an old trial, overgrown with grass and weeds.  I knew instantly that it was mine and mine alone.  What I didn't know was how long or how hard it would be to uncover the whole thing, or that it would turn into such an obsession...the trail was just like the spaghetti of me and my family...it took a heap of doing to untangle it." (Source)

Question of the Day:


Was there ever a book that you feel like you totally forgot to read as a child, that you went back and read as an adult?  Did you like the book...or did you just think it was childish and overrated?


Whatever your story is, tell me all about your experience in the "Comment" section below.  

Blessings,
Ally and Bo