Our Take:

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has taken all of his knowledge, years of research, and helpful advice and packaged it into some simple rules to help you eat better. He tells you which oils and grains are best and which to avoid. He breaks this slim paperback down into three sections: 1. What should I eat. 2. What kind of food should I eat (mostly vegetables and plants), and 3. How should I eat (which focuses on portions and timing). Pollan is America’s trusted resource and consumer advocate on food-related issues. Some of our favorite rules: ‘Don’t eat anything your grandmother would recognize as food (think Pringles),’ and ‘Don’t buy food where you buy gasoline’.

A Few God Lines:

As a journalist, I had a deeply unsettling moment when, after spending a couple of years researching nutrition for my last book, In Defense of Food, I realized that the answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated question of what we should eat wasn’t so complicated after all, and in fact could be boiled down to just seven words: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. In this short, radically pared down book, I unpack those seven words of advice into a comprehensive set of rules, or personal policies, designed to help you eat real food in moderation and, by doing so, substantially get off the (dangerously unhealthy) Western diet.

Our Take:

Co-written by Mary Ann Presman, (featured in JustANumber Inspirational Women features) this wonderful collection of 11 short stories focuses on sports-related tales, but there is some great material about relationships, gamesmanship and colorful personalities. There are stories about golf, baseball, pool, blackjack, horse racing, bocce ball, basketball, tennis, and our favorite: Scrabble Dating. “It’s a fun book of stories with a few surprises,” Mary Ann said.

A Few Good Lines:

Nell was the one who first told me about ScrabbleDate. “This is perfect for you, Fern! You’re good at Scrabble, you can drink a lot of coffee, and you’re single. You need to get yourself over to the Kona Kup, girl. It’s time you shook some of the dust off those dating shoes.”

I’m looking at the floor of my closet, and I’m not sure I have any footwear that qualifies as dating shoes. I hate that I’m doing the stereotypical thing of worrying about what to wear– but I haven’t been on a date in well over twenty years. I know, because that’s how old my son Chad is. I dated Jeff for about six months, got pregnant, got married, and then we moved here to Cedarville, Iowa. He got a job at the John Deere plant and made good money, so I stayed home with Chad until he got to be school-age.  Jeff felt trapped, I think, and found the need to seem sexy to other women. I took some CNA training at the community college where Chad goes to school now, got certified, and got a job with health benefits of my own. Then, when Chad graduated from high school and Jeff was still philandering, I told him I wanted a divorce. Smartest move I ever made.

Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond

Our Take: For the New Year, consider this easy read that is motivating, humorous, and honest and will inspire you to make your years after menopause your best. While it is written by two men, former attorney Crowley and Dr. Lodge, each takes a chapter to explain how we age and how to age better. This book shows you how to eat and exercise to feel better and take your life back. The message of the book is simple: no matter how old you are, increased physical activity in the way of exercise is associated with a better and longer life. This book will turn you in a new direction.

A few good lines: So here’s the lesson of the book. You do not have to get old the way you think. You can do all the same things, almost the same way. Bike, ski, make love. Make sense!…If you’re a bit of a mess right now, you can become a radically better woman over the next few years and then level off. No kidding.

It’s All About Circulation – About 60 million Americans have some form of cardiovascular disease. Most of them don’t know it, because it’s preclinical, but it’s there. That’s the vast majority of American women over fifty. It’s been the leading cause of death every year since 1918, even during World War II. Being sedentary is formally classified as a major cardiovascular risk factor, increasing risk more than smoking or high cholesterol. Vigorous exercise, the real thing, is the most powerful way we know of cutting down your risk of heart attack.

Our Take: After a 10-year absence, famed short story writer Moore is back with a compassionate and often sad novel. She tells the story of a year in the life of Tassie, a 20-year-old small town girl in her first year of college in Troy, a college town in the Midwest. (Think Madison, WI where Moore has taught creative writing at UW for 25 years). Tassie takes a job as a nanny to an upscale restaurant owner Sarah and her husband who adopt a bi-racial toddler. Moore said she wanted to describe a memorable, formative year in an undergraduate’s life and she accomplishes this with humor, metaphors, graceful prose and believable characters from a town like Madison. 

A Few Good Lines: I feared that Sarah was one of those women who instead of laughing said, “That’s funny,” or instead of saying, “You are a stupid blithering idiot,” said, “Well, I think it’s a little more complicated than that.” I never knew what to do around such people, especially the ones who after you spoke liked to say, enigmatically, “I see.” Usually I just went mute.

Our Take: This charming, steady-paced story, twice listed for The Booker Prize, recounts the life of young Eilis Lacey who leaves her small Irish town to travel across the Atlantic to Brooklyn in post World War II in the 1950’s. In the 262 pages, you will hear of the horrendous ocean crossing, her depictions of life in America knowing no one, her boarding house, night school, new friends, tangible longing for her mother and sister, and life back home. The action picks up when the parish priest begins holding dances at the church hall on Friday nights. This subtle tale will linger in your memory long after the last paragraph is read.

A Few Good Lines:  All that seemed like nothing compared to the picture she had of home, of her own room, the house in Friary Street (in Ireland,) the food she had eaten there, the clothes she wore, how quiet everything was. She was nobody here. It was not just that she had no friends and family; it was rather that she was a ghost in this room, in the streets on the way to work, on the shop floor… The rooms in the house on Friary Street belonged to her, she thought; when she moved in them she was really there.

Our Take:

Short story writer Meloy is ingenious in this collection of 11 stories that have well-developed, believable characters battling loneliness, unraveling relationships, distrust, unrequited love, and cheating husbands. The character development that can be done in a few paragraphs is astounding. These stories are powerful, memorable, brief, but achingly honest. Meloy has some immense insights to the human spirit told with a restraint of words that is astounding.

A Few Good Lines:

On a hazy summer afternoon in Los Angeles, while my wife was at work and our children were napping, I answered the ringing doorbell to find my grandmother, two months dead, standing on the stoop. She gave me a happy smile of self-welcome, then turned and waved to a black car with dark windows that purred at the curb. The car pulled away. “Liliana,” I said. “Darling!” she said. She reached for my face, so I bent to be kissed, thinking that the woman I was kissing should be dead, her ashes sealed in an expensive vault. But her lips on my cheek were warm, and she smelled like her old perfume and new wool. “Are you going to ask me in?” she asked.

Our Take:

This historical work of fiction is loosely based on Kelly’s ancestors from 1839 in Ireland, through the devastating Irish Potato Famine in the mid 1800’s, to their immigration to American and Chicago by the World’s Fair in 1893. Told with Irish charm, humor and woven together with historical detail that rarely bogs the story down, this is a good read for anyone who wants to better comprehend emigrating from a home country to America. Galway Bay is a tale of family loyalty, strength, survival and resilience. And you will have gleaned a good history lesson after finishing the 500 pages.

A Few Good Lines:

“Most girls left Miss Lynch’s school at twelve to mind the younger children, mend the nets, sell the catch, and then at sixteen marry a fisherman’s son. But Da and Mam let me stay on to study, except for the days I was needed under the Spanish Arch with Mam and Maire. It was Marie who told me to watch the way Mam looked at the new Presentation Convent and talked about the sisters when we passed it. “Mam wants you to be a nun. She and Miss Lynch have it fixed up between them. Miss Lynch will pay the dowry. You’d better find a fellow fast if you don’t want to go into the convent.”

Our Take:

 This is a great book for people who need to come up with ideas for supper, but don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. The book includes one-pan meals, 30-minute meals, freezable meals to make on Sundays, dinner salads, six ways to do chicken and beef, and menu suggestions to combine some recipes – appetizers, mains, sides, desserts – to impress at a party without breaking a sweat. Full-color photos and a comprehensive index are provided to inspire the cook.

A Few Good Lines:

“Think of an appetizer as the opening act for dinner – something to keep your hungry guests occupied and allow you time to give the headliner (that would be the main course) one last wardrobe check. Let these tasty snacks, from three-ingredient pigs in a blanket to elegant crostini with chickpeas and mint, whet your audience’s appetite for what’s to come. They are almost as effortless as your stand-by chips and salsa but so impressive, they might just steal the show.”

Our Take:

Of all the “Giada” cookbooks, this one is our favorite. This book is well worth its $20 price just for the chicken parmesan recipe. Instead of breading chicken breasts for this dish, Giada has you dress them with fresh rosemary, thyme, and olive oil. Another great recipe is Giada’s chicken picatta, which is fresh, fast and lemony. This book includes a wonderfully simple Bolognese, a great pesto sauce, some great salads, and desserts. There are plenty of gorgeous picture too.

 A Few Good Lines:

“In this book you’ll find some of the recipes that viewer’s say they like the most and others that have never been on the show (Everyday Italian on The Food Network). You can be confident making all these dishes because they’re simple. I believe a great meal does not have to be difficult or complex. The recipes are easy enough that you’ll enjoy making them every day, but so delicious your family will ask for them again and again.”

Our Take: Dr. Richard Collins is the Director of Wellness at South Denver Cardiology Associates and received his cardiovascular training at the Mayo Clinic. He has become a leading authority in preventive medicine and says that with diet and exercise you can stop heart disease and lower cholesterol. He recommends a diet rich in vegetables, soy, tofu and vegetable proteins and he shows you how to incorporate his advice using recipes for oatmeal, soy smoothies, sloppy joe’s and even tacos.

A Few Good Lines: Controlling heart disease requires paying attention to ones’ diet, activity levels and overall well-being. By mixing the right combination of laughter, fitness and healthy food and supplements, we can enjoy a much longer and more fulfilling life.

Our take:

If you like David Sedaris and his humorous take on dysfunctional family life (and whose family isn’t a little dysfunctional), you will relish in this holiday book. If you have not read Sedaris, this short collection will give you a nice sampling of his funny work. This is a collection of six stories all with a Christmas theme. One story pokes fun at Christmas letters, and another recounts his part-time job as an elf at Macy’s SantaLand in New York. Reading these stories is like being with a very good friend who tells about their experiences seen through an honest and hysterical lens. The stories taken together aim a satirical spotlight on the meaning of holidays.

A Few Good Lines:

“In order to become an elf I filled out ten pages worth of forms, took a multiple-choice personality test, underwent two interviews, and submitted urine for a drug test. The first interview was general, designed to eliminate the obvious sociopaths. During the second interview we were asked why we wanted to be elves. This is always a problem question. I listened as the woman ahead of me, a former waitress, answered the question saying, “I really want to be an elf? Because I think it’s about acting? And before this I worked in a restaurant? Which was run by this really wonderful woman who had a dream to open a restaurant? And it made me realize that it’s really, really …important to have a dream?”

Everything this woman said, every phrase and sentence, was punctuated with a question mark and the interviewer never raised an eyebrow. When it was my turn, I explained that I wanted to be an elf because it was one of the most frightening career opportunities I had ever come across. The interviewer raised her face from my application and said, “And…?”

Our take:

Best-selling author Nelson DeMille, tells a story about John Sutter who returns to the Gold Coast of Long Island, NY (six months after 9/11) for a funeral after being away for ten years, only to find himself living just down the road from his ex-wife.  He had left her ten years ago when she had killed her Mafia don lover who was a neighbor. Now, the deceased don’s son is a neighbor. DeMille uses sharp humor and social satire in this entertaining novel. While the pace is slow at first, it gathers speed as the tension and intrigue build.

A Few Good Lines:

“It had been a very good marriage, by any objective standard, including good sex, so if anyone had asked me what went wrong, I wouldn’t be able to answer, except to say, ‘She was screwing a Mafia don.’ Of course, she was also a bit off her rocker, and I admit that I can be a little sarcastic at times, but mostly we were happy with our lives and our children and each other.

“I think, though, that Frank Bellarosa was like a malevolent force that entered Paradise, and no one was prepared for that.  To continue the biblical theme, but with a different story line, Eve killed the serpent, but Adam stayed pissed off about her seduction and filed for divorce.”

Our Take: In this coffee-table book, Albright recounts highlights of her personal life and career as the first female secretary of state. Cleverly she provides insights into the diplomatic characters she met while championing peace and her simultaneous habit of wearing pins (brooches) to fit the occasion and make a statement. When Saddam Hussein’s poet called her “an unparalled serpent,” she made a diplomatic statement by donning a serpent pin on her jacket at their next meeting. We at JUSTANUMBER had the pleasure of hearing Albright talk at a luncheon a few weeks ago. She is a superb speaker, has memorable stories, maintains her passion for world democracy, and is able to see the humor in all facets of life.

A few good lines: When I was a young woman, the gift of a fraternity pin was an emblem of romance. In maturity, the brooches I bought for myself were signs of growing confidence and independence. In government, I used pins as a diplomatic tool. Now that I am out of office, my hobby often serves as an icebreaker. Before or after a speech, or while standing in line at the airport or supermarket, I am frequently asked about the pin I am wearing or to comment on one worn by somebody else. Such conversations can lead anywhere. I will not forget the women who spoke enthusiastically about my pins before proceeding cheerily to compliment my overall appearance. “You look great,” she said. “Just like my grandmother.  She’s 106 and as fit and sharp as she can be.”

Our Take: Stockett’s first novel and engrossing read could be this decade’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Set in the 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi, she tells the story of three women – 2 black maids and a white recent college graduate writer- and how they band together to rally for women’s rights and human dignity. Told with humor, compassion, colorful descriptions and realistic dialogue, chapters are narrated by the fully-developed characters giving you a sense of what it must have like for wise, older women of color to work for 20-something Junior Leaguers in the south. This book will grab you in the first chapter and keep you laughing, crying and enthralled till the end.

A Few Good Lines: That was the day my whole world went black. Air look black, sun look black. I laid up in bed and stared at the black walls a my house. Minny came ever day to make sure I was still breathing. feed me food to keep me living. Took three months fore I even look out the window, see if the world still there. I was surprise to see the world didn’t stop just cause my boy did. Five months after the funeral, lifted myself up out a bed, I put on my white uniform and put my little gold cross back around my neck and I went to wait on Miss Leefolt cause she just have her baby girl. But it weren’t too long before I seen something in me had changed. A bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn’t feel so accepting anymore.

Our Take: You will fall in love with this book and its characters in the first two pages. Strout’s descriptions of the people living in and around Olive Kitteridge, a retired school teacher in the small town of Crosby, Maine, are endearing, honest, funny, unique and also familiar. The book is actually a collection of short stories that taken together weave a powerful and memorable tale.

A few good lines: Retired now, he still wakes early and remembers how mornings used to be his favorite, as though the world were his secret, tires rumbling softly beneath him and the light emerging through the early fog, the brief sight of the bay off to his right, then the pines, tall and slender, and almost always he rode with the window partly open because he loved the smell of the pines and the heavy salt air, and in the winter he loved the smell of the cold.