Some NON-DEPRESSING Book Reviews!

My last post revealed that I tend to read some books that don't exactly take you to a happy place.
This is true. I read a lot of Historical Fiction and some of those books take place during difficult times.

I also read a lot of books about people with physical and psychological illnesses because I had a medical background and education and I find these topics fascinating.

I have read a few books in the last 4 months that were not at all deep or depressing.

FOOD MATTERS by Mark Bittman.
Since becoming Diabetic I have done a lot of reading about healthy eating plans. Bittmans's book is a good guide for learning where your food comes from, how the production of food affects the environment and how to pay better attention to your food choices. He also provides some good recipes that I have actually tried.

Jen Lancaster cracks me up! I read PRETTY IN PLAID and MY FAIR LAZY. Jen's memoirs have taken us through job searches, weird neighbors, losing weight, blog friends that we share(!) and now, with these two books, she takes us down memory lane again. In PRETTY IN PLAID we find out what she was wearing during some critical times in her life. MY FAIR LAZY shares her love of reality shows. Every one of Jen's books makes me laugh out loud and snort whatever I'm drinking out of my nose!

KEEPING FAITH was written by a Massachusetts father and son, John and Frank Schaeffer, after the son decided to join the Marines. Both of my kids have friends who went into the Marines. One came back from Iraq. The other one did not come back from Afghanistan. My Mom's good friend has a grandson in the Marines. I knew a little bit about the Marines, but not a lot about their training. John, the son, takes you day by day through his Marine boot camp and how he grew as a person from his training. Frank, the dad's chapters give you the point of view of a parent who was worried about his son. I found the book fascinating. Although I already had a healthy respect for members of the military, this respect grew after reading about their training.

I think I've professed my Celebrity Crush on Alan Alda here before. I love people with a wry sense of humor. The title, NEVER HAVE YOUR DOG STUFFED, comes from an episode from Alda's childhood. In this memoir he tells us about his upbringing as the son of a vaudeville star, his long-term marriage to his wife and his time on the TV show M*A*S*H. 

 Maybe it was just because I love Alan Alda so much, but I LOVE THIS BOOK!!