The Dorm Room Diet

 

By: Daphne Oz, and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

Published: William Morrow Paperbacks

 

The 10-Step Program for Creating a Healthy Lifestyle Plan That Really Works

The Dorm Room Diet

Revised and Updated Edition

Figuring out how to eat right and stay healthy on your own can be hard! Here is help from someone who’s been there. Like many girls, Daphne Oz struggled with her weight as a teenager and hated the extreme restrictions of fad diets. She wanted to find a healthy lifestyle solution that would let her enjoy a full college experience without packing on the proverbial Freshman 15. But could it be done?

With the help of her father and grandfather, both cardiac surgeons, and her mother and grandmother, both holistic nutrition advisors, Daphne developed a whole new approach to managing her weight. How well did it work? You be the judge: In her first semester of college, she not only skipped the typical beer-and-pizza-fueled weight gain—she lost 10 pounds and became healthier than she had ever been.

The transition to college life presents a golden opportunity to seize control of your health for good, and now the secrets of Daphne’s success are available to you in The Dorm Room Diet.

Get inspired. Get informed. Get started!

In this revised and updated edition of her national bestseller, Daphne shows you how to:

stop eating out of emotional need navigate the most common danger zones for unhealthy eating, such as eating on the run, late-night studying, sporting events, and parties get the exercise you need, even in your dorm room choose vitamins and supplements wisely
Daphne also includes recipes that you can prepare in your dorm room or kitchen (including vegan and gluten-free dishes), and an informative, new section on “conscious eating,” explaining how your food choices affect your health and the planet.

The Dorm Room Diet will empower you to use your newfound independence to create a healthy lifestyle while in college—and for the rest of your life.

 

Review: This book is great if you are a college student and are pretty much broke. It gives helpful advice to those of us who are on a budget and struggle to stay healthy. I, absolutely, loved how the author was able to connect with us by the telling of her story, as well as what she thought she was doing wrong. I must admit it did spark some sense into my head about how I was living. The information was a bit vague for me, but for some it would probably be enough. From working through a fitness regime to deciding on what the better food choices are, this book will help most college students struggling to stay healthy.

 

Rating: 4/5

The Other Boleyn Girl

 

By: Philippa Gregory

Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a kingWhen Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her familys ambitious plots as the kings interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

Review:   ** Note: This book USES historical FACT, however, it is FICTION*** Please don’t get confused.  A couple years back, I researched Anne Boleyn’s story. I have always been fascinated by the Tudors, so when I picked this book up, I did not hesitate. I am glad to say that I was not disappointed.

Mary Boleyn was painted as innocent while Anne Boleyn was painted as a seducer.  The only problem I found with this was it being black and white. They opposed each other too much to be believable. Later on in the story, when Anne persuades Henry brings his attention to Anne, I felt that I was more interested in Mary’s story. She married a nobody and it seemed quite romantic, in a sense.

The only problem I truly had with this book was the length. I felt most was unnecessary and the detail was often too much and at times the language was a bit too modern. But, I think Gregory is an amazing story teller and the books are beautifully written.

Rating: 5/5

Paris, My Sweet

 

By: Amy Thomas

Part love letter to New York, part love letter to Paris, and total devotion to all things sweet. Paris, My Sweet is a personal and moveable feast that’s a treasure map for anyone who loves fresh cupcakes and fine chocolate, New York and Paris, and life in general. It’s about how the search for happiness can be as fleeting as a sliver of cheesecake and about how the life you’re meant to live doesn’t always taste like the one you envisioned. Organized into a baker’s dozen of delicacies (and the adventures they inspired) that will tempt readers’ appetites, Paris, My Sweet is something to savor.

Review:  Let me start by saying, I could not put this book down. This was an engaging memoir of a woman who lives abroad in Paris for a year who loves all things sweet. She is offered a job at Louis Vuitton in Paris. Thomas, while living in Paris, wanders around to different bakeries sampling all different kinds of sweets the city has to offer. This book was not only about her love for chocolate or her sweet tooth, but about the struggles between home and a city she loves. There was more to this book than I thought as she faces challenges to keep her dream job .

This read is sweet (much like the book) and light. Perfect to bring on vacation or to the beach. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a ‘sweet’ read.

Rating: 4/5

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

By: Nina Sankovitch

Nina Sankovitch has always been a reader. As a child, she discovered that a trip to the local bookmobile with her sisters was more exhilarating than a ride at the carnival. Books were the glue that held her immigrant family together. When Nina’s eldest sister died at the age of forty-six, Nina turned to books for comfort, escape, and introspection. In her beloved purple chair, she rediscovered the magic of such writers as Toni Morrison, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ian McEwan, Edith Wharton, and, of course, Leo Tolstoy. Through the connections Nina made with books and authors (and even other readers), her life changed profoundly, and in unexpected ways. Reading, it turns out, can be the ultimate therapy.
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair also tells the story of the Sankovitch family: Nina’s father, who barely escaped death in Belarus during World War II; her four rambunctious children, who offer up their own book recommendations while helping out with the cooking and cleaning; and Anne-Marie, her oldest sister and idol, with whom Nina shared the pleasure of books, even in her last moments of life. In our lightning-paced culture that encourages us to seek more, bigger, and better things, Nina’s daring journey shows how we can deepen the quality of our everyday lives–if we only find the time.

Review: Who wouldn’t want to read about someone who dedicates a year to reading books? But unfortunately, I just could not connect whatsoever. I truly wanted to love this book! I understood about the hardships the author was going through, but it lacked depth. I feel as if the book grazed the surface on the true feelings of the author. On another note, it seems forced. As if the books weren’t being read because she enjoyed it, but felt as if she HAD to. It took the fun out of reading.

In the end, this book felt like an essay. I felt like I was reading a college psychology paper that just went on and on. Loved the idea of the book, but the execution was poor. There was no depth to the feelings and I just could not relate.

Rating:  2/5

Coco’s Secret

By: Niamh Greene

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Penguin Books

Coco Swan has always been embarrassed by her name.

With a name like Coco, she thinks people expect her to be as exotic and glamorous as the famous designer, not an ordinary-looking small-town antiques dealer who could win an award for living cautiously.

But when a vintage Chanel handbag turns up in a box of worthless bric-a-brac, Coco’s quiet world is turned upside down. Where did it come from? And is it just coincidence that it’s the same bag Coco’s late mother always wanted for her?

When Coco discovers a mysterious, decades-old letter hidden in the bag’s lining, she sets off on a quest to piece together the story behind it, stumbling across secrets that span three generations as she goes.

Could the beautiful Chanel bag be about to teach Coco more than she wants to learn? Or will it show her just where her heart can take her if she lets it lead the way?

Coco’s Secret is a gripping and thoroughly satisfying story about a young women finally finding courage to become the kind of woman she always had it in her to be. It will go straight to readers’ hearts just like her previous bestselling novels, including the bestselling and award-nominated Secret Diary of a Demented Housewife. Her other novels are Confessions of a Demented Housewife, Lessons from a Love Rat, Rules for a Perfect Life and A Message to Your Heart.

Review:  Coco, named after Coco Chanel, lives with her grandmother who owns an antique shop. She always felt a bit out of place and as if she could never live up to her name.  At an auction she attends for the store, she receives a box, which happens to contain a real, authentic Chanel handbag. Upon finding the bag, she finds a love letter. Which she then tries to track down the owner. As she digs a bit deeper to find more about the owner, she discovers a whole other story than what she thought she would discover. Filled with charm, a bit of sadness, and a warm feel, this book was absolutely lovely.

This book was an easy read. It is the kind of book that you bring to the beach or curl up in bed to read. Charming and delightful, the writer instantly connects you with the characters. Coco is beautifully characterized. She is believable, relatable, and actually feels like a real person.  Although predictable, I must admit I could not put the book down.

Rating: 4/5

The Never List

 

By: Koethi Zan

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the “Never List”: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.

Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal life, living as a virtual recluse under a new name, unable to come to grips with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of that cellar. Now, her abductor is up for parole and Sarah can no longer ignore the twisted letters he sends from jail.

Finally, Sarah decides to confront her phobias and the other survivors—who hold their own deep grudges against her. When she goes on a cross-country chase that takes her into the perverse world of BDSM, secret cults, and the arcane study of torture, she begins unraveling a mystery more horrifying than even she could have imagined.

 

Review:

The one rule my parents taught me when I was younger was ‘Don’t get into a strangers car’, and I feel this book paints a pretty good picture of what could happen. Mysterious, dark, and terrible are words that come to mind when I reflect on this book. But that did not stop me from continuing. I am, almost, to a point where I am speechless. There are so many things to say about this book, yet I am not sure where to begin. Sarah, the main character, is now thirty one and it has been about ten years since she was captured, and tortured. Struggling to live a normal life, she decides to confront her past, enough to solve some mysteries regarding her friend, Jennifer.

Chilling and believable. For anyone who has seen the Hostel movies, this book is the equivalent. It never failed to keep me on the edge of my seat. With every page, I felt drawn to it. I could not put it down. As the writers first book, and being a thriller, I feel the author did a very good job.

Rating: 4/5

Twigs

 

By: Alison Ashley Formento

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Merit Press

 

One pint-sized girl. Ten supersized crises. And it’s high noon.

They call her “Twigs,” because she’ll never hit five feet tall. Although she was born early, and a stiff breeze could knock her over, Twigs has a mighty spirit. She needs it, as life throws a whole bucket of rotten luck at her: Dad’s an absentee drunk; Mom’s obsessed with her new deaf boyfriend (and Twigs can’t tell what they’re saying to each other). Little sister Marlee is trying to date her way through the entire high school; Twigs’ true love may be a long-distance loser after a single week away at college, and suddenly, older brother Matt is missing in Iraq. It all comes together when a couple of thugs in a drugstore aisle lash out, and Twigs must fight to save the life of the father who denied her.

 

Review:

Right off the bat, I felt bad for Twigs. I, immediately, wanted to help her out. There were a few rude references to disabilities and, personally, I did not think that was right.  The only part that was believable in this entire book was her finding out her father was not her biological father and the girl going after her boyfriend.

Reading this book, I could not relate to her. She had a distant mother, a father who left, a brother in Iraq, and a boyfriend at college. There was just too much to work with and I do not feel it was executed well. I had a very hard time getting through the book, but I felt I just needed to push through it, hoping it would get better in the end. Unfortunately, it did not. In the end, it was just too much for the book to handle. Personally, this book did nothing for me.

Rating: 2/5