Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp

Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp by Stephanie Klein


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I went back and forth on whether I liked this book. I like her voice, I like the premise and the idea of the story, but there are several parts that just don't feel good...and that's probably part of the point.

While I was expecting a 'ha ha, I had to go to fat camp, but I'm fine now.' This was much more about her continual, daily struggle with eating/food/and body image issues, even though she's been thin for more years of her life than she was 'fat'.

I think the part that made it the most sickening was the sadness I felt for her over her struggle to have to willingly gain weight when she was pregnant with her twins. I don't know if it bothered me because I had anxiety about gaining weight when I was pregnant as well, or if it's because I never have gotten to the point that I've had the discipline to really change my body for the better. It's far too easy to judge the inner workings of someone's mind and the feelings they've laid on the table for all to see. So, I'll try not to be too hard on her in my head.

In the end, though, there must be some poetic justice that that the very word used to sink her gut and break her heart is able to be turned into a meal ticket. Pun intended.

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The Middle Place

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan



Corrigan has written a beautiful book about our position in life when we become parents to our children, yet are still children to our parents.

In the midst of her breast cancer diagnosis, her father is diagnosed with late stage bladder cancer. This is such a moving book, but it's so much more than another tear-jerker 'Chicken Soup for the Cancerous Soul'.

Her descriptions of the sometimes rote and mundane tasks of motherhood are right smack in the middle of what is quite possibly the best love letter a mother could write to her children, parents and spouse and siblings all rolled together in a neat little package.

Perhaps one of the most relatable parts for me was being raised Catholic, still identifying as Catholic, but not attending church or really subscribing to a lot of the belief systems of the church. In one part, she addressed how she envied people like her father and mother who had such strong faith, and the comfort it could bring in a time of crisis while at the same time questioning whether faith allowed one to sit by...after all, God wasn't going to make sure you went to your appointments, or to ensure that a technician remembered to run a certain part of a test. It's something I've been struggling with personally, so I think I particularly liked that stream of consciousness.

Handling life's biggest stresses with class and wit, Corrigan is someone I would love to know in real life; grab some coffee with, have a play-date with our kids, have in my corner during life's ups and downs.

A quick read, this isn't something you'll have to slog through, but that you could possible purchase two days prior to book club and finish with time to spare. Just make sure you have your tissues handy.

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In The Woods

In the Woods by Tana French


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I had really mixed feelings about this book. Really, I felt like it was about 100 pages too long. By the time it got to the crux of the story, I was thinking "FINALLY!" instead of being curious to the end. I don't mind that it didn't end up with all the loose ends tied up, because I like having more to think about, but it was a little bit tedious at times, and sub-stories that felt unnecessary and unresolved. Additionally, there's a fantastical element that, in the end, is never really addressed.

Set in present-day Ireland, In The Woods is a 'you can never go home' type tale in which Andy/Rob is the sole survivor of a childhood tragedy in which he and two of his friends went to play in the woods one day, and two of them never came out. His family left, sent Andy to boarding school after which he changed his name to Rob to avoid further media and police contacts. He had no memory of the event, or several years leading up to it. As unbeknownst to his boss and co-workers, and is assigned a murder investigation that appears to have close ties with his own unresolved case.

Perhaps what was most disappointing is that the character that's supposed to be the 'surprise psychotic' is really not surprising at all. Rosalind is fairly transparently manipulative, and it's surprising that a seasoned detective was completely snowed by her when it was obvious to me, as the reader. Had she had more characteristics that were similar to Jamie, hence a reason for Adam/Rob to have a soft spot for her, I could see it, but otherwise it just doesn't fit.

Even though I wasn't wowed by this novel I would still recommend it to others, and would like to have it be part of a book discussion so that I could get different readers' perspectives. Overall, I think it's a great first novel, but it's not ground-breaking, and I look forward to reading the next book in my queue by her to see if her stories become more sophisticated and the characters less transparent.

But, as another reviewer on goodreaders so eloquently put it "Or could it be that weaving an engrossing, eclectic, multi-layered tale of murder, mythological spirits, and memory is a hell of a lot easier when an author goes into it knowing there's no way and no need to wrap it up? Because that's just lazy. "

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The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have always been a fan of murder-mystery-drama books, Dennis Lehane being my favorite master of this genre. In reading the Lovely Bones, it was such an interesting perspective to have the narrator be the victim, Susie Salmon, to know 'who-done-it' from the very start, and to watch the deceased navigate through the author's take on 'heaven' while observing all that was left behind.

I liked that Sebold took on the task of letting us watch a child watch the devastation take hold of her family, and that she was not allowed to intervene. There were no signals etched into steamy mirrors from the after-life (save for one scene that you'll have to have your own take on), which made me like it more instead of less because it made it more plausible, If that's what you're looking for. The dysfunction in the adult relationships paired with the perfection in the adolescent ones may have been simple naivate on the part of Susie, or it may have been just the purity and lack of baggage that allowed them to flourish the way they did.

I was determined to read this book before I saw the movie, because I always get more out of the movie knowing what they left out. I doubt, for example, they'll provide as much back-story of George Harvey and his dysfunctional child-hood. Though it's not hard to deduce that a serial killer probably didn't have a perfect beginning.

The title stems from the following passage; "These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous lifeless body had been my life."

I was really excited to see the Mark Wahlberg will be playing Jack Salmon. In reading the character, you could see him very easily in the role. In all, I really liked this book, although I have to say I was mildly dissatisfied with the ending. Read for yourself to see how you feel.

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The Last Time They Met

The Last Time They Met: A Novel by Anita Shreve


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
At first the dialogue in this book was hard to adjust to, in that it was written in italics as opposed to quotation marks; which Cormack McCarthy did with The Road. I found myself constantly asking if they were just mind-readers, or if they were actually talking to one another.

Rich language, diverse settings and characters that you vascillate between pitying and wanting them to stop pitying themselves, this book leaves you wanting to check more Shreve from the library.

Most importantly, this book has one of the best plot twists of any non-thriller novel I've read, and you will close the book at the end with your mouth wide open thinking "What the $*%! just happened?!" If you're a spoiler, do NOT read the last page of this one...or if you do, don't say I didn't warn you. Certainly, don't tell your friends the ending, or they won't be your friends much longer!

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Idyll Banter

Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town by Chris Bohjalian


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had read Bohjalian's Midwives and LOVED it. It was such a thought-provoking novel, and the characters were so amazingly written. I really liked that he told the story from the perspective of the midwife's daughter.

Though I knew he was a New England author, I did not know he had a weekly column. Along the same lines as Dave Berry, his slice of life segments are enough to feel complete on their own, but pieced together tell the tale of life in a small New England town. I may purchase this book to remind me of NE when I'm "home" sick next year.

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Evenflo Smart Steps

Lately, I've been questioning what I feed my kids, and how much of it. It seems like a couple times a week I'm baking something with H...cookies, bread, cupcakes; all in the name of math and science education at home, right?

Charlie will put down just as much food as H at times, and I know they go through stages of feast or famine but always wonder if I'm making the best choices, or instilling good eating habits. I've been making H eat a vegetable every night in order to 'earn' dessert. While I know that some disagree with that tactic...I don't really care. That's just how I roll. After a couple nights of struggling to get him to eat four tiny peas (one for each year of his age), he now 'willingly' will eat the small pile I put on his plate without being asked. It's amazing how follow-through and consistency get the job done!

I got an email from MomCentral* about Evenflo's new Smart Steps program, and was able to try a few of the products from the new line. I got a sippy cup that's in an insulated sleeve (machine washable, yay!) and has a soft spout that really doesn't leak. I've tried just about every sippy cup, and they have pretty much all leaked when left on their side after they've been abandoned by one of my children, but this one didn't. Love it!

I also got a set of spoons that are flat and look a little bit like mini-pancake turners, but they're meant to be easier to maneuver for small hands and a set of snack cups whose lids double as suctions to keep them from being flung (as easily) from the table.

Some of the tips they have on their website were mainly reassuring, as they're things that I'm already doing. But if you aren't, you'll be surprised how easy they are to incorporate in your life. Here are a few:

• Let your kids be "produce pickers" at the store. If they can pick out their own fruits and veggies – they'll be more inclined to eat them
• Invite your kids to prepare meals with you. All of that mixing, mashing and measuring will make them want to taste what they are prepping.
• Offer choices. Rather than ask "Do you want broccoli for dinner?" ask "Which would you like for dinner: broccoli or cauliflower?"

Not sure how you're doing? Evenflo has developed a quiz on their website in order for you to determine your Parental Feeding Style and where you fall on the Eating Arc. The site is also full of tips and products to either continue the good things you're doing, or things you can tweak in order to help your child get on the path to having a healthy relationship with food. Be it dealing with a picky eater, ideas for revamping your mealtime repertoire or conversation starters to begin a tradition of eating at the table as a family, Evenflo Smart Steps has got ideas for you!

*I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Evenflo and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate