The Mediterranean Diet

Diet - The usual food and drink consumed by a person

There are 16 countries that surround this region but the idea came from Dr. Ancel Keys when he published his study in 1970 of seven countries, analyzing the impact of diet on heart disease. 

All three books agree on these characteristics of the diet 

1- plenty of fruits, vegetables and legumes 

2-  moderate intake of fish 

3- low to moderate intake of poultry, dairy (mostly soft cheese and yogurt) 

4-  hardly any processed foods or red meat (maybe a few times a month) 

5- healthy unsaturated fats from mostly nuts, olives and olive oil

Check out the Mediterranean Food Pyramid online, it is very interesting and very different form the American Food Pyramid.

I preferred the Miami Mediterranean Diet book because it has a very easy to follow 14-Day Menu Plan with easy recipes.

The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan

When we are young we accept out parents’ values as our own. When, if ever, do we start questioning them? When do they become our own choices of values and not just the blind acceptance of the values passed down to us?

Jebel is the thin scrawny son of the well respected executioner of the land. He decides to go on a quest to regain his honor after he is disgraced in public by his father. Legends have it that if a quester makes it to the mountain to Tubaygat and sacrifices a willing slave to the fire god, he will be granted powers of strength and invincibility.

Jebel and his slave, Tel Hesani, set off on a quest where they will face many horrible obstacles (hatred, bigotry, slavery) and suffer a great deal.

Half Way To The Grave by Jeaniene Frost

This is your typical Vampire Chick Lit. I enjoyed it for what it was. The love scenes are, how should I say it, Engaging. It’s for the vampire fans for sure. It is the first in a nine book series (only five are written so far). To give you an idea, here are the other titles.

Book 2 – One Foot in the Grave

Book 3 – At Grave’s End

Book 4 – Destined for an Early Grave

Book 5- This Side of the Grave

Yes, they sell very well. Even though the book has piqued my interest, I’m not sure I’ll be reading the series.

no second chance by Harlan Coben

The book is OK. I mostly enjoyed the last few chapters. I do not like the writing style. It has way too much detail. Coben tells you every minute detail about a scene, and his transitions are not smooth. The story itself is all over the place with too many plots within plots.

Marc Seidman wakes up in the ICU and learns that he’s been there for twelve days, his wife is dead and his six-month-old daughter is missing.

I always learn something from the books: This one talks about women trafficking and baby selling (adoption schemes). This phrase stays with me; “You shouldn’t do the wrong thing for the right reason”.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I picked up the book thinking I was going to learn how extra-ordinary some people are but only to understand that it takes a lot more. We must look at family, birth place, birth date, generation, culture, class, hard work, talent, and yes luck. It brings the saying “timing is everything” to new light.

 It seems to take at least ten thousand hours of practice in order to become a master or world-class expert at anything.

“Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from” p.221 – Cultural legacies matter –

Jamaica has a very large Chinese population that since the nineteenth century has dominated the commercial life of the island. p. 275

The book is truly enlightening. I highly recommend it. I will be reading the “Tipping Point” and “Blink” soon.