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.

A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown

A piece of Cake is Ms. Brown’s memoir. It is a sad story of hopelessness, despair, and finally success.

The story begins with an eleven year old girl’s life after her mother dies from an epileptic seizure at the age of thirty-four. The first time she meets her real father is in court asking for custody because he thinks he will get the life insurance. Her life is never the same and becomes horrible once she and her brother are introduced to the Foster Care system. She has to fend for herself and survive on her own in any way that she can. At the age of 11 she is raped, introduced to prostitution, drugs, and alcohol. This is only the beginning; yes it gets much worse.   

This book really opened my eyes. I never realized how horrible The Foster Care system can be. It is really awful because the system is so overwhelmed with children they turn a blind eye to the abuse. The things that Ms. Brown endured as a young woman are heartbreaking and devastating. It was very difficult for me to finish this book.

Today, she is a well respected lawyer at a top California law firm and a motivational speaker. 

Staked (Void City, Book 1) by J. F. Lewis

Eric is a vampire who owns a strip club. He loves the smell of pizza and has memory problems because he was embalmed. His girlfriend Tabitha wants to be turned into a vampire but her younger sister Rachel wants to satisfy all of his sexual desires. The story begins with Eric killing a werewolf in self-defense and that’s when his real problems begin.

Lewis changes the physiology of his vampires and werewolves. Not all vampires are equal, there is a cast system Drone, Soldier, Master, Vlad and Emperor. This is not your typical vampire story. It is a soft-porn erotica genre and a bit gory. I did not care for it because I like my vampires sensual. 32 out of 39 readers loved it on Amazon.

Walden Two by B.F. Skinner

Walden Two is an experimental Utopian 

community located in a rural area of the United States. Everyone get’s along, everyone is happy, productive and creative. The community works smoothly with plenty to eat, the people get plenty of rest and there is no stress at all. When there is a problem in the community, they design tests and experiments until they find a possible solution.

Skinner explains that he was very dissatisfied with the way America turned out and was trying to think of a solution that would spare us a miserable and catastrophic future.

The novel is very controversial and challenges the American way of life including democracy, capitalism and the nuclear family.

I enjoyed reading the book even though it was a bit difficult making sense of the science of Behavioral Psychology.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

I really enjoyed the story because it was fun, interesting and I learned a lot about the connection between the two civilizations. This is a mixture of Roman and Greek mythology.

Aphrodite –Roman Form: Venus

Hephaestus –Roman Form: Vulcan

Zeus –Roman Form: Jupiter

Jason wakes up on a bus, sitting next to Piper and Leo, claiming to be his girlfriend and best friend. Jason is upset because he does not know who he is, or how he got on the bus. We are introduced to three new demigods; the son of Jupiter, the daughter of Aphrodite and the son of Hephaestus. The adventure is nonstop and I like the fact that he always includes strong female characters. Young audiences can enjoy the story and learn lessons of courage, friendship and perseverance.

Reading level ages 9-12

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

One of my favorite lines in the book come from Hema as she is having a near death experience:

“As she bent over the child she realized that the tragedy of death had to do entirely with what was left unfulfilled. She was ashamed that such a simple insight should have eluded her all these years. Make something beautiful of your life.”p64

Sister Mary Joseph Praise dies giving birth to twin boys Marion and Shiva in Ethiopia at Missing, a hospital for the poor. The boys are raised by Hema and Gosh because the boys father Dr. Stone leaves and never returns. Cutting for Stone is a story of love and betrayal, political turmoil and the human will to live. The story takes place in India, Ethiopia and America (the Bronx) over many decades.

There are too many medical references sometimes it feels like the book was written for medical students. I liked the story but I did not love it.