Stray by Rachel Vincent

Yep, another "paranormal" book review.

Stray, by newcomer Rachel Vincent, is the story of Faythe Sanders, a college student and werecat.

I bought this because of the cat theme (I love cats) and because a favorite writer, Kim Harrison, recommended it. I'm not sorry, it was a good story overall but...as Publisher's Weekly put it:

"Vincent's debut, an urban werecat fantasy, is a good story that suffers from about 200 pages of bloat"

and

"Unfortunately, they [Marc and Faythe the lead characters] both have frustrating character tics that are only exacerbated by the novel's length: Faythe is more often too-stubborn-to-live than kick-ass, and all the tears Marc wells up over Faythe don't forgive his insufferable jealousy."

I would recommend catching a copy of this at the library so you can decide for yourself if you want to go further with the series (next up is Rogue and then Pride coming in '09) although Ms. Vincent DOES create a unique and very very interesting world.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Rogue has to offer, but I'm hoping that Marc gets over his "bad" self and Faythe remembers that she does, indeed, have a brain.

3 out of 5 berries because the ending was pretty fast paced and kept me reading far into the night.

Barrack Obama is Your New Bicycle.

I read the book Barack OBama is your new bi.cycle by Mathew Honan. It is subtitled 366 ways he really cares. It was started by the author's desire to make his wife laugh. While she was campaigning for Senator Obama, he set up the website, barckobamaisyournewbicycle.com. From there, came the book. I t is a humorous look at how Barrack Obama cares for you and why he is a good candidate. I will give you a few examples from the book but hopefully not too many so I don't go beyond fair use.

Barack Obama gave you a puppy.
Barack Obama mapped out a new dungeon and rolled up a totally bad ass paladin for your first game of D&D.
Barack Obama called your mom on mother's day just to say hi.

It was trite and yet very funny. It was an incredibly fast read and worth the time to read it.

3 out 0f 5 Pith Helmets.

Change One Diet by Reader's Digest

So, I've started reading the "diet" books that I've checked out from the library. The first one is the Change One Diet from Readers Digest. It's a good concept. Basically, you change one thing at a time begining with breakfast. For a week (or so) you just eat breakfast in a healthy way. The diet advocates eating whole grains, a small amount of protien and a fruit for breakfast everyday. It continues with lunch and then with dinner, each step bringing you closer to "dieting". Then the program has you work on things like eating out and celebrations and finally maintenance. After mastering all of these, the plan then (finally) works in fitness.

The thing I like about this plan is that they totally advocate changing things slowly. The human body isn't geared toward making and maintaining huge changes all at one time. I can get behind something like this.

What I don't like about the book is that they leave fitness for the very end. Everyone knows that the actual easiest way to lose weight is Calories in < Calories out. Right? What is the easiest way to get those calories "out"? Exercise. (yes, I hate it too but there it is.)

All in all, the book is a good read. I'm still reading parts of it but for now, the very basic idea of the book is "change just one thing at a time". Good advice.

Pretty much, from what I've read so far, I'll give the book 3 out of 5 berries.