"Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat" by Nancy Snyderman M.D.

I've seen Dr. Snyderman on TV, and she's had one or two other books that have hit our system. My co-worker read this first, and she said it was worth looking through, so I took it home. In a nutshell, you're probably not going to find anything new here, but it is a good book. Good, solid, medically sound advice on losing weight and how to keep it off. Ready for the secret?

Eat less, exercise more.

Yep, that's it! Snyderman herself even says that it's so basic, no one wants to believe it. Now, she doesn't say it's always easy to eat less and exercise more; if it was easy, we'd be a country of "normal"-sized people (whatever "normal" is, and yeah, I'll agree that it's heavier than it used to be). She's very wise to point out the health risks of being overweight, and she's also wise to point out that it's not all about will power. You need to be involved in losing weight, you need to find what works for YOU, crash diets are horrible, etc.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has ever tried to lose weight, and to those still trying. It's NOT a "diet" book, but more a book about how to do little things that will help you in the long run.

"All That I Have" by Castle Freeman Jr.

It all starts off with a call on the squawk-box of a "new male", and heads downhill from there. Of course, it's not a "new male" but a "nude male" that Sheriff Lucian Wing must respond to in the opening of this small but excellent book. Wing has been married for a long time, and from what I could gather, is probably nearing retirement age. Call him late fifties. He's good at "sheriffing", a much finer art form than "the law"; one is black and white, the other shades of gray. Guess which one Wing prefers? You got it, gray.

The nude male has been bound to a tree and obviously severely beaten. Not so much that he doesn't give Wing, a state trooper, and some other officers a lot of trouble when they try to put him in the squad car. He also doesn't appear to be from around their neck of the woods, which would be Vermont. He speaks Russian. It's a mystery, all right, until Wing realizes that there's been a break-in at a very upscale mansion outside the city limits, a fine home that is owned by Russians. It's a sloppy job; someone threw a large concrete planter through the glass patio doors. Right away, Wing recognizes the work of Sean Duke, aka Superboy. He's the local hood, and even though he's not bright and certainly not law-abiding, it's obvious that Wing has some sort of soft spot for the youth. The only problem is that Superboy has stolen a lock box, a very important belonging that the Russians want back at all costs. Thus the nude male. It's a bit of a race to the finish to see who will win - Wing or the Russians.

In this mix are various small-town characters, including the sheriff's wife, a mysterious female photographer/artist, a deputy gunning for Wing's job in the next election, Superboy's trailer-trash girlfriend, and the afore-mentioned state trooper. While there is some suspense here (will Wing actually arrest Superboy? Will he be able to handle the Russians? Is the sheriff's wife up to no good?), I would have to say this book is more like a snapshot of life in a small town than it is a suspense/mystery work. The character development was quite good for such a short piece, and I felt like I knew them. I really liked Lucian, and I liked how he explained things. I wasn't particularly surprised by the ending, either; it made it feel as if the book had come full circle.

This was my first time reading Freeman, and I'm happy to say we have more of his work here at the library. Check him out at your library today!

"Undead and Unwelcome" by MaryJanice Davidson

Oh my. Wow. Just.... I really don't know what to say.

Except that Queen Betsy has really hit the skids. The series, that is. Much as I've loved these books by MJD, much as I've giggled over Betsy's antics, much as I've drooled over Sinclair, I just can't get past how awful this entry is. Bad enough that I think I'm probably done with yet another paranormal series.

What's so horrible about this book? Well, let's back-track a bit. Let me begin by saying that the last few books have been OK, not fabulous like the first two or so in the series, but definitely not groan-inducing. There was a hint of a downhill slide, but I'm one of those ever-hopeful readers who is willing to cut an author some slack - sometimes too much, perhaps. Anyway, I was anxious to read this entry because the plot sounded like it would be good, possibly setting up future entries with a bit more bite (no pun intended).

Betsy, Sinclair, and Jessica are taking werewolf Antonia's corpse back to her pack on the East Coast (if you're not familiar with the series, Antonia died by throwing herself in front of bullets meant for Betsy, not really necessary unless said bullets were aimed at the head, which they were - no one comes back from that sort of damage). She's nervous about the pack, nervous about being away from home, nervous about BabyJon, her half-brother and now hers to look after (long story). The weres aren't happy to see her, much less Antonia's corpse, which was left just as it fell; Betsy and gang weren't sure how weres handle one of their own as far as death, so they didn't want to mess anything up. Needless to say, there are hard feelings on both sides, much misunderstanding, and yes, something is definitely weird and creepy about BabyJon.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (OK, the mansion), Dr. Mark is hanging out with Betsy's sister, Laura, also known as the Devil's daughter. She's evidently coming into her own and her "minions" have found her, wanting to do her bidding. Since she hates her mother (yes, the Devil is female here), she has them go out and do good works. Unfortunately, Mark makes a suggestion that completely backfires, and he spends most of the rest of the book frantically trying to contact Betsy and tell her to get her butt back home, pronto.

When put like this, the book doesn't sound bad, does it? Sigh. There are a lot of problems here, the least of which is the price - $24.95 for a book that took just a few hours to read. Sorry, but this is really paperback quality material here. If you want to read this, borrow a copy from your library, your friend, your neighbor - or wait until you can score a used copy dirt cheap. Now to the plot. There are holes here the size of the Grand Canyon, most glaringly Mark's inability to get Betsy to realize what's going on. This just really, really bothered me. Supposedly, even though she is a complete ditz, only thinks about herself, and is totally shoe-obsessed, Betsy is queen of grammar where emails are concerned. WTF? I did not buy this for a single second. She's incapable of deciphering Mark's emails, most of which rely on the abbreviations used for such things as email and text messaging. To add insult to injury, she didn't seem overly concerned that her cell phone wasn't getting reception at the weres estate, which also doesn't fly with me. Look, the way Betsy is written, she seems to be the kind that would not only completely freak out over no bars, but would remain in constant contact with people thru texting, twittering, Facebook, etc. To have me believe otherwise just insults my intelligence.

Having Mark "journal" what's happening back at home so that we know what's going on? Sad. Sad and not effective, either. Wouldn't I have been much more concerned about that had I only been able to read his increasingly frantic emails? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have me sitting there going "I can't believe you can't read this - he needs HELP!" A good opportunity completely passed by.

Overall, this is definitely NOT a must-read. The series has run its course, in my humble opinion, and I will not be reading any further entries about Betsy and the gang. Sometimes, you just need to know when to quit.

"The Man in the Picture" by Susan Hill

I've probably picked up this little book a dozen times or so. It was sitting on our "New Fiction" shelf when I came in to work Saturday, and I picked it up again, this time to shift it to our regular Fiction section. It had had its time in the sun, so to speak. Well, I really looked at it this time, and having just finished "The Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters, I found myself in the mood for yet another eerie ghost story. Plus, this is really a short story, so I knew it wouldn't take long to read.

It's not a bad little book, I'll give the author that. But I would say that it's not really "a ghost story" as the subtitle claims. This is much more a tale of a lover scorned and the ultimate revenge taken by that same woman, not only on the man who scorned her, but on his entire family. Indeed, so strong is this woman's hatred towards those who are happily in love, the painting affects even those not related to the original ill-fated couple.

The action takes place in England and is told from a few different views, that of a former Cambridge student, Oliver; his former professor and now old friend, Theo Parmitter; the Countess, who originally received the painting as a wedding "gift"; and finally a surprise narrator, who wraps up everything nicely and also indicates that the story is probably far from over. (Sort of like scary movies where they leave themselves open for a sequel or two or ten!) The writer has a way with words, and indeed, I felt as if I could see the painting myself in some places. But it's never made entirely clear just exactly how the painting works, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good because you can imagine pretty much whatever you want; bad because at times it seems a bit silly.

Overall I'd definitely recommend this book, most likely on a dreary, rainy afternoon when one wants a light entertainment to kill an hour or so. It's not really a "new" story as such; we've seen this sort of ghostly tale before. But it is well done, and I'm considering finding other works by the same author.

"Sock" by Penn Jillette

First off, I must admit that I had no idea Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame had written a book. I was very happy and excited to find this - it meant a book for my hubby to read and I really wanted to read it myself. And, as is usual of strange writing, we had very different opinions about said book when we were done. Namely that hubby really liked it, and I was really disappointed by it.

The story is a basic murder-mystery on the surface. A police diver (the guys that fish corpses out of the water) is doing his duty yet again when he pulls out the body of a former girlfriend. Struck by her death, he decides to investigate and find her killer. He enlists the help of a mutual friend, and they take off to track down the bad guy, thus avenging the girl.

Except this being Penn, nothing is normal here. First off, the story is not narrated by the diver but by his childhood toy, a sock monkey. The diver is referred to as "Little Fool" by Sock through the entire book, and at times, I almost felt like Penn was referring to me, the reader, in the same way. Reading the rantings of Sock made it very, very hard for me to get through this book; while the plot is basically an A-to-B-to-C, it doesn't feel that way. The monkey makes comments about anything and everything, very much like a stream-of-consciousness point of view. And just about every single paragraph ends with a reference to a pop-song or some other catch-phrase from pop culture, which was a bit disruptive in my opinion.

Penn is making comments about lots of things in this book, but probably the biggest one is about the existence of God. Yeah, I know - it's there, trust me. It's just not an overt way to make the commentary, and I think that it gets lost in the jumbled rantings of Sock. Overall, I found the characters to be difficult to relate to, the plot to be a bit thin, and Sock to be just outright annoying. I wish I had enjoyed this book as much as my hubby. He kept telling me to keep in mind who wrote it, which does explain a lot. But it doesn't make it a good book.

"Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris

Having read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins about a year ago, I was interested in this very tiny book when it came across the front desk at work. Would it be possible, I wondered, for an author to make basically the same argument that Dawkins made in so few pages? Would this author do a better job of it, i.e. not alienate the very audience he sought to persuade?

The answer is pretty much yes. Harris isn't saying anything new here, but he does take a different approach than Dawkins, which I frankly appreciated. I had really wanted to be able to recommend the full-length book by the scientist, but after slogging my way through it, I was so put off by his heavy-handed, and ironically, holier-than-thou approach that I knew I'd never tell anyone to read that book. This slim volume by Harris, however, just might fit the bill for those interested in the argument "Is there a God, and if so, do we still need to believe in him in the 21st century?"

I thought Harris was much more even-handed in his approach to the argument and also much more respectful of the very Christians he's trying to reach. I also thought that it was smart to write it as a "letter" - this should only take an hour or two to read, no more than that, which also means that he doesn't beat the topic to death. He makes his point, backs it up with several examples, and concludes the letter in a respectful, succinct manner. I very much liked some of his examples of why he's an atheist, too; at one point he reminds us that it wasn't all that long ago that humans believed in gods such as Zeus and Poseidon. Of course, if you admit to still believing in those gods in today's modern world, you're considered a kook. He wonders if someday we won't look back on this time and shake our heads at all the people that continued to believe in a god, be it God, Allah, Buddah, etc. He's not shy about casting doubt on all organized religions, and he also points out that Christians tend to be very intolerant of others' religious beliefs, not a very "christian" attitude in his opinion.

Overall, it's a good little book, one that will definitely make one think. Will it change any one's mind? That I doubt. People tend to believe what they want to believe, regardless of the proof or lack thereof to the actual validity of that belief. I think it would take a personal conversion of sorts, lots of them, before the world changed enough to please Harris.

"Crooked Little Vein" by Warren Ellis

"Burned-out private dick Michael McGill needs to jump-start his career. What he gets instead is a cattle prod to the crotch. The president's heroin-addicted chief of staff wants McGill to find the Constitution—the real one the Founding Fathers secretly devised for the time of gravest crisis. And with God, civility, and Mom's homemade apple pie already dead or dying, that time is now. But McGill has a talent for stumbling into every imaginable depravity—and this case is driving him even deeper into America's darkest, dankest underbelly, toward obscenities that boggle even his mind."

Well, this certainly is one weird story. The main plot is McGill trying to locate and obtain this alternate Constitution, the one that when read aloud to people makes them do, well, pretty much whatever you want them to do. The chief of staff states that the president wants it located so that they can start holding town-hall-type meetings, read the book, and get people to go back to the way things were, the "good old days". The sexually repressed days is more like it. Never mind that the COS is a raging heroin fiend, never mind the scary way he shows up everywhere that McGill goes, and never mind that it might not be in everyone's best interest to go back to the days of the working Dad and stay-at-home Mom with the two kids, dog, and white picket fence. McGill is offered a lot of money for this mission, and he's really not in a position to say no.

He's not alone on this weird quest, either. He meets Trix, a rather flamboyant poly amorous researcher (where he meets her is one of the books weirder scenes); the two hit it off and he "hires" her to be his assistant. She tells him he needs her because he's probably the most un-hip person she's met in the last decade. True - McGill isn't known for his wild and swinging ways. And he's going to need someone like Trix to navigate the crazy trail of the book, ranging from Godzilla-obsessed dorks to a wild Texan to....well... let's just say there were things in this book that I sort of wish I didn't know about.

But when all's said and done, is this a good book? Um, yeah, I guess I'd say it is. While it is definitely out there and on the uber-weird side, I thought Ellis's writing was good. Good characterization, tightly written plot (even if it is on the out-there side!), and a nice resolution to the story. This is his first "regular" novel; he's the author of several graphic novels. I would gladly pick up another book of his, but this time, I'll know to put my mental seat belt on before I open the cover. It's definitely a wild ride!