Monday, April 9, 2012

MiMi's Review - 150 Pounds

Did you all think we forgot? Cuz we totally did not forget to do our reviews. **ahemmaybeidid**

Anyway. Review of 150 Pounds. Seems like it's been forever since I read it!

But the thought I have in my head is that I didn't really like it that much. How rude, right?

It was about bloggers. And about weight issues. Seems like it would be right up this fat blogger's alley, huh?
I mean, it has such a pretty cover! What. Are you saying I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or by the awesome looking pastries on it? Whatever.

Basically this book was a quick read and I didn't feel like it really went too deep into the whole question of "to be fat or not fat" issue.

One character, Alexis, was touting healthy lifestyle, almost to the point of unhealthy. The other was embracing her body at 250 pounds.

I was confused how the heavy girl, Shoshanna, could have been vegetarian and still be so heavy, until I remembered that I could eat Ding Dongs and Ho-Hos all day and never touch meat but still be fat.

Alexis was a complete bitch...dang near the entire book, in my opinion. I mean, she goes through a major transformation in her life, with having a baby, a sick friend and finding her husband, so she does soften, but her character is never really likable which made it hard to ever root for her even when she was going through some crap that the reader was probably supposed to sympathize with her while she dealt with it.

Shoshanna was a fun character, but you know the need for authors to wrap things up with a nice pretty bow. Of course she lost weight. Of course. It just could not be that she stayed heavy and lived a great life.

The part where she inherited an old house and apple orchard was weird...and it helped to try to explain her childhood and what made her her, but it still seemed disjointed to me.

I dunno. Did you all read it? What did you think?

I'm totally stealing a page from Connie's book and rating this by pounds. Remember she rated the last one with awkward hugs?

Anyway. I give this book 2 cupcakes. Cuz 2 isn't bad but wouldn't we all like to eat a dozen?

 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

April 2012 ~ Bloom

I've been a reader of Kelle Hampton's blog for a long time. Enjoying The Small Things inspired me in all areas of my life.

Our April 2012 book selection is Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir by Kelle Hampton.




 From Amazon....

 Love me. Love me. I'm not what you expected, but oh, please love me. That was the most defining moment of my life.


That was the beginning of my story.


 From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.


 But when her new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome—a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle's fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.


 With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, Bloom takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life—a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, "There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky."


Visit The Young and The Relentless for a chance to win a copy!