Jenerally Speaking

Well, it was time to visit the library again.  I can’t believe how small our library is.  It still has enough books to keep my busy for the next year or two, I think.  I’m excited because they have a sidewalk sale this Saturday.  I found about 15 books at their last sale in September, so I hope I’ll be as lucky again this time.  I’m definitely going to open my mind up to the idea of trying some new genres and topics for reading.

I returned 2 of my previous books: Someone Like You and Good Calories, Bad Calories.  I didn’t get around to finishing Someone Like You.  I really thought I would like it. It was a fun, fluffy YA book, but it didn’t hold my attention.  The movie “How To Deal” was inspired by it and I like that movie, but the book just didn’t keep me interested.  I don’t think it was the book’s fault…it definitely was me.  I might try it again in the summertime when I’m running out of chicklit to read by the pool.

Good Calories, Bad Calories was…wow.  There was a lot of info in there.  It was filled with medical studies and explanations about the misinformation that has been passed around for the past few decades.  What truths are we supposed to learn from this book?
1) Fat doesn’t make you fat and
2) Simple carbs are very much responsible for weight gain in most individuals due to the rapid increase of insulin in our bloodstream.   I knew all of that, but it was interesting to see how and why the diet industry keeps changing their tune over the years.

Which books did I pick up this time?

Well, I renewed my Positive Energy book by Judith Orloff.  I wanted to read the first half of the book again.  I actually felt inspired by this book.  It delved a little into the scientific side of the energy connecting all living beings and it also focused on the spiritual side of living in the moment.  I was raised to be very wary of anything that would fall under “New Age” philosophy, but I think I have learned to loosen up and go with my gut a little more when it comes to trusting the information I read.  After reading the book, I definitely came away with some insight as to how I can learn to slow down and focus inward.  I have learned to really pay close attention to my 15-month-old niece and how she interacts with her world.  To babies, there is only “the present.”  They don’t worry about the future and they don’t get depressed or stressed thinking about the past…they are in the moment.  I think I definitely need to relearn that particular state of mind.

In addition to renewing Positive Energy, I picked up two new ones:

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

I used to work in a law office and one of the attorneys there would make fun of  the fact that I was a bit of a “comma whore.”  My law briefs, my legal correspondence…they would all be filled with lots and lots commas.  I love grammar, but I will be the first one to admit that I am a little rusty on some of the rules.  Those darned commas…I could swear they belong in a lot more places than they actually do.  Well, this book is quite entertaining in its pursuit to teach us proper punctuation.

The second book I borrowed was:

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

It was meant to be a supplement to the Positive Energy book, but I started reading it and I don’t think it’s quite what I was looking for.  It’s a little bit “out there.”  I don’t know.  I’ll try to finish it and see what I think when I get to the end.