LIZ: BOOK #42

Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories by Simon Van Booy

256 pages

Completed 12/14/10

Typically, I avoid short stories; they don't often offer as much depth as I like in books. However, this one piqued my interest, and I decided to give it a go - and I am so glad I did. The short stories touched upon human emotion and life as no other collection has for me, but without being sappy as I had expected based on the title alone.

The isolation of the characters was moving; reading it, I was surprised how quickly Van Booy was able to draw me into the characters with just a brief few pages. Quirkiness, memories, and unrequited love reigns throughout all of the tales.

One of the most intriguing parts of this book was the interview with Van Booy in the prologue. He answers that he bases his characters on brief moments he sees between people. His eloquent way with words transforms these chance non-encounters if you will, into wonderfully-spun short glimpses into these "characters." As Publisher's Weekly put so well, "Each of these stories has moments of sheer loveliness."

LIZ: BOOK #41

Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen

224 pages

Completed 11/16/10

This sad tale of a girl who realizes far-too young her power as a female over men was deep. Cohen's young what-the-hell attitude is both freeing and terrifying at the same time. As her promiscuos ways continue throughout high school and college, the tales - told tastefully, not raunchily as I had expected - grow sadder. Her own self-reflections cannot help but allow the reader to feel for this woman.

With her dysfunctional family proving what could possibly be deemed one of the best memoir-featured ones, Kerry attempts to use her physical beingness as means to escape, but when finding herself in the process, is haunted by what she sees. With actual relationships thrown in along with cross-country moves, this memoir is a must-read.

LIZ: BOOK #40

What Happened to Henry by Sharon Pywell

352 pages

Completed 11/6/10

This was the first book I've managed to finish in a few weeks; hectic schedule really cuts into my leisurely reading time. This was a novel that piqued my interest and then bored me throughout the rest. Centered around a trio of siblings and their unspeakable loss during childhood and the after-effects of it, Pywell writes of the two brothers and sister's bond, despite their maturing and taking separate paths.

With an accident forever changing the once-predictable eldest brother's mind, the younger two are left to cope. With Henry's odd behavior progressing as the three aged, the siblings struggle with their own changes. Somewhat unrealistic, and mostly strange, but a story to get through, in my opinion, if only to find out the ending of the story.

The story of the unbreakable sibling bond of the Coopers is established an flourishes under Pywell's way with words, but her repetitive nature of the push and pull of life is somewhat tiring.

LIZ: BOOK #39

Under Observation: Life Inside the McLean Psychiatric Hospital by Lisa Berger and Alexander Vuckovic

288 pages

Completed 10/15/10

A combination of clinical reports and patient activity and the life of a doctor inside a psychiatric facility, Under Observation was more dated than I had hoped. As a student of psychology, I am always drawn to case studies and daily interactions with disturbed patients. However, much like the real world of psychology, the bureaucracy surrounding these patients and the McLean facility bored me.

A lot of medical advances have occured since this book was written, and new findings studied. If I had read more carefully, a book chronicling the treatment of patients in 1995 would not have drawn my interest. However, as a glimpse into a psych wing - albeit a very small window - this book could be considered telling to those simply interested in the accounts of one doctor.

As for myself, I would not recommend this work. Exhausting to the point of repetition, I wonder if I had viewed it differently as an outsider who has never experienced working with this population. I did, however, heartily appreciate the follow-ups on the patients provided at the conclusion of the book.

LIZ: BOOK #38

Assholes Finish First by Tucker Max

416 pages

Completed 10/11/10

The follow-up to Max's successfully hilarious, yet completely chauvinistic, "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell," "Assholes Finish First" provides more amusing escapades of Max. One of the rare female fans of Max, I was really looking forward to this book; IHTSBIH literally had me laughing out loud, crying it hurt so badly because the stories were THAT good.

I was curious to see how Max's adventures would change with fame - the answer is that there was less of a chase, and more skanky girls just offering themselves up to him, leading to less amusing endings. Two arrests, and the inevitable lack of amusement about being a man in his thirties chasing barely-legal girls just wasn't as hysterical this time around.

This was a quick read, and somewhat disappointing. Don't get me wrong, there were some laugh-out-loud moments, but not the side-splitting humor I had come to love from Max. I was pleasantly surprised at the end, however, as he revealed another book - perhaps two - will follow next year. Hopeful some more of the hysterical anecdotes will step it up.

LIZ: Book #37

The Good Eater: The True Story of One Man's Struggle With Binge Eating Disorder by Ron Saxen

252 pages

Completed 9/26/10

This memoir takes you from abused, chubby little Ron to unhealthy-habitted model Ron, to self-destructive Ron. And the whole while, you want to feel for this guy, but I found that you just can't. It took me quite some time to get through this one; not because it was dull or didn't interest me, but because I honestly just wanted to smack the character through the book.

Binge eating, which affects millions of Americans, was the focus of this book; but not really addressed. Yes, it was clear as Saxen shoveled multiple Big Macs and one pound bags of candy followed by entire loaves of fried bread that this was unhealthy binging at it's finest. But the author seems to have used this book to connect his feelings to the food (which I know is the reasoning behind binge eating, but not the reasoning behind this book); if he was unhealthy, unhappy, tired, wary, scared, uneasy, pleased, or overwhelmed - in went the food. Skyrocketing from 204 lbs. to almost 300 in an unbelievably short amount of time, Saxen was just hard to feel for.

Yes, the short peek into the male modeling world and crazy dieting ideas Saxen tries was entertaining, albeit sad, but towards the end of the book, I found myself completely uninspired. Instead of addressing his clear binge eating disorder, Saxen chooses to close the book out by introducing his new love interest and simply summing it all up by saying "I am happy now." For this to be the explanation behind why he doesn't binge eat anymore is absurd. For people looking to this book for advice or reaching out for help, Saxen addressed BED terribly, especially connecting his happiness with healthiness and leaving it at that.

LIZ: BOOK #36

Hungry by Crystal Renn

256 pages

Completed 8/30/10

Leading plus-size model Crystal Renn takes us into her susprinsingly dramatic childhood, her dive into anorexia and exercise addicition, her entrance into the modeling world, and her subsequent conquering of it at her heaviest. Entertaining in the way most fashion world memoirs are, and as sad as most spiraling teenage girls into eating disorders always are, this was a good - albeit very quick - read.

Typically if a memoir begins presenting statistics to me, I skip the chapter; if I had done so in Renn's case, I would have finished in half the time. However, this was a rare case in which I welcomed the numbers and journal article excerpts. The appalling low numbers of weights, salaries, and ages of these models was shocking were countered with the fashion industry's heavyweights (no pun intended) adding their own opinions and experiences about the plus-size world of things.

What is intriguing about Renn's story is that her plus-size status doesnt not always designate her to only the plus-size jobs. She's closed out Jean Paul Gaultier's runway shows, she has starred in Dolce & Gabanna's ad campaigns, and has over a dozen high fashion covers under her belt. She was the back behind (ha!) the breast cancer ad of the velvet-draped goddess. All at a size 14. And by maintaining her sanity, her brain, and herself.