books 2011 #5-7

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Maybe 2.5 stars. I found this WWII-era book about a group of people in London to be somewhat disappointing. I found the male characters to be quite compelling, the female ones not so much. In this case, I think the reverse chronology was distracting.


The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet: The Lifelong Solution to Yo-Yo Dieting by Rachael Heller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I heard about this book from a fellow patient at physical therapy and my curiosity was piqued. It has a questionnaire that you take to find out if you are a carb addict. I scored in the severe addict range, big shocker.

The book explains that those who are sensitive to carbs have an excess of insulin released (from eating too many carbs), which makes you think you're hungry (for carbs) when you're really not, and disrupts the production of serotonin, which helps you to feel full and satisfied.

The idea is that you restrict your carb intake to one meal a day, so that you don't get the constant triggering of insulin over-production. It all makes a lot of sense to me. I've been on the diet for 2 weeks so far, with good results. I've lost weight, but I've also felt more energetic and less tired than I have in a long, long time.

I guess time will tell how I fare with it in the long run.


Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really loved this one. A gentle, sweet love story set in the English countryside with a good dose of humor.

I loved the way the Major talks. One of my favorite quotes was "The Major preferred to avoid looking ridiculous." Me, too.

While there were a few times when I wanted to give him a jolt, in all I found him to be a completely endearing character, and I enjoyed seeing him confront and move past many of his preconceived notions.


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