Book Review: The Power Foods Diet

Title: The Power Foods Diet

Author: Neal Barnard

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: March 26, 2024

Rating: 5 out of 5

Guest Review by Sharon Baggs

As someone who has recently adapted to a primarily plant-based diet, I was eager to read another book from Dr. Neal Barnard and consume another layer of knowledge from his research.

The book focuses on Appetite-Taming Foods, Calorie-Trapping Foods, and Calorie-Burning Foods. Participants in Barnard’s research studies provide credible testimony of how these play out for the person looking for help in their dietary journey.

The chapter on the Best Foods for Powering your Weight Loss provides a roadmap for how to get started.  Six categories of fruits and vegetables, along with adding in cinnamon, hot peppers, and ginger can boost both flavor and beneficial results. Pasta, potatoes, and rice are welcomed as partners in dietary fiber, something we don’t get enough of.

My favorite chapter was chapter 3: Foods that are Less Healthful than you’d Think. Some deeper thoughts come into play here on what we consume and how it may affect us. If weight loss is the goal, the foods discussed here can help shift assumptions we have about certain foods. It challenged my mindset on: “What benefit am I getting from what I consume?”

The book is interesting to read, packed with practical information, and easy to implement changes to your diet. I highly recommend this book and any other books by Dr. Barnard.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review. 

Book Review: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Title: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Author: Kimbely McCreight

Publisher: Knopf Publishing

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Rating: 5 out of 5

When NYU student Cleo arrives home for a reconciliatory dinner with her mother, she finds the door open, food burning in the over and blood on the floor. Katrina, her mother is missing without any sign of where or why. So begins this domestic thriller.

McCreight's latest book is a slow-burner. After the compelling start, she slowly unfolds the characters: Cleo, the emotional student, Katrina, the buttoned-up lawyer, Aiden, the swaggering husband, and Kyle, the rich boyfriend / contemptuous drug dealer. And as she does so, new facets of each emerge. 

Cleo begins to see that there is more to her mother than meets the eye. There are secrets from her past that are coming back to haunt the present and determine their future.

Although opposites in many ways, Cleo is her mother's daugther and despite stern warnings from the police not to get involved, she takes it upon herself to investigate and solve Kat's disappearance. And it's not until almost the very end that McCreight drops a bombshell that ties the daughter in with the mother so that it becomes truly like mother, like daughter. A very fun and fast read.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review. 

Book Review: A Calamity of Souls

Title: A Calamity of Souls 

Author: David Baldacci

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: April 16, 2024

Rating: 5 out of 5

The latest book by Baldacci is not another in a series, nor is it a thriller as such. It's a legal novel set in the south in the 60s, and is more Grisham than Baldacci. Indeed, it reminded me of A Time to Kill, that great story by John Grisham. But this book retains the fine points of a Baldacci tale: strong characters, great plot, and plenty of twists.

Set against the backdrop of the recent assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, a young black man is found in his rich employer's house standing over two dead bodies: those of his rich white employer and wife. Immediately arrested, indicted and all but convicted ... even before his trial. Enter Jack Lee, a young poorish white lawyer who takes on this all-but-impossible case. Then just as he is getting his bearings on the case, Desiree DuBose, a black lawyer from Chicago comes on the scene to take over the case on behalf of the accused and to fight for black civil rights. Jack decides to work with Desiree and discovers the ugliness of racism.

With every turn, obstacles mount. The case is rushed to court. The judge is clearly not impartial. The jury is all white. Evidence emerges almost on demand for the prosecution. And yet, the pair of defense lawyers rise to each occasion, not giving up hope, expecting the best. And this is a story, unlike a non-fiction work, and so we expect a happy ending, a strong conclusion. And it is there that Baldacci wraps it up surprisingly well but in a very unexpected way. Happy ending? You'll have to judge for yourself.

This book excited me, angered me, challenged me and made me think a lot about racism and its effects in society. I suppose that is the sign of good art, to provoke contemplation. It is a great read!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Book Review: Ladykiller

Title: Ladykiller

Author: Katherine Wood

Publisher: Bantam

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Rating: 5 out of 5

I was told I would love this book, so I got a copy. At first I thought it was nothing special. Oh, I liked it but it seemed to be another typical mystery: two friends from opposite social hierarchies, throw in a beautiful Greek island, and one of the women goes missing. You know what I mean. But halfway through something happened. It went from meh to YEAH! From that point on, I loved it. 

The two friends, Abby and Gia have drifted apart, particularly when Abby told Gia she wouldn't attend her wedding to Garret, the man she met 3 months earlier. Estranged,
Gia invites her brother Benny and Abby to a Swedish resort hotel to reconnect. Except she doesn't show. She has disappeared. And secrets emerge that were buried 12 years ago.

The story alternates between Abby's journey in current time and Gia's life on her beachfront estate a month or two ago. As Gia writes her new book, this narrative becomes a key to unlocking her disappearance.

Not everything or everyone is who they seem or claim. With two different references to The Talented Mr. Ripley, it becomes clear that this tale, too, is one of deception and duplicity. But who is the real hero and who is the real villain? The second half of the book is a real page-turner. Enjoy!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review.