When Sweet Caroline arrived in the mail, it leapt to the top of my TBR pile. I have thoroughly enjoyed Rachel Hauck’s NashVegas books and wondered if this one would measure up. Let me tell you, I loved every page and did not want to see it end.
As I read this book, I felt like I was transported to South Carolina. From the characters to the dialogue to the activities, it all fit that locale. And the secondary characters add a rich layer to this book. No one is thrown in without serving a purpose, and each adds a dimension to the plot and to Caroline’s character.

Sweet Caroline is one of those rare books that I could not put down. I was immediately drawn into Caroline’s world, didn’t want to leave. The story was full of wonderful surprises that literally took my breath away, and the message was strong, clear, sweet. This book is beautiful, sweet, fun, and powerful

Lisa Belkin has created an amazing book here – she definitely did her research. The book consists of a few case studies of patients who pose ethical dilemas. Belkin takes you inside meetings of the ethics committee at the hospital, she takes you to the patient’s bedside to see what the patient actually wants. Some of the patients she follows are a young kid who has been hospitalized for 15 years with a terminal condition, beating all odds by staying alive that long, several premature babies, and a man who was paralyzed almost completely after getting shot in the spine. It’s a great look at medical ethics – Lisa Belkin’s book asks all the right questions.
The book is in a very easy-to-read format – the stories of the patients she follows are all intertwined throughout the book. For example, you’ll read about Patrick for 30-or-so pages, and then she’ll switch over to update you on Taylor’s story. She does this because you are reading the stories in “real time” as they happened; all of this took place in a certain time span in the hospital. It’s exciting and fast-paced non-fiction – I read it in two days and didn’t put it down.
It will break your heart, because often the ethics committee has to bring money into the discussion, as much as they would like to treat every patient as if money was not an issue. This book is SO worth reading, for anyone who is interested in medicine and healthcare at all.

With this book, Rachel Hauck just jumped into the top tier of my favorite authors–one whose books are labeled ‘keepers’ and remain on my bookshelf forever.
Elle (pronounced like the letter ‘L’) Garvey is an artist and art gallery owner living in lowcountry Beaufort, South Carolina. We met and loved her in Sweet Caroline as the slightly wacky best friend of Caroline Sweeney. Now Elle is back with her own story. When pro-football-player-turned-minister Jeremiah Franklin proposes, Elle’s dreams seem to have come true. Then she learns Jeremiah has accepted the senior pastorate of a large church in Dallas. Leave Beaufort? Sacrifice and compromise plague the couple as they plan their wedding.
In the meantime, successful New York lawyer, Heath McCord, needs some time away from the pressure-cooker of NY law as well as time to heal from the tragic death of his wife. So, he packs up his four-year-old daughter and heads to–you guessed it–Beaufort, SC, where his family has roots, and moves into Elle’s cottage which she has leased out due to her relocation to Dallas.
I’ll leave the rest to you to discover. I loved Elle. She’s spunky, talented, smart, beautiful and fun, not to mention a gifted gal when it comes to quick repartee. Her character grows as she learns more about prayer . . . and herself. One of a writer’s major responsibilities is to show character growth through the story, and Rachel aces it in Love Starts With Elle. I highly recommend this book. It’s a great read.

It has been twelve years since Will Hatfield was sentenced to Clarkeston Federal prison, but he is about to be released in two months. He has a great desire to see the family farm in Dogwood, West Virginia and Karin the only woman he ever loved. When he went to prison, she never answered his letters as she made a new life for herself in a passionless marriage with three children she adores.

When Will comes home, he is not greeted like the prodigal son as most locals believe he should have spent his life in prison for his crimes; even his brother would be happier if he left. The family has been dragged through the sewage due to Will’s DUI vehicular homicide of two innocent girls. He is attacked at the place he used to work and the town tries to take the farm away from him due to eminent domain. Karin is coming to learn the truth ABOUT THE SACRIFICE Will made for her.

On the surface DOGWOOD seems like a straight line story with Danny the brother of the dead sisters receiving counseling because he blames himself for their deaths. Karin tries to be happy in her situation while Will shows patience as he waits for Karin to realize the truth. None of the peoples’ stories are quite what they appear as the revelations are quite shocking. Chris Fabry has written a heart wrenching character driven tale as each of the key players feels guilt while praying for redemption and a fresh start.

I had never been much of a fan of western novels, until a friend gave me a copy of “The Shopkeeper” by James Best. As soon as I heard that he had written a sequel, I quickly obtained a copy.
The author’s style is such that he brings the characters to life, and pulls you into the story. It is easy to envision them and understand more about the old west. As mentioned above, I was not a fan of western novels, but have always been interested in history.

As somewhat of an amateur historian, I can tell you that Mr. Best has done his research. His novels contain details of what it was like to live at that time, and you find yourself almost a part of the story.
I would highly recommend these two westerns to anyone with an imagination and curiosity about the history of our country. And besides, they are just excellent reading.

One of the first restaurants I went to once I settled here in Chicago was the historic Berghoff Restaurant. I had heard not only about their history(dating back to the late 1800s) but glowing reviews of their creamed spinach and own brand of root beer and beer.

I had purchased the first cookbook – The Berghoff Family Cookbook – which has fast become a go-to resource in my household and was elated to see that Carlyn Berghoff had released a second cookbook earlier this year. This one, the Berghoff Cafe Cookbook, is true to its title in that it offers “simple, satisfying food”. Every recipe in this book reminds me of growing up and gets to the heart and soul of what makes a great meal. Chock full of easy-to-follow recipes for home cook, this book excels in that it offers tips on how to reuse and recycle ingredients into full meals that not only look delicious but are.

This is a well-written, easily understandable, interesting book on the very serious subject of overeating. The book is broken into six parts with relatively small chapters ranging in size from approximately three pages to eleven pages in length with many in the four to seven page range. The first part, for example, has 13 chapters so there is much information but it is presented in a way which flows well together.

When I got this book I was interested in the subject matter but I was worried that the book would be boring or so technical that I would lose interest. I read this book in two days and it has changed my approach to eating.

Part One of the book, Sugar, Fat, Salt, talks about why people eat and overeat. It looks at the physical as well as psychological aspects of overeating.

Part Two of the book (my favorite), The Food Industry, gives specific examples of how restaurants and the food industry contribute to the problem by creating food that people want to eat but is not healthy. For instance I never new that bread had so much salt because it takes away the bitter taste of the flour and brings up the flavor. The author also addresses how nutrition information on packaging is manipulated by the food industry. For instance if a food contains more sugar than any other ingredient it must go first on the list but if you use a number of sources of sugar like brown sugar, corn syrup and fructose each is listed individually and goes lower on the list.

Part Three, Conditioned Hypereating Emerges, talks about how we get trapped into an overeating pattern. It references numerous studies and explores whether overeating is nature, nurture or both.

Part Four, The Theory of Treatment, talks about theoretical ways people can break the overeating habit.

Part Five, Food Rehab, offers practical ways individuals can stop overeating. The advice is great.

Part Six, The End Of Overeating, talks about the challenges ahead to end overeating. While it will not be easy, each individual has the power to end his or her overeating despite roadblocks created by the food industry or our own physical or mental makeup.

This is a great book that has started me thinking differently about food. It is well written and the best on the subject I have ever read.

First off, I want to respond to the critical reviews– YES the book contains recipes calling for sugar substitutes. Why? Because it’s a way to cut calories. If you’re allergic to them, you know that you are, and you know what sugar replacements you CAN have- stevia, anyone? Secondly, YES the recipes call for many processed foods. Why? Because we live in America, and that’s what most of us eat. Hungry Girl is about getting by, cutting calories, without having to go to 14 different organic stores looking for exotic (and often expensive) ingredients. HG is about being able to go to the regular grocery store like everyone else and buy many of the same things everyone else does WITHOUT breaking the bank or the waistband. To criticize a book for NOT being that which it DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE is ignorant, plain and simple. Did you miss the title page? “Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World.”

My wife asked for this book for Christmas and has loved it. The title COOK YOURSELF THIN caught her eye. She is learning to cook and wants to be able to cook healthier meals. She is just starting to experience weight gain and wanted to make lifestyle changes that would help her lose some weight and maintain healthy weight long term. She has been excited after trying each new recipe and her fiance who is a “meat potato kind of guy” is even enjoying the meals she is preparing. They are simple to prepare,taste great, low fat and are more nutritious. Who wouldn’t love it!
I would strongly recommend this book. Great Gift Idea for anyone interested in learning to cook healthy meals, to lose weight or just maintain their weight. It would be a great bridal shower gift. When we eat better, we feel better and when we add exercise our brain sends out hormones that increase our feeling of well-being. Becoming healthy feels good and can be fun!

Much work is obviously put into each of the Eat This, Not That guides, and this is the best one. There is so much information on products we all buy in the supermarket, and this makes it so easy to pick the items with the fewest calories. It also lists other information needed to help us make decisions on brands that provide the best nutrition. I use it to plan my shopping trip, matching sales and coupons to the items they recommend. This saves lots of time in the aisles, reading each box or wrapper to make the best choice. The difference in calories among similar types of products is eye-opening, and these choices allow you to save calories while enjoying a wide variety of foods. There is other great information, such as the nutritional value of different types of meat and lots of suggestions for stocking your kitchen. it is set up in a way that makes it easy to access the information you want, as opposed to many general nutrition books that do not discuss individual products. Everyone can find something in this guide that will help them make better grocery decisions, and I highly recommend it to all.