Who's the new kid

Nine year old Breanna Bond weighed 186 pounds. At such a young age, she was experiencing the health consequences of obesity, not to mention the teasing and taunting from classmates. Something had to be done. Breanna's mom, Heidi, had made attempts to limit food, but almost always gave in to her daughter's wants. Finally, Heidi made one more attempt to save her daughter. Who's the new kid is their story.

Heidi started by throwing out all the junk food in the house and buying healthy foods instead. She had been unwittingly enabling her daughter by just having junk food in the house. Next she and her daughter started exercising. She soon realized they both needed to start slow and work up to running. So began their daily walks. Over time, with Heidi's firm hand, her daughter began to lose weight. Eventually, Breanna lost enough weight to be considered normal.

This book has received some criticism. Some believe Heidi acted like a bully, though she did have to take a tough stance. There is also the sustainability of her eat less, move more approach. With all the nutrition and health books I have read, I have to agree that it could become a problem. There were moments where Breanna complained of being hungry. Still, Breanna did lose the weight and eventually wanted to eat better to feel better.

This book is an interesting look at childhood obesity and one family's experience. It may motivate other families to make different lifestyle choices. From a nutrition perspective, it is problematic since the eat less, move more concept has been largely debunked. I have to wonder where Breanna is now. Has she maintained her weight loss? Does she have a healthy relationship with food?

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog

Folks, this ain't normal

Joel Salatin is a famous American farmer. He is considered to be controversial for his methods. But when you read or listen to the things he says, it can make a lot of sense. He promotes sustainable permaculture farm methods, methods long passed over for "modern" farming systems that damage the soil and raise sick animals. As these things go, he has garnered attention of animal activities and government regulators. Salatin's book Folks, this ain't normal is a collection of essays filled with Salatin's observations and personal experiences both with farming and a few other topics.

I really enjoyed this book. I found his folksy way of speaking interesting. Some of the difficulties he has had with government regulators is almost unbelievable, but amazingly true. His observations about the problems with current farming methods are spot on. Anyone who eats a more traditional foods diet will recognize the problems Salatin highlights.

I appreciated Salatin's insight and I think this book is worth a read.

Book Rating: 5 stars

The Secret Life of Fat

The Secret Life of Fat by Dr. Sylvia Tara is an interesting book. Fat, both what we consume but also the fat in our body is not really understood well. Dr. Tara presents the science and case studies about fat. There were two particularly interesting cases regarding fat. One was of a girl who had no fat. Her body simply could not absorb and process it. The result was a very sick, thin girl. Another was of a young woman who literally could not stop eating. Both cases make you wonder about fat and the importance of it in the diet. Our bodies, especially hormones and our brains, depend on fat to function properly.

The book claims to provide the secret to losing weight. This is the weakest part of the book and the advice was really not all that helpful. This book provides insight and interesting case stories about fat and that is the main reason to read the book.

Book Rating: 4 stars.

Herbal Antibiotics

Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Buhner is a great reference manual. I picked this up because I was curious. Are there herbal remedies that can help fight infection? According to Buhner, there are and they are more effective long term than antibiotic pharmaceuticals. The herbal remedies are gentler on the body and have fewer side effects. More studies need to be done to really understand how the herbals work in comparison to prescribed antibiotics, but it is worth knowing what options may exist.

The books is a bit dry, detailed, and technical. There are bits and pieces of humor sprinkled throughout, so you may be surprised to read some of Buhner's personality coming through. I did read most of the book, skimming a few sections. Buhner describes each remedy, sources, side effects and warnings. He includes some dosing and preparation recommendations.

This is a handy manual to have on hand. Buhner has written extensively about herbal medicine and he is considered an expert on the topic. He does get some criticism because herbal medicine relies on "folk wisdom" rather than scientific. It's not that he hasn't encouraged more studies, it's just there isn't much motivation because there is little to no profit in it's application. Buhner is especially well known in the lyme community for putting together an herbal protocol for those patients.

Book Rating: 5 stars.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog, which are affiliate links.

The exhaustion breakthrough

I read the Exhaustion Breakthrough by Dr. Holly Phillips in hopes that I could find some insight on my chronic fatigue. Since I read this book a while ago, I can't really remember a lot of details about her suggestions. Most of the suggestions are common sense : eat right, get better sleep, and exercise.

Sleep is a big factor and having good sleep hygiene is important. Turn off electronics, have a night routine, etc. Try to get around 7 hours of sleep a night. Eating right includes eliminating convenience foods and replacing your diet with minimally processed, whole foods. And yes, exercise but not too much. This kind of advice can be found in many places and it will probably help the person who has normal fatigue. She also advises a person be evaluated for thyroid problems and other conditions that contribute to fatigue. The book does focus on women since women tend have more trouble with fatigue and are more likely to be diagnosed with fatigue problems.

Unfortunately, her book does not really help a person who has chronic fatigue. I can say this because I have implemented some of her strategies. A squeaky clean diet, gentle exercise, and good sleep hygiene have helped me but it has not broken through the exhaustion. I have several theories as to why, but Dr. Phillips does not really deep dive on the subject. So this book is not really helpful for those who suffer from chronic, unrelenting fatigue.

The book is not terrible and may help those with normal fatigue.

Book rating: 3.5 stars

The life-changing magic of tidying up

I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo a few years ago. The book took the internet by storm and there were many youtube videos of people applying her principles. The book is mostly text based with a few illustrations.

I suppose we are looking for that magic formula that will help us stay organized and tidy. Perhaps this is why the book is so popular. The book is in two basic parts. The first part is about tidying up. In this there is no real innovation from other organizational books and ideas. Kondo has you declutter in categories. First, it is clothes, then books and papers, and later other areas. She has you select each item as you sort and ask yourself if the item gives you joy. If it doesn't, then you either donate or toss it. She believes each item in your life should bring you joy, not stress and worry. Other organizers do similar things by emptying a room and only adding back things that you really use or need. This part includes specific ways to fold clothing so that it takes up less space and helps prolong their useful life.

The second part is really about habits. One example is that Kondo cleans out her purse at the end of each day so that it does not become a clutter trap. There are also habits that help with sorting mail and kitchen clean up. The point is to create habits which prevent clutter from becoming a problem in the first place.

I liked some of Kondo's suggestions. I applied her suggestions on how to fold and store clothing and it has made a difference, especially with socks. Folding over the tops of socks does shorten the life of the elastic. Instead lay the socks together and fold them in thirds and file them into your sock drawer. Other principles, I just haven't gotten around to applying. If you read other reviews, people struggled with some of the more spiritual aspects of her organizing method. It's hard to thank an inanimate object for their service at the end of each day if you don't believe that object really cares. Still, I can understand an overall sense of gratitude for the things you do have.

Overall, I liked the book and felt it helped motivate me to organize and clean up.

Book Rating: 4 stars

Innovator's Dilemma

The Innovator's Dilemma is a book about disruptive technologies and how companies either adapted or not. Some companies go out of business because they either failed to recognize a new technology or because they fail to act on a new technology. Other businesses succeed because they do adapt quickly. So what is the dilemma? Company owners and managers have to make decisions about new investments and it can be difficult to know when and how much to invest. It's those decisions that lead to success or failure.

The author, Clayton M. Christensen, examines a few case histories exploring this dilemma. He tries to provide examples and perspective so that company owners can be a bit more aware of their business and new technologies. The most interesting case history was the study on hard drive manufacturers. Moore's law comes into focus and new hard drives became more powerful and smaller. Companies that adapted quickly did well, others did not because they could not see ahead. This case history was interesting to me because I have a fascination with computer history.

Another example was the evolution of the typewriter versus word processing on computers. If I remember correctly, the example compared the actions of IBM to Smith Corona, with IBM eventually coming out on top.

Aside from those two examples, the rest of the book was fairly boring and a bit out of date. I don't feel the book provided all that much help in trying to deal with disruptive technologies. It is a dilemma and the marketplace is constantly changing as new technologies are developed. I'm not sure there is much that can be done to prevent a business from failing. It takes an insightful owner who is willing to risk that a business has a chance of both surviving and succeeding long term.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I may earn a small referral.

Shattered Dreams

I have read a few books about the Fundamentalist Mormon groups in Utah. These are groups of people who have split off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because they wished to continue practicing polygamy. After the original split, there have been further splits dividing the people and families over differences about leadership and doctrine. One of the more famous, recent groups was led by Warren Jeffs in Colorado City and Hurricane, Utah. Some of these groups also include the Allred's (Salt Lake Valley), Blackmores (in Canada), and the LeBaron's (Mexico). All of these groups are related to each other in some way and each group has had their own difficulties. I find these groups interesting, both in their beliefs and lifestyle. The group I knew least about were the LeBaron's in Mexico. I came across Shattered Dreams : My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer at the library and had to read it.

Many of the books on this topic are written by women who lived in one of these communities. They usually explain how they were raised, what they were taught to believe, and then the life choices they made. Shattered Dreams is no different, but the story is fascinating. Irene secretly marries her husband Verlan as a second wife as a teenager and is quickly sent to Mexico. There, Irene and her sister wife endure a foreign land, language and a shared husband. They experience extreme poverty as they struggled to eke out a living in one failed farm after another. Pretty soon Irene has children and the stress and strain is palpable, but she never truly waivers in her faith. She is determined to live her beliefs. Then her husband decides to marry again. And again.

Eventually, she does begin to waiver. After the years of extreme poverty, constant moving in Mexico and South America, and multiple sister wives, Irene escapes with her children back to the United States. It's about this time that the religious leadership of her group begins to fracture. Her husband's brother Ervil murdered several people in the name of religion and his hit list included Irene and her family. After Verlan's death, Irene leaves polygamy for good.

The story is both honest and real. It's a bit rough. You question why any woman would willingly choose to live as she did. And yet, you have sympathy for her as she explains why she stayed as long as she did. This book is well worth a read.

Getting to yes

The version of Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher that I read is a revised and updated version to a book published 30 years ago. This is a self-help book to help you learn how to negotiate without giving in. The main principle of the book is to help you find a win-win solution so everybody is happy.

I read this book a few years ago and I honestly cannot remember all that much about it. It may be worth a re-read. Based on the reviews on Amazon it appears the book is often used as a college text to teach the principles of negotiation. I do vaguely remember thinking the book was very practical. At the end of the day, it may not solve all disagreements, but it probably is useful in many business situations.

Passionate Nutrition

Passionate Nutrition by Jennifer Adler is part nutrition advice and part memoir. Jennifer Adler shares her personal story and journey which includes malnutrition in childhood and adolescence. As a young adult she studied nutrition in college and she dutifully followed her training for herself and her clients. She sensed that nutrition was a factor in her physical and mental health, but when applying her education and training to herself it did not seem to work. Her personal story is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of heartache there, but I appreciate her willingness to share her story. It is inspiring and motivating.

Over time, Adler started to get a better sense of herself and food. She broke away from the conventional nutrition and diet advice and started to practice in a different way. She focused on whole foods that are minimally processed, locally grown, and organic. She encourages consuming plenty of healthy fats and bone broth. In other words, she encourages eating a traditional foods diet.

What I like about Adler's approach is her gentle transition to a healthier way of eating. In the traditional foods community it becomes an all or nothing approach. You must immediately change your diet and drop all the bad junk foods. Instead Adler suggests gradually transitioning so that you can observe how you feel and how your body reacts. For example, begin adding a salad to every dinner meal. Next, start reducing some carbs with more vegetables. This approach teaches a person to pay attention to how they are feeling after consuming the foods they eat and to learn how to make healthier choices over time.

Both the memoir and and nutrition advice are well worth the read.

Have your cake and lose weight too!

Have your cake and lose weight too is another diet and nutrition book focusing on eating a traditional food diet. Minimally processed, locally grown, in-season, organic foods. Unlike the Nourished Kitchen, this book is more accessible and practical.

In this book DaNelle Wolford breaks down why and how to eat healthier. She states that by eating better you can lose weight. She claims to have lost 35 pounds and cured her chronic illness. Her food suggestions allow fats and carbs in addition to real, whole foods. She doesn't eliminate any particular macro, but suggests moderation. She does recommend that you make choices that are right for you so there is no expectation to blindly follow everything she suggests. I have no doubt that she lost weight and felt better.

In theory, she is right. A better diet will help you lose weight. But what do you do if you follow her advice and still not lose weight? That happened to me. I have been following a variation of a paleo, gluten free diet for a long time and I was gaining weight. With the addition of exercise 4 times a week, the weight should have come off quickly. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated.

I eventually figured out why I couldn't lose the weight, which was an extremely damaged gut. I made some changes in my supplements while maintaining my modified Paleo diet and the weight came off. I'm sure that my case is not unique. I think DaNelle, despite her chronic illness, was able to lose weight because she was younger and did not have the metabolic problems that many people have. So just a word of caution that your success may or may not happen in the same way.

With that said, her dietary recommendations are worth taking note and trying. Eating a more traditional foods diet will likely help you improve your overall health. I did not try any of the recipes because they were similar to what I was already eating. There is also no cake recipe. Like many other reviewers state, it can be difficult to find and afford grass-fed, pasture raised meat and all organic vegetables. Like anything, just do the best you can.

I read the printed version of the book, which had printing errors. There were several pages that were extremely light and a few pages were smeared. The book is self-published, so a bit of polish would have helped improve the overall quality.

The Nourished Kitchen

The movement to a whole foods, minimally processed diet is a well-needed food trend. The more I have read about food and nutrition, the more and more apparent it becomes that many of our modern health ailments are because of poor nutrition and diet. What does it take to give up our convenient foods and eat only locally grown, in-season, organic foods?

The Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther is perhaps one approach. The book is beautiful with lots of full color pictures. The book is mostly a recipe book, but there is some discussion on her philosophy of food. In some ways I would consider McGruther a food purist in which she searches for food that is as close to the farm as your own backyard. It's the idea that you know the farmer and how he raised or grew your food before you purchased it. In some cases you even do it yourself.

In an idealized world, we would be able to do all of this. The reality is that many of us are not close enough to a farm or a farmer to really know. We could make some efforts by shopping only at farmer's markets, but even that can be difficult. It's not to say that many of us are unwilling to trade our convenient life, but those who live in large cities there are many challenges to sourcing this kind of food. Even for me living in a rural area, it's not so easy to find certain foods directly from a farmer or to even grow certain foods. For example, I can only grow lettuce a certain part of the year and it is nearly impossible to grow peaches due to the elevation of my area. At the end of the day, we can only do the best we can to achieve such a lifestyle. In other words, I felt a bit of guilt that I couldn't achieve such food purism from reading her book.

Many recipes in the book call for "exotic" ingredients that may be difficult for the average person to obtain, like real lard direct from the farmer without any pasteurization or processing. Some recipes have no pictures and call for ingredients I've never heard of or have never seen. Some recipes could use some extra instruction, such as step-by-step pictures of the process. The recipes may be simple, but for newbies more instruction would be better.

The book is inspiring, I just wish it had a bit more practicality for the rest of us.

Real food fermentation

Preserving food through fermentation is a lost art in our modern society, but there has been a resurgence in the craft in recent years. People are looking for ways to improve their health through better food choices. You can find fermented foods in grocery stores but selection and quality will vary. Most likely the traditionally fermented foods found on grocery store shelves have been pasteurized rendering their health benefits null and void. This is especially true of sauerkraut and pickles. If you can find fermented, unpasteurized foods at the grocery store in the refrigerated section, the cost will shock you.

That is where books like Real Food Fermentationby Alex Lewin step in. Lewin provides recipes and step-by-step directions on how to ferment food on your own. It's always best to start with a proven recipe and method before experimenting because of food safety. Lewin does give guidelines on food safety and equipment. Thankfully, most equipment is pretty basic.

I did try my hand at making my own sauerkraut. Despite the instructions in the book, I also viewed YouTube videos and researched other recipes before trying it on my own. It was easier than I expected and also much tastier than any version purchased at the grocery store. The cost was significantly less, but then again there is a two week delay (minimum) before you can taste test.

The book is a handy guide for anyone wanting to try food fermentation. I will admit I only tried the sauerkraut. The other recipes didn't interest me and Kombucha seemed a bit scary - only because of the risk of brewing alcohol. The book is heavily illustrated with lots of full color pictures. All in all, a good book for beginners.

Book rating: 5 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Sweetening the pill

I had previously reviewed a book several years ago on this topic called The Greatest Experiment Ever Peformed on Women, by Barbara Seaman. The title sounds like hyperbole, but it really is true. The birth control pill was given to women with very little testing. The side effects were relatively unknown, both short term and long term. It was touted as a cure-all for all kinds of female ailments and was supposed to prevent heart disease, among other things. Instead there were serious side effects, such as breast cancer and death. As time has gone on, some of those side effects have been reduced because the amount of hormone in the pill has been reduced. But the long term side effects still exist and the risk for blood clots are still pretty serious. I can remember my doctor saying I would only gain a few pounds. I gained at least 10 pounds because my craving for carbs increased. I was also more moody and depressed. Doctors just dismiss these problems. Even though these problems may seem minor, they are indications of a hormonal upheaval in the body.

Sweetening the Pill by Holly Grigg-Spall is an updated look at the birth control pill. Holly references Barbara Seaman's book with some newer sources. In this book Holly shares her personal experience with the pill as well as the experiences of others. Very few have positive experiences. Despite that, Holly takes a pragmatic approach. She believes the pill may be useful for some women and so she is not in favor of an outright ban. But women need to have more information about all the possible side effects so they can make an informed choice. The pill can have an impact on every organ of the body, so a decision should never be made lightly. Especially when there are less invasive means of birth control.

I think both of these books are important for women to read. Understanding the impact of the pill is very important. I think most women should avoid the pill, except for rare circumstances. Amazon has mixed reviews on Sweetening the Pill because of poor editing. I personally did not notice any major problems because the personal anecdotes drew me in. The book does have references and sources, though the author does not review them in detail as Barbara Seaman did. Holly and a few others had hoped to put together a documentary to go along with the book. From what I can find Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein were making it, but I don't know how or where to view it or if it was even made.

There is another great blog entry at Groknation on this topic.

Book rating: 4 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Capturing the light

I think most of us take for granted the ease of capturing an image and sharing it with the world. Cell phone image quality just keeps improving. How did we get to the point where nearly everyone has a camera in their pocket? In Capturing the Light by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport, you are introduced to two rivals who each developed a process to capture images. These two men are Henry Fox Talbot from England and Louis Daguerre from France. You may have heard about the Dageurrotype, but there was also a Talbotype.

There is some question on who exactly managed to capture an image first. Perhaps it doesn't really matter, though at the time it was a matter of controversy. The various methods all dealt with chemicals, usually toxic. Some images faded over time until the process was perfected. As the technology improved, the industrial revolution kicked in and various people used the technology to great advantage. There were winners and losers. In time these two men have been forgotten.

I found the book to be well written and interesting. There were many things I did not know about the development of photography. I have seen tintypes, which are a bit rare. Now that I understand the process by which they were made, it is a bit of a miracle that they still exist. I would have liked to have known more about how the technology evolved over time. There is almost no mention on digital photography. Rather the authors focus on the two men mentioned above.

Book Rating: 5 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

The King's Grave

The King's Grave is by Phillipa Langley, head of the Richard III Society and Michael Jones, a historian. This book details the discovery of King Richard III's grave in a car park. Phillipa Langley had a devoted fascination to try and find out what happened to King Richard III after being killed in battle. Using historical clues of the battle and historic maps overlaid on top of modern maps, they were able to trace a possible burial in a car park.

The book switches back and forth between the historical account and the archaeological dig. I found myself more interested by the historical account then the dig. Phillipa Langley had an emotional attachment to the long dead king that was a bit over the top. This is particularly apparent in a documentary that accompanied the book and discovery. In any event, the overall book was interesting and worth the read.

I listened to the audio version, which had a good reader. The only downside, of course, is the audio version did not have the pictures. I tracked down the print copy at the library to view the pictures so I would know what I was missing.

Book Rating : 4 stars - the book bogs down in certain sections, but is otherwise interesting.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet

God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet is probably one of the best books on medicine that I have every read. Medicine at it's heart is supposed to be about healing. But anyone who has interacted with medicine in the last decade or so encounters insurance problems, short visits, impatient providers, and high costs. My own interactions with local doctors did not provide the healing I sought. Since I did not fit the diagnostic criteria for a "problem", I was shrugged off. It wasn't until I found a doctor that ran her practice in the same spirit as Victoria Sweet that I started to find healing.

God's Hotel is part autobiography, part medicine, part history. Victoria Sweet was hired to work at San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital. This hospital cared for the very poor, indigent people of the community. It was a place of last resort for many. This is where Sweet discovered slow medicine and how to help people heal.

One particular story in the book has stuck with me. A woman with many health problems came in with extremely bad bed sores. So bad that she would most likely be severely disfigured, disabled, or dead. She could not lie on her back at all. Laying face down over a period of months, her sores were treated and she healed. Spending all that time staring at the floor beneath her, the patient came to the understanding of how she needed to change her life to improve her health. In this case mind and body were healed.

Such a health care situation would likely not happen today with hospital metrics and outcomes. Sweet discusses the transition of Laguna Honda hospital to a more modern hospital with ever increasing pressure from bean counters and administrators. She details her journey through her experiences in medicine alongside. The result is a moving journey that makes you think about what it means to heal and to be healed.

Book Rating: 5 stars - everyone in medicine should read this book.


The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

The truth about statins

A couple of years ago I read a book in which the author, a doctor, believed that everyone should be on a Statin. If I remember right, he had some kind of financial ties to statins. I also remember reading negative reports about statins at the same time as picking up that book to read. The bad news on statins has only continued. Barbara H. Roberts, M.D., continues the bad new stories in her book, The Truth About Statins.

Dr. Roberts is a cardiologist, which makes this book even more compelling. She takes the time to review the studies on Statins and why the research is flawed. Included is an overview of the serious side effects of taking statins, especially for women. She recommends lifestyle and diet changes first, which many doctors don't think the average patient can successfully achieve. But she thinks we can. She does not say that no one should take statins, but only a very, very select patient.

If you or someone you know is taking a statin, this book is a must read. I've talked with a few library patrons who picked this book up and realized that the way they were feeling after starting statins was not normal. They immediately talked with their doctors and stopped taking them. As patients, we need to question every pharmaceutical that is prescribed because no pharmaceutical is without side effects, some of them quite serious.

The book is well written. The chapters that review the statin studies are a bit boring. There are some recipes included that are supposed to help heart health, but they almost seem like an afterthought. The version of the book I read was a small paperback, so not really convenient in the kitchen anyway.

Book Rating: 4 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Adrenal Fatigue : The 21st Century Stress Syndrome

Adrenal fatigue is one of those things modern medicine either ignores and claims doesn't exist. The normal definition is that the adrenal glands become tired or worn out and therefore stop working properly. I've done some reading on this and I'm not sure that adrenal "fatigue" is really the right description for what is happening. Perhaps in some cases the adrenal gland really is worn out. I think in others the adrenal gland is responding properly based on the stresses on the body. This implies that we are simply under too much stress. In any event, adrenal fatigue, however you look at it, is a very real problem.

Dr. James L. Wilson, a chiropractic and naturopathic doctor wrote this in depth book about adrenal fatigue. The book reviews the symptoms, has a quiz you can take, and then discusses various natural treatments including diet changes and supplements. The book is heavily referenced.

Despite modern medicine's disregard for the topic, fatigue and chronic fatigue are very real problems. Stress can have a huge impact on your overall health. The book is worth a read if this is something that you are dealing with. Caution and care should still be used when reading any medical self-help book. And it is always best to try and find a doctor willing to work with you to make sure there isn't something else going on as well.

I have read two versions of this book. The Kindle version is absolutely terrible. The drawings, as silly as they are, are very small. The quizzes and all other graphics are too small to read. You can find the quiz on Dr. Wilson's website, but why should you have to do that if you have the book? Also, the footnotes are in regular size print and disrupt the flow of reading because all of a sudden you run into a series of numbers. I did find a print copy of the book and it lacks all of these problems and I was able to reread some of the sections without any problems.

Kindle version: 2 stars
Print version: 4 stars


The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Trapped under the sea

The city of Boston had been dumping sewage and waste into Boston Harbor for hundreds of years. It was toxic and needed to be cleaned up. But before that could happen Boston needed a way to deal with sewage. Most people don't think about what happens when you flush a toilet. That waste has to go somewhere. In many communities it goes to a sewer treatment plant where the waste is broken down and treated eventually being released back into the environment as clean water. The city of Boston created a master plan that was bold in its vision. The plan was to build a new treatment plan and a 10 mile tunnel under Boston Harbor. The goal was to release treated waste deep into the ocean far from Boston Harbor. Eventually, Boston Harbor would recover and be safe once again.

Such a thing had never been attempted. The initial tunneling went well. The unknown factor was the end of the job. Someone would have to pull the plugs in sequence. These plugs would be where the cleaned waste water is released. The plugs were deep at the end of the tunnel. Deep sea divers were needed to do the job. These men had experience in deep water dives and industrial construction. But even they had never done something like this. There were a lot of safety concerns for this job. Bids were put out for subcontractors. One was selected made up of a team of 5 deep sea divers. Their plan was untested. Their equipment was specially made and also untested. Safety concerns were raised and ignored. What followed was a tragedy.

The story is written in the style of a true-crime novel. There were sections where the story dragged as the author details the conditions in the tunnel and the equipment that was used. Those sections of the story were essential in explaining why the tragedy occurred. The reviews on Amazon are almost universally positive. The writing style did not appeal to me as it switched between characters and description. Still, the story is important because it explains the human toll of our modern infrastructure and lives.

Book Review: 3.5 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.