Shanna Compton

Even though this book isn't vegan, many of the recipes are either naturally vegan or easily adapted. I've learned to make a bunch of new things that have already been added to the regular rotation. I particularly love the alphabetized vegetable/fruit chapter--the book's longest--because you just flip to the ingredient on hand and go to town. All recipes suggest substitutes for alternative veggies too, so it's really three or four times the behemoth it looks like. The tasty sea greens dishes are novel, to me anyway!

Thanks to the recommendations in this book, my mom has come through breast cancer surgery and recovery with flying colors. Must read if you care to prevent or treat cancer...and who doesn't?

The Engine 2 Diet goes for a well-written, entertaining, layman-friendly approach to beating chronic disease through nutrition, basing its claims on documented medical studies. On top of that, nearly half the book contains REALLY TASTY RECIPES. I was planning to pass this one on to Mom, but I might just have to buy a second copy.

One unfortunate booboo: There's a sentence claiming plant-foods "contain no saturated fat" and that's not accurate (though most contain very little, or contain it in a healthy ration with unstaturated). But the rest is so tight and well-documented, I think "saturated fat" must be a typo for "cholesterol" here.

Which is to say, Rip Esselstyn knows his stuff, communicates it very well, and his I'm-a-big-strong-courageous-fireman-athlete" approach to a "plant strong" diet is pretty dang winning and nonthreatening to people who might otherwise flinch at the word "vegan." He even includes a small section on fitness and exercise (very practical, no fancy equipment required). Best of all, the results in his case studies are inarguable, y'all.

I'm enjoying this book. I'm not a raw foodist, per se, but probably eat about 50-60% raw most of the time. As a vegan who loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen, I've recently started looking into raw "uncooking" techniques as a way to vary my repertoire in anticipation of a superfresh spring & summer. The Sunflower Seed Cheese is great on pretty much anything. I've also made the Nut Loaf and the Onion Bread. The Big Matt & Cheese combines the three in a fun (if 3 days in the making) presentation. Other recipes like the raw soups, salads, and breakfasts are much quicker and don't require special equipment like a dehydrator. (If you're not a raw foodist concerned about preserving enzymes, you could do the dehydration recipes in this book in a very low oven.) I foresee a raw Sweet Virginia Pecan Pie in my near future--naturally sweet, with only 5 ingredients including the crust!

I wish these were not pitched so much toward readers who need to lose weight, because Dr. Fuhrman's (Eat to Live, Disease-Proof Your Child, etc.) concept of nutritional excellence is important for everyone. In this two-book set, he has designed a plan to help those eating a standard American diet implement the goals more slowly than in Eat to Live, and there are some great recipes included in Book 2, notably the Chocolate Smoothie (spinach, banana, cocoa, dates, flax seed & soy milk), the Black Forest Cream Mushroom Soup, and all of the nut-based salad dressings I've tried so far. If only more health professionals would acknowledge that diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even most cancers were diet-related, we'd all be a lot less sick (and insuring everyone would be much more affordable).

Wow. Walter is 4 for 4. I may even try the Ruby Ridge book next (nonfiction). Count me a solid fan. Best read in the order they were published I think (Over Tumbled Graves, Land of the Blind, Citizen Vince, The Zero), because there are pings between the stories and overlapping characters. I have been pretty wary of "9-11 stories" but damned if this one doesn't work the territory without being overly sentimental, maudlin, or trite. A more "experimental" structure than the others, but it works well and is not just a cute trope. The dialogue (and interior monologues) are freaking excellent. Comparisons to Heller or Kafka are apt structurewise, but reading this one I also thought of DF Wallace (though Walter is less of an absurdist).

Pretty different from the other Fords I've read, but still very enjoyable. (There are no monsters, no dream-worlds, and no drug trips, for instance. The setting is more realistic, but quirkily antiqued and fantastical.) The flim-flam artists' tricks are creative and often funny, and the old Coney Island stuff is pretty great. Great characters, nice bit o' mystery intact at the end. A Romantic (capital R), comedic fantasy. Yeah!

Oops, forgot to mark this already read a while back. A great guide, funny and informative, if somewhat less hilariously ranty than the podcast. Looking forward to the updated edition (coming soon) so I can buy extras to give away.

OK, I'm now officially a Jess Walter fan. *Citizen Vince* is next. Like James Ellroy or Thomas Kelly, Walter is a writer who will appeal to even those silly readers who claim not to like "genre fiction"--the writing is nearly perfect, particularly the dialogue. Not as supsenseful/thrillerish as *Over Tumbled Graves* but more a coming-of-age tale meets modern noir, with several clever surprises. After the first half, I put it down only when absolutely necessary.

Terrific. (And if I ever teach Major Jackson's *Hoops* again I will bring this book in. Very different styles (and cities), but shared themes and intertwining of personal and city histories.)