Then Oprah had a show with Michael Pollan, the infamous author of An Omnivore’s Dilemma and one of people featured in Food, Inc. They showed an image of a chicken whose breasts were so large that she could barely take a couple of steps. The image of that chicken combined with that cow from the semi-truck made me put down the hamburgers and chicken nuggets. What was I putting in my mouth?

I was on a mission to educate myself; however, I really, really hate diet books…with a passion. There is so many pages filled with weirdo words that I never heard of telling me to eat so many milligrams of some vitamin I don’t care to remember that I can barely get past the first page. Then I came across Food Rules. Alleluia! I found something simple to follow with easy rules to remember.

I think what I love the most about Food Rules is that there is a tinge of sarcasm to Pollan’s rules and I’m a big fan of sarcasm. One of his rules is “If it came from a plant eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” Who can’t remember that and isn’t that just a tad funny or maybe kind of sad? How many foods do we eat that were manufactured by some machine and not “made” by nature? If you are anything like me; it’s a lot.

Here is a list of some of my favorite rules from Michael Pollan’s book.

Avoid food product containing ingredients that no ordinary human could keep in the pantry.

Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.

It’s not food it if arrived through the window of your car.

Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.

Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.

Don’t get your fuel the same place your car does.

Cook.

Break the rules once in a while.

All of these rules are pretty common sense and easy to remember. This is one of the many reasons that I think this is a great book for someone looking to eat better. As for me, my diet isn’t perfect, but I’m making progress.  My family is now buying our beef from a local farmer, Cedar Summit Farm. We’ve switched many of the foods we eat to organic and the boxed goods are slowly being eliminated from our house. My greatest hope is that I’m making my children more aware of where their food comes from and what they are putting in their mouths. I spent thirty-plus years not paying attention and I hope my children won’t have to do the same.

The one aspect of Life As We Knew It that I liked is that unlike other dystopia novels, the author chronicles what happens during the devastation and not just after it. In so many other books, we read about the survivors of the catastrophe, not how they got through it. Miranda’s voice details every aspect of survival that we take for granted (food, school, road, and sunlight to name a few) and how the life she knew dwindles away.

One part of Life As We Knew It that I didn’t really care for was Miranda. Her character was very likable, but she’s very boring. Miranda is going through a life altering event that does change her, but I felt like it never quite changed her enough. I got the sense that if food and sunlight were to appear at her front door and life went back to “normal” that she would, too. I kept thinking that she could have been more introspective and not just dealt with day to day life being trapped in a house with your mother and brothers. I didn’t want to just know how her life changed; I wanted to know how she changed.

In most dystopia novels, the author uses a destructive event to make a comment about modern day society (for example, The Road examines the legacy parents leave for their children). In Life As We Knew It, the author’s point is that we have it really great in modern day society and that all this greatness can easily be taken away…I felt like the point was a bit weak. Are we greedy? Are we selfish? Are we self-destructive? I kept waiting for a larger theme to manifest and I never really felt like it did.

In the end, Life As We Knew It is an interesting book. The plot alone was enough to keep me engaged, but I think that the author could have done more with the storyline if pushed a bit harder. I think that it has the makings of a good book, but it just never seemed to get quite get there.

Book Source: Hennepin Country Library, Eden Prairie, MN

Bod’s family is murdered when he is a baby. He manages to escape through some clever crib jumping, crawling out of his house and into the local graveyard. The inhabitants (mostly ghosts) decide to take care of him and protect him against the murderer who is still wandering the streets intent on killing the boy.

While Gaiman has original ideas, there were times in the book where I was wondering what the heck was going on and what this particular situation had anything to do with the issue at hand (the murderer). Like many fantasy novel (think The Hobbit), Bod goes on adventure after adventure. I started to wonder where this kid was going and why I cared if he ever got there.

Then the ending came. I decided to stick with the book and I’m glad that I did, because in the case of The Graveyard Book, the ending made the book entirely worthwhile. All of the adventures and pieces that I felt were misplaced, came together and were executed in one beautifully crafted scene that demonstrated the full extent of Gaiman’s mastery. To top off that delightful end scene, the message behind the entire book was revealed: growing up is hard to do. Isn’t that something we can all relate to?

If there are such a thing as “boy” books and “girl” books, I would have to say that The Graveyard Book would fall definitely into the “boy” category. I’m not really into books with adventures for adventures sake; I need a point and the point cannot be to show how clever or strong the hero is. I need a point that shows a change of character. I need growing. In The Graveyard Book, I felt Gaiman’s writing was worth the perseverance and I’m glad that I finished it. The ending made the journey well worth it.

Book Source: Hennepin Country Library, Eden Prairie, MN