It's time for some book reviews.

I have actually read some books (and started several others) during the past six months. Here's the rundown:

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Fannie Flagg

This book contains a section of recipes in the back, so it is clearly a delight. That's a universal rule, right? Books containing actual recipes = delightful. I vaguely remember something about that from my Physical Science 100 days. BcAR=D. (Like Water for Chocolate is another example of this Delight Phenomenon.)

It's not the most fantastic book of all time, but it's a warm read and decently written. In addition to the recipes in the back, each chapter starts out with a newsletter written by the postmaster's wife in the town of Whistle Stop. The book is worth reading just for the newsletters.

My only recommendation would be to read the novel and watch the movie based on the novel. They fill in characterization and plot gaps for each other.

A Slipping Down Life
Anne Tyler

This wasn't my favorite Anne Tyler novel. Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing really right, either.






A Place Where the Sea Remembers
Sandra Benitez
Beautifully written. Poignant. Heart-breaking. And unremarkable. Sort of like it came out of the Beautifully Written and Poignant Novels factory.








The Practice of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Albert Ellis and Windy Dryden

My therapist at BYU, Lars Nielsen, was mentored by Albert Ellis, who founded this particular branch of Behavior Therapy. I really loved Lars' counseling style--it was practical, humorous, intelligent, and terminal--so when I saw this book in one of my co-workers offices, I decided to look at this therapeutic approach from the other side of the couch.

This was a good read, but pretty textbook-y. (I guess that's what one should expect from a textbook).

If you're interested in curing yourself of all your emotional ills using this excellent approach, I would recommend one of these self-help books.

Positive Discipline for Working Parents
Jane Nelson and Lisa Larsen

I love the Positive Discipline series. It offers a viable alternative to traditional punishment/reward methods of parenting, incorporating valuable research about child development into its theories and teaching parents how to respectfully set limits for their children and teach them how to make good decisions.