Book Review: The Digital Photography Book, by Scott Kelby

Ever look at a picture and love it but don't know exactly why it looks good? Well this book teaches you how to take those pictures.

Ok I admit that I'm actually not completely done with this book. It's hard to continue reading it all at once. This book is wonderful for ANYONE interested in photography even if you just own a point and shoot. It has great how-to tips on what angles you should be looking for, how to light...just learn how to make a picture look good and know why it looks good.

In fact, it's the number one selling digital photography book out there. Scott Kelby does a great job at getting the point across quickly and doesn't bore you with tons of details. It's a must-own book for sure.

Book Review: In Defense of Food

I actually read and finished this book a month or two ago but it was so fast I didn't even get a chance to put it in my "Currently Reading" section of my blog. I really liked this book and reviewed it on Amazon so figured I'd just copy and paste it onto my blog.

Is what you're eating actually food? Think about the long list of ingredients you now see in some of your favorite snack foods. We are getting further and further away from eating healthy even though most companies are stamping their products with health claims. Getting Vitamin E that has been infused into Whole Grain White Bread is not the same as getting Vitamin E from its natural source (almonds, olive oil and avocado for example). This book teaches you how to shop and avoid "food" items that your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize. This book also encourages you to find a way to start eating locally and introduced the term CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to me. You can go to http://www.localharvest.com/ to find CSA's near you.

There's a documentary I really liked that explains more about CSA's too called The Real Dirt on Farmer John. Click here for my review.

Makes you start to wonder if the reason people get life-threatening illnesses and are overweight are not only because of the bad foods they eat but the good foods they're not eating. I'm of course not saying this is the cause of all diseases, not even close. But I do think that we don't take advantage of what was naturally given to us to help fight off diseases.
As many of you know, I'm a Weight Watchers leader and although Weight Watchers definitely promotes these healthy guidelines I'm starting to see many people eating "substitution foods" instead of real food to lose weight (they'll eat fiber-enhanced bread or Splenda-sweetened anything before choosing fruits or vegetables). I'm guilty of this too but now am intrigued by this new (yet old-fashioned) idea of eating and purchasing real food God gave us. It may cost more but I'm thinking it's worth it in the long run.

Although it's almost impossible to avoid everything that's not 100% natural, I've definitely been making several changes. I've switched from "light" breads and english muffins to 100% whole wheat (watch out for the 100% whole wheat breads out there...several aren't), I'm starting to eat more fruits and vegetables and have decided to have whole wheat pasta and brown rice almost all of the time now. Plus I'm starting to buy more bulk food from the local Good Food Store (like wheat flour and steel cut oats).

I know this may make me sound like a hippy but I don't care...change is good, this book gets an A!

Book Review: Into the Wild

So I recently finished Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. This book was recommended to me by my sister. She loved the book and suggested that we read it, discuss it, then watch the movie together. I loved the idea!

The book is a true story about a single guy in his early 20's who decides to take on the wild in Alaska as a personal quest for inner strength and life. His goal is to rely on very little to survive and he wants to be as far away from human civilization as possible. He comes from a pretty normal family but he's incredibly stubborn and set in his ways. He also gets hung up on little things that seem to self-destruct him inside because he doesn't talk about them but just lets them stir and build within him. Some say he's completely crazy and depressed and has a death wish, some say his heart was in the right place, he just should've been more prepared (which in turn I guess makes him a little crazy anyway). I don't think he was completely crazy or had a death wish. I understand this thinking I think we all have it at some point in our life. We just want to get away, get back to a more simple way of living, provide for ourselves...etc. Think about the self-confidence you'd get through an experience like this. I mean every meal you'd feel proud of yourself. We definitely don't get that sense of pride by throwing a Lean Cuisine in the microwave. But I also know that we CAN try to live more simply while not being extreme about it like he was. So if anything, this book should motivate you to want to go on a personal quest and get out of your comfort zone a little while getting closer to nature. There's nothing wrong with this. In fact my sister now really wants to go to the Boundary Waters (northern MN) because of this book. Having been there a couple times, this is a great place to meet those needs.

Although I liked the book, I don't love how it was written. To me it was kind of all over the place and there was a lot of repeating and random people Chris met that I couldn't keep track of. I think it would've been better if maybe each chapter was about a different person in his life and if it went more chronological. All of a sudden in the middle of a book was a completely different story about the author. Although it was interesting it gave him credibility towards the story a little too late for me. I understand it's a hard book to write.

Here's a clip of the trailer for the movie Into the Wild:



Now I'm on to a completely different book...Conversations with the Fat Girl. This is more of a comical, realistic book for me. I relate to her thoughts and it's a fun read...not for everyone I know :)