Mother Talk Review: More Than It Hurts You

I have just finished reading the third novel by Darin Strauss (the acclaimed author of Chang and Eng) making this my first read by this author. In this newest work, Strauss touches on a variety of subjects reaching out to a wide and varied audience.

In More Than It Hurts You, the main characters are Josh and Dori Goldin, a white Jewish family from Long Island who on the outside look like the typical young family but soon you find out that something is very wrong in the Goldin household.

The story begins with the husband, Josh who is enjoying a relaxing Friday afternoon work break joking with colleagues. His life is forever changed though when his secretary rushes in to tell Josh that his wife just called from the emergency room where she had taken their eight month old son, Zack. Panic stricken, Josh rushes to St. Joe’s hospital and finds out Dori had entered the emergency room that morning with the baby who had coded in the parking lot.

As Josh tries to figure out what is going on, a battle is being fought between Dori and the head of pediatric ICU, Dr. Darlene Stokes. Josh’s wife refuses to allow anymore tests to be done on her son since he now seems to be fine. Something about Dori stirs the doctor’s suspicions and Darline tries to understand why this woman doesn’t want to find out exactly why her son coded in the parking lot of St. Joe’s only hours ago. Being a single mother herself, Dr. Stokes can only think of how she would feel if it had been her son. Not understanding any of it, Josh is forced to trust his wife’s judgement as they take their son from the hospital against the doctor’s orders.

Now I won’t tell you how the whole book goes but I will say that what follows is another shocking E.R. trip, child protective services gets involved, a family is turned upside down, the meaning of “love” is twisted, and a doctor’s faith in the system is put to the test. The whole story seems to steep itself in racism, classism, and sensationalism when finally you are handed the very thing you knew all along. If the first part of the book enticed you then you’ll just have to go read it for yourself. I can’t tell you the whole thing because then why would you bother getting the book hmmmm?

I have to say that parts of the story left me scratching my head. Of course, I have a tendency to over analyze things and can’t just leave well enough alone so that could be why. *smile* More Than It Hurts You was interesting though and touched on a subject that isn’t well known in our society even though it most definitely exists as I've seen an example of it myself.

I can’t say this book really grabbed me though. It did give me an interest in reading Darin Schauss’ other novels so I say give More Than It Hurts You a chance. I think many of you have and will find it to your liking.

*This review brought to you courtesy of Mother Talk*

Parent Bloggers Network: The Ultimate Tea Diet

Like most people, I've known about the benefits of drinking Green Tea and tea in general for several years. There have been studies conducted on its effects in a large number of countries plus, Asian countries have been drinking it for thousands of years so that tells me it's worth at least looking into.

Its no secret that I've been trying to become healthier despite my health problems so when Parent Bloggers Network asked for volunteers to review The Ultimate Tea Diet by Mark "Dr. Tea" Ukra, I jumped at the chance. I like tea and it's not a crash diet so it's something I could at least give a try and hope to succeed at.

When I began reading The Ultimate Tea Diet I was honestly surprised since I expected it to jump right into how this "diet" works and what all you can and can't have to do on it. Instead this book is filled with possibly everything you could ever want to know about tea. There is info like an in depth history of tea, all the various kinds and flavors that are available, sections that tell you what the benefits of tea are, and even 70 pages dedicated to nothing but recipes! Until you read this book you seriously have no idea how many different ways you can use tea in your food. It is just unreal!

As I said, this is no crash diet. Mark "Dr. Tea" Ukra doesn't tell you to drink only tea and immediately lose tons of weight. What he does do is try to help you understand how your body processes certain things and how the chemical compounds in tea can help your body fight their affects. Mr. Ukra knows that along with drinking tea you need to also think positively, exercise, and also eat a healthy well balanced diet. He doesn't offer an overnight miracle cure nor does he send you running to the store to buy the latest fad pill. The advice in this book is some that anyone can understand and follow. Ukra doesn't stop at listing the benefits of tea for weight loss though. He also lists several other health problems that tea can be useful for. That means you can continue to use this book even after you've lost the weight!

One of my favorite things about this book is that Mark Ukra's "tone" reminds me more of talking to a knowledgeable friend than talking to an expert in the field of tea. Any diet book I've ever picked up has read like a medical journal that comes across completely pompous. Dr. Tea on the other hand had me wishing I lived closer so I could come sit in this tea shop and talk to him. Knowing he has had realistic problems in his life too made him easier to warm up to and feel like he really was trying to help you. I like that.

If tea is something you've never really thought much about don't worry, Ukra's book makes it easy for anyone to find a tea they can enjoy. Included in the book is a quiz to help you find the type of tea that suits you best, ideas on how to incorporate tea into your daily life, and even ways to curb cravings for things like chocolate and sweets. The recipes in the back of the book are easy to make and I couldn't even finish reading the book before I had to try a few!

My favorite recipes from the book were the ones for the FrosTEAs and the rubs. You can feel like you're being bad and cheating on your diet while in fact you are helping it right along! Even better, my three children actually begged me to make the FrosTEAs throughout the day and my husband complimented a baked chicken that I used the rub on. AWESOME!

This diet is straightforward, simple, and will actually give you results you can see without worrying about "falling off the diet wagon". There is no set amount of tea you have to drink each day (just drink as much as you can) but the more you drink the better you will feel. It's a win win situation don't you think? The Ultimate Tea Diet is worth reading whether you're trying to lose weight or just want to feel healthier all the way around.

So, has Jo actually lost any weight on this tea diet? Why yes I have. I've lost two pounds in the last week and that is with only adding a few cups of tea in place of a three of my usual glasses of Wild Cherry Pepsi, drinking a few FrosTEAs, and trying a tea rub or two. Considering that doctors told me my chances of losing weight were slim to none because of not having a thyroid or adrenal glands....I'm one excited gal!! Can you imagine what I can do once I've cut down or even cut out soda altogether?

If anyone decides to try The Ultimate Tea Diet please let me know. We can have fun with this together and hold each other accountable. I also plan to put something in my sidebar (right under my Exercise For Comments section) that lists how much weight I've lost on the Tea Diet so keep watching as I hopefully start shrinking. *smile*

Leave a comment telling me what YOUR favorite flavor of tea is. Mine is Moroccan Mint Green Tea. Mmmmmmmm.

Book Review: Maximum Ride 3

*This review was originally shared on our homeschooling site as part of a MotherTalk blog tour*

For my first Blog Tour with MotherTalk I was given the chance to review James Patterson's Maximum Ride 3: Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports. My biggest worry when I received the book was that since I'm not a big Sci-Fi Fantasy fan, I would end up hating the book and spend two weeks trying to figure out how to nicely say it stunk. Thankfully that was not even remotely the case.

Maximum Ride 3 is the third installment in James Patterson's series (with rumor of a fourth coming out next year) featuring the winged teenage hero, Max, and her flying "Flock". After reading this book I can say my only regrets are that I had never heard of the Maximum Ride book series before and that I didn't read the first two books first. Since finding the books at the local library was next to impossible I was relieved that Mr. Patterson recaps the first two books throughout the story so you understand what's going on now.

Knowing that there is a Maximum Ride website complete with forums, that Fang's blog really does exist, and that Max even has her own MySpace made it even more fun as my kids and I read through each site. Having the characters as part of the "blogosphere" gives them a new dimension that young readers are usually not able to see with their favorite book characters.

My oldest son who is sixteen read the book before I could grab it so I decided to not only give my opinion on the book but his as well. My son loves to read and is very hard to please so I felt his thoughts on this were important. Here are some questions we both answered...

1- What was your favorite thing about the book?

**Jolene**- The story had great imagery, showed teens in a positive light (smart, responsible, and brave), and whenever I read the parts about flying it was almost like you were there yourself. I also really enjoyed Max because her sarcasm and attitude reminded me of myself at her age.

**Big B**- Whenever Max tries to balance the roles of leader, mother, and friend for the whole Flock. Also when Fang, Iggy, and Gasman battle the robot Erasers.

2- What did you dislike about the book?

**Jolene**- One of the deaths was a little sad and it got confusing at times trying to figure out if it was Max talking, one of the Flock, or if it was like Max was writing in her diary. I also thought the ending was kind of flat after all the build up and excitement throughout the book. It just lacked "umph" at the end.

**Big B**- When Max finds out who her biological father is. It was just disappointing who it was.

3- What kind of person or group would you recommend this book to?

**Jolene**- I would recommend it to youth ages 10-15, to teachers for use in the classroom as maybe a Unit Study or project, and to people who are interested in mythical winged creatures already (gargoyles, vampires, angels, etc).

**Big B**- I would recommend it to people younger than 15 mostly but I would still tell my friends about it. After reading this book I put the first two on hold at the library so I can read them as well. It was definitely interesting and a nice change from just Harry Potter books all the time.

4- How was the book different than what you expected, or surprising?

**Jolene**- Since the book is actually for kids I figured the story would be nice but not enough to actually draw me in. Surprisingly, I was just as eager to finish the book and find out what happened to the Flock as my son was!!

**Big B**- It wasn't a little kids book. It actually dealt with the problems that face teenagers such as love, identifying yourself, and wanting to fit in, which was cool.

So all in all we both enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the first two as well. I personally enjoyed having yet another book that I could read and discuss with one of my kids. Hopefully my thirteen year old daughter will take an interest in the book soon and we can all three have a discussion on it.