Extraordinarily entertaining and provoking. William Peter Blatty. I listened back to the interview, and the second time is richer – much like reading Blatty’s books, The Exorcist and Dimiter. Blatty reinforced my faith and made me laugh. More on that in a moment. But first…… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: May 2010
Sugar, Baby!
Beat Sugar Addiction Now! The Cutting-Edge Program That Cures Your Type of sugar Addiction and Puts You On the Road to Feeling Great – and Losing Weight! By Jacob Teitelbaum, MD Published March 1, 2010 (Paperback) Fair Winds Press Nice. I’ve got this sweet little square of Ghirardelli dark chocolate with liquid caramel oozing out… Continue Reading
What Was Your Mother Thinking…
What Was Your Mother Thinking…The Cause and Effect of Human Behavior and Remarkable Observations of the Physics of Energy and Nature By A. Christina Liczbinski 2009 (Paperback) Authentic Creations Books What legacy do you bear because of what your birth mother experienced while she was pregnant with you? Christina Liczbinski’s book What Was Your Mother… Continue Reading
Beautiful Food
Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food for the Camera By Delores Custer May 3, 2010 (Hardcover) Wiley I am often accused of being too deep, thinking too much, being too sensitive. So today, I am going for the beauty. Which, in this case, is more than skin deep. Food Styling is a gorgeous 400-page… Continue Reading
Life! By Design
Life! By Design: 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You By Tom Ferry Published May 4, 2010 (Hardcover) Ballantine Books More Info: Tom Ferry Perfect title. Life! By Design. Perfectly positive title. It screams self-awareness. You know the opposite. The all-too-easy default. The patterns as soft and lazy as broken-down cushions on the sofa. Not you… Continue Reading
Phillip Margolin: Open Book Chapter 51
This week – Monday, May 24, 2010: New York Times bestselling author Phil Margolin treats us to laughter, wisdom, and his newest book, Supreme Justice on this special show.… Continue Reading
Advice from a NYT Bestselling Author Who Thought He’d Failed
Supreme Justice: A Novel of Suspense By Phillip Margolin Published May 18, 2010 (Hardcover) Harper I’m sitting in Bull Mountain Studios of pdx.am in Portland, Oregon, laughing and talking with Phil Margolin. He waits to see if he has a fifteenth book on the New York Times bestseller list. He should. Supreme Justice is easily… Continue Reading
KISS and Meditation
The Meditation Experience: Your Complete Meditation Workshop in a Book By Madonna Gauding Published May 3, 2010 (Paperback with CD) Godsfield Press Ltd. A lovely, chunky book, The Meditation Experience boasts a CD, which I slide into the laptop. I’m well aware that it is heading to 2am, and I will be waking up early… Continue Reading
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Or Escaping that Rabbit Hole
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland By Lewis Carroll, Illustrations by Camille Rose Garcia Published February 2, 2010 (Hardcover) Collins Design Falling into this Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is ever more magical with Camille Rose Garcia’s goth illustrations. Still – the captivating words of Lewis Carroll. The blend of genius sends my adult mind careening down the… Continue Reading
What It’s Like to Talk Summer Reads on Martha Stewart Living
What’s it like to talk Summer Reads on Martha Stewart Living? Other than getting up at 4am to do so? Fabulous fun! I was on a bit after 5am – I got up at four to warm up my voice. Tip: lukewarm water on hand, and lion-like yawns. Scares the cats, though. The Sirius producer… Continue Reading
Hope’s Boy Speaks – And Inspires!
Hope’s Boy: A Memoir By Andrew Bridge Published February 17, 2009 (Paperback) Hyperion Three times I have listened to Andrew Bridge tell his life story, and each time, I have gotten bolder just by being in his proximity. Andy’s story – if you’re never lived anything like it – is heartbreaking. And, if you have… Continue Reading
Andrew Bridge: Open Book Chapter 50
This week – Monday, May 17, 2010: What’s happening with kids whose parents are worse than dysfunctional? Andrew Bridge was in one of those families – and grew up in foster care to become an attorney who helps change the system.… Continue Reading
House Rules – Yeah, Jodi Picoult Rules
House Rules By Jodi Picoult More Info: Jodi Picoult The brilliant Jodi Picoult produces another emotionally-complex thriller. House Rules is the story of a single mom struggling with one newly-minted eighteen-year old son who is highly intelligent, but his Asperger’s Syndrome throws a monkey wrench in her life, and in the life of her fifteen-year… Continue Reading
This Time Together – With One of My Childhood Heroes
This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection By Carol Burnett Published April 6, 2010 (Hardcover) Harmony Carol Burnett made parts of my childhood very happy. I mostly remember books, Broadway, and museums, in my NYC early years. I forgot about TV, since it’s not on my mind – the last show I watched was So You… Continue Reading
Do I Look Fat When I Read This Book?
Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything By Geneen Roth Published March 2, 2010 (Hardcover) Scribner More Info: Geneen Roth There have been only two sizes of clothes in my closet for the past twenty years – fours and smalls. You may conclude that I do not need to read a book… Continue Reading
Are You Running a Business, or Marking Time Till You Find a New Job?
I guess I have a business. It’s about time I admitted it to myself. But I am so right-brained, I just stay steamed up by ideas that whoosh into my head, and then I act on those. I don’t really have a Plan. Since I have been interviewing MBA students and business school deans for… Continue Reading
A Book I Love: My Name is Memory
My Name is Memory By Ann Brashares Published June 1, 2010 (Hardcover) by Riverhead Books More Info: Ann Brashares First, an admission. I’ve never read any of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, bestsellers though they were. But as soon as I heard the title of Ann Brashares’ newest book, I had to read… Continue Reading
Diana’s First All Book Review Show: Open Book Chapter 49
This week – Monday, May 10, 2010: I got challenged to do a book review show – in other words, to talk for a half-hour straight. We’ll be doing more of these! Fourteen books not to miss!… Continue Reading
My Favorite Fourteen of the Moment – Books, That Is!
Yep, pushed by the powers that be, I did my very first book review show on Open Book with Diana Page Jordan. You have to realize what a trip this was for me – maybe you’ve traveled a similar path. To speak for a half an hour not in question-answer form. Completely foreign to me. … Continue Reading
Heart of the Matter – When One Moment Changes Everything
Heart of the Matter By Emily Giffin Published May 11, 2010 (Hardcover) St Martin’s Press More Info: Emily Giffin The exquisite premise of Heart of the Matter tugs hard. What was the moment when your life changed its trajectory? I know that moment in mine, and I had nothing to do with it. In Emily… Continue Reading
Age Sucks OR How to Succeed At Aging…
How to Succeed at Again…Without Really Dying By Lyla Blake Ward Published April 6, 2010 (Hardcover) AmazonEncore My mother was a great role model for hating her age. When she was 53 and I made her a grandmother for the very first time, she said, “The baby can’t call me grandma. I’m not old enough… Continue Reading
Look! It’s Jesus! – A Story of Faith
LOOK! It’s Jesus!: Amazing Holy Visions in Everyday Life By Harry and Sandra Choron Published February 10, 2010 (Hardcover, with a lenticular cover) Chronicle Books Have you ever seen Jesus in your food? A lot of folks have, and some of these images are in Look! It’s Jesus: Amazing Holy Visions in Everyday Life by… Continue Reading
The Nine Rooms of Happiness – Which Room Do You Live In?
The Nine Rooms of Happiness: Loving Yourself, Finding Your Purpose, and Getting Over Life’s Little Imperfections By Lucy Danziger & Catherine Birndorf, MD Published March 2, 2010 (Hardcover) Voice More Info: The Nine Rooms of Happiness Reading The Nine Rooms of Happiness is like reading a whole stack of Self Magazines, only much much better. … Continue Reading
MJ Rose: Open Book Chapter 48
This week – Monday, May 3, 2010: Whether or not you believe in past lives, the concept makes for an intriguing suspense series by MJ Rose. Tune in – I even mention my own glimpses of past lives, one of which gave MJ chills.… Continue Reading
