Rejuvenate & Renew Wrap Up--Review of Two Books

I know, this ended a month ago, but here is the evidence why you should never procrastinate. Just when you think you're ready to complete something, another something outside of your control makes it nearly impossible to finish. Yes, the story of many people's lives! Needless to say though, that regardless of the procrastination and computer problems this last week, I thought I'd post the two books I read for the Rejuvenate & Renew Challenge, that I held this summer, in a double review.

The first, Mommywood, was Tori Spelling's follow-up autobiography to StoriTelling. I still tend to be a bit voyeuristic here, and will admit to enjoy reading about the lives of famous people. This might coincide with my unnatural love of reality TV (such as Intervention, Real Housewives of whatever location, Top Chef, etc.), but I find other's lives to be pretty fascinating. Most of the time, it seems shocking that people live the way they do. However, you get a sense from Spelling's books, that she has many fears and weaknesses that make her more similar to us "regular folk" than one would at first think. I can say that I didn't like Mommywood quite as much as the first book, mainly because you could see more of the difficulties that were building up between Tori and her young family. Because of how they started their marriage (an affair that broke up two marriages), I fear for their future. Tori, who seems sweet and relatable, is terribly paranoid, which could be a driving factor towards putting a wedge between she and her husband/family. Once again, not my favorite, but an interesting read nonetheless.

The second I actually tore through pretty quickly back in August. After another year of showing low vitamin levels, the doctor sent me for several tests to see what was wrong, fearing I might have Celiac's disease. Now, for someone who already has pancreatic and thyroid issues and lives on bread (proteins often aggravate my condition), this really devastated me. THANKFULLY, the tests came back negative. That doesn't mean that I don't have it, conclusively, but I don't have the initial markers that would indicate that I do.

Thanks to this health scare, I started checking out books that would help me understand the condition better. I knew that Elizabeth Hasselbeck, of the View, suffered from this disease and had just put out her book,The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide. I checked it out, and have to say that the simple, no-nonsense story and guidelines really helped put this disease all in perspective. Hasselbeck begins the book with her own arduous journey, which was terrifying to see how much it had affected her. Getting a diagnosis took her almost ten years, and she suffered horribly in the meantime. With a proper diagnosis, however, she really turned her life around and has many practical pieces of advice. Her own experience with the disease has led her to know and understand what things work for her, and what foods she can advise others to try to keep up their energy and vitality. Covering not only her story, but also ways of explaining the disease, ways of gaining a diagnosis, and ways of living with this radical diet were well written and very clear. Although I do not have this disease (or at least they don't believe that I do), I can still see a very practical use in eating this way from time to time, for basic health. And, should I get this disease in the future (as it often lies dormant in people), I think this book would be a very helpful resource to have on hand. I highly recommend it for its information and understanding.