Kaye Fallick: Get a New Life

From the back of the book-
Forget the quick-fix approach of extreme makeovers shown on reality TV. Real change is about finding out what's right for YOU-planning, researching options, discovering your own intrinsic qualities and matching them to the people, the places and the activities which sing to your soul.
What's stopping you from changing the way you live?
If you crave a more balanced life, are suffering from MTL syndrome (there's got to be More To Life than this), or have had change dumped upon you through bereavement, retrenchment, retirement or illness, taking control is the first step towards successfully managing this change.
Packed with checklists to help you determine your change-readiness, practical advice about managing your finances and inspiring profiles of those who have done it, this is the essential road map for the life you really want to live.
I must disclose straight up that I didn't read this book in its entirety but dipped in and out of the sections that I found most interesting or relevant. So while I did get through most of it, I did not read it all and my comments should be considered accordingly.
The book is divided into four parts. The first section discussed the nature of change and highlights some of the things that need to be taken into consideration before committing to any course of action. Quite frankly I found this part a bit dull and skimmed it for the most part.
The other three sections each focus on a different aspect of life and the possible choices a person might be faced with therein. They present a more practical guide for instigating change offering various checklists, goal planning advice and noting some of the resources available at the time of publishing (in the form of web sites, books and organizations that might be worth following up).
I am indebted to this book for introducing me to the concept of portfolio or modular work, an idea that has very strong appeal to me and one that I will investigate further.
The real value though, I feel, is to be found in trying to answer the oft repeated question "What's stopping you?". Are you being held back by excuses or do you have genuine reasons for not following your dream? Either way this book offers methods to help you adapt to, or overcome, obstacles.
Certainly a book worth a look if you are wanting to change but don't know quite where or how to start.-Lynn

Craig Harper: Your Perfect Body-A State of Mind

From the back of the book-

Most weight-loss books advocate that creating your best body is all about diet and exercise. Exercise scientist and personal trainer Craig Harper says that for most people it is more about having the right attitude than it is about choosing the right nutritional philosophy or exercise program.While many books focus on food, Harper teachers that creating life-long change is more about the dieter than the actual diet.
"Once we fix the psychology, then we can address the physiology," he says.
Australia is a country which now offers more weight-loss options than ever before, yet as a society continues to get fatter by the year. More experts, more information, more gyms, more health retreats, more dietary options, more media hysteria and more fat Australians.
This book is written for those people who have a history of almost getting in shape.

The main thrust of this book reinforces a message that I have lately come to myself, losing weight and getting fit is more about habit and consistency than motivation, so naturally I thought it was good.
I quite liked that the perfect body of the title is not measured by some external standard but is a reference to whatever the reader is wanting to achieve.
The author delivers a kind of tough love telling the reader that the results they get are entirely dependent on the effort they make. But unlike many other diet books he doesn't 'blame the victim' if they don't achieve the results they were promised by a particular program. He, rather sensibly I feel, points out that not all programs will work for all people. If you have honestly stuck with a program, followed it to the letter, and not got the results you want, then maybe it is time to reassess what you're doing and try something else.
Your Perfect Body is a no-nonsense book that tells it like it is, unapologetically stating that attaining your perfect body and keeping it is hard work but achievable for anybody if it's what they really, really want.-Lynn

How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill

After a quarter of a century at one of New York's most prestigious advertising companies, 63-year-old executive Gill was taken out to breakfast by a protégé, and fired. After a privileged lifetime of never having to worry about money, and never having to interview for a position, Gill found himself unemployed and unemployable. In the space of a few short months he was also divorced, the direct result of an affair that unintentionally produced his fifth child, and diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, with no health insurance to cover the cost of specialist visits let alone surgery.
Unready to accept the changes in his life, Gill dressed every morning in a suit and tie, briefcase in hand, and set out the front door. And more often than not he wound up in Starbucks, where the people were friendly and the ambiance uplifting. When a woman sat next to him one morning and casually asked if he was interested in a job, he said “yes,” without thinking. And that act changed his life.
Subtitled A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else, this riches-to-rags-to-fulfillment bio epitomises the concepts that you make your own luck, happiness is unrelated to income, and that it’s never too late to change your life. Though not something that had at all occurred to him – Gill, unsurprisingly, had been looking at executive-level positions – he found he flourished in a position that required a substantially new skill set, had different priorities, and involved a very different population that his previous role. And while there were certainly small areas of overlap, for the most part Gill was a neophyte – he’d never cleaned his own home, but relished getting the public toilet of his store sparkling, and threw himself with gusto into every task. And in return he was rewarded – by a supportive management style, humane corporate policies, complete health care coverage, and the opportunity to shine.
How Starbucks Saved My Life is also an excellent advertisement for the Seattle-based coffee chain that’s had worldwide success - except in Australia, where 75% of stores closed within two years. I have to admit that I’m no fan of American chain corporations, who pay minimum wage, offer few benefits, and modify employment hours to reduce these still further. I also have a fairly cynical view of chains in general, and global American chains in particular; though I don’t drink it myself, Melbourne sees itself as a foodie mecca, and that includes some of the best coffee you can buy, so the opening of Starbucks here was greeted rather hostilely, even more so when a Starbucks opened in Italian-rich Carlton.
So I was pleasantly surprised by Gill’s description of the benefits Starbucks affords its employees, and by their humane policies – toward employees but also to indigent Guests.
Gill does a veer a little toward the evangelical on the topic, though. Indeed, the tone of How Starbucks Saved My Life is a little too unrelentingly positive for me throughout – there are only cursory mentions of Gill’s wife and children’s reactions to his affair and new baby, for example. And he has a decided tendency to paint himself in the most flattering of a lights – even when recounting an incident where he was less than sterling (as when he remembers the way he treated an affirmative action trial staffer) the spin is less on his poor behavior than his new-found excellence. I was also a little irritated by Gill's frequent recollections of the past, usually triggered by something in stark contrast, and frequently involving contact with the rich and famous, particularly writing. That said, I didn't find Gill self-aggrandising or at all self-important. I did find his open embrace of change and life lessons positive, and I feel a little warmer toward Starbucks, though not enough to go there. If you’re in the mood for something a little Chicken Soup for the Soulish or if, like me, you’re killing an hour in a Singaporean bookshop, this is excellent. - Alex

Change the Way You See Everything through Asset-Based Thinking - Kathryn D Cramer & Hank Wasiak

If you change the way you see the world, particularly how things affect you and how you interact with it, then you can change your life. The authors of Change the Way You See Everything have created a technique they call Asset-Based Thinking (ABT) which, unlike Deficit-Based Thinking (DBT) focuses the individual on success, achievement and possibility. With this, they say, anything is possible.
I agree, but only to a point. I'm not averse to self help books in principle, and believe that NLP can change the way you think. I’m also not opposed to the principles Cramer and Wasiak present, so there’s clearly something else I’m reacting to. There are exercises and success stories, but though I really, really tried I just couldn't get further than half way in. When I say I tried - I extended my library loan twice, paid a late fee, and reborrowed it, which is dedication. And I got nowhere. It seemed more saccharin and new age fluffy each time I picked it up again. On substantial reflection, I think think I would have been more convincingly swayed that they had something new to offer if the book wasn't laid out like a combination of inspirational posters and the kind of letters my friends and I would write in year ten. The book has a strong "inspirational poster” feel, complete with pithy but abstract slogans, combined with style over substance and the notion that they’re presenting a wholly new concept to the world.
The third photo, for example (after an arty black and white hazy mountain range, and an iris) is of an arm extending from the ocean with a glass angled so a rainbow appears to end in it, and it just goes on from there. The prose has selective colour highlighting particularly inspirational sections (that'd be the "year ten" part).
Opening at random I find: a glossy pastoral photo of a cow (no horns) on the left facing a business-suit-clad man holding what looks like a red curtain still attached to its rod but is supposed to be an oversized matador-style cape. The text reads:

Get a Charge Out of Conflict
Make Opposition Matter
Conflict magnifies and illuminates who you are. It seizes and startles you into seeing what makes you uncomfortable. It pushes your boundaries – intellectual, emotional, and physical. Conflict, if treated properly, offers the chance to change your mind altogether.
When faced with conflict, explore the possibility that opposing forces can both be true simultaneously. Taking this perspective immediately dissolves animosity and piques curiosity. You find yourself wondering, “What’s their truth? Where is the value on their side?” When you finally give up the belief that yours is the only truth, it changes the game forever. Now you’re in a position to see what new truth you can create together. (pp. 72-73)

As I said - useful but nothing new or significant. I’ve discussed this book several times with long-suffering Lynn, who hears “acid-based” every time I said “Asset-Based.” That lends a quite different, and not unpleasant or inappropriate, flavour to the text. – Alex

Markway & Markway: Painfully Shy

Subtitled How to Overcome Social Anxiety and Reclaim Your Life, this book provides not only an academic overview of social anxiety, but also offers detailed explanations as to what treatments are available and exactly what they involve.
One of the authors suffers from social anxiety herself and clearly understands just how debilitating this disorder can be. The book contains examples and anecdotes from both her personal experience and professional practice. Its pages offer validation, coping methods and hope to those suffering from social anxiety and a thorough and accurate picture of the disorder for those who have not experienced this extreme form of shyness themselves.
As a self-help book I feel this one has limited value. From my own experience I think anyone in the grip of social anxiety would have a very difficult time applying the techniques supplied in this volume. However, for those who are actively seeking to overcome their social anxiety this book gives hope in the form of examples of people who have successfully done so; provides a starting point for seeking treatment; and to my mind, most importantly, reassures the sufferer that they do have a ‘real’ problem and are not alone in it.
The chapter on recognising the symptoms of social anxiety in children and helping the painfully shy child to cope may be particularly useful to parents-especially those who have lifelong problems with the disorder themselves.
If you just don’t ‘get’ social anxiety this book will help you to understand what it feels like to be exceedingly shy. If you understand only too well, this book gives a good jumping off point in your search for help.-Lynn

Susan Schanchterle: The Bitch, the Crone and the Harlot

From the back of the book-

How do women enter the second half of life? For many, the assumption is that midlife marks the end of their most powerful period, when their sexual intensity, emotional vitality, and persuasiveness was at its peak. Not so, shows author Susan Schachterle in this warm, funny, and gorgeously written book. Using incidents from history, case histories from her counselling work, stories from her life; and examples from her corporate and non-profit consulting career, she shows that midlife in fact represents a time when women’s sexuality, wisdom, and power can come into full bloom.

This book wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be. I had anticipated more of an examination of these three archetypes, how women relate to them in midlife and why such associations are a good thing. Instead the author attempts to redefine these labels, partly trying to bring back original meanings and partly attempting to force positive attributes onto negative images. While I appreciate the concept of reclaiming the words I really don’t see that attempting to change their commonly understood meanings can be successful. If that makes me part of the problem then so be it. I don’t see these labels, as they are currently understood, as necessarily being a bad thing.
That being said the book did provide a number of interesting recounts of middle-aged women who had changed their attitudes and self concepts and consequently changed their lives for the better. These stories were inspiring even though I couldn’t relate to many of the personalities presented.
The book also suggests a number of exercises designed to help the reader get in touch with her inner bitch, crone and harlot. I am not inspired to try them but if you’re a fan of the self help book they could be worth a go.
The study of women’s midlife experience usually is from the perspective of physical change and the negative emotions that can accompany those changes. I’m pleased that somebody is examining the subject from a positive psychological and spiritual perspective.-Lyn

Book Smart – Jane Mallison

I don’t know what I expected from Book Smart, but given its subtitle (Your Essential Reading List for Becoming a Literary Genius in 365 Days) I imagine it was a shortcut approach to all those books I know I should have read but haven’t. That’s not so far from the mark, less the shortcut aspect.
Mallison has grouped essential titles by category (“Towering Works to Read in Translation,” “”Strong Women, Admirably So and Otherwise,” “Unaccustomed Places, Real and Fancied”) and allocated each collection to a month – her suggestion is that the reader selects one book from each category (making one, I imagine, a tenth of a literary genius by years’ end), but hopes that some will opt instead for an alphabetical, chronological or otherwise themed (female writers, non-English-language authors) reading list.
Each month is introduced and Mallison explains the theme (for example “June is often a time for hitting the road or taking to the air, so it’s an appropriate month for traveling of the mental variety as well”), giving a brief description of each title (“Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim from England in the 1950’s, my all-time favorite, concerns the fortunes of a hapless history professor”). Each title then gets a couple of pages wherein Mallison discusses the plot, the author, the era and the impact of the book. Sometimes she follows this up with a boxed recommended reading section:

Strachey may have changed to some degree the course of biography but the whirligig of time brings its revenges. In 1967 and 1968 Michael Holroyd brought out a hefty (and excellent) two-volume biography of Strachey… its revelations of Strachey’s many same-sex affairs and ribald witticisms shocked readers of its generation much as Strachey’s arch volume has shocked his contemporaries. If you like the Romans, try Lives of the Caesars by Strachey’s first-century model, Suetonius.

Unfortunately I found Mallison’s voice a little condescending and didactic, which interfered with my ability to get involved with the writing. The preface was stuffed with quotations to such an extent that I suspected she’d drawn them from a collection (there are five quotes about books or reading just on page xiii), and in some places I felt as though she were showing off her erudition. The self-congratulatory section on “the joys of being well-read” was particularly annoying. It’s enough to be discussing the book in question (primarily novels but there is also a smattering of biographies, a hefty dose of poetry, and the odd work of non-fiction), many of which I was wholly unfamiliar with, without bringing in other esoteric works.
In fairness, at least some of my displeasure was probably unrelated to the merit of Mallison’s writing and due, instead, to a broader disenchantment related to a combination of disappointing books and external pressures. Though I read a lot, being reminded of my preference for accessible over worthy works probably didn’t help - of the 120 books listed I’d heard of only half (and of the sixteen which I’ve read most were when I was at school). If would probably do me good to work my way through at least some of Mallison’s suggestions, but not just yet. - Alex

The Science of Science-Fiction Writing - James Gunn

In this generally comprehensive (I'll come to the not comprehensive part shortly), Gunn guides the would-be SF writer first (in "How to Write Fiction") through the history and craft of fiction writing (subdivided into smaller chapters dealing with character development, scene writing, suspense, dialogue, critiquing among others) before looking at science fiction. Much of this would be relevant to any would-be writer, or indeed anyone interested in learning about the structure and mechanics of writing. I always find this a little challenging, being confronted by the fact that the books I enjoy don't effortlessly and seamlessly flow out on to the page. I do, I hasten to add, know this, but I like to avoid the knowledge of this unromantic fact as much as possible.
Gunn's second section, "How to Write Science Fiction," begins with a reflection on the origins of the genre (was the first SF novel Frankenstein or The Time Machine, the Golden Age of Science Fiction etc), an eight page discussion about how to define the term, and extensive chapter on how ideas come to the prepared and inquisitive mind, and an examination of the different kinds of characters prevalent.
The last main, and to my mind least useful, section is about SF writers, with chapters for each of HG Wells, Robert A Heinlein, Issac Asimov, and the partnership of Henry Kuttner and Catherine Moore, who wrote under a variety of nomes de plume in the forties and fifties. Each author section explores the era, the author's history, their writing beginnings and their greatest works, and their impact on the genre.
I've read all of the featured authors bar Kuttner/Moore, which might be why I was disenchanted with Gunn's rhapsodical (and by far most exhaustive) raves for their work. This last chapter reads like a pared down version of a lovingly-researched thesis, and I don't think it helps budding authors at all - the Golden Age is well over.
There is very little acknowledgement, apart from the obligatory William Gibson reference, to more contemporary writing, even though the book was only published eight years ago, and often times Gunn refers to authors with an expectation that the reader is already familiar with their work. I kept thinking about some of my favourite genre authors who aren't even obliquely refereced, and I'm startled by the complete absence of women from Gunn's discussion.
Which brings me to my biggest issue with The Science of Science Fiction Writing - the intent of the book and its target audience. My library have it shelved as an 808.3, writers' resources, in with a bunch of how to guides and literary riffs. But it doesn't necessarily tell the beginner reader how to write SF, as opposed to, say, Will Write for Shoes, Cathy Yardley's how to write chick lit text I recently reviewed.
Nor is it a history of the genre, and it most certainly is not about the science of science fiction, a topic far better covered in books like The Physics of Star Trek, Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics (which I haven't read but think sounds fabulous), or The Science of Star Wars. I think I expected the approach, taking in these books and similar ones (like The Philosophy of the Simpsons or Seinology: The Sociology of Seinfeld) of marrying an aspect of pop culture with a (soft or hard) science analysis, but Gunn hasn't looked at the science aspect at all - the science fiction writing advice doesn't even mention making sure your science is feasible, concentrating instead on other, unquestionably important, aspects of writing. That's fine, but in that case call your book How to Write Science Fiction - your audience will find you far more easily, and those expecting something different won't be taken aback.
There's a small final section which suggests a program (based, I strongly suspect, on Gunn's own teaching course), using chapters of his book as reading guides.
It was interesting, and I'm glad I read this erudite contribution from an author I haven't previously read (but whose work sounds interesting), but it was nothing like I expected. I can't tell if my issue with the text was that it actually is flawed, or if it was a result of the dissonance between expectation and reality. As I renewed the book twice, picking it up and putting it down multiple times, I suspect the the latter but can't be sure. - Alex

Will Write for Shoes - Cathy Yardley

Subtitled How to write a chicklit novel, this comprehensive text begins with a history and definition of the genre:

a subgenre of the larger classification of women's fiction, generally a
coming-of-age or "coming-of-consciousness" story where a woman's life is transformed by the events of the story... a sense of humour... a funny tone... the characters don't take themselves too seriously, no matter how dire the circumstances... deal[ing] with topics that affect a woman's life: friendship dynamics. Glass ceilings. Over-nurturing. Kids and biological clocks. And, of course, love.

I'm inclined to say that this pretty much defines women's fiction in general, but it's not too off the mark. And of course the problem with defining chick lit is that it's constantly evolving and comprises an expanding number of fuzzy sub-genres, so there are exceptions to every aspect of any detailed definition.
This engaging how-to book takes the aspiring writer through all the stages of the writing and publication process. The bulk of the book is divided into two sections - writing and publishing.
The first discusses the basics of traditional novels in the genre; up-and-coming trends (and the pitfalls of writing to capture the wave rather than the kind of writing you want to write); the key points of plotting and a couple of ways to do it (meticulously detailed in advance vs free form and evolving); the elemental but overlooked concepts of structure, setting and voice; and the unpleasant but vital necessity that is editing.
Yardley then moves on to getting published, from query letters and synopsis creation to forming a crit group and networking online. The book is rounded out by answers to questions Yardley (a multipublished author I confess I haven't heard of until now, let alone read) receives, samples of query letters and synopses, and an extensive but American-centric listing of agents and publishers, with brief descriptions of their imprints and histories.
As I'm not interested in publishing my own writing (NaNoWriMo's field enough for me, and I should probably work on academic publication before thinking about a hobby), I found the frequent references to, and tantalisingly brief synopses of, books I hadn't read (What a girl wants by Liz Maverick, The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, American Idle by Alesia Holliday, Fishbowl and Me vs Me by Sarah Mlynowski, The Weight-Loss Diaries by Courtney Rubin, Julie and Romeo and Step-Ball-Change by Jeanne Ray, Play Dates by Leslie Carroll, Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner, Are you in the mood? by Stephanie Lehmann, and The song reader by Lisa Tucker, among others).
However, as both an amateur writer and reader, and friend of a couple of aspiring writers in the genre, I found what Yardley wrote cohered with what I already knew, as well as expanding on any number of points I didn't know about, particularly in the section on making sure you and your crit group are a good fit. I also thought her advice to bother revise, revise, revise, and to read widely in a varity of genres was well worth reiterating.
Yardley's refreshingly blunt - "if you think of your novel as your baby you're in for a world of hurt", people aren't necessarily going to love it, and you can easily write a synopsis shorter than ten pages - while still being supportive. I found Will write for shoes by accident in the writing section at the library, and though I say this without having read any other how to books for the genre think anyone interested in writing for the market ought to read this book.
If her fiction's anything like her non-fiction, I think I'll enjoy that too - and I'll try to overlook the fact that she's swollen my to-read list past it's previous bulging parameters.- Alex

Would it Kill You to Say Please? - Alice Williams

Alice Williams is here to help us with etiquette for the 21st century - from how to introduce a new partner to your particular kink ("it can be difficult to 'organically' fall into defecating on someone's face" to dealing with asshat co-workers "next time they do whatever it is that shits you, try the 'not you, me' approach: 'When you do x I find it hard to deliver on my performance promise'; or 'It's so funny, because when you're an ass I wonder what I did wrong.'"
The book is divided, like many books of this category, into recreational etiquette (from parties, sex and drugs to technology like mobile phones), grown-up behaviour (share houses, career-type jobs, relationships), a 5-year life plan (including a multiple-choice "what kind of fame whore are you?"), and a concluding section on manners under pressure. And sprinkled through are both light touches of humour and enough local content to be attractive without hammering the reader with an I'm-an-Aussie sign.
I picked up the book while waiting in the library queue, and flicked through to the section on kinds of boss, where my eye fell on "A benevolent fascist Their most potent tool is their 'disappointment' in you. The thing is, this kind of boss will never have indicated that they had any faith in you in the first place." Nailed that one - thrilled to have a technique to use on my own 'disappointed dad' manager, I decided to take it home.
I came for the employer advice but stayed for the rest, particularly the relationship advice - "do you want to end up like one of those scraggy couples you see screeching at each other on trains? They may enjoy being nasty to one another... but do you ever think, 'Hey that chick/guy knows what they want and, cool, they're not afraid to be heard'?" And if you've been dumped and want to get your own back in the most satisfying way possible, flick to p. 121 for "the genius of the Reverse Dump," which is worth the price of admission. - Alex

Women Talking Money - Leslie Falkiner-Rose

Falkiner-Rose interviewed over a hundred Australian women about their ideas about how they manage money and what their thoughts and feelings about financial management were. The women range in age from 24 to 85 and covered a spectrum of living arrangements (single, married, divorced) and levels of education.
I read books like this for two reasons - to pick up ideas about improving my own relationship with and management of money, and to reflect on how I am now and how I've changed. One of Falkiner-Rose's participants divides women into categories - spenders, credit card junkies, strapped for cash, savers and day-to-day survivors. I've been all of those and am moving toward a category 'Angela' didn't mention - savvy. That said, while reading the introduction I was distressed to realise that my failing to file a tax return for the last ahem-years (even though the ATO owes me money) is precisely the kind of behaviour Falkiner-Rose discusses when describing friends of hers who act stupidly with finances.
There were some insights that were interesting and applicable for me, including the section on how we develop our attitudes to and about money, and a distressing assessment of how women are treated by the financial planning industry (twice as hard to make an appointment, three times less likely to receive a follow up phone call, more likely to be told things rather than listened to). One hopes things may have changed in the five years since Women Talking Money was published but it's not been long. More encouragingly, Falkiner-Rose quotes financial planner Susan Jackson, who says learning about money management is a process that should be tackled like learning to ski - starting on the beginners slope
And I got to feel smug about a couple of things, including how I've improved my credit card management (pay off everything twice a month), debt in general (currently don't owe anything to anyone), and having specific financial goals.
There were some valuable tips about resources, including women-only courses run by financial institutions and the Council of Adult Education (CAE), the Rule of 72 (to calculate how long it will take to double your money when you reinvest your returns divide 72 by the interest rate you're receiving - at 8.1% my ING term deposit will take 9 years to double) and a website that helps compare accounts and rates (www.cannex.com.au), and other financial websites like the FIDO section of the ASIC website (www.fido.asic.gov.au) which has do-it-yourself tools for calculating your financial position; the site also has a booklet called "Don't Kiss Your Money Goodbye" that sounds interesting. Although she recommends several books I'm going to start with two, a 1936 classic apparently still relevant today (The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason) and The Courage to be Rich by Suze Orman. I'm also going to check out www.kathleengurney.com (where I can apparently download a personality profiling test that will help me understand how I deal with money). Watch this spot! - Alex

How to Win Competitions – Sherry Sjolander

In 2001 Sjolander read an article about competition entering that said “if you aren’t winning you’re not trying hard enough” – she began devoting more effort to participating in the countless competitions that, combined, are worth billions of dollars every year in cash and prizes, and was soon rewarded with a steady stream of wins; in How to Win Competitions she explains how you, too, can become a successful comper, either alone or in a comping club.
Sjolander systematically takes the novice through the process, from an overview and advice on getting started, to a guide through the terms and conditions (including why it’s vital to read and understand them), to a step by step explanation of the various kind of competitions available – magazines, in store and product purchase promotions, how to improve your ‘words or less’ responses, and the use of the internet. She includes sections for children, and a comprehensive discussion about cheating (don’t do it, but this is how those who successfully cheat do it). The final chapter is the diary of a month in the life of a novice Sjolander guides through the process, from her first day to her being successfully hooked on the competitive thrill, including a $1000 win, movie tickets and a free mascara.
This is a comprehensive and (so far as I can tell) accurate guide to the (previously unknown to me) world of serious comping. Tailored tot he Australian market, Sjolander discusses tax consequences, the differences between state regulations, and potential pitfalls. To be a successful comper clearly requires organization, discipline and dedication, as well as thriving on the competitive nature of the hobby. She includes links to internet groups, and advice on joining (or even creating) local organizations of like-minded folk, and suggests an organisational system to keep track of what you’ve entered, when the prizes are drawn, and when the second draw prizes will be announced. She also has advice on what to do if you win but nothing arrives, from how long to wait to what to do if the organisers are unhelpful.
The first thing you need to know is that, though you can earn in excess of $20,000 a year in tax-free rewards, this takes dedication. In addition to the financial outlay – which varies depending on how and what you enter, but includes stationary and postage, SMS texts, buying dozens of magazines a month and copious volumes of products for their barcodes – the Sjolander method consumes vast quantities of time. There are tasks for the morning and afternoon of every weekday, and the anonymous diarist says there are always more competitions to enter.
If you’re at home, have broadband already, have some down time, an eBay account to sell your unwanted prizes through, and want to make some extra money, this could be the answer for you. However, for me (work full time, study part time, don’t drive, and am already a little overwhelmed by chaos) participating in the world of quasi-professional comping would be more stressful than successful. - Alex

The Savvy Girl's Money Book - Emily Chantiri

As you know, I'm newly on a budget and interested in learning how to save money and best utilise what I've saved so far. A few years ago Chantiri and some friends decided to take control of their finances and turned their book group into a finance and investment group, and started making money. They wrote a book(The Money Club), then followed it up with another book (Financially Fit for Life). In The Savvy Girl's Money Book Chantiri takes what she learned from the club, from her financial decision thus far, and her previous forays into writing, to create a handbook for young Australian women who're ready to take control of their financial futures.
There's some very useful information, including a number of neutral organisational URLs (for the Australian Stock Exchange and financial advisers etc), and Chantiri has laced the drier aspects with real life accounts of financial transformation, including the experiences of two of her sisters.
On the down side these accounts are printed in an irritating green that's hard to read in dim light, or even day light, particularly in contrast with the high gloss back ground. Having already read a few of these advice books now I didn't find much that was new (except the websites), but this doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful for those just starting out. That said, I'll soon be reviewing the book I've found most helpful thus far, and would certainly recommend that as a great place to start. - Alex

Save Karyn – Karyn Bosnak

Unfulfilled and stagnant, producer Karyn Bosnak left Chicago for the bright lights of New York, to work on a new, Judge-Judyesque program. Starting from scratch in a new city, and keeping in mind the maxim that, though you might spend a little more, quality’s worth it, she rented a great apartment, furnished it piece by piece, bought some amazing clothes and accessories, and essentials. She was earning a good salary and on track for a promotion. And in just over a year she racked up over $25,000 in credit card debt with no way to pay it back.
Save Karyn, subtitled One Shopaholic’s Journey to Debt and Back, tells how it happened, her efforts to pay the debt back, and how she came up with a revolutionary way to get help – she started a website asking strangers to donate whatever they could spare to pay down what she owed. In exchange she posted snippets from her life, including savings she’d made each day, reflections on her previous profligate lifestyle, and selected emails from a rapidly-growing online audience (about evenly split between favourable and attacking readers).
As word of mouth spread, Karyn’s site got more hits, her donations increased, and she became the focus of increasing media attention. I remember hearing about this website (which is still up – www.savekaryn.com) at the time, though I never visited, and that in part is what prompted me to read the book. The other part is that, after almost twenty years of my own profligate spending (and managing to rack up $10,000 in credit card debt in a year, twice), I’ve decided to start saving – watch out for a slew of finance books in the next few weeks.
Bosnak has an engaging voice – in response to the oft-answered question “why not consolidate your debt and read a finance book?” she responded that she has consolidated, and the books all made her depressed about how far behind she was (a sentiment to which I can wholly relate!). Karyn moved to New York in 2000, and September 11, and her reaction to it, therefore feature, but are not the focus of the book. The final few pages are reflection on what Bosnak learned, about debt and about the kindness of strangers. Reading Saving Karyn made me feel more comfortable about my own financial situation, impressed by her ingenuity, and warmer to the world in general. This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. – Alex

You: On a Diet – Michael F Roizen & Mehmet C Oz

I am an intermittent Oprah watcher – as I check the TV Week listings every Monday (yes, books are not my only weakness), I check out Oprah’s topics; months go by where I have no interest and then I find myself watching a couple of shows a week. Several years ago, through watching Oprah, I learned about the RealAge test, which was created by Drs Roizen and Oz. I think the test and the site are a great combination of solid information and good humour, managing to bypass extremes for a realistic middle road approach too often missing when it comes to lifestyle (ie diet and exercise) suggestions.
Although You on a Diet (follow up to You: The Owner’s Manual) is subtitled The Insider’s Guide to Easy and Permanent Weight Loss, and bannered with “Lose up to 2 inches from your waist in 2 weeks”, the contents are a refreshing blend of scientifically-based recommendation, holisticism, hints and moderation. While the central theme is certainly weight loss, the underlying ethos is about sustainability and the long-term picture for lasting better health.
To that end the guide includes not just standard sensible diet advice (like small plates for smaller portions, a high water intake, and moderate alcohol), recipes and a meal plan, but also information about specific foods to include, reduce or avoid. We should all, for example, opt for foods high in anti-oxidants, and incorporate nuts in general and walnuts in particular; reduce intake of red meat, fats in general and saturated fats in particular, but not eschew fats altogether; and avoid trans-fats, white and wholemeal breads and pastas – always chose wholegrain.
There’s a section on ensuring better sleep and why that’s important, an exercise regime, suitable for pretty much everyone, that incorporates cardiovascular work (walking) with stretching to promote flexibility, and meditation.
The information is well supported with evidence, and complicated information (like how satiety works and why it sometimes doesn’t) is not only clearly explained but also illustrated with cartoons. Rather than specific numbers, the authors focus on healthy weight ranges for height, and prioritise waist circumference over weight altogether. There’s also a strong acknowledgment that slips happen, and that the focus should be on ‘taking the next safe You-turn to get back on track’ rather than giving up entirely.
Scattered throughout are common myths, and why they’re being debunked, and each chapter ends with a précis. There are a couple of quizzes to help the reader determine which areas are the most challenging for them, links to online sources, and a generally reassuring overall tone. The program is sensible, sustainable and aimed at improving quality of life in the long term, a striking contrast to the more usual immediate-future-focused approach I encounter.
I have a strong health science background and have read my fair share of diet and nutrition books. You: On a Diet is one of the best I’ve read. I particularly like the moderate and reasonable approach, the fad-free content, and the well-supported advice. It’s a little indigestible if read in one sitting, but spaced out over a few days the whole is pretty impressive. I’ve already started to make a couple of changes, and printed out the website’s stretching routine. I’m also going to check out the first in the series. - Alex

Don’t Leave Home Without One! – Dennis Bills

Subtitled A Home Leaver’s Survival Guide, this comprehensive guide covers all the bases for young people living away from home for the first time. In a logical, methodical but readable style Bills discusses everything from share house rosters to sexual health, budgeting to bongs and grog. Though aimed squarely at Australians, with sections on MediCare, Youth Allowances and voting, most of the information would be generalisable to a larder audience.
I’m clearly not the target audience (and read it only because I came across it while checking out budgeting books) and didn’t learn anything stunningly new. My first post-home experiences were relatively untraumatic, so reading this at the time wouldn’t have staved off any dramas, but I know many people for whom this was not the case.
I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of the role of unions in the section about worker’s entitlements, but otherwise this is a meticulous, well written (if not wholly engaging) and very useful book. - Alex

Only 104 Weeks to Your Home Deposit - Peter Cerexhe

Possibly good for those who've given little thought to getting a home deposit together, I didn't find Only 104 Weeks to Your Home Deposit particularly fresh or informative. Unlike the other finance books I'm consulting, it deals almost solely with developing a home deposit, which I grant you is evident from the title. Cerexhe therefore concentrates on the two years of saving for this, rather than any other areas of financial investment, with the (no doubt valid) idea that you can do almost anything for that period of time in order to scrape together as much as possible - try for a raise, work overtime, pick up extra work, and (my favourite, clearly aimed at people who have a very different life than I) find people who'll sponsor your saving efforts. As Cerexhe points out, if
parents or relatives are prepared to subsidise your savings you can make between $200 and $20,000 for every $10,000 you save (depending on whether they're subsidising you at a rate of $1 for every $50 you save through to $2 for every $1). Not so much a valid strategy for me. Or anyone I know. And I already work full time, with maximum penalties, and am studying part time, so there's not much spare time for another job. Of course, I'm also looking at my long-term future and not just the time where I'm gathering a deposit. This might be useful for young people who are just starting out, but for a woman in her thirties with a life and an established career it's all too narrow and regimented for me. - Alex

Snake Oil and Other Preoccupations - John Diamond

In 1996 journalist, broadcaster and columnist John Diamond first wrote of his concern about cancer – he had a throat lump that he was afraid might be cancerous. In his regular column for The Times he wrote about the scare, and his relief (tinged with the loss of drama) that it was only an unusual cyst.
Only it wasn’t an unusual cyst – Diamond had throat cancer, almost certainly secondary to smoking, and by the time he died in 2001 he’d had multiple surgeries, a permanent tracheostomy and significant resection of his tongue, had suffered through radio- and chemotherapy, and was being fed through a tube.
He also maintained columns in a number of publications, and was six chapters into a book debunking alternative or complementary therapies – many of which kind readers had written to him about. He opens by stating that he’s not interested in defending allopathic medicine – it’s not perfect, he knows the statistics about iatrogenic (hospital-caused) complications and waste and short-comings – but in examining the less-commonly critiqued arena of reflexology, homeopathy and the like. At the outset Diamond reports that he doesn’t deny that some remedies might help alleviate symptoms, make people feel better, or allow them to feel as though they have some control over their diseases – if that’s all it was, he says, there’d be no reason for him to write the book. Diamond’s issue is with those practitioners who report they can cure diseases (up to and including cancer) and that allopathic medicines make people sicker than the diseases they’re supposed to treat. Many practitioners say that this is an irresponsible position, that no reputable practitioner would make this claim, but nonetheless there they are, purporting to be reputable and claiming they can cure cancer.
Rather than focusing on specific claims about therapies, though he does look at some of these, Diamond concentrates on the meta-claims, like the argument that "the orthodoxy is hidebound and scared of change." While there’s sometimes resistance to new and counterintuitive ideas (like Warren and Marshall’s 1982 discovery that helicobacter pylori, a bacteria, is responsible for most stomach ulcers, not stress and lifestyle issues), any volume of a peer-reviewed medical journal will be full of articles contradicting, arguing against, or trashing researcher’s findings. And while it did take 12 years for the orthodoxy to swing around to the H. pylori thesis, that’s a short period of time – says Diamond – in terms of medical research, and it was accomplished without any apparent consensus from vast pharmaceutical conglomerates.
Compare this with naturopathic medicine: "I’ve never come across a herbalist who has revealed that a remedy used by his professional forebears has been discovered, after all, not to work, or a homeopath complaining that his craft is still stuck in the rut ploughed by homeopathy’s founder two hundred years ago." A point I’d never previously considered.
Sadly, Diamond died before he was able to finish – the book ends with the evocative sentence "Let me tell you why." The rest of the volume comprises a selection of his columns, from the very amusing "The Bland Leading the Bland" in 1988, through writings on first dates, Geneva (perhaps the only humorous writing about that apparently dour city), bottled water, reflections on Judaism, and fatherly obsession. In 1996 he first writes about this ‘cyst’ and his resulting experience of the private health care system in the UK, and over time his health understandably becomes more and more the focus of his writing. Throughout, Diamond is engaging, informative, admirably free of self-pity, and articulate, and the frustration he feels is palpable. Anyone interested in a critical but not overly technical critique of complementary medicine, and/or in the lived experience of being a patient and of dying, should go no further. I had never heard of John Diamond before I discovered this book while looking for something else, and my life would have been the poorer without that serendipidous discovery. – Alex
Alex 2007

How to Read a Novel: A User’s Guide – John Sutherland

Sutherland addresses pretty much every aspect of the novel, from its evolution through the future incarnations (will e-books ever replace paper and ink?) to the impossibility of hearing of more than a fraction of what’s available, let alone reading it all. He talks about publishing, reviewing, awards, hardback vs paperback, the impact of the Internet, margins and marginalia, films from books, dust jackets and blurbs.
According to the blurb of this book, “We assume reading is like riding a bicycle – you can do it or you can’t. But reading well is almost as difficult as writing well. This book is a guide to how to do it.”
Not so much. The title is certainly catchy, and the blurb lead me to buy the book (despite my book budget), but there’s little hear about how to actually read a novel. There is, however, quite a lot about how much awareness of place affects your reading of a novel – Sutherland discusses at length a review of the well received novel Saturday by Ian McEwan. Lauded in the UK, and broadly tipped to take out a major award, the book was reviewed by John Banville, an American novelist, just prior to its US release. Banville, in the first review of Saturday published in the US, savaged the novel; although his review was attacked, it’s highly likely that the resultant brouhaha cost McEwan the award that, not entirely coincidentally, Banville received.
Sutherland is highly critical of Banville’s errors in the review – chiefly that he believed McEwan’s protagonist won a squash match (described, moment by moment, over 17 pages) he lost, which evidently colours the rest of the text, and places the action in North London when it takes place in West London, a location as “tight, precise and integral to the novel” as its time frame. “If you know central London the novel has a distinct Fitzrovian feel to it… [it] is a quintessentially Fitzrovia-Bloomsbury novel.” Does not knowing this affect the reading of the novel? Sutherland says it absolutely makes a difference – although errors the author made (like the hours a gentleman’s club are open, and whether or not a given gym has a squash court) are evidently “truly piddling.”
There is a section on hearing the characters’ voices – “Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is set… in New England. She herself spent a couple of years there… What accent should the reader’s ear impose on the [text]? Smith’s Cambridge, England voice or her Cambridge Mass. voice? … Snooty cis-Atlantic, homely trans-Atlantic or bland mid-Atlantic? The passage means something different in each case.”
And these two aspects – emphasis on location and emphasis on voice - capture my issue with the book. It’s taken me over a week to write the review, because I’ve had trouble articulating how I feel about it. Far from helping me improve my ability to read a novel, my technique in approaching literature, or even my selection of what to read, I finished this tome feeling undereducated, Colonial, and unable to appreciate the delicate nuances of fiction. I quite clearly shouldn’t even attempt reading On Beauty, as I don’t even know what a “cis-Atlantic” ("this [the speaker's] side of the Atlantic") accent sounds like, and I don’t hear accent when I read anyway, unless it’s to notice annoyingly-rendered dialect. Maybe I should stick to novels set in the inner and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, instead. Or give up on reading and just watch television. - Alex

Some Writers Deserve to Starve! - Elaura Niles

Subtitled 31 Brutal Truths About the Publishing Industry, this US-authored book aims to give would-be authors some well needed advice about the realities of modern day publishing. Niles has written 31 chapters, each summarised with a Truth (like #23 - Not All Critique Groups Are Critique Groups, or #14 - To Lie is Wrong, to Embellish Divine) that is then expanded upon, and often illustrated by her own experience in the world of writing.
The back of the book warns that this is "only for the bravest of writers", but I'm more inclined to say it's only for the most fledgling and unrealistic of writers. I don't doubt they're out there, but surely at least some would-be published writers already know that "Putting Words on a Page Does Not Obligate Anyone to Read Them" (Truth #2), "Overnight Success Doesn't Happen Overnight" (Truth #25), and "Writing Conferences Cost Bucks"(Truth #26) .
Maybe it's just that I, a writer of no fewer than two and a half NaNo masterpieces myself, am more pragmatic. I grant you, I've not exerted any great time or effort on publication, and so I'm missing the drive to write, write, live to write. Lynn is more involved in writing than I (more NaNo completions, a crit group member, winner of two short story competitions, organiser of another competition, member of a guild), but equally aware of Niles' Truths - and without having had the privilege of shelling out for the book.
For those writing with their eyes tightly closed, or spectacularly naive, this is probably a necessary shock of cold water. But for anyone (like me) looking for a book telling hopeful writers that it's time to pack it in and give up already, go to 101 Reasons to Stop Writing ("confronting the pandemic delusion of talent") instead: http://101reasonstostopwriting.com/ - Alex