Brownies and Zucchini

I bet when most of you read through my 101 in 1001 list, and saw this goal you laughed.  For most people, reading five books in over 2 years is no problem.  Some people read more than two books a month, or even maybe a week if you are a super speed reader. 😉 However, I’m not a book person.  I do occasionally read, but I’ve never really been into reading books – for school or otherwise.

Shortly after I set my goal to read 5 books, I started reading a book.  However, I only got about 50 pages in and my interest in reading got replaced with other activities and the book still sits on my shelf, with the bookmark in it waiting to be picked up again.

A few months later, our local Borders was closing and everything in the store was discounted.  I decided that this was a perfect opportunity for me to buy a book that I wanted to read and hopefully get back into reading.  But the same thing happened.  A week or so later the book was banished to the shelf where it still sits – not even half read.

A few months ago I was asked by Tina, and publishing company Sterling Epicure, if I would like a copy of her book to review.  I was absolutely thrilled!  Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake at a Time was already on my list of books that I wanted to read so I gladly accepted a chance to have an early look at it.

When I got the book in the mail I was SO excited.  All that I wanted to do was sit down and read it.  I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to read a book. So I sat down and read.  And read.  And read.  The book drew me  in right away.

I assumed I would like this book right off the bat – just because I have so much love for Tina’s blog.  But I liked it even more than I thought I would.  Each chapter was like a new little life lesson – it is OK to indulge sometimes, sometimes you need to be comfortable – sometimes you need to wear those tight jeans to keep you from indulging TOO much. It is completely ok -and NORMAL – to fall off the bandwagon every once in a while.  Tina points out that the important part is that you realize what went wrong, and make some changes so that it doesn’t happen the next time you are in the situation.

I can personally relate to SO much of what Tina writes about in the book.  Everything from coupon scavenger hunts in grocery stores as a kid (and yes I still do love coupons now) to food being a focus for celebrations, to a little pug puppy testing relationships. 😉 I found myself nodding in agreement with her statements and memories from childhood many times.

Another thing that I loved about the book – which I wasn’t really expecting – was the recipes!  After each chapter, Tina put in a few of her favorite recipes.  There are many, many of these recipes that I want to try!  I love that they are all simple, with generally common ingredients, and they all sound delicious!  I am generally not very experimental with my food choices ( overcoming the pickiness one bit at a time!) so I was surprised to find myself wanting to make so many of these recipes!

Since it was so hard for me to get into the previous two books that I tried to read, it might come as a surprise to you that I finished this book in less than a week.  It sure came as a surprise to me!  It was a quick, easy ready.  It was written very conversationally – in a very similar style to how Tina writes on her blog.

If you enjoy Tina’s blog, you will definitely enjoy this book!

One book down, four more to go! Maybe it is time to pick up one of those other two books again now that I am in reading mode…..

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Filed under: 101 in 1001, Product Review, Words Tagged: | 101 in 1001, book, book review, carrots n cake