Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Hi, I'd like an order of books, please.

Book Review

The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet

I have read/heard about this book several times. Alicia Silverstone was on Oprah to talk about it. So when I saw that Amazon was selling it for the kindle for $2.99 I bought it.

The book: Silverstone explains how being a vegan is being kind 3 ways -- being kind to your body, kind to the planet, and kind to animals. She actually makes the claim that if everyone became vegan it would solve all the problems in the world. Which is at least slightly extreme.

The review: As always, I'm fascinated by food. I was really interested in the explanations of the benefits that various foods have. She actually bases a large component of the diet (which she explains as a lifestyle journey) on traditional Japanese foods. And if you read Michael Pollan, he says that the traditional diets survived for thousands of years for a reason.

I know that for most people this kind diet would be really extreme. But since I've been on the green diet for almost 11 full months, it doesn't seem that extreme to me.

Half of the book is recipes, and I would be better able to recommend it with some time to try some of the recipes. And that makes me a little sad that I got it in e-book form. It's not easy to just flip through, look at pictures, and just quickly scan ingredients with the e-book.

So this book review doesn't come with a clear recommend or don't. It was a really quick read and had more practical advice about how to live a "whole food, plant-based diet" than the documentary Forks Over Knives, so I thought it was better than that movie. It was more realistic and complete with steps to take.



And now I really need some good fiction in my life. Too bad Beloved should be next on my list.

2 comments:

  1. I really enjoy your book reviews. I saw these two books mentioned in a magazine and thought, Emily should review these for me and tell me if they are worth reading. :) Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz and Dont Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales From an Allergic Life by Sandra Beasley.

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  2. Hi Liz!
    I read Don't Kill the Birthday girl, http://professorsarmchair.blogspot.com/2011/07/hes-out-of-your-league-hes-reading-book.html

    I really liked it and definitely recommend it.

    Give me a little while on the Witches. I'll see what I can do for you :)

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