This week, I finished 2 books.

1. Skinny Habits: The 6 Secrets of Thin People by Bob Harper 152 pages 3.5/5 stars

 I am not giving anything away by sharing the 6 “secrets” because I heard Bob list them publicly on TV while promoting the book. And the not-so-secret secrets of skinny people is that they:

1. Plan how to deal with situations so they don’t have to medicate with food.
2. Push back instead of allowing setbacks to overwhelm them.
3. Change their environment so they surround themselves with things that support their goal, rather than derail it.
4. Challenge themselves so they’re not bored all the time.
5. Rest, sleep, relax so they can have energy to be engaged, excited and focused.
6. Dress for thinness, and use their clothes to flaunt their body, not hide it.

What I liked about the book: 

• It includes some real excuses people make for not dealing with weight issues, and solutions for tackling them. It wasn’t just a list of rules but practical methods for dealing with each bad habit and crate a better one in its place.
• The focus of this book is not on fat shaming. Instead, Bob focus is on cultivating better habits.

What I didn’t like: The book’s name seems to suggest (incorrectly) that skinny people have healthy habits – most  probably do but I know a lot of skinny people who are not role models.

Check out this post about how to focus on fitness, instead of weight.

2. My Father’s Wives by Mike Greenberg 223 pages 4/5 Stars This is an existential tale – Jonathan is having a perfect job, perfect boss, perfect children, the perfect wife. Or is the perfection cracking? Suddenly, everything starts unraveling and he starts tracing his issues to the relationship he never had with his father. His father was maybe the most charismatic man alive – six wives, a political career and a legacy lauded by many. In fact, it seems the only person he didn’t have s relationship with is his only son. Jonathan starts to question what lessons he should have learned from his absentee father, what he actually did inherit from him and how it’s all affecting him now.

What I liked: The novel is written by a man well-known for macho sports commentary but delved, quite surprisingly, into feelings – disappointment, love, anger, hope, fear.

What I didn’t like: There wasn’t much that I didn’t like except that there were quite a lot of stereotypical male references.

Favorite quotes from My Father’s Wives:

Don't be so afraid to die that you forget to live.

The key to life is learning to put up with imperfections. If you expect life to be perfect, you will always be disappointed. If you expect yourself to be perfect, you will never be satisfied. If you expect other to be perfect, you will always be alone.

We will leave only one mark on this planet long after our time, and that mark will be the sum total of all the decisions we make.

I am currently reading:

• This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes
• Thrive by Arianna Huffington

What are you reading (and loving) now?

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Shared with – Bookishly Boisterous, Centerpiece Wednesday, Wow Us Wednesday, Before and After Wednesday, Bloom Designs, Empty Your Archive, Creative Muster, Project Parade, Inspired2, Whimsy Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Book Chat