Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain - Portia de Rossi

"I didn't decide to become anorexic. It snuck up on me disguised as a healthy diet, a professional attitude. Being as thin as possible was a way to make the job of being an actress easier . . ."

Portia de Rossi weighed only 82 pounds (approx 37 kg's) when she collapsed on the set of the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading role. This should have been the culmination of all her years of hard work—first as a child model in Australia, then as a cast member of one of the hottest shows on American television. On the outside she was thin and blond, glamorous and successful. On the inside, she was literally dying.

In this searing, unflinchingly honest book, Portia de Rossi captures the complex emotional truth of what it is like when food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human impulse or action. She recounts the elaborate rituals around eating that came to dominate hours of every day, from keeping her daily calorie intake below 300 to eating precisely measured amounts of food out of specific bowls and only with certain utensils. When this wasn't enough, she resorted to purging and compulsive physical exercise, driving her body and spirit to the breaking point.

Even as she rose to fame as a cast member of the hit television shows Ally McBeal and Arrested Development, Portia alternately starved herself and binged, all the while terrified that the truth of her sexuality would be exposed in the tabloids. She reveals the heartache and fear that accompany a life lived in the closet, a sense of isolation that was only magnified by her unrelenting desire to be ever thinner. With the storytelling skills of a great novelist and the eye for detail of a poet, Portia makes transparent as never before the behaviors and emotions of someone living with an eating disorder.

From her lowest point, Portia began the painful climb back to a life of health and honesty, falling in love with and eventually marrying Ellen DeGeneres, and emerging as an outspoken and articulate advocate for gay rights and women's health issues.

In this remarkable and beautifully written work, Portia shines a bright light on a dark subject. A crucial book for all those who might sometimes feel at war with themselves or their bodies, Unbearable Lightness is a story that inspires hope and nourishes the spirit.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I remembered watching Ally McBeal growing up and while reading the book I had trouble placing the character I remembered from the show, to the adult with extreme body issues that I read about in the book. It was actually heartbreaking at times to read about her struggles every day - how exhausting that must have been!

So while I found the story fascinating, I agree with other reviewers with regard to the plot - so much time was spent on her anxieties and showing the worst days, yet very little time was spend on HOW she actually recovered.

Definitely a book I would suggest that anyone read who struggled with their weight - it really highlights the importance of being healthy rather than striving for that Hollywood idea of 'perfection'. Good on Portia de Rossi for opening up and sharing her experience.

Rules of Civility - Amor Towles

“If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us...then there wouldn't be so much fuss about love in the first place.”

On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool toward the upper echelons of New York society and the executive suites of Condé Nast--rarefied environs where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. 

Wooed in turn by a shy, principled multi-millionaire and an irrepressible Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, befriended by a single-minded widow who is a ahead of her time,and challenged by an imperious mentor, Katey experiences firsthand the poise secured by wealth and station and the failed aspirations that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize how our most promising choices inevitably lay the groundwork for our regrets.

From the moment I started reading it I was taken back to 1930's New York and saw the world through the eyes of the unlikely heroine Katey Kontent. She was classy yet rebellious, strong yet not pushy. 

The writing style really made apparent the difference between 'someone who writes a book' and 'someone who is a writer'. Amor is definitely the latter and I was often so engrossed in the story that I forgot I was on public transport on my way to work!

The storyline was meandered along but I never felt like it was moving too slowly, and not once did I ever pick what was going to happen yet.

This book is rating so highly for a reason, so do yourself a favour and check it out!

The Secret Life of Objects - Dawn Raffel, Sean Evers

“The Secret Life of Objects is my life story told through some of my possessions. Each chapter is a vignette about a simple object — a coffee mug, a vase, a pair of earrings, my mom's prayer book… Each object encapsulates a passage in my life in a way that, I think, resonates for a lot of people.

“One morning, I was drinking my coffee out of the mug that I take from the cupboard every day, even though I have dozens of other mugs. I always pick this mug because I took it from my mother's house after she died, and there's a whole story in the mug about my mom and my aunt, and I feel like I am having my coffee with them. And then I realized that my house is full of objects like this—things that don't mean anything to anyone else but that are filled with memories and insights and longings. So I started writing—very frankly—about my objects, and before I knew it I had enough to fill a book.

“Everyone who hears about this project or has read an excerpt in a literary magazine has wanted to tell me about their own objects. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that women want to share their stories. Talking about our objects give us a unique way to do this, and a way to leave a record for our children. Oh, and by the way, the illustrations are by my younger son, Sean Evers."

I am the complete opposite of he author and HATE unnecessary clutter or holding on to items that I don't think I will use again, so it was really interesting for me to see how much history is actually kept in the houses of people who 'hoard' (when compared to me anyway). Reading about it sort of made me feel guilty that I haven't kept hold of more family heritage - I went through the house and the only thing I could find from my grandparents was a couple of old books that my Nan gave me before she passed away.

This is the kind of book I would like to write when I am older before I pass away. What a great moment it would be for your children and grandchildren - and it would be interesting to see how much of the history they actually knew before you wrote it down.

Having said that I don't think I would ever read this book again, it was interesting and different but I like my story lines with a little more depth and character. 

Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

This was a moving and well written book that made me feel like I was walking beside the author and helping her discover what had happened. I love reading any books that take place overseas (especially France), so loved this book even more.

The main topic of this book (the fate of many Jewish citizens in France) is such an important part of history and this book made it easy to relate and follow, giving many people who have not directly been touched by this or previously taught in depth about it (such as myself) a better understanding of how devastating it really was.

I liked that the main character, Julia, was a strong woman, and not afraid to make hard decisions based on what is truly right, both personally and professionally - even though this is a fictional story I think more young woman need strong role models to look up to (rather than weak female characters like in Fifty Shades!)

I've only just realised they have made this book in to a movie, so this is one I will be checking out soon for sure. A great book and one I think  most readers would be able to pick up and enjoy.

People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman - Richard Lloyd Parry

An incisive and compelling account of the case of Lucie Blackman. Lucie Blackman -- tall, blonde, and 21 years old -- stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo in the summer of 2000, and disappeared forever. The following winter, her dismembered remains were found buried in a seaside cave. 

The seven months inbetween had seen a massive search for the missing girl, involving Japanese policemen, British private detectives, Australian dowsers and Lucie's desperate, but bitterly divided, parents. As the case unfolded, it drew the attention of prime ministers and sado-masochists, ambassadors and con-men, and reporters from across the world. Had Lucie been abducted by a religious cult, or snatched by human traffickers? Who was the mysterious man she had gone to meet? And what did her work, as a 'hostess' in the notorious Roppongi district of Tokyo, really involve?

Richard Lloyd Parry, an award-winning foreign correspondent, has followed the case since Lucie's disappearance. Over the course of a decade, he has travelled to four continents to interview those caught up in the story, fought off a legal attack in the Japanese courts, and worked undercover as a barman in a Roppongi strip club. He has talked exhaustively to Lucie's friends and family and won unique access to the Japanese detectives who investigated the case. And he has delved into the mind and background of the man accused of the crime -- Joji Obara, described by the judge as 'unprecedented and extremely evil'.

With the finesse of a novelist, he reveals the astonishing truth about Lucie and her fate. People Who Eat Darkness is, by turns, a non-fiction thriller, a courtroom drama and the biography of both a victim and a killer. It is the story of a young woman who fell prey to unspeakable evil, and of a loving family torn apart by grief. And it is a fascinating insight into one of the world's most baffling and mysterious societies, a light shone into dark corners of Japan that the rest of the world has never glimpsed before.

I stumbled across this book accidentally. I am going to Japan at the end of the year and thought it would be good to read a real story of another traveller and their local experience. I didn't read the whole blurb so was a shocked when I realised what the story was actually about, and despite how it might not be the best story to read a story like this before travelling there, I was already so intrigued that I had to keep going.

It really was a heart-wrenching story and it really made me feel for the family and close friends of Lucie. Rather than bringing them together in their grief, it tore apart their already fragile relationship even more. 

I got the feeling that the author took the side of the father, but he did a really good job in still presenting all the sides fairly. 

I can't even begin to imagine how myself or my family would react to a situation like this so dare not comment on how they seemed to deal with it.

It was also interesting to see how the 'justice system' works in other countries and how it differs to here in Australia. I find it so hard to believe that someone can commit crimes like this and still continue to adamantly deny they did anything wrong, it would be interesting to see how Joji Obara feels at the end of his life sentence.  

This book is a must read for young women, especially those who like to travel.

Dear John - Nicholas Sparks

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love—and face the hardest decision of his life.

I started of hating this book and very nearly threw in the towel. I found the writing really clunky and the conversations within the story didn't feel smooth or real enough. I also struggled with the initial personality of Savannah - maybe I'm just too jaded but I found her innocence really unbelievable and uncomfortable. I was having trouble understanding why a book that sounded so great from the back cover, could turn out so flat and boring once the story started, BUT...at around halfway through it thankfully picked up and I started to see development with not only John and Savannah, but also the storyline with John and his Dad.

Towards the second half of the book I was hooked, and I could feel characteristics of The Notebook ("What we had really was real wasn't it...") and I loved it from then on and devoured it. I especially loved that the ending wasn't predictable and it kept me guessing how it would turn out. 

Originally I would have given this book 3 stars, but my final verdict is a 4 out of 5. If you love heart-warming love storied then this is for you.