Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia De Rossi

Rating: 8/10 (B+)  GREAT!
Extremely good read! Had many awesome, memorable moments, and really kept my interest throughout! I warmly recommend it, and look forward to reading more from the author. Probably wouldn't mind reading it again one day!  

• ISBN-13: 9781439177785
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 11/1/2010
• Pages: 308

Portia De Rossi seemed like a woman that had it all. She is model beautiful, with a movie star life.  But this autobiography of her life with an eating disorder reveals more of this actress than you could ever imagine.  I have always been a big fan of Portia, I loved her in Ally McBeal and I have always thought she was beautiful and talented.  One of those actresses you want to grow up to be.  When I heard she had a book out I instantly wanted to read it, wanted to know more about her life.

In the beginning I wasn't sure I really liked Portia all that much, she seemed like a whiny spoiled actress who looked down on everyone else. But then you start to realized that although in the beginning she may have looked down on others, she was hardest on herself and this was all part of the emotional turmoil that has her down the path of Bulimia and then Anorexia.  After a few chapters you see more and more into the mind and feelings of Portia and you begin to feel for her.  You also begin to see how relatively easy an eating disorder could occur under the right set of circumstances.

For me, I related to this book much more than I ever thought I would.  I have never had an eating disorder but in my path to lose weight and get healthy over the past year and a half I recognized some of the "crazy" habits that Portia had and started to see how things could easily get out of hand.  At the end of the book there are pictures of Portia in her Bulimia and Anorexia days and I have to say they are shocking.  Watching her on Ally McBeal I didn't see how very thin she had gotten.. I don't remember her weight fluctuations and it makes me want to go back and watch the series again and see the changes as they occur.

I really felt for Portia and was very glad I read this book.  I enjoyed it very much and I definitely recommend it.  I would have like to have more of the story of her and Ellen's relationship, but maybe that's another book all together.

I read this for the WoWO.

Cherry Bomb by J.A. Konrath

Rating: 6/10 (B-)  GOOD - A good book. I liked it, but I didn't LOVE it. It had some minor flaws, but, overall, it was still good enough to recommend. I'm open to more from the author.

• Series: Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Series , #6
• ISBN-13: 9781441887504
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Publication date: 6/29/2010
• Edition description: Unabridged, 8 CDs, 9 hrs.

Jack Daniels is a Lieutenant in the police department.   The book opens up at a funeral, apparently a cliff-hanger from the previous book (Fuzzy Navel).  At the funeral Jack gets a call from her nemesis in the series, Alex Kork, a female serial killer who is insane and has an insatiable vendetta against Jack, she is on the loose and she wants to play more games with Jack's life.  If let to continue she will forever torture Jack and those she loves with her psychotic ways.

Let me start by saying that this is book 6 in a series of 8 books and this is the first book that I have read in the series.  I did not have any background on the characters previously to listening to this book and it started off at a funeral, apparently a cliffhanger from the previous book (Fuzzy Navel).  Yet I didn't feel lost once in the story.  The author did a great job in "reminding" the readers about events passed so the new readers learn as the series readers are reminded and it worked great in my eyes.

I really enjoyed the story and the writing although at times it was a bit rough and edgy.  This book is gritty and raw and I have found that I prefer my crime novels this way.   I really liked Jack's character but I absolutely love Harry, I found him a real hoot and kept wondering what he was going to say next.  I plan to go back and read the books from the beginning of the series and see how the characters developed to this point.  It wasn't a perfect book but I definitely want to read more.

Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Series:

1. Whiskey Sour (2004)
2. Bloody Mary (2005)
3. Rusty Nail (2006)
4. Dirty Martini (2007)
5. Fuzzy Navel (2008)
6. Cherry Bomb (2009)
7. Shaken (2011)
8. Stirred (2011) (with Blake Crouch)

I read this book for a Fruit "Theme" challenge at The Reading Cove.