9.7.11

The Great Life Diet

By Denny Waxman

"As a child, I refused to eat vegetables. Lettuce and tomatoes (in a sandwich) were the only exceptions. My mother was an excellent cook but I didn't appreciate her skills. Food was a problem for me. Once a week I was permitted to have dinner out with my friends. These were the meals I liked best. I ate all the junk food my body could handle. Whether consciously or not, throughout my childhood I refused vegetables completely. I would eat my mother's vegetable soup only if she strained out the vegetables. I was that bad! In light of this confession, it strikes me as highly ironic that I have spent most of my adult life trying to convince other people to eat their vegetables."

29.6.11

The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership

By Steven B. Sample

"To a greater extent than we realize, and to far greater extent than we would ever care to admit, we are what we read."

4.6.11

The Hour I First Believed

By Wally Lamb

"Figuring it was better if they talked with someone who could speak "medical," I had Maureen call the hospital. She tried twice but couldn't get past "Louella's resting comfortably" and "Someone from the medical team will be calling" and "Can you verify that her insurance provider is Blue Cross/Blue Shield?" And goddamnit, by the time the medical team did call, Mo'd gone out."

28.5.11

Thrive

By Brendan Brazier

"As the body carries out normal functions such as movement and digestion, it naturally becomes increasingly acidic: Acid formation is a natural by-product of a healthy metabolism. The normal biological function becomes a problem only when an inordinate amount of food is consumed. As I mentioned earlier, nutrient-dense, high net-gain food is key. The lower the net gain of the food, the more that must be consumed to obtain all the nutrients the body needs. This leads not only to an overconsumption of empty calories but also to the digestion of more food than is necessary. The more food that passes through the system, the more acidic the body will become."

10.5.11

Body Eloquence

By Nancy Mellon

"After the king died, his ghost haunted the castle the princess had inherited from him, threatening her every step. In her loneliness, she sent her servants out with wicker baskets in search of birds. Each morning she would cry, 'Bring more birds! I must have more birds!'"

28.4.11

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

By Helen Simonson

"To tell Mortimer that he had never begrudged Bertie the gun had been a damn lie. Sitting on the seafront, his back pressed against the wooden slats of a park bench, the Major turned his face up to the sun. The sweater absorbed heat as efficiently as a black plastic bin liner, and it was pleasant to sit tucked away in the lee of the fisherman's black-tarred net-drying sheds, listening to the waves breaking themselves to pieces on the shingle."

21.4.11

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By Rebecca Skloot

"I told her I was hoping to talk to David, and she asked who was calling. Rebecca, I said, afraid she'd hang up if I said anything more."

14.4.11

Just Kids

By Patti Smith

"I needed to get another job. My friend Janet Hamill had been hired at Scribner's Bookstore, and once again, as she had done in college, she found a way of giving me a helping hand by sharing her good fortune. She spoke to here superiors, and the offered me a position. It seemed like a dream job, working in the retail store of the prestigious publisher, home to writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and their books, where paintings by Maxfield Parrish hung in the stairwell."