144. Leftovers by Stella Newman

BOOK REVIEW: Leftovers by Stella Newman

As a girl, romance and love is almost intertwined into our systems. There is no better way to unwind than poring over a girly novel and for an avid foodie like me, a novel with recipes woven into it! It's a winner in my books!

In the beginning of the book, according to a magazine, Susie Rosen is a 'Leftover' - a post-Bridget Jones thirty-something who has neither her dream man, job, nor home. She doesn't even own six matching dinner plates.

According to her friend Rebecca, Susie needs to get over her ex, Jake, and start online dating - or at least stop being so rude to every guy who tries to chat her up.

But Susie's got a plan. If she can just make it through the 307 days till her promotion and bonus, she can finally quit and pursue her dream career in food. Then surely, everything else will fall into place. If only her love life wasn't so complicated.

Funny and endearing, this love story almost feels like a coming-of-age love story told in the eyes of a thirty-year-old. Besides that, she has a pasta recipe for which mood she is in, for example, 'when scrolling through Google images of Jake's new girlfriend and find a cosy picture of him and her'. The recipes are also provided at the end of the book.

So if you girls are thinking of what to do on a lazy, rainy weekend or even when you are bored, just cook up a pasta storm and sidle up to a corner with this book. Trust me, weekends couldn't get this good...

143. Unjunk your Junk Food by Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer with Lisa Tsakos

BOOK REVIEW: Unjunk your Junk Food By Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer with Lisa Tsakos

Ask a lady what's the first food she will reach for when she's down in the dumps and the answer will most probably be "chocolate". All of us regardless of gender, race, religion or age love our junk food. From ice creams to candy to cakes, junk food can be found on the shelves of any supermarkets or grocery stores. But did you know what lurks inside those foods?

Preservatives, artificial colorings and flavorings and a cocktail of other undesirable chemicals are added to food these days to make them tastier and more appealing. However, these chemicals have been proven to have adverse effects on human health. Can we actually enjoy junk food without the side effects? Actually you can!

You don't have to give up junk food to eat healthy - just make smarter choices. In this highly informative book, discover yummy alternatives to your favorite treats. Unjunk your Junk Food is a quick and easy guide that can be used the next time you enter a supermarket.

This book contains information on:

• Healthy choices for the snacks you crave.
• Savvy alternatives to conventional brands.
• Tips for reading food labels and recognizing false claims.
• Nutritious ingredients to look for and dangerous additives to avoid.
• A tear-out Worst Ingredients chart.

The authors are health and wellness advocates and cofounders of NaturallySavvy.com, one of the web's most popular and trusted resources for living a natural, organic, and green lifestyle. They appear frequently on television and radio to help consumers make healthier everyday choices. Lisa Tsakos is the chief nutrition expert for NaturallySavvy.com. She is a nutritionist and educator specializing in weight management and corporate nutrition programs.

With glossy pages full of mouth-watering illustrations, this book has been an insightful journey through the world of junk food.

142. The Human Body Book by Steve Parker

BOOK REVIEW: The Human Body by Steve Parker

All of us have amazing bodies, a vessel for our soul to reside in, enabling us to carry out so many different tasks with ease. But do we all really know what is in it or how it works or maybe even how it looks like? This amazing book shows the detailed structure inside the human body as never seen before.

Although medical professionals have used dissection for several hundred years, new techniques help them to reveal what lies under our skin in meticulous detail. Tomographic techniques have been used with magnetic resonance scanning to produce the many visuals that you will come across in this book. Some pictures in this book are drawings of what is seen down a microscope.

The combination of microscopic anatomy and three-dimensional images is highly instructive, and this book allows readers to more than glimpse at the unique wonders inside the body. It will appeal not only to adults and young people, who are just interested in how the body works, but also to those, like nurses or physiotherapists, for whom it has more professional relevance.

Since I took up a Diploma in Human Anatomy and Physiology, this book has been of immense help with its clear explanations and eye-catching visuals. Learning biology has never been more fun with the presence of this book. Pop into a Book Xcess outlet and you may be able to get your hands on a copy of this book which comes as a set of two with a coloring book dedicated to, you guessed it, the human body.

141. The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan

BOOK REVIEW: The Omnivore's Dilemma - The Secrets Behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan

Food is an integral part of our Malaysian culture and our eating habits can even rival that of the Americans. Food can be found around every corner at any time of the day. But do we know where our food comes from, how it is processed or just what goes into that McD patty we chow down? In this eye-opening read, Michael Pollan tells us exactly how food has evolved and what comes off of this evolution.

In writing this book, Pollan, as an investigative journalist, toured various levels of the food production chain. He began his journey from the industrial farms of Iowa and feedlots in Kansas to organic farms and slaughter houses in Virginia  to finally, the supermarkets in which we all partake. He not only traced the ecological path of food from cultivation to consumption but also the evolutionary path of our diet over the years. Pollan points out that the omnivore’s dilemma is how we as humans have so many dietary options but so little information about what we should eat and where our food comes from.

From the corn fields of Iowa, Pollan explains why corn, because of its photosynthetic efficiency, high yield, versatility and ease to transport, has become the most preferred cereal for cultivation. What is more concerning, as Pollan witnessed on his trip, is how the diet of most animals such as cattle has been changed from grass to corn for economic reasons. Corn fed animals take a shorter time to grow and gain weight compared with animals raised on grass or on their natural diet. However, the physiology of these animals has not evolved to rely on corn and on the receiving end of the negative effects of such ripples along the food change is us, as consumers.

Pollan discussed the negative effect of the industrialization of agriculture: the use of nitrogen based chemical fertilizers in place of livestock manure and crop rotation and the concomitant shift from reliance on solar energy to fossil fuel. Though this may make food production economically cheap, it is ecologically expensive bearing in mind the devastative effect of pollution, and greenhouse gases both by-products of fossil fuel consumption, on the environment. Furthermore, there are the dangers posed by runoffs of pesticides and fertilizers into bodies of water that serve people and other living organisms.

After reading this book, it has allowed me as a foodie and chef to appreciate the essence of real food in this age and time. Eating the way our ancestors did can have positive outcomes for both us as consumers and the environment as well.

140. A Dance With The Devil by Barbara Bentley

BOOK REVIEW: A Dance With The Devil by Barbara Bentley

Most of us have heard the sayings "Match made in heaven" and "Marriages are witnessed by angels". However, lady luck was not on Barbara Bentley's side as she narrates her true life story of marriage to a socio-psychopath.

When retired Navy rear admiral John Perry proposed, Barbara couldn't believe her luck. He came with a remarkable military background, spoke 7 languages, knew celebrities, and had an impressive family pedigree. Dashing, attentive, full of fascinating stories, he seemed almost too good to be true. HE WAS...

From the start, things didn't add up. Barbara struggled to ignore her doubts, especially when John grew angry, and she kept trying to put the pieces together...unaware that some were simply missing.

Even as John drained her credit, dodged her questions, manipulated and misled her, she stayed with him, suppressing her growing suspicions. Ultimately he would try to kill her, proving himself not a protector and provider - but a predator.

This tear-jerking book is Barbara's courageous, compelling story - in her own words - of the slow, choking darkness that fell after the honeymoon was over, and what it took to finally make her escape.

She reveals her transformation from terrified victim of deception to triumphant activist - and details her continuing efforts to never let the same thing happen to another woman.

I have read of psychos in the papers, watched horrific stories of random shootings but this book opened up a new part by reading the life of a victim. It immensely broke my heart that guys like this actually existed. This is a wonderful read and makes us women be aware of not judging a book by its cover.

139. Hotel K: The Shocking Inside Story of Bali's Most Notorious Jail by Kathryn Bonella

BOOK REVIEW: Hotel K - The Shocking Inside Story of Bali's Most Notorious Jail by Kathryn Bonella

Jails to most of us mean strict punishments, high security walls, guards on rounds as well as frequent police checks to prevent jail escapes. If the roles of jails are reversed, what would actually happen? A shocking insight into Bali's most notorious jail, this book is sure to widen your eyes.

Welcome to Hotel Kerobokan, or Hotel K, Bali's most notorious jail. Its wall touch paradise: sparkling oceans, surf beaches and palm trees on one side, while on the other it's a dark, bizarre and truly frightening underworld of sex, drugs, violence and squalor.

Hotel K's filthy and disease ridden cells have been home to the infamous and the tragic: a Balinese King, Gordon Ramsay's brother, Muslim terror bombers, beautiful women tourists and surfers from across the globe.

Petty thieves share cells with killers, rapists, and gangsters,. Hardened drug traffickers sleep alongside unlucky tourists, who've seen their holiday turn from paradise to hell over one ecstacy pill.

Hotel K is the shocking inside story of the jail and its inmates, revealing the wild 'sex' nights organized by corrupt guards for the prisoners who have cash to pay, the jail's ecstacy factory, the killings made to look like suicides, the days out at the beach, the escapes and the corruption that means anything is for sale.

The truth about the dark heart of Bali's jail is explained in clear detail. Gawping in shock as I turned every page, this book shines a light on a part of jail that we never knew existed.

138. Mom's Big Book of Baking by Lauren Chattman

BOOK REVIEW: Mom's Big Book of Baking by Laura Chattman

Being a mother is not easy, judging from the pinched face my mum used to have when I gave her hell during my younger days! Haha! Many mothers out there are juggling between work and family, striving to be the best they can in both worlds. They especially take an interest in the dining table.

As a busy mom you want to make memorable treats for family and friends, but you're realistic about the amount of time you have, and you want whatever effort you put into the kitchen to have a big payback.

With that in mind, Lauren Chattman has created simple recipes that produce the highest quality baked goods with the least amount of fuss. The recipes are guaranteed to please even the pickiest kids.

But that doesn't mean they're boring: they strike a comforting balance between comforting classics, such as Devil's Food Cake or Molasses Cookies, and delicious new ideas that are destined to become family favorites, such as Sweet Grape Focaccia or Coconut Ginger Blondies.

Sprinkled throughout the book are loads of tips on when and how to let kids participate in the kitchen, as well as invaluable pointers on such vital topics as how to mass produce cupcakes and how to make a birthday cake your child will remember forever.

Now thanks to this book, many of my friends and family out there who are mothers can greet any occasion with grace and style.