Sleepyhead Shares a Secret by Maureen Reil BOOK REVIEW

Sleepyhead Shares a Secret by Maureen Reil
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book through the Goodreads First-Reads program.

I sat down with it when I first received it and tried to read it, really I did. The main character is just so whinny. I ended up having to put it down. And of course there I let it sit for the longest time.

Last week I was looking through some books, and realized I had a couple of books from the First-Reads that I had not reviewed yet, so I sat down and tried to read the book again.

I confess, I only got about half way through before I threw the book across the room. Not only is the main character whinny, she talks about having Sleep Apnea (note to the author...it is spelled APNEA not APENOA) like it is some horrible dreaded thing that will ruin her life. I for one have sleep apnea, and I have never experienced anything like this character does, nor have I ever went through any treatments like she describes or tests. The more I read, the less I liked the book, and the harder it was to keep reading.

Even the blossoming friendship or whatever it will be between Sabrina and the Dr can not save this book.

Maybe if I came at the book with no knowledge of sleep apnea, maybe I could have read it, but then again i would hate knowing it was out there and people are thinking this of me.

It's well-written, the grammar and structure is great, but I can't do the story. sorry.

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Practical Belly Fat Cure - 4 Weeks To Lose Belly Fat & Get a Lean Tight Belly

Book Review If you are looking for another fad diet, a body wrap, or weird and strange exercise that will just wash the belly fat away while you sleep, then put this book back down and walk away. You won't find it here, what you will find in here is good, honest truth! Imagine that! Believe you me, as a mom of three, I know belly fat, and I know all about the gimmicks out there, so I on my guard when I picked up this book. This book is well written, not too overly educated, almost anyone can understand it, and it is written so that anyone can follow the instructions, understand why they are following them and change their life. I think that last part makes it so much different, she explains, why we need to do this, why just doing crunches don't work and what to do instead. Covering diet and lifestyle, it addresses the reasons and things that got us to this point in the first place, and the lack of motivation keeping us here, and how to change all that to move on to a new life. If you are serious about making a change in your life, then this is the book for you. Come join me in the revolution to lose the baby belly forever!

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you have read any of my reviews, you might already know that once I discovered writer, Harlan Coben, I have falling in love with his ability and stories. I love the way he writes, how done to earth and real life his books seem to be and how engaging they are. So when I found this book at the local Goodwill store, I was in seventh heaven!

On the surface, this seems like a book that any parent would read and be involved in. Tia and Mike Baye are spying on their own son, well at least his online activity. He has seemed so changed and different since his best friend committed suicide recently that they feel the need to spy to see what is going on and hopefully prevent another suicide in their community. What they discover is that what is going on is much deeper than just a teenage boy committing suicide, there are so many more levels and so many more people are involved, and a young child is faced with trying to protect his family without understanding the truth of what is going on!

I was sucked in from page one. I understood the parents, I felt for them and I understood why they made that choice, not that I agreed with it, but I could feel their pain and concern and why they felt this was the option they needed to go with. Again, as in other books, as the story progresses you hear some names you already know, they were mentioned in this book or that book, background characters, but it gives that homey feel, like in my small town where it seems like every person you run into knows another person you know and such. It just really makes it so much more believable. But the twists and turns that the story ends up taking is nothing I could have imagined, or thought of, but yet it was realistic.

If you haven't read a Harlan Coben book, I would recommend this one as a great starting place. Try this one, let me know, but I feel very confident that you will enjoy it and be hooked on the author the way I am!

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Which way is up?

For years now, I have been so in tune with my own body. I could tell you when I was starting to get sick, I could tell you what each and every little pain was and when I was going to get a headache. I knew it. I understood it, and I had to. Starting at age 21, I was diagnosed with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome) which is basically just a big pain in the butt, but it effects every woman who has it just a little bit differently so we had to learn, as women with it, to understand our bodies. To understand how the differences in hormone levels effected us each and how to make it all work better, or at least closer to normal.

2009 was a rough year, first emotionally because I lost my grandfather, and second physically because things started changing, and although it was acting different and causing me more problems, I could still explain them to you and tell you what was going on, why I was in pain and about how long it would last. I knew there was going to come a time that I would have to consider the hysterectomy, I had known that for a long time, probably since the first diagnose, and I was fine with that, I just expected it to be a simple fix. Take out the parts causing all the problems and I will be up and felling great in no time at all! Right?

WRONG!!!

Here it is a little over a year after the surgery, and I feel completely upside-down! I no longer understand my own body! I have no clue what it is doing! Everything I have known for so many years is gone and I am floundering in the same body but without the instructions!

Ever since the surgery I have been dealing with horrible headaches. I went back to the OB/GYN and she gave me estrogen, which is normal for most patients, and without thinking I acceped because I expected that, but then I had to remember that my body isn't normal, it has PCOS....which by the way, never goes away, yes I no longer have my ovaries, but everything else associated with PCOS still exists in my body, so they change the name to Androgen Deficiency or something else, but it all mean the same thing. So for me, the estrogen just made them worse, and so we added more estrogen and more thinking I was too low, which seemed only natural since my body has never had a normal level of any hormone, but it just made it worse and finally it came to a point that I lost it....I bottomed out!

I got so depressed from the headaches and the general not feeling right that I took to my bed for three days, and in that I forgot to take any medicine. At three days, I guess the estrogen was out of my system and I started feeling better. The lack of estrogen allowed my mind to clear enough for me to realize that something needed to change. I decided that I had to start taking charge again. I found a family doctor that I like and we are starting the process all over again from the beginning. We have discovered that the headaches are related to my blood pressure. I had preeclampsia with all three kids, so the effects of that are that I might start running high blood pressure now. Although my blood pressure still mainly stays in the normal range, when it does rise, I have headaches. So I am taking blood pressure medicine, although only a small dose, and I still have the k from the doctor to monitor it myself, to take an extra pill it it is high, to skip a pill if it is getting too low.

The problem for me is that this is a re-learning experience. I am having to re-learn my body, and it is not easy. I am still trying to figure out what high blood pressure feels like beside the headaches and what low blood pressure feels like so that I can get the medicine regulated. I have a home blood pressure cuff, and i take my blood pressure daily and multiple times a day, and slowly I am getting to understand it, and this is just the first step. There are still so many other issues to deal with, but taking one issue at a time, instead of dumping 50 medicines into my body for each issue at one time is much nicer.

The trouble is that I feel like I wasted a year...I should have been better prepared for this and I should have taken control sooner, but I didn't. I feel guilty about that, at the same time, I feel like everything is upside-down because I can't understand this new body yet, and it is not a pretty sight!

I must have a saint for a husband and cherubs for children, because how they have put up with all this, I have no idea! And it's not over yet!