Let Go of Emotional Overeating and Love Your Food by Arlene B. Englander

Started: 8/19/18
Finished: 8/27/18
Year: 2018
Pages: 169
Genre: Self-Help
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "Readers will learn how to become aware of the difference between eating in a healthy way and eating emotionally-neither to satisfy hunger nor for enjoyment, but in a desperate attempt to distract oneself from painful thoughts and feelings. Diets don't work for people who eat through their emotions. Instead, learning to recognize the stressors that lead to emotional eating and to address those tensions through other methods besides eating is the goal. When we handle stress well away from the table, we're free to relax and savor out food when we choose to eat. proven techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are presented in an innovative, easy-to-remember way. Learning to eat mindfully, for health and enjoyment, becomes the goal, and Arlene B. Englander walks readers through table techniques designed to make mindful eating easier, habitual, and ultimately second nature.
"Allowing for both fun food and health foods, Englander's approach emphasizes eating healthfully and being aware of best practices and the behavioral objectives of coping with stress, exercising regularly, mindful eating, good nutrition and hydration, and controlling overeating situations. She addresses late-night eating, parties, vacations, and other situations where overindulging may be a risk. She concludes with a prescription that is meant to last so that readers can love their food for a lifetime."
Opinion: This is a straight forward look and approach to emotional eating. It isn't a diet plan and it isn't meant to be. A more complete review will be posted on MyShelf.com.

B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

Started: 7/24/18
Finished: 8/20/18
Year: 1986 (this edition 2007)
Pages: 363
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: reread, part of a book spiral on Bookcrossing.com
Blurb (from back cover): There was nothing about Beverly Danziger to cause Kinsey concern. She was looking for her sister. There was a will to be settled. She paid up front. And if it seemed a lot of money for a routine job, Kinsey wasn't going to argue.
"She kicked herself later for the things she didn't see-Beverly Danziger did not look as if she needed a few thousand dollars and she didn't seem like someone longing for a family reunion. But just as Kinsey begins to suspect foul play and start asking questions, Beverly Danziger pulls her off the case and fires her..."
Opinion: In rereading the series in order, it is nice to see Kinsey's character development. The plot for this book was a good one with a good plot twist at the end.

Great American Ghost Stories Volume Two Edited by Frank D. McSherrry, Jr., Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg

Started: 8/4/18
Finished: 8/18/18
Year: 1991
Pages: 257
Genre: Horror
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed off TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "America...home of the free, the brave, and the haunted...Take a chilling cross-country tour with America's most acclaimed storytellers...
"Madness in Maine-everyone knows cats have nine lives...but what if each one is a little bigger and meaner than the one before?
Cold fear in California-it was prime California real estate. Real cheap, real scenic...real weird.
"Mayhem in Massachusetts-if you try to rationalize a psychic flow of unearthly voices...you might drown in your own logic.
"Omens in Ohio-never leave the window open...when there's a corpse in the house."
Opinion: Not the worst collection of short stories but definitely could be better. I only recognized one author's name.

Probable Claws by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown

Started: 7/8/18
Finished: 8/2/18
Year: 2018
Pages: 319
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for LibraryThing.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "With the New Year just around the corner, winter has transformed the cozy Blue Ridge Mountain community of Crozet, Virginia, into a living snow globe. It's the perfect setting for Mary Minor 'Harry' Haristeen to build a new work shed designed by her dear friend, local architect Gary Gardner. But the natural serenity is shattered when out of the blue, right in front of Harry and Deputy Cynthia Cooper, and in broad daylight, Gary is shot to death by a masked motorcyclist.
"Outraged by the brazen murder, Harry begins to burrow into her fiend's past-and unearths a pattern of destructive greed reaching gar back into Virginia's post-Revolutionary history When Harry finds incriminating evidence, the killer strikes again.
"Heedless of her own safety, Harry follows a trail of clues to a construction site in Richmond, where the discovery of mysterious remains has recently haltered work. Aided as always by her loyal, if opinionated, companions, crime-solving cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and Tee Tucker the Corgi, Harry hunts for a link between the decades-old dead, the recently violently deceased-and ancient secrets that underlie everything. And while other deaths are narrowly averted in a flurry of fur, the killer remains at large-ever more desperate and dangerous. the deep-rooted legacy of corruption that's been exposed can never be buried again. But if Harry keeps pursuing the terrible truth, she may be digging her own grave.
Opinion: I usually enjoy Brown's books that involve the cats and dogs. This one I'm on the fence about because within the present day story, there is a back story that never seems to fit. The antics of Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tucker are great like always and they continue to play an important part of the story. The present day mystery is a decent one but the ending seemed rushed and out of character for Harry. If you have been a fan of Brown's other books in this series, I would pick up a copy of this but be forewarned that I did not think that it was as good as some previous ones in the series.