A number of years ago, when I lived at home and had access to television (oh, the things you take for granted!) I used to watch a British show called How to Look Good Naked. A self conscious woman (typically one who was disheveled and encased in horrendous, baggy clothing) would be put through a series of challenges, all designed to convince her that her body was beautiful, attractive and sexy – and that so was she! The show would culminate with the woman strutting down a catwalk in only her underwear – a testament to her newfound confidence and acceptance of her body. I loved it!

The host of the show was a stylist named Gok, who would help the woman select strategic wardrobe pieces – items that tucked, concealed, supported or disguised whichever body parts induced insecurity. Gok loved the clothes, but you knew that he loved the women more. In fact, he played the token “gay best friend” that every woman needs – supportive, hilarious, and committed to the idea that beauty comes in every size.

I’ve just finished reading Gok’s autobiography, Through Thick and Thin, and I really enjoyed it. Frankly, it’s a beach read. There’s nothing in here that’s profound or intellectually rigorous. Rather, it’s a nice light read for people who watched and loved the show, or for people who might be interested in how to break into the styling business.

Gok’s road to stardom wasn’t an easy one. He was obese and then anorexic; he worked several dissatisfying jobs before finding the one he loved, and he both made and lost friends along the way. Indeed, life wasn’t simple for a self-described “fat, gay Chinese kid”, yet Gok’s determination and the love of his family saw him though challenging times. This biography has an ultimately heartwarming tone.

Check it out if you need a nice, light read. Or if you’re interested in a career in fashion and styling. Or if you’re a fat, gay, Chinese kid. And especially if you’re struggling with body issues, and you just want to feel better.

While shopping on my supper break a few days ago, I proved Dr. William Davis right. Davis is the author of a contentious new book: Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find your Path Back to Health and he claims that cutting wheat out of your diet might allow you to lose several pounds within the first few weeks. Does it sound too good to be true? Sure. But thus far, it’s working for me. Eleven days without wheat and already my clothes are a bit looser. I could barely contain my grin, when I heard myself asking if I could get that skirt one smaller size. YES!

I don’t know if I’m under the blissful influence of the placebo effect or not, but I really do feel lighter, energetic, and increasingly more clear-headed. I think I’ll keep it up!

Your Calgary Public Library branch contains lots of diet books; not all of them advise you to eschew wheat, but nearly every one will tell you to limit “white foods”: sugars, breads, snack foods and other miscellaneous refined and processed products. Essentially, you should give up the food that’s not really food. Give it a try and see how you feel!

Our e-library contains comprehensive and reputable health and wellness information and we’ve got a great range of exercise DVDs and diet books, too. And check out our program guide for programs on health and nutrition.

By the way, Dr. Davis was interviewed recently in McLean's magazine. If you missed it, you can find the article in our e-library database Canadian Newsstand. Not sure how to access it? Call us at (403) 260-2782, or head to our homepage and strike up a chat! We're happy to give you instructions!

Check out this popular new book, for an interesting account of how the United States went from superpower to super broke. Cowen has no bias against either Republicans or Democrats, and he doesn’t seek to lay blame, but rather to enlighten readers about the causal factors involved in the recession of an economy as large as the United States’. His explanations are clear and reasonable; this is everyday economics for folks who are drawn to real world examples rather than complex theories. David Brooks of the New York Times states that this is “the most debated nonfiction book so far this year”. Check it out today.

Stealing is as old as human culture, and it even exists in the animal world. So it’s no surprise that with the rise of capitalism and department stores in particular, we witness a specific type of stealing: shoplifting. I’m partway through a fascinating new book on shoplifting. It covers the history of shoplifting, as well as the various theories that have sprung up to explain it. Shoplifting can’t only be about poverty – think of that infamous Winona Ryder! - but it’s not just about greed or temptation, either. Is shoplifting an uncontrollable impulse? Can it be said that it’s a political act or statement? What are its real costs to business owners and consumers?

Most fascinating to me is the way that shoplifters describe their own behavior. Some are remorseless; others are ashamed. Some shoplifters do it to get a cheap (make that free) high, while others enjoy the feeling of superiority that results when they’ve conned a “stupid salesman”. Shoplifting is committed by both men and women, old and young, and by people of every ethnicity and class – and it affects everyone in the marketplace.

Find out more by reading this interesting, fast-paced read. The Steal is part history, part anthropology, and totally fascinating!

Check out some of these new titles! Who knew that idiots were involved in so many different hobbies and lines of work?

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Crowdsourcing

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to HTML 5 and CSS3

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Project Management

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Electronics 101

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Android App Development

Whether you’re a complete idiot or an utter genius, the Calgary Public Library has books, CDs, e-books and programs about everything you’re into!

A few days ago, I blogged about some new books that caught my eye. I took one of them home and read it in a single evening. It was Mark Kurlansky’s What: Are These the Twenty Most Important Questions in Human History – Or Is This a Game of Twenty Questions? I must admit that by its final chapter, I was starved for an answer rather than another question, but thankfully, I got one.

This book is a novel concept – it’s a book about the big questions, composed entirely of questions. And even though it may sound impossible to achieve, Kurlansky has managed to accomplish this task with elegance. Check out the book if you have an interest in philosophy or history!

I especially love the excerpt from Letters to a Young Poet, which Kurlansky includes after all of his questioning:

You are so young, and have not even started, and I want to beg you, as strongly as I can, dear sir, to be patient with all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked little rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

Beautiful, huh?

For books full of questions and people who can help you find the answers, visit your local library!