(136)Good Enough To Eat by Stacey Ballis

I have been a fan of Jen Lancaster's for quite sometime. Her writing is literally laugh out loud funny. In her last few books, she has talked about her BFF, Stacey. In the acknowledgments of My Fair Lazy, I actually looked to see what the infamous Stacey's last name was. I was a little surprised that Jennsylvania's BFF is Stacey Ballis, an author that I thoroughly enjoy. I admittedly went "Awwwww" when I saw that Stacey had dedicated her new book to her BFF. We should all be so lucky to have a friendship like theirs.

I have been anticipating Good Enough To Eat for quite some time. Mostly because I have read a couple of other books by Ms Ballis and really enjoy her style of writing. But, I was dreading the thought of reading yet another book peppered with recipes that I, the Un-cook, will never bother to make. I am getting weary of the latest trend of authors littering novels with recipes, but I digress....

Ms. Ballis went another direction. At the beginning of every chapter the main character, a formerly obese woman named Melanie, talks about her favorite foods and the memories she associates with them. THAT is a food reference that I can relate to. We all have a memory behind our favorite comfort foods and I really enjoyed reading about the impact foods such as pancakes and chili made in Mel's life.

Let me tell you about Mel. Mel worked hard to lose half of herself. At one time she was 290lbs. She lost all of that weight only to have her husband leave her for a woman that was just as obese as she had been. She is crushed & devastated. Thankfully she has friends to surround her and help her keep her cafe afloat as she struggles through the heartache. She even meets a wonderful man, Nate who helps to show her what a real relationship can be like.

Good Enough To Eat was a very realistic portrayal that millions of women can relate to. Ms. Ballis was honest. Just because an obese person loses weight, does not mean that they do not struggle every minute of every day against their cravings. It was great to see that communicated in a book like this one. The story is well written and one that can even be seen as inspirational to those of us who fight the battle daily. And have no fear, those of you who enjoy cooking can find the recipes for everything mentioned at the back of the book.

Good Enough To Eat is a "LendMe" book for those of you that have nooks. I am opening up a contest that will run for a week. The rules? Post your email address & your favorite comfort food. On September 18th, I will randomly choose a winner to "borrow" Good Enough To Eat on their nook or B&N E-Reader.