Reading at Dawn - Book Review Blog

Going with something different this week. Instead of ya, fantasy or even fiction, my book for today is a health nonfiction book. Health is a big genre nowadays and something I peruse occasionally.

The real title is long. The full title is Are You Ready!: to Take Charge, Lose Weight, Get in Shape, and Change Your Life Forever. Author Bob Harper is known for his work as a trainer on The Biggest Loser and is featured on the Biggest Loser video games. This is a book I listened to on Itunes that I think I started at the end of 2010 but finished a few days into 2011. Audiobooks still count.

Rant Warning: I will be going on a rant/tangent at the end of this post.

From Goodreads: On The Biggest Loser, Bob Harper gives contestants the practical tools and psychological insights they need to get into the best shape of their lives. The key to his success is the emotional connection he makes with each participant, and he brings that same spirit to Are You Ready!...


I'm probably going to be nicer than some when it comes to this and maybe a little fan girly but look who wrote it. Bob is just awesome. Even though I don't watch The Biggest Loser often, he is my favorite from the show and wii game. Also, it says a lot when someone like me, who has a preference to women, would pick the guy trainer on the game.

One good thing about the audio version is that Bob does the reading so get to hear the tips right from the source. Which I think is cool. It would be a little less effective if it had just been some random person reading and since he is a celeb in the fitness world it only makes sense. The bad part about the audio is that the last section of the book really needs to be read. I am trying to figure out how to find a pdf of it at least but I'm not too keen to purchase something else online. Might just go buy the paperback version. I'm torn because it's convenient to have the audio, not to mention fun to listen to the author, but the paperback version might be better for using the information provided.

On a nitpick note: As an editor there is something about the title that bugs me. I don't like the "to" before "change your life". I think it has to do with the two punctuations before it that makes the word seem unneeded.

What I liked about this book is the focus on the internal when it comes to trying to lose weight. By this I mean, the mind. To get personal here, I am overweight. And at one point I lost 40 lbs several years ago but I didn't feel any different. 40 lbs should seem like a lot and sure I was fitting in a smaller pant size but there was no difference at all in how I felt. So, Bob's focus on the mental and emotional factors first really makes sense to me. The rest is a little hard to follow in the audio version but getting the book will make things a little easier. If going with the audio version, I also suggest finding a pdf too.

I haven't read or listened to many celebrity books but this one was good and within the expected genre considering what Bob is famous for.



Rant: Time for the warned rant. One issue that some reviews I've seen have with the book is that it doesn't seem original to them. Sometimes, I think people forget exactly what counts as new and what is completely unoriginal. It's basically impossible to have something that is 100 percent original but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's possible to take ideas that have been used in the past and to change it into something that can be called original. There is a reason people say "good artists borrow and great artists steal."

And the thing is... this is not just for celebs or even published authors. I've had someone say something similar about a section of my adult mutant novel and I'm not published. On writing.com I had a section of Standing Ground I wrote during a friend's contest and the person who helped her review/judge called mine an "x-men ripoff". Because apparently a gay male mutant who controls energy and has to deal with his boyfriend returning from war having jealousy towards his best friend, who is a mutant that has prophetic dreams that are hard to decipher is just like X-Men. I know that genetic mutation isn't 100 percent original and I"m okay with most X-Men references because let's be honest, I can't really avoid it. But ripoff? Really? The movie Push must have been an X-Men ripoff too.