the book of better

have you all heard of this book? it's been buzzed about around the twitterverse a little, a few of my fellow bloggers have read it, kim wrote a review ... and when i read her review, i told her i agreed and my review would be quite similar.

i got an email from three rivers press about the book that said: It’s ultra-visual, resoundingly positive, and completely different than any other book about Diabetes out there. ohhh, ultra visual? positive? COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?? i'm in. 

the book of better is by chuck eichten, who is type 1 and is the creative director at nike. you guys. i'm a graphic designer. i am in LOVE with the way this book looks. and the coating on the cover? don't get me started. yum. it just LOOKS GOOD. so let's just say he was off to a good start.

i really enjoyed the book. it was easy to read, it was funny! i found myself chuckling at the puns and funny phrases he used throughout. i related to the way chuck felt. the style of the book made it feel ... less, hmm, formal? i'm not a professional book reviewer by any means. I LIKED IT. there. 

it made some good points ... basically the gist is that you can make life with diabetes better. no matter how much better, better is better. even just a teeny bit. that's still better. i am a fan of this thinking. every little bit counts! chuck talked about how he's not perfect, living with diabetes can't be perfect (hey, subtitle...) but you can make it better. if you just TRY. i'm not going into details because, well, i think you should read it. it's a quick read too, which i am also a fan of. 

it also had some points that i wasn't sure i agreed with; a few specifics: saying that just turning down your insulin pump when you feel low will make feeling of being low go away ... i mean, that's one part of it. but clearly that is not all you have to do. and not everyone uses an insulin pump. another was that one page actually read 'you can make your type 2 diabetes go away.' uhhhmmm, what? i mean, i knew where he was going with it, but that part made me squirm a little. i felt like there could have been a little more information provided about that. if someone who was recently diagnosed with type 2 was just picking up this book to learn about it, they might feel a little mislead. and there is a page toward the end where United States was spelled Untied States. ohhh, that misspelling slipped through the cracks. 

there were pages with huge graphics that i was nodding at. yes, diabetes IS totally unfair. so are lots of other things in this world, but sometimes it's nice to see it in print. it's affirming that i'm not the only one who thinks so.

'through it all i have retained my good looks.'

and i mean, who doesn't think this is funny? if you don't have a sense of humor, probably you. but if you didn't have a sense of humor, i don't think you'd be visiting my blog very often. ;)

all in all, i'd say this is a good read. you should probably getchyaself a copy! i thought it was a positive outlook on how to just make a little effort to make life with diabetes better. 

Disclaimer: i got this book from three rivers press but they did not ask me to write about it or post a review in any form. i am of course not a professional book reviewer of any sorts. i just wanna tell you what i like and don't. thanks bye :)