Get-out

I started reading Snap Out of It! randomly, flipping through the pages, reading bits here and there, and now I'm reading it from front to back. I'm loving this book. It combines child-like curiosity and mature insight. I like the way it incorporates dance movement, visual art, and well-told anecdotes. It's a multimedia event and a delight.

I had an inkling that I needed to shake up my relationship with my habitual self, but who knew a solution could be contained in this small, funny but thought-provoking book which has the one-two punch effect of making me laugh and think all at once. Laced with stories that easily stimulate my minds eye, I found myself wanting to try the exercises to SEE if they MIGHT just work. And, they had the overall effect of reseting my body's tendency to always go in the same direction, in the same manner
while finding myself enjoying the ride. A real gem of mind-body connections.

Say good-bye to your winter blues and that "blah" feeling with these thought-provoking and entertaining mini-tasks that re-tool your mind-body connection. Whether you are feeling sluggish or full of energy, the 101 "snaps" let you break from routine and look at the world in a new way--immediately. A wonderful book to share with friends, too. Whoever thought something so simple could have such an effect?!?! I truly enjoyed the author's personal anecdotes and her observations about life. Wish there were more stories!

I posted this on other POW websites and will continue to as long as I live. I've been telling anyone who would listen about it since I was in my mid 20's. I'm in my 40's now.

When I met my husband in 1979. He had just escaped Vietnam the year before. He was one of the boat people. He told me way back in 1979 that he had seen American POW's as late as 1978 with his own eyes on more then one occasion. He was riding his scooter far out in the country side and saw a group of tall, long haired and bearded Caucasion men working the rice paddy fields under Vietnamese armed guard. When he looked a little too long and too hard the guards aimed thier rifles at him so he looked away and kept driving.
He said the Caucasian mens faces were very sad.
My husband wouldn't lie to me. He still insists it true and we have told many people about it
Since then I made it a point to question every Vietnemese refugee I met. Several had told me they saw them with their own eyes as late as 1982.
I was also told that it was common knowledge in Vietnam that American POW's were still there.They were surprised that most Americans didn't know about it. They just figured maybe we didn't want them back or didn't care.
I don't know how much of Bobby Garwoods story is true. But, I know what my husband and others told me about seeing POW's as late as 1978- 1982. The only ones who seem to believe this story when we tell it, are Vietnam vets. Others are too horrifed to beleive it, but since my friends know my husband wouldn't make this up, they rationalize that yes, maybe he did see them, but they were most likely traitors, collaborating with the enemy and staying there by their own choice. If that is so why were they bedraggled, long haired and beared, emanciated and working at gun point with sad haunted faces? I don't know if there are any left alive now. It's been so long. But, I pray for them every night.

I am an avid reader of non-fiction books regarding the horrible treatment of our nation's heros before and after they returned home from Vietnam--If they were lucky enough to return home at all. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS-WE CAN'T CHANGE THE PAST, BUT BY READING THIS TRUE STORY WE CAN HONOR THOSE THAT SERVED OUR COUNTRY. WE ALL NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR COUNTRY'S STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES,AND SOMETIMES FLATOUT FAILURE TO PROTECT THOSE THAT SERVE THIS COUNTRY AND PRESERVE OUR FREEDOM.

Frank Anton's moving account of what happened to him in Vietnam is not only a POW's mightmare, but one for all of us Americans who left him there. I have been honored to meet Frank, in Florida, on our journey across America with our huey helicopter, while filming the documentary "In The Shadow of the Blade". His account of what our governement knew and didn't do, is shocking. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to get a full total picture and understanding of the Vietnam War experience. He has recorded a part of our history and a part of his very own soul! This is a must read book!

don't get me wrong, this book rocked! it deserves 5 stars! but when 1 on the main characters starts getting on your nerves... well... i had top bring down the rating. zoey used to be so cool... now she's just irritating! i'm almost on lara's side now! and that's not good...

This is truly a great book, plus great series. Lara is an alcoholic trying to recover. I love this series! Ever since book one (Zoey Fools Around) I've been hooked. Although it's not filled with science like the Animporphs, it definately has a great story. You feel like you're actually there with the characters. All the characters come from different backgrounds. Three of the characters are Jewish, and I thought that was so cool! If Katherine Applegate ever reads this, I just wanna say good job and keep the great books coming. I totally love this series. If you love small islands, teen love, and culture, this series is definately for you! Please read my review of it on my site.

I absolutly love this series. Though it is totally different from the Animporphs, it is a great story. If you like islands, love, teens, and a lot of culture, you should read these books. Since book one, i feel into the series like I knew what was going on every single step of the way. Zoey is probably my favorite character because we have a lot in common. We both love to write and both want to go to Berkley. Well, I don't know if I will, but she is. And there's even three Jewish characters, which I thought was so cool! I think that this series is the best I've ever read. If Ms. Applegate ever reads this, I just wanna say good job and keep the great books coming!

"Get the Salt Out" does indeed contain 501 numbered suggestiond for cutting salt from your diet. A number of these suggestions overlap, but I was impressed by the thoroughness of the book. I have high blood pressure and have been on a low-salt diet for years; however, this book alerted me to many hidden sources of sodium, such as baking soda and packaged cereals. The book is split into sections, such as getting the salt out of cooking, finding good low-salt fast food, and low-salt sauces. The author even points out that licking postage stamps adds sodium to your diet! That's thoroughness!

The book also contains a number of low-salt recipes scattered throughout (at least 50). In addition, Gittleman discusses the various types of salt/sodium and gives recommendations about how to avoid unnecessary processed sodium in favor of healthier (and tastier) natural salt. The author gives numerous suggestions about low-sodium products that can be purchased in stores or on-line. I have a number of low-salt cookbooks, but this book is the best in combining recipes with solid suggestions. A real winner, and I look forward to using these suggestions to further reduce my sodium intake.

I picked up this book for my Dad who was just diagnosed with high blood pressure. My Dad is not following the doctor's orders and so I am trying to help him out a little. He actually liked this book and is having my mother make the recipes. That's quite a feat for any writer to accomplish with my father.

This book was so easy to read and follow that I did not feel that I was on a restricted diet. The book identified lots of hidden sources of salt that I had no idea existed and made me feel that I was in safe hands following the author's advice.

This book is about so much more than the corruption among medicine, pharmaceuticals, government and "Health" Organizations like the WHO.

It about regaining our health, our soveriegn right as individuals, our freedom, self respect and love for our fellow man.

While the current and corrupt "Medical Mafia" poison, maim and kill millions no one is happy with it; patients or doctors, except those who profit from it; the "industry" which involves expensive testing, toxic drugs and sweeping global population control policies.

Ms Lanctot offers a solution and the good news is that it is in OUR hands. It involves claiming our right to make our own decisions about our health and that of our children and recognizing that same right in others, along with easy to follow suggestions about how to seek a responsible client/consultant relationship with a medical care practitioner.

Something fascinating, and I truly hope you read the book! Louis Pasteur "gave" the world our current concept of bacteria and viruses which lead to transmission of disease. Yet another unaclaimed scientist of the same time period as Mr Pasteur studied another possibility; that it is the disease which causes the virus or bacteria.

It may be hard at first to contemplate that what we have been told all our lives may be wrong and the disease-causes-germs paradigm should not be accepted as fact without intensive study into this possibility.

Sadly the current drug and profit based research debilitates that possibility. And scientist and doctors who try to adopt an approach which threatens the current situation often end up suffering persecution from the "mafia"; forms which range from public ridicule, loss of research funding, suspension of medical licencing(just ask Ms Lanctot)and many more.

Gaston Naessens has done further work on this theory; work on somatidian theory. A somatid is the smallest particle of living matter, precursor of DNA....a web search on any engine would verify this.

Ms Lanctot says that our greatest illness is that of submission, fueled by fear and our fascination with security and protection which are only fantasies at best.

All in all,this was a fascinating and inspiring book. The best I have read in many years......sharon

For we who have been reduced to numbers [myself 296.6] by the medical profession, this is a must read. Doctor penetrates the 'agreement reality' we have created with doctors, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies.

Before opening the book, I knew she probably lost her license to practice and that huge efforts to keep the book unavailable were made [look at Amazon's price and the availability]. One reviewer, skeptical when Doctor introduces spirituality, misses the boat. We need a new healthy paradigm - I stay a victim as long as I turn responsibility over to another [human being, institute or debilitating structure].

All health I have experienced comes with me not buying into the prevalent pathology paradigm - I try to see myself in battle with a 'good enemy' - one that I strive against and bring back gifts of light for my fellow human beings.

Great read - watch how this book will soon be hard to find.

One friend told me, 'There is nothing so powerful as an idea that has found its time.'

That time is now.

Blessings and light to all like the good doctor who stand in truth and impeccability of word. DAJB
Dale Anthony Beaulieu

Its a shocking title, isnt it? Medical Mafia? However, the author is right. She claims that we are all part of the infinite and that in essence we are all perfectly healthy. Her argument is that disease first shows up in the soul and from there is transferred to the physical body. This is not a new theory. In a book called Pranic healing by sui, he states pretty much the same thing. She claims that by using energy healing such as metaphysical healing, reflexology, polarity healing etc. the disease can be cured in the soul and health restored to the physical body. Simple logic and very true. The other parts of the book deal with the medical mafia. These are the business people who make a killing off the misery and suffering of others. The profit motive MUST be taken out of medicine. In countries where socialized medicine is installed over 50% of doctors and medical technicians etc. quit! If that doesnt tell you something about the profit motive, nothing will. This book was very disturbing to me because I was led to believe that medicine had the purest of motives. Wrong. She has some very frightening information in this book about medical conspiracies and evidence to back it up. I am not saying that all medicine is corrupt, but sky high medical bills, medicines and insurance costs point to something very wrong. Nor am I saying that you should quit your doctor. Better safe than sorry. I do believe though that you should compliment your doctors treatments with energy healing treatments. These treatments if used prudently and persistantly are effective. I hope everyone whether healthy or not reads this book.

Richard Bolles has a delightful writing style and a light touch for addressing some of the most profound issues of our lives. I bought this book because of how much I enjoyed Bolles' treatment of job hunting in "What Color is Your Parachute?" Unlike "What Color," which has been constantly updated and revised to reflect the changing realities of the job market, "The Three Boxes" was written for a mid-70's audience and does not address the new realities faced by people in the 21st century. When Bolles wrote this, his (younger) audience was likely idealistic college students ready to join the Peace Corps and forgo material gratification for the sake of larger social issues. Today's college grads seem to be bent on amassing huge fortunes very quickly, even at the expense of their social and personal lives. This book is written for people of all ages, but this is just an example of how far priorities and attitudes have changed. I hope Bolles updates this book since it hits on very important life issues, but I find this edition has lost much of its relevance as our society has changed dramatically.

Bolles' What Colour is Your Parachute? has, in the short time since its release, become a classic in how to find a job. The Three Boxes is a related but rather different work. The author takes on the broader issues of life planning, which includes not only career, but also educational and personal planning. In some ways, this book is a rebuttal to the traditional college/career/retirement paradigm by showing that people don't have to (and,for that matter, won't even if they wished to) live their lives in the traditional career path straitjacket. The tone of the work is thoughtful but practical.

A lot of self-help oriented material nowadays seems to focus on mustering your potential to achieve your dreams. These works have their place, but they fail to answer a preliminary question--how does one know what one wants from life?

The Three Boxes is about the task of actually figuring out what you want, and then implementing what you want. It's remarkably free of needless fluff about the inner person, while filled with practical ideas on "breaking out" of the "traps" of modern career life.

This is a book to own. It's an easy and thought-provoking read, presented in light style with interesting graphics.

I first read this book when it had been out only a few years, and it turned my head around. I had been brought up, like most children of the 'fifties, to think of life as a series of rigidly defined serial roles: first you were a student, then you were a worker, and finally you retired and got to do all the fun things you'd been putting off for the past 40-odd years. Having worked my way through graduate school, and done a bit of traveling in the process, I of course knew how artificial these distinctions were -- but I still tended to feel vaguely guilty about my "immature" lifestyle and rebuke myself for not "settling down" like a Real Grownup was "supposed to." Bolles set me straight -- in fact I was doing a pretty good job of balancing growth, work, and leisure in my life, and had nothing to be ashamed of. My subsequent work history has borne out the wisdom of his advice: I've been happiest and most productive when my life achieves that same balance; the most miserable time of my life was the nine-year period when I succumbed to the siren song of Silicon Valley and became a money-obsessed workaholic. This is a terrific book, and one that bears rereading every few years, especially when you feel your life slipping out of balance.

Interestingly, the author is trying to push the US born jewish people in a sort of a JEWISH MAFIA.
Let's be modest and treat all other religions and people as equal.
Otherwise bad things will happen to us.
The world and its people are not stupid to notice how disciminating and radical a lot of the Orthodox Jews have been towards others.
There is a difference between Isreali Jews and US born ones like me.
I do not feel that I should promote my Jewish brother, just becouse he is Jewish. I would promote the best person for the task. America has given us so much more than Isreal and I believe that we shall be gratefull and supportive of its people.
May all religions and people trive and be equal!!!

The author, Gil Mann, does not call Jews who are not committed "bad Jews." Instead he looks at whether someone is a "serious Jew." There are three interlocking circles (kind of like the interlocking Olympic circles) which represent different aspects of Judaism. The three are "ethics, spirituality and peoplehood" (remember the acronym ESP). Becoming more involved in any of the three will make someone a more serious Jew and, such involvement in that one sphere may lead to becoming more serious in either, or both, of the others.

Mann did interviews with individuals and with focus groups. Most of the chapters in this book are done as a dialogue between himself and an individual who is a composite. I bought this book for a teenager who thinks Judaism, or more specifically, religion in general, is a lot of nonsense. I hope this book will help this young person to see the richness in Judaism and the value of being a "serious Jew."

I read this book one year ago, and I still remember it as a perfect introduction to judaism. As a non religious jew, I always felt aside the society but also aside the jews. This book helped me to put religion and everyday life together, and more important, motivated me to read more about my religion. I would also recommend after this book the excellent "The Nine Questions People Ask about Judaism" by Dennis Prager.

This is classic Aslett -- it will have you pitching half the papers on your desk in no time. Aslett has some good ideas on how to begin to conquer the clutter of accumulated paper, and ideas that can be used in discrete time increments. Of all the clutter / office organization books I've read, his are the only ones that actually make me eager to get to work.

Two reasons I gave this book four stars rather than five, are (1) because of Aslett's gratuitous name-dropping & boasting (when my coimpany was cleaning AT&T, when I was consulting with the top executives of IBM, when I was making one of my many TV appearances with Regis & Kahie Lee . . . ); and (2) because Aslett seems to consider himself an expert on all things rather than sticking to what he knows best. Of course, I've read most of his books, and there is some redundancy, as if they're just regurgitations of former material. If you haven't read his other books, you might not have this perception. Nonetheless, every time I read one of his books I can manage to throw out several boxes of stuff, and after reading this, my office at work no longer has any hidden stacks of papers waiting to be dealt with.

I don't work in an office. I work in a classroom. However, I found that much of what is said in this book applies to me.

I teach science, and have worked in 2 different schools where I inherited the previous teacher's mess. In the first one, I applied many of Aslett's principles without even realizing it. There was so much junk that I couldn't even work. I did almost no labs my first year because I couldn't find anything!

At my new school, started by organizing. Recently, I read this book and was inspired. I went through my storage area and threw out every broken piece of equipment. I also snuck out a few pieces of equipment that I knew I would never use.

It has been a wonderful feeling. I now have room to have a sort of "office" in my storage room. I can find equipment quickly, making me more likely to do labs, and I have created room for the equipment I plan to order that I will use.

I see no obvious connection, but I now get my work done a lot faster. I write a lot of my own material. Before I did my decluttering I was working until midnight or later. Now I'm going home for supper, and coming back and working only a few more hours.

His book is not so big on specifics. That is why I did not give it a fifth star. A few more specific ideas on organizing papers and the clutter I'm required to have would have helped. Overall, however, he covers the general principles of clutter removal and organization, he is inspiring, and, most important, this book is a help.

Honestly, this book made me a better teacher!

When I was the secretary and the executive assistant, I was the best and most organized person any boss could want. When I became the boss, I became buried in meetings, interruptions, customer service and problems, no one to delegate to, and fear of losing something important. In the past 7 years I have bought many "organizational" books - some I even bought twice because they never got through to me (didn't even impress me enough to remember I had bought them before!) to help me tackle the piles of paper. I pretty much shuffled stacks around until I bought Don's book. I started reading it yesterday, and after being out sick for one week, I went in today (Saturday) and in 4 hours, cleaned out 3 years of paper. I didn't just clean - I got rid of. I looked at everything with new eyes. Don has a way of putting all that paper into clear perspective - you can look at paper and see if it should go or stay. It was incredible. Now my mind is decluttered too - just like he said. I would recommend this to anyone who has a lot of paper (and facts) to deal with. His common-sense approach helps you make it your own - there's nothing to learn - he just puts it all in perspective so you can know how YOU want to deal with it. I've never written a review before - but couldn't wait to write this one. I hope this helps some other person tackle their paper. I accomplished more today than I can remember in one day - and know this will help me stay organized and cut back on the 70 hr weeks I normally put in. My employees respect me, but I always felt out of control with all that paper staring me (and everyone else) in the face. Now my office looks like I am in control! Thanks, Don!

While this book addresses some very serious dangers that we probably all ought to be aware of, and know how to avoid, it also stresses some very rare problems, which may result in over-paranoia for some readers.

I think it's vital to know what the actual risks are that we might need to face, but I think creating a "dangerous environment" is not at all helpful, and perhaps this author, in his attempts to help, has done a bit too much of that in this book.

For instance, he writes that adverse drug reactions result in 140,000 deaths per year. Pretty intense. He discusses ways to prevent this from happening to oneself or one's loved ones. Very good information.

The five pages he devotes to infant abductions, however, is a bit extreme, I think. In From 1983 to 1996, 89 infant abductions occurred in hospitals. Which, of course, is way too many, but I think that the prioritizing of the issues in this book leaves something to be desired.

After reading just a little of it, I began thinking that hospitals were horribly dangerous places to be, and I had to really look at the facts presented in order to see that the presentation of the facts was more horrifying than they needed to be.

I really like the advices for how to protect oneself in a hospital, but I think it could have been presented better.

...Sheldon Blau's introduction confirms your worst fears - firstly, that things can and do go wrong, and secondly, that it is reasonably easy to fix it - if you know what is wrong. I read this book after having to fight medical personal for four days to take notice when we said there was something seriously wrong with our son, who was bleeding internally. When we finally got to hospital, I had a fair idea what was wrong with him, and tried to negotiate a way to sort it out. But there was one big difference between me and Sheldon Blau. I was just a mother. In the end, I was proven right, but not before a whole raft of "situations" became majors, with me having to step in twice, saying over my dead body. The things that really struck me about Sheldon Blau's comments was that he could not address the one thing he did not feel, which was intimidation, and resultant fear of authority, because as a doctor he had "authority". The major hurdle for parents was not one he had to face. As parents, when you believe you are right, and doctors are wrong, the first thing that hits you is fear. And sure enough, the first question you will be asked, when you question authority, is "What medical school did you go to?". Then the tactics start, to attempt to have you removed from the hospital, and subtle things to make your "life" while you try to protect your child hell. Intimidation in a big scale. None of these things Sheldon Blau experienced, because it was not done to him. They wouldn't dare. I rated the book five, because on the mechanical things that you need to do, this book is the best I've read. But what happens when you switch on a tape-recorder in hospital? It might be tolerated (barely) if you are a medical person - but as a parent it is interpreted as a threat, and instantly, the way you are treated and viewed changes. In some cases, management then becomes "aggressive".

So when I titled my review "This is just the beginning" , I meant that I would like Elain Shimberg and Sheldon Blau to follow up by writing a book about coping strategies for parents to survive all the things which are never done to medical patients. It is so desperately needed.

Another issue unresolved is that most people who do fight, are educated and articulate. We were. We won - and we probably saved our son's life by preventing dangerous treatment he didn't need, and stopping them giving a drug intravenously when it should have been given orally. But I couldn't help thinking as I looked around the ward at all the other mothers who had no assertiveness, no knowledge, no realisation that the medical library was just 200 yards down the corridor - that for their children, if anything went wrong and their child died, the standard answer would be "we did our best" when in fact far from being heroes, the medical people had silently buried their mistakes.

This book is fantastic for educated assertive people - and possibly useful for others. There is still a crying need however, to address the plight of the average Ewen Mee who hasn't a clue how to fight, because they deserve a lot better than they are dished up with at the moment.

My mom is a patient of Dr. Blau. He treats her for her rheumatoid arthritis, and is a wonderful diagnostician and doctor. A year ago, he mentioned his book to her, but she was not interested in reading it, because she had never been in the hospital. Five months later, she was hospitalized with a heart attack. While recuperating, she asked me to purchase this book so she could read it. She did read it, and three months later, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She is in the same hospital as Dr. Blau was, and as she now recuperates, she leaves his book on her bedside table. My mom has become a lot more savvy thanks to her rheumatologist. As her daughter, I have embraced my role as health care advocate with increased vigilance. So thank you, Dr. Blau, for a fine book that may help to save lives, or at the very least,to prevent needless pain and suffering!

Ayelet Waldman's "Death Gets a Time-Out" is the fourth entry in her "Mommy-Track" mystery series. The heroine is Juliet Applebaum, a public defender turned stay-at-home mom. Now that her kids are no longer infants, Juliet has a part-time job as a private investigator with her good friend, Al Hockey. Juliet and Al have been hired to find some exculpatory evidence that may help a young man named Jupiter Jones, stepbrother of Lilly Green, who is an Oscar-winning actress and an old friend of Juliet's. Jupiter may face the death penalty for killing his lover and stepmother, Chloe Jones.

The "Mommy-Track" mystery series started out well, mostly because the first few books were light and breezy. Juliet's sardonic sense of humor, often aimed at herself, was refreshingly droll, and the novels moved along quickly.

The same cannot be said for "Death Gets a Time-Out," unfortunately. This time, Juliet's whining is more annoying than amusing, and the mystery is so convoluted, tedious, and long-winded, that it was truly a chore to finish it. This book needed some serious editing. By the time I finally reached the long-awaited conclusion, I was bored with the large cast of characters and their endless troubles. "Death Gets a Time-Out" is neither amusing nor particularly absorbing, and I do not recommend it.

For anyone who has yet to discover the world of Juliet Applebaum and the writing of Ayelet Waldman--you are in for such a treat!

I find myself laughing out loud as I read this book, recognizing some many typical Mom-in-the-trenches moments while flipping pages quickly and reading late into the night due to its absorbing murder-mystery plot. (And as a Mom where you have to get up at the crack of dawn with your kids--I find that the ultimate testament to a great book!) Juliet's down-to-earth attitude and bitingly funny observations pervade Death Gets a Time Out. At various points Juliet is fishing her pregnancy test out of the toilet where she dropped it, wearing a dated 10-year-old dress to an elegant L.A. banquet and noting the dim lighting that benefits all the botoxed-enhanced women who seem to be in attendance, and careening between nursery school pick-ups and getting statements from murder witnesses.

For me, balancing being the mom of a 9 and 10 year old with writing parenting books (most recently The Mom Book and Sign Me Up for Simon & Schuster), I find myself constantly torn between my 24/7 Mom role and being overwhelmed with the intensity of love for my kids, to wanting nothing more than to escape for a couple hours to the world of work and adults. Ayelet Waldman completely captures the emotional truths of being torn between roles.

I have so little time to read that when I do, I want the book to be fabulous--and Ayelet Waldman's always are!

In _Death Gets a Time-Out_, Ayelet Waldman has finally hit her stride as a mystery writer. Her first book introduced mommy-track nosy sleuth Juliet Applebaum, featuring snappy dialogue, good intial scene-setting, but ultimately it didn't deliver in either plot or as a mystery. The second book well-captured the haze of the new mom, but when we found out whodunit, I had too many flashbacks to the first book. Book three broke chose a new type of murderer but lacked a sense of place and wasn't consistent in describing Juliet's kids.

Here, she did everything right. If you enjoyed any of Waldman's three previous "Mommy-track Mysteries" then _Time-Out_ will delight you because it has it all; twisty plot strands that keep raising more and more questions, plenty of suspects and their deliberate misinformation. The characterization that made the first book so fresh, Juliet's relationship with her family and her musings on how she's not a mom who Does It All, is kept going in almost every chapter. And Waldman finally did some homework on Life in LA this time; Juliet appears to live there in this book. I loved the scene where she's on her cell phone to another cell phone and notices her caller's freeway is moving faster. I hope she gets a better copy editor to catch mistakes like "Cedar's Sinai" which show she doesn't live there or Elect X for "City Counsel" signs that meant too much time in court instead of on the neighborhood streets. This book is too good to have silliness like that staining it.

Juliet's racking up the miles on the mom-mobile, driving from a recovery center for wealthy addicts to a religious center based on astrology, with stops in on her movie-star friend whose staff wear khakis. It was also nice to get to know her partner Al better in this book. So: does Juliet have any friends that carry over from book to book? Is this a lack in her character? Most moms find friendship invaluable, and Juliet is driving a carpool, so why do we never meet the kids or their parents? That's about the only thing lacking from Time-Out, and it probably would have made more sense to remove the carpool reference rather than have the rest of us moms wonder about it. After all, her kids go to two different schools, that could make carpooling difficult (or it would make it mandatory!) Having Juliet try to escape a mom who wants to know everything her perschooler said in Juliet's car while Juliet needs to go chase some bad guys would be the extra frosting on this delicious sundae of a book.