So, I just read a pretty fascinating book called Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern. In this memoir-cum-cookbook, Ahern chronicles her food habits as a child, her chronic illnesses, and finally her diagnosis of celiac disease, which renders her unable to eat foods that contain gluten (typically wheat, barley, rye and spelt). Rather than adopting a poor-me attitude, Ahern embraced her diagnosis and began a journey of discovery. Armed with a well-stocked kitchen, unusual ingredients, and a healthy zeal for eating, Ahern began creating sumptuous gluten-free recipes, such as Chilled Millet Salad with Jicama and Mango and Roasted Cauliflower with Smoked Paprika and Cocoa Powder.

Okay, I know you’re wondering. Why do I, someone who wholly detests cooking, find this book interesting? Well, actually there are a couple of reasons. One is that my holistic doctor told me to stop eating gluten. While I certainly don’t have full-blown celiac disease, I am apparently gluten sensitive, or intolerant, or something. Two, Ahern talks again and again about healing herself with food, a concept I’m coming to understand more and more. As a vegetarian and lifelong picky eater, I’ve always seen eating as a chore: something that has to be done to stay alive. I’ve never relished it as the pleasurable experience that so many people seem to do.

Also, I’ve been feeling like crap for years. Literally. Years. I’m exhausted, run-down and feel malnourished, even though I’ve always thought that I followed a reasonably healthy diet. And, whereas I’ve never gotten that much joy from eating, I do love to read. And Ahern painted sumptuous pictures in my head of delicious, beautiful meals. So, I think I’m going to try to learn to cook. I want to take the time to create art out of whole, healthy foods to heal my body and restore its proper nutrient balance. I want to look at eating as a joy, rather than something I dread…

For the past few months, people have been telling me to read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. Like, literally once a month someone would recommend it to me. So I finally bit the bullet and put my name on the waiting list. I got my copy a few days ago, and I have to admit that so far I’m really enjoying it. A lot of her experiences speak to me, since she studied at an ashram (which I would like to do) and traveled to Bali, which I am doing next month! I’m only about halfway through, but so far there have been two passages that really caught my attention.

• What was the root of all this despair? Was it psychological? (Mom and Dad’s fault?) Was it just temporal, a “bad time” in my life? (When the divorce ends, will the depression end with it?) Was it genetic? (Melancholy, called by many names, has run through my family for generations, along with its sad bride, Alcoholism.) Was it cultural? (Is this just the fallout of a postfeminist American career girl trying to find balance in an increasingly stressful and alienating urban world?) Was it astrological? (Am I so sad because I’m a thin-skinned Cancer whose major signs are all ruled by unstable Gemini?) Was it artistic? (Don’t creative people always suffer from depression because we’re so supersensitive and special?) Was it evolutionary? (Do I carry in me the residual panic that comes after millennia of my species’ attempting to survive a brutal world?) Was it karmic? (Are all these spasms of grief just the consequences of bad behavior in previous lifetimes, the last obstacles before liberation?) Was it hormonal? Dietary? Philosophical? Seasonal? Environmental? Was I tapping into a universal yearning for God? Did I have a chemical imbalance? Or did I just need to get laid?

• For instance, when I told a friend back in New York City that I was going to India to live in an Ashram and search for divinity, he sighed and said, “Oh there’s a part of me that so wishes I wanted to do that…but I really have no desire for it whatsoever.”

These passages struck me because they represent what I’ve been struggling with lately. What is the root of my melancholy? And why am I so disinterested in everything lately? I’m not sure of the answers, so in addition to my amazing upcoming vacation (along with Bali, I’m also going to Singapore to see my family) I have also embarked on a new health journey with a holistic doctor. It’s not easy; I’m taking vast quantities of supplements, some of which are NOT vegetarian friendly, which is freaking me out, but after years of feeling depressed and icky, I feel that this is something I need to do. I can’t wait to see how the book ends; maybe the answers that Gilbert found will help me too.

I love to read health and fitness books. Overall, I’m pretty much a fiction reader, but this is where I make an exception. Since I’m devoting my life and work to healthy living, I guess it makes sense that I like to stay abreast of things. So, with that in mind, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite healthy reads:

Timothy Brantley’s The Cure: Heal Your Body, Save Your Life: This book was life-changing for me. Also a proponent of the raw food lifestyle, Brantley’s book discusses just how critically our food affects us. By eating properly, we can truly become healthy, energetic, high-functioning beings. But most of us eat cooked food that lacks enzymes, don’t drink enough water, eat toxic foods, don’t chew our food enough, and don’t detox properly. This book really struck a chord with me; I highly recommend reading it just to see if any of it sounds familiar.

Natalia Rose’s Raw Food: Life Force Energy: Rose is a semi-supporter of the raw food plan, although she incorporates cooked foods into her repertoire as well. Her basic premise is that all matter is made of energy, and since people are made of matter, we are therefore also made of energy. In order to be truly healthy, we must “vibrate” at the right frequency; ergo, it’s crucial to eat fresh, natural, healthy foods that still contain their life force energy. It’s a pretty compelling read; in it, Rose stresses the importance of colonics to detox the body (as does Brantley in his book). When I initially read it, I was horrified at the thought of colonics, but I found a good wellness center with a terrific colon hydrotherapist, and discovered that I’m really in favor of a clean colon.

Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking: Cook and photographer Swanson has created a beautiful cookbook that stresses the importance of eating natural foods: fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. She takes various food groups and devotes whole chapters to them; in the grain chapter, she encourages you to move beyond the standard wheat (and its gluten) to explore more unusual grains such as buckwheat, barley, quinoa, and teff. I haven’t tried her recipes yet, and some of the ingredients seem a bit hard to find, but I’m hoping to get the book for Christmas, so I can explore some of these new foods. One of my birthday gifts this year was a Whole Foods gift certificate, but my friend made me promise to buy a new, previously untried food with it. Maybe I’ll get some ingredients for one of Swanson’s recipes. That, or I’ll finally try edamame.

Joshua Rosenthal’s Integrative Nutrition. I have to include this one, don’t I? I mean, he founded the school that Lindsay and I are attending! Here’s my favorite thing about Rosenthal, and the reason that I decided to attend IIN: He believes that there is no perfect diet for everyone. Each person is different: different molecular structures, personalities, etc., and therefore, it’s silly to think that there is one diet that fits all. Some people thrive as vegetarians; others need meat. Some people love eating raw food; others need the warmth of a cooked meal. Wheat and dairy make some individuals feel great; others experience digestive problems if they consume gluten and lactose. He encourages his students to experiment with different types of foods and eating plans and see what works best for you. But, like the others, he still encourages a diet rich in healthy, whole, natural, organic foods.

I’m currently reading The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker’s Guide to Extraordinary Living by Stephen Cope. I’m only a few pages in, but I checked it out because I believe that yoga is more than just a way to burn calories. I hope to be a yoga instructor some day, so I’m really trying to understand all the underlying principles of a yoga practice: the postures, the breathing, the meditation, the history, etc. So far, this book is digestible and informative, and I have the feeling that I’m going to learn a lot.

Of course, there are numerous other health books I’ve enjoyed, but these are some really great ones to get you started. I hope you enjoy them too!

Have you ever picked up a book, gotten halfway through it, and realized it’s part of a series? But it’s not numbered, so you can’t figure out where it falls? Or looked at two books by the same author and wondered whether they were series books, and if so were they the same series, or different ones…? Maybe not, but since I work in a library, I run into this a lot with customers.

Enter the most genius website ever: fantasticfiction. It essentially catalogs a bazillion authors and lists all of their books, both series and stand-alone. It also puts the series in order and gives publication dates. It’s quick, informative, and awesome. Check it out!

Eclipse is book 3 in the ongoing saga of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, which I’ve been looking forward to the way most people have been waiting Harry Potter. Meyer’s writing is so captivating, I just get swept away by her stories. In Eclipse, Bella finally graduates from high school, meaning her transformation from human to vampire is imminent. Though nervous, she is prepared, when suddenly things go awry. A series of serial killings in Seattle prompts the Cullen family to suspect that vampires are at work, and it doesn’t take long for them to realize that Bella is at the heart of the matter. Everything must be put on hold until the danger is past.

Further complicating the issue is Bella’s friendship with Jacob Black, who is desperately trying to save her. With her impending transformation postponed, he is certain he has time to change her mind, if only she’d recognize the depth of her feelings for him. Much to her consternation, Bella realizes that a part of her does love Jacob, but at the same time she finally accepts Edward’s marriage proposal.  Now the question is, will she survive long enough to get married…and die? Or will Jacob find a way to keep her from Edward?

Oooo. It’s compelling, chilling, romantic and delicious. I love this series. It’s going to be a long year waiting for the next one, which Meyer says will be the final book of the Twilight saga. I can’t wait to find out what happens, though I know I’ll be sad when it’s over, like saying goodbye to old friends for the last time.