Unbearable Lightness Portia de Rossi

In Unbearable Lightness Portia de Rossi chronicles her struggles along her way to stardom. Born and raised in Australia as Amanda Rogers, she started her career as a child model. This is where her obsession with weight begins. Portia believes, from a young age, that the only way she can be famous is to be as thin as possible and therefore beautiful. She moves to America to become an actress and shortly after her dieting reaches a new extreme. Over the years she suffers from anorexia, bulimia, food binging, excessive exercise and the fatal effects they have on her body and health. Portia faces her body image challenges alone as she is far away from family and unable to be in a relationship. She is terrified that the media would discover she is gay and it would ruin her career and her hard work.

Unbearable Lightness reminds us that celebrities and actors, at the end of the day, are just like us (aside from the mansions, cool parties, and millions of dollars).  Portia shows us that acting is hard work. Maintaining a celebrity status in the media is no easy task and there is a lot of pressure especially about body image and weight. While body image is a main theme, she also reveals her struggles with health, divorce, family relationships and being gay. Unbearable Lightness is really about the insurmountable challenges of becoming a perfect celebrity with a perfect body and the fatal consequences it can have.

The narrative transitions nearly flawlessly between her childhood in Australia and her new found celebrity in the hit show Ally McBeal. Portia de Rossi is a first time writer and it is obvious in her writing style. There are many repetitive words and thoughts and even mistakes in editing such as a missing word and a duplicate sentence.  However, these issues are forgivable because the story is so enticing and interesting. I found Portia's story to be both fascinating and inspirational. It was difficult to put this book down. I give this book a Thumbs Up.

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Brida by Paulo Coelho

"But how will I know who my Soulmate is?"

"By taking risks," Wicca said to Brida. "By risking failure, disappointment, disillusion, but never ceasing in your search for Love. As long as you keep looking you will triumph in the end."

Brida by Paulo Coelho is a novel of a young girl's search for knowledge and love. Her journey leads her on a deep spiritual path and introduces her to fascinating people full of wisdom and whimsy. She learns about an entirely new world, new experiences, and new perspectives. Along her search Brida begins to fulfill her destiny of becoming a witch.

Paulo Coelho is the New York Times bestselling author of The Alchemist. Brida "incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize and treasure - it is a tale of love, passion, mystery, and spirituality from the master storyteller".

I have never before read a book by Coelho and his books are not the genre I would typically read. But somehow this book intrigued me and I had to give it a chance. Unfortunately, you are taking a risk with every book you pick up. Will it be the most inspiring novel you've ever read? Or a horribly amateurish story that leaves you feeling as if you've wasted your time?  The appreciation of a book (or lack of) depends on the reader's personality, perspectives, interests, and background. I did not connect with this book on a level that you might expect when you hear words like "love", "wisdom", and "spirituality". I did not relate to the characters, themes, or even the plot. While it was nicely written, I have to give this book a Thumbs Down as it wasn't something I personally enjoyed.

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