Ms. Reno gets some things right, others not.
920725
Ms. Reno offers some good advice in this little book. I like that she warns us to beware "the suits", ie. the ones who bring us chemical laden, highly processed "food" whose ingredients read like a science experiment. She points out that we probably wouldn't be allowed in the processed food factories with their barrels of chemicals. However, she encourages her readers to eat meat and, I'd like to point out, it's very unlikely we'd be allowed in slaughterhouses either.

In a previous book, Eat Clean Recharged, Ms. Reno is supportive of vegetarianism and veganism and offer a vegan version of her plan. But there is no evidence of this support in Just the Rules, where, flying the face of thousands of scientific studies, she encourages meat eating and even suggests we go to fish farms (so natural!) and bison ranches. I've yet to understand what is "clean" about eating decaying animal flesh, laden with saturated fat and cholesterol, no matter how it was raised or what it was fed.

On page 98, she promotes the long-ago disproved notion that we must eat whole grains together with something containing more protein, like beans, to obtain complete protein. It's been known for some time that the body easily takes what it needs from the blood stream to form the proteins we need, regardless of whether we eat grains and proteins together or not. Soy protein is a complete protein on its own, yet Reno says to limit it, but gives no reason. Again, an opinion based on outdated, disproved studies.

I do love that she promotes eating whole, unprocessed foods, weight lifting for women and awareness of how foods affect blood sugar. But, beware, because she encourages her readers to eat substantial amounts of animal products, she also encourages heart disease, cancer, diabetes and various auto-immune disorders. For a more enlightened and scientific perspective on diet, see the works of John McDougall,M.D., Joel Fuhrman, M.D. and Neal Barnard, M.D., all available here on Amazon. You might also want to see the DVD Forks Over Knives.
870367
I was a bit disappointed that she did not seem to have some of the facts correct.  It was a bit one sided on a few things.  Since she lives in San Antonio I would think she would have had more accurate information.  Crystal City is not in the Desert.  The area is known as the Winter Garden.  Yes it is hot during the summer but it is in south Texas.
I had ordered it because I really wanted to know more about that time in our history, but she seemed to install a few items that definitely happened in the late 60s and early 70s not the 40s that really didn't pertain to the story she was telling..
2807545
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book. What I expected something in the way of climactic events and resolutions is not what I found, but I don't dislike the direction the book took.

This is, I think, a subtle variation on the unreliable narrator. It's not that I don't trust her account of events, but her own spin on those events is often evident and quite subjective.

There are occasional brilliant flashes of accuracy in how the author conveys the experience of parenthood.
3612555
While this book doesn't make Bess out to be some sort of angel, it at least gives her position and also uses her private papers to show that she was not entirely mercenary.  She did have some genuine feeling for Georgiana and the Duke and they were all close friends together, with Bess and the Duke at times being something more. I knocked off a star for the writing: it could've been better and was a bit weak, especially after reading Amanda Foreman's book and Privilege and Scandal.  But perhaps this one was knocked out very quickly as a rebuttal to AF?  Anyway, it was a good thing to hear some good about Bess because everyone has some good in them and how else did she keep the confidence of two people such as the D and Dss without being a good friend in some way to them both?
502523
The author makes some good points in this book and I especially liked the "Evaluation" chapter where she brings together her experiences and looks at them from a larger, societal perspective. However, much of the book is spent congratulating herself on doing well in the jobs she undertook. She constantly reminded the reader of how smart and well-off she is and was disappointed that the people with whom she interacted didn't fall over themselves to tell her how great she was. But, she had many more choices than the people with whom she worked in the book (e.g., she had a car while many did not which greatly enhanced her range of job options). She also knew these jobs were for a limited time and that she could return to her cushy life. The people with whom she worked did not have that safety net. I applaud her on undertaking such a project but think she missed the point in many cases in her writing regarding what the real message should be (rather than her own accolades).
3847357
The author has a unique way ok presenting her story - even though suspect some of the developments,they materialize in a different way which makes interesting reading.
1602549
While I do not agree at all with the author's perspective on spanking, I appreciate her advice on reproving our children and correcting their foolishness. I plan to consult her chart often.
3585105
I like it but my better half thinks not is just OK.
312040
This third book featuring Dan Reno is definitely my favorite, so far. Dan and his sidekick take on everyone from crooked cops, Mexican gangs, and the Mafia. They protect a talented, young Mexican lady and her younger brother who are trying to make a decent living in the land of plenty. Dan and Cody are not squeaky clean heroes, but they sure are tough on the bad guys. If it weren't for a few flaws, mostly editing, I would like to have given this at least 4 1/2 stars.
4696319
I always kind of wondered how she got from goofy Laverne to record-breaking director. And the stories about her childhood were also good.  Quite a host of friends she has (and had).  I would like to point out though, that I found no less than three places where words were misspelled or misused for the sentence.  Examples: page 129, the correct word is "head", not "heard". Page 273, "It didn't any sense for the..." - where's the word "make"?

I would have thought that someone of her caliber, attention to detail and access to talent would have caught those.

I am not impressed from that standpoint.
493201
Having spent the majority of my life living in northeastern Oklahoma, I was well aware of Bartlesville, OK. I must have made hundreds of trips to what the Chamber of Commerce touted as "America's Ideal Family  Center." It had the reputation of being a conservative, white,  upper-class community that was progressive as that term was defined by the  dominant employer, Phillips Petroleum. In short, it was a typical, though  certainly more wealthy than most, small Oklahoma town. Or so I thought. I  have since learned, thanks to Louise Robbin's fine book, that Bartlesville  had a dark side, darker than most it turns out, that does not appear in the  Chamber of Commerce press releases. It is not a pretty story. Ruth Winifred  Brown was born on July 26, 1891, in Hiawatha, KS. She graduated in 1915  with a degree from the Univ. Of Oklahoma. In November, 1919, she became the  librarian for the Bartlesville Public Library. She served as librarian for  30 years without a mark on her record. It was, by all accounts, a record of  outstanding achievement and exemplary service. On July 25th, 1950, Brown  was summarily dismissed by the city commissioners. The reason given was she  had caused subversive materials, in the form of magazines such as The  Nation and The New Republic, to be circulated to the general populace. To  be sure this was the McCarthy era, a time when groups such as the American  Legion and the Chamber of Commerce, to name but a few, were working  diligently to rid our communities of suspected or perceived communist  influence. Thus, if a librarian or two had to be sacrificed in this war to  protect our cherished freedoms, it really was not too big a price to pay.  After all, many American's lost their jobs, reputations, and families under  the tutelage of Sen. McCarthy and his ilk. That's the price of freedom. If  this were the real story of Miss Ruth Brown it probably would not warrant  the publication of a book. Unfortunately, there is more, much more. Thanks  to the scholarship of Ms. Robbins we now know that Brown was fired from her  job, not for so-called subversive activities, but because she had been  active in promoting racial equality. She had the gall to not only help form  a group affiliated with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) but, even  more shocking, to visit a major drug store in Bartlesville in February,  1950, with two black ladies and request to be served. This she did on her  own time, without any fanfare or publicity, and some four years before  Brown v. Board of Education and other events which began to at least offer  a glimmer of hope to those supporting racial equality. Robbins has provided  the reader with the history and background of political, social, economic,  and cultural events that led to the merger of McCarthyism and racial  unrest, which resulted in a sad, black chapter in the history of  Bartlesville, not to mention the Nation. It is sad, not only because the  community tolerated such behavior by its elected and appointed officials,  but also because many of Miss Brown's colleagues knew the real reason for  her termination and failed to disclose it to the community. It is also the  story of courage and pride exhibited mostly by women during a time when it  was not popular to be supportative of African Americans or any other group  not on the power structures accepted list. This is a must read book if you  are interested in forces ever present in our communities that can, and do,  lead to censorship, intolerance, and the suppression of individual rights.  The story is about a local event some 50 years ago; the message is about  issues that are relevant today. Bartlesville, "America's Ideal Family  Center." You be the judge.
2857342
She claims unprocessed, not quite. I did find her chapter on what is happening to our food as in processing to be informative.
1489610
Loved the story, but there were some inconsistencies. I didn't quite understand how a woman who was not allowed to have a season and hadn't come out yet, was attending parties. And why a girl who is so staunch on her principles to keep her reputation ruined by her sister, would allow herself to be seen with him so often and even be alone with him ( in his dressing room tying his cravat?). At times, she came across as a little bossy.  And there should have been some final showdown between him and his cousin. Other than that, very good and clean.
1152299
This book was entertaining, but it did not quite capture the sheer pleasure I received from reading a couple of her others.  I
3974807
Despite financial and legal issues, she does deliver a nice album and the voice is still strong, not all the dance tunes that I would want, but she is a performer.
1720063
Interesting read, but she skims the surface of a lot of important details/events and doesn't look too deeply into her own actions/thoughts.
1370183
When a domain's lady gets stuck in a bad marriage with a bad lord, that doesn't mean she's powerless to help her people. It just means she has to think a little harder....