Up for Renewal by Cathy Alter

This is the story of a recently divorced, eternally hopeful woman in her 30s who decides to turn her life around with the how-to-wisdom gained from today's woman's magazines. For the next twelve months, men fall at her feet, stains miraculously disappear with apple vinegar, coworkers crumble with the firm shaking of a pen, and wardrobes defy even the staunchest edict of hemline. Well, that was at least the premise of the yearlong social experiment. In the end, what she learns is this: The only constant thing in life is change. To truly grow is to suffer transition - out of a damaging relationship, a rotten job, the illness of a loved one. Funny, relatable and genuine, UP FOR RENEWAL explores the hilarious (and ultimately moving) uncharted territory of life by the book - or by the magazine.

I thought this was quite a fun book. Maybe because I personally never read magazines except when in waiting rooms. (Except for Pick n Pay's Fresh Living magazine, which I subscribe to .... and a few years back I was subscribed to Glamour). And to be fair, in waiting rooms, the best magazines to read are things like Heat with lots of pictures and short bursts of information, nothing longer than 3 paragraphs! Anyway, I doubt I'll be subscribing to change my life any time soon, but it was still a fun read :)

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