Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Review and Giveaway - The Sugarless Plum by Zippora Karz

The Sugarless Plum The Sugarless Plum by Zippora Karz

My rating: 4.75/5.0

Publisher: Harlequin
Binding: Hardcover
Release Date: November 1, 2009
Pages: 288

I received this book from Caitlin Price with FSB Media for review.

I am really starting to enjoy memoirs - I have gone from being a straight fiction reader, to reading non-fiction and enjoying it. This is just one of the things that reviewing books has done for me.

My Review:

The Sugarless Plum was a very enjoyable memoir of the life of Zippora Karz while she was growing up and in the New York City Ballet dealing with Type-1 Diabetes. It was a fascinating look inside the life of a ballerina. I had no idea what all they go through during the day and how many performances they do. I have never been to a ballet myself since I live in a small town, so I really didn't know much about it. This book has shed light on the ballet world and has made me very interested in it.

This look at Zippy's life is amazing and inspiring. How she plows through it all while dealing with a life-altering illness is amazing. The book is very uplifting and honest. It read like a fiction novel in that it never lost pace and kept me wanting to know more and more about Zippy page after page.

Entertaining, enlightening and very inspiring, this is a wonderful book that almost anyone would enjoy.

About the Book:
For dancer Zippora Karz, a rising young star with the famed New York City Ballet, being diagnosed with diabetes could easily have ended all her dreams. She was just twenty-one when she was plucked from the corps de ballet to dance solo roles like the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker. It was near the end of a grueling season when she became exhausted, dizzy, and excessively thirsty. Heavy pancake makeup covered the sores under her arms that would not heal, but still Karz neglected to return her doctor s urgent calls. When she finally went to the doctor, she learned that her blood sugar was excessively high. If she continued to ignore her symptoms, Karz risked heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and amputation of toes, feet, and legs. Because she was over twenty, doctors misdiagnosed her with Type 2 diabetes, when in fact she had juvenile (or Type 1) diabetes. Her weight dropped and she became dangerously ill as a result of being prescribed the wrong treatment. Once correctly diagnosed and placed on an insulin regimen, she would inject herself with unsafe doses before going on stage in ill-judged attempts to obtain peak performance. The potentially fatal result of Karz s self-experimentation became all too real when she nearly put herself into a coma.

Balancing ballet and her blood sugar would be a long and difficult struggle for Karz, but eventually she learned to value her body and work with it, rather than rage at its limitations. In The Sugarless Plum, Karz shares her journey from denial, shame and mis-education about her illness to how she lead an active, balanced, and satisfying life as an insulin-dependent diabetic and ballet star. Through her fascinating story, those struggling with diabetes and other serious illnesses can find encouragement and inspiration as well as practical advice on achieving physical and emotional wellness.

After sixteen years with the New York City Ballet, Karz retired and took her passion and skills into a whole new arena as a diabetes educator and advocate, where today she inspires people to not just manage their illness, but to thrive and fulfill their passions. The Sugarless Plum takes readers deep into the heart and soul of a young dancer, and is a remarkable testament to determination and perseverance.
Giveaway:

I would like to giveaway my copy of this book - it's hardcover, and it gently used shape.  It's a wonderful book and I would love to share it.  To enter simply leave a comment with your email address.  Giveaway open Internationally this time.  Giveaway will end on 11/10.

For additional entries (you can put these all in one post - I'll count them up):
  • Follow me on blogger, rss feed, email, twitter (+3 for each you do)
  • Tweet about this giveaway (put @cfulcher so I'll see it) (+3 per day)
  • Blog about this giveaway (sidebar is fine) (+5)
  • Tell me a memoir you have read that you really enjoyed (+5)

CymLowell

18 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Linna said...

I'd love to win this book.

+3 follower

linna.hsu at gmail dot com

cqueen2 said...

thanks so much count me in

wadesherry@hotmail dot com

cqueen2 said...

+3 i follow

wadesherry@hotmail dot com

renee said...

I would love to read this, please enter me
reneetaylor at sympatico dot ca

renee said...

+3 I am a follower
reneetaylor at sympatico dot ca

Unknown said...

Thanks for linking up this review and contest! Terrific.

-CYM

Anonymous said...

would love to read this incredible story,,thx for the contest,,,
thehighflyer3(at)hotmail(dot)com

Momma Hunt said...

I read this one as well and I really liked it. Although I thought it might be better suited to someone who loved dance, but anyone can get some inspiration from her. Good Luck to all those who entered, it will be a great read!

Lady Araujo said...

I'd love to be entered in your drawing.

+3 follower

marthanadnny(at)hotmail(dot)com

Simply Stacie said...

Please count me in.

+3 follower

simplystacieblog at gmail dot com

Teddyree said...

I'd so love to read this book, please count me in.

+ 3 I'm already a follower

+ 3 I now follow on twitter

+ 5 Placed contest on the sidebar of my blog The Eclectic Reader

+ 5 two of my favourite memoirs are One Fourteenth of An Elephant by Ian Denys Peek and A Friend Like Henry by Nuala Gardner (I have reviews on my blog if you want to check them out)

teddyree[at]optusnet[dot]com[dot]au

aprilnichole said...

count me in please. ape2306@yahoo.com

I'm a blog follower.

~The Book Pixie said...

I would love to win this book. It sounds very good.

+3 blog follower

+3 follow on twitter @thebookpixie

+3 Subscribe to RSS

+3 Tweeted: http://twitter.com/thebookpixie/status/5580507298

+5 Sidebar: http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/

+5 I really enjoyed I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson when I read it in 7th grade.

~Briana
thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com

Marie (MUM) said...

Great contest. Count me in. Sounds like a really great read.

+3 blog follower
+3 RSS feed
+3 Follow on twitter @cfulcher
+3 Tweeted: http://twitter.com/utah91960/status/5580731993
+5 Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is really good.

Marie
utah91960[at]yahoo[dot]com

Sue said...

Thanks for the giveaway!

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

Veens said...

That sounds like a great read and that a great review too.
I have read When I was a Soldier by Valerie Zennati, which I enjoyed too.

Count me in please!

givingreadingachance AT gmail.com

I am a follower

cherdon said...

I am really interested in reading this book.

Please enter me. Thanks

+3 I follow you on blogger

+3 I follow via rss feed

+3 I am an email subscriber

+3 I follow you on twitter
username is iamcherdon

+3 I tweeted
http://twitter.com/iamcherdon/status/5605812305

+5 I really enjoyed reading David Niven's 'Bring On the Empty Horses"
Its a look at the inside of Hollywood from a unique perspective. I thought it was hilarious and a real delight to read.

cherdon@sympatico.ca

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