cover image A Funeral for My Fat: My Journey to Lay 100 Pounds to Rest

A Funeral for My Fat: My Journey to Lay 100 Pounds to Rest

Sharee Samuels. Skyhorse (Perseus, dist.), $24.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-5107-0492-3

“I was so tired of being overweight,” blogger Samuels (Funeral For My Fat) writes as she recounts her battle to lose weight, one she eventually won. Building on the subject of her successful blog, where she shared her story, “before” and “after” pictures, and advice with thousands of followers, Samuels has penned a retrospective diary detailing how she lost 100 pounds in five years. Samuels writes of struggling with her weight from age 12, and of feeling she had hit rock bottom at age 17, when she weighed 256 pounds. It was then that she adopted a vegan lifestyle and became a Zumba fan. Readers will undoubtedly sympathize with Samuels’s struggle to shed excess pounds. Unfortunately, this personal account comes to resemble a home movie in book form. Filled with episodic incidents of food shopping and food packaging, it is low on entertainment value and notable events. However, readers should be able to find some inspiration in Samuels’s persistence in sticking with her goals until she achieved them. (July)