I have to admit upfront that I’m not big on self-help books. The advice that they tend to provide is too pat, and often a little shallow: like the kind of article you might read quickly for relaxation, and then forget instantly in a woman’s magazine. That said, we can all use a bit of advice on how to improve ourselves. Besides, after a heady novel, there’s nothing quite like sliding into the warm innocuousness of "how to firm the upper arms," or "a guide to keeping the skin soft." Three of the Best was written on the principle that life is too short to have extensive choices. So authors Candace Lewis and Margaret O’Sullivan have done a kind of survey of a range of issues that modern women face, and have chosen the three best ways of addressing those.
As you might expect with such a broad remit, it’s a wide sweep or random sampling under the headings of fit, beautiful, peace, fuel, survival, downtime, and standup. It couldn’t be simpler, but it’s certainly easy to read and remember. For example, under Fit, you might find things like the three best tips for good heath – drink more water, move more, and eat more real food. Sounds like reasonable resolutions to me. For beautiful, there are such things as avoiding aging, make-up tips, and how to have great hair (they don’t mention making sure you’re born with decent genes).
The book is absolutely full of tips, from how to create a relaxing environment, to recipes for simple meals, how to stay passionate (I won’t give you those tips, in case they don’t work), how to shop on line, do a reverse park (and boy do I need that one – I read it and forgot it immediately, but fortunately there are only three things to remember so I’m going to re-read it when I finish this review), read food labels, maintain a work-life balance, and even how to do first aid.
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