Non-Fiction Review: Craving

Craving
Omar Manejwala
2013

I'm going to put my hands up right now and admit that I am an eater. There, I said it. I love food. I love eating. And eating is something I do a lot of. Probably more than I should (I love how running ALMOST manages to give me an excuse to eat - I have to store energy for a race, surely?!). Sometimes I merely crave food just for the hell of it or for unknown reasons. Mostly I crave chocolate or liquorice all sorts. Occasionally I crave things like avocado or tomatoes. In general I tend to give in to these cravings but Craving by Omar Manejwala has actually given me another way to approach this annoying habit.

I first saw this book over on Should Be Reading and thought it looked very interesting (and pretty much what I need) so I could hardly refuse when I was asked to review the book.

I was slightly apprehensive when I first sat down to read the book that it would veer way too much toward the science of craving. Whilst it does do that, it is written in such a way that makes it accessible. 

It is a very overview-y kind of book. It covers all manner of cravings from food to alcohol to the internet to cigarettes. This is both a strength and a (very slight) weakness. I was very interested by the general sections of the book and the sections that relate to my own craving bugbear but I did skip through sections which focused on other cravings which are irrelevant to me. Still, I think the way this book caters to so many groups of people whilst still maintaining a good level of general information, is very clever.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is thoroughly affected by a craving of any sort (though if you have one which is covered in the book, I would recommend it even more). It is sciencey and sometimes quite dry but there are some very useful tips in there and some very enlightening little tidbits. It certainly opened my eyes to cravings and why people have them and how to overcome them.

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy to review (and helping me with my own craving in the process).

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