That’s how this book earns so many stars from me. Another choice from the 13 Underrated Novels You Must Read Immediately list, once again this selection scores points for being unique. It gets bonus points by having a main character like Butter who (although thankfully not nearly as awful as Hannah in Thirteen Reasons Why) was not someone you could easily sympathize with. Although he was a victim of bullying, Butter took every opportunity for personal growth and flushed it right down the toilet. Instead of seeking deeper relationships with friends he had made at fat camp over summer breaks, Butter chose to Catfish a fellow student he had a crush on and ignore that his newfound “popularity” was anything other than superficial. The good news is, not everyone pussyfooted around Butter’s feelings . . . . I will say that I did not like Butter the character. I found him manipulative and just generally nasty. However, I loved Butter the book. I loved it for its realistic feel, the way it confronted issues about obesity, bullying and the way social media can wreak devastating damage on some people. I read the description of this book when it first came out, and I almost bought it. It sounded so morbid, but like an incredibly interesting platform for discussing bullying and obesity. For whatever reason, I didn't buy the book--and now I am so glad I didn't. This book was the definition of underwhelming. Everything from the writing to the characters to the plot progression were just...not good. Absolutely disappointing. Elapsed time: This may vary quite a bit depending on the blender you use; my Ninja took about 6 minutes. I'm not the best to judge, but I do think Erin Jade Lange handled the difficult topic of child obesity with great tact and grace. Her portrayal felt very honest and real, and I love how it never got preachy. There are so many ways this book could have preached about obesity or about bullying, but it doesn't - it just tells a story. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending - a little too happy for my taste - but in a way, I get it, because a darker, more pessimistic ending would have been really hard to take.

Butter: A Celebration - A joyous immersion in all things

As well as a tour coming up next year, another book already in the pipeline, looking after his restaurants, including the James Martin Kitchen cafe chain, and filming, this chef is also in the process of reinvigorating the blast-from-the-past that is baked potato chain SpudUlike.

Final product: Your hand-shaken butter will be softer and retain more buttermilk than butter made with the aid of a machine.

Butter Book Online Baking Lessons at Home | The Butter Book

I’ve used that ingredient quite a bit on TV over the last 30 years. The publishers wanted something about cooking at home, and I thought, why don’t we do an ingredient-led book”, says Martin, who presents ITV’s James Martin’s Saturday Morning, from his house. “The response has been massive”. All of a sudden, Butter finds himself popular amongst the "in" crowd at school. They go out of their way to let him know they support his "choice" and will do everything they can to help him make it happen. Along the way we meet people in Butter's life who really do care about him and find him rejecting all of them, for various reasons that become thinner and thinner as the story ploughs on. My favourite of these was his teacher, Professor Dunn. The Professor connects with Butter through their love of jazz and he reaches out to Butter several times through the story. Butter dismisses all those who show him kindness as "lame' because who would want to be seen with/be friends with a guy like him? Only losers. I'm glad that I read this book because the story is one I won't likely forget. In fact, there wasn't anything big which stands out for me as a dislike. The reason I didn't go higher on the rating is because Butter himself didn't always come across as genuine, and his crush Anna seemed very cardboard (neither one of them were very interesting characters). However, the overall book itself is worth the read. Stories like this and others such as Hate List are ones which schools would benefit from making required reading. Actually, I think stories like these are just good to remind us all, regardless of age, that compassion is much-needed in this world. There's also the part where his doctor tells him to do exactly what he shouldn't do: eat more carbs. See, carbs are sugar. Carbs cause hyperglycemia, which is clearly Butter's problem. Yes, you need like 40% of your diet to be carbs if you're diabetic, but what you really need to focus more on is fiber and proteins and fats. He could have at least specified complex carbs, but nope, apparently empty calories are a-okay in this household. Flavor: Homemade butter is striking: It tastes unbelievably fresh. I tested my first batch of homemade butter against my favorite supermarket brand, and the difference was clear: Freshly made butter tastes FRESH, unlike butter that’s sat at the supermarket for a while.However, setting that aside, I'll say it again, the writing is really good and holds your interest. The author manages to evoke all these emotions in you (trust me, it's going to be different for everyone) and it's obvious Erin has a way with words. I've been dying to read this book ever since I saw it recommended to me on Goodreads a few months ago. It has all of these things I thought would be interesting to read about: a 400+ lb main character, binge eating, a threat of suicide, people cheering on unhealthy habits. To be a little bit TMI, as someone who's dabbled in NSFW commissioned writing, binge eating / weight gain has been one of the topics I've had to write about. So I *had* to read this book. I had to see how it could be covered in a way that would be publishable--because lord knows I would personally never publish what I've had commissioned, and I can't imagine the other stories in that genre being on the shelves in my public library (which is where I got my hands on this book). In retrospect, I don’t think I should have read this book. It triggered me a more than a few times, but I kept at it because I’m not the type of person to leave a book unfinished. That was stupid of me. The mindset that “I’m strong enough to handle this alone” is not helpful when dealing with such an intense issue as suicide. I was a dumbass for reading this alone. The next time I read a book about suicide (my sights are set on 13 Reasons Why because I want my own informed opinion), I’ll only do it if I read it with someone else to discuss thoughts with so I’m not in it alone. I might not even read it, which I hate to think because I love reading. But I gotta make sure my mental state is ready for that. I tell you this not to put myself in the spotlight, but to show you that I’m not fixed; I’m imperfect and struggling, and I want to share my struggle if it might help someone who’s in a similar spot. The first thing to bother me regarding the diabetes research was that Butter, who plays saxophone and virtually only plays the blues, has never, ever, EVER heard of B.B King. Ever. The king of the blues just doesn't exist. Never mind that BB literally made ads to promote diabetes awareness and is basically the unofficial face of type 2 diabetes. Let's just ignore that BB King would go play shows on stage and sit the entire time--and I know this because I saw him do it. I was at the Indy Jazz Fest in like 2001, 2002, something like that, and I distinctly remember that he was sitting when the show started and he stayed sitting even when it ended. But in this book, apparently playing a musical instrument while sitting has never happened and is physically impossible. Obviously if you're overweight, well, you just can't play blues. No heroes for you, Butter.