Just for fun

If you follow this "diet" to a T and enjoy eating expensive cookies that taste like sweetened cardboard, this might be the plan for you.

Dr. Sanford Siegal says his system has helped more than 500,000 people lose weight since 1975.

In his book, he explains how to follow his diet and why it works. Along the way, he covers about 250 years of weight-loss approaches.

Here's the diet: Drink eight glasses of liquid and eat six 90-calorie cookies a day, followed by a 500-calorie dinner of lean protein and 1 cup of vegetables.

Cookie flavors are chocolate, oatmeal raisin, coconut, banana and blueberry. They sound yummy, but they're an acquired taste at best.

• "The Finger: A Handbook" by Angus Trumble (Farrar Straus Giroux, $28).

Art historian and curator Angus Trumble enters the digital age with his newest book.

Trumble takes you on a cultural tour of the finger. He discusses fingers of all sorts: its placement on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel, nail polish, gloves, sign language and even the anatomy of the hand.

If you like this one, also check out Trumble's "A Brief History of the Smile," a book the Boston Globe called a "charming scholarly analysis of simpers and grins across space and time."

• "Go, Mutants!" by Larry Doyle (Harper Collins, $23.99).

You expect Larry Doyle, a former writer for "The Simpsons," to be funny. And he doesn't disappoint. His coming-of-age satire takes readers to a world where earth has been colonized by aliens.

Kirkus Reviews called "Go Mutants!" a "sublimely silly, all-over-the-map mashup of B movies that's also a sendup of American pop and political culture." The book soon will be made into a movie from Universal Studios.

• "Handy Dad: 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids" by Todd Davis (Chronicle Books, $24.95).

Todd Davis happens to be the host of HGTV's home improvement show "Over Your Head," so it only makes sense the design business owner has outlined a how-to guide of projects for dads and kids. Davis says he can "build anything from chicken wire and lint in a timely fashion," and these projects can take five minutes or an entire weekend. The projects seem relatively inexpensive and include building a tree house and creating a tie-dye station.

• "It's Not That I'm Bitter … or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered The World" by Gina Barreca (St. Martin's Press, $14.99).

Gina Barraca writes snappy observations as a 50-something woman on life's sexual inequities.

Barreca, who also wrote "Perfect Husbands (and Other Fairy Tales)," uses humor and insights about women and aging.

Booklist states: "Eminently readable pieces will have people laughing out loud, then sighing thoughtfully."

• "Latin Grill: Sultry and Simple Food for Red-Hot Dinners and Parties" by Rafael Palomino and Arlen Gargagliano (Chronicle Books, $19.95).

This collection of perfect summer recipes are mostly short and simple. And the eye-catching photos, such as yellow tomatoes stuffed with grilled wild mushrooms and parmesan cheese and grilled chorizo with aji rojo, make this 150-page Latin collection of recipes and photos something you'll be dying to try at home.

• "Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling" by Beth Raymer (Random House, Spiegel and Grau, $25).

In this memoir of sports betting, Beth Raymer "gleefully shatters the myth of the modern gambler."

Her story begins in a rundown North Las Vegas neighborhood where she moves with a boyfriend. They break up, and Raymer soon finds herself living in a $17-a-night motel and working in a Thai restaurant.

The Ohio native eventually found a job assisting a Queens-born gambling operator named Dink Heimowitz. She cherished working among the hustlers and misfits.

A Publishers Weekly review said: "It's hard not to like the breezy, ingenuous voice of this plucky protagonist who proves she's game for any kind of new experience."

• "Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It" by Michael J. Trinklein (Quirk Books, $24.95).

This is the book to read before you want to pepper a conversation with interesting facts.

"Lost States" is a trove of tidbits about American history and wannabe states, such as Texlahoma didn't become a state partly because residents preferred to be called Texans.

You'll learn that the country of Albania wants to become America's 51st state. And more people inhabit Long Island, N.Y., than 20 existing states, but its statehood proposal has been rejected many times.

• "Peterson's Happy Hour: Spirited Cocktails and Helpful Hints to Brighten Daily Life" by Valerie Peterson (Clarkson Potter, $17).

This compact, witty book serves up the perfect cocktail recipes for almost any situation.

Clever sections like "En-Gin Trouble" and "BlackBerry Curse" are paired with vintage photos. Indexes by types of liquor, recipes for crowds and non-alcoholic drinks are helpful. And the back of "Peterson's" is full of information on technique and equipment.

• "These Children Who Come at You With Knives, and Other Fairy Tales: Stories" by Jim Knipfel (Simon and Schuster, $14).

Memoir and novelist Jim Knipfel's first collection of 13 short stories is acerbic and twisted and turns the traditional fairy tale on its head.

Krikus Reviews writes: "Happily ever after, indeed. Traditionalists, scholars and children need not apply. Everyone else ought to put down their milk before reading."

Wine and book club

CataVinos owner Yvonne Foucher already welcomes several book clubs to her wine shop each month.

She now has created a crossover wine and book club called Cheers to Books that will meet for the first time from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 18. She will hold an event the third Wednesday of each month.

Foucher described it as an extension of existing book clubs but also as a venue for solo readers who don't belong to a club.

"I don't want it to be a CataVinos book club," said Foucher, who will sell $5 glasses of wine during the event. "I just want it to be a forum where people can come and talk about books."

The first author will be Kate Mathis of "Living Lies" (PowWow Publishing, $24.95). Mathis' book is a female secret agent mystery and is available at Clues Unlimited, Antigone Books and Amazon.com

What: Cheers to Books

When: 5-7 p.m. Aug. 18 (every third Wednesday of the month).

Where: Catavinos, 3063 N. Alvernon Way.

Information: 323-3063.

'Outlander' Author Event scheduled

Fans of Scottsdale author Diana Gabaldon's wildly popular "Outlander" novels can attend an event previewing her new book, "The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel."

The event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 28 at Windmill Inn, 4250 N. Campbell Ave. Gabaldon will discuss the process of writing.

Sponsored by the Circle of Book Clubs, the event costs $35 ($25 is tax-deductible) and includes beverages and hors d'oeuvres.

Proceeds will benefit free events held by the Pima County Public Library.

Make checks payable to PCLF and mail to: Noell Rodriguez, Concierge Services, 351 N. Court Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701.

The Circle of Book Clubs was established in 2004 and has registered more than 100 book clubs, sponsored more than 15 literary salons featuring authors, and raised almost $30,000 for the library foundation.

For information about the Circle and upcoming literary salons, e-mail Myra Dinnerstein at myrad@u.arizona.edu

Contact reporter Valerie Vinyard at vvinyard@azstarnet.com or 573-4136.