Eat This, Not That! - Zinczenko and Goulding

This is one of those bulky, palm-sized, image-laden books that uses lots of flashy colors and fonts to spice-up the text.  I, for one, found all the bells and whistles distracting, which made the book difficult to read.  That seems to be the intention, though, since Eat This, Not That! is geared more to a population that wants a quick, mildly entertaining reference.  This book had the most check-outs of any I have shelved recently, so it is popular with our patrons.

Book Cover: Lakeside Musing blog, lakesidemusing.blogspot.com

I can see why it would be popular, though the value of the text is dependent on the different chain restaurants keeping specific items on their menu.  For that reason, I found most of the book useless as I don't tend to eat at fast food restaurants.  I'm also able to research nutritional information myself, so having a few select items (the "wow" items with 5,000 calories for the most part) really provided little actionable advice.

There is some worthwhile information in the book, especially when the authors focus on the nutritional value of certain foods or give a guide on how to select menu items.  For the most part, though, the book relies on the same formula as the title suggests, comparing and contrasting two menu items from a specific restaurant.  Its good for a quick peek, especially if you eat at a particular fast food restaurant frequently, but I wouldn't suggest using it as a nutritional guide.