I'M NOT THE NEW ME: A Memoir

When McClure, a 33-year-old children's book editor from Chicago, creates a Web site to chronicle losing weight, she contemplates possible names for it. She rejects My Weight Loss Journey, Soon To Be Slender, My Body Journal and Funky Flesh, which she decides "has bad B.O. connotations," before choosing Pound (its Web address is www.poundy.com because www.pound.com wasn't available). In this funny, likable memoir, McClure offers sardonic commentary on both projects—her struggle to shed pounds and the creation and growth of Pound—from confessing how much she wants a special Weight Watchers magnet (the token the program gives to members when they lose their first 25 pounds) to describing a shopping trip to Lane Bryant. "For some reason, plus size designers love the mutant conjoined twinset," she writes. "I think they're under the impression that fat women get so out of breath putting their arms through sleeves that they're doing us a favor." McClure's narrative also includes selections of e-mails from appreciative, devoted Pound readers, accounts of online dating woes and some recollections of her childhood. The narrative drags in spots, but, just as Pound fans found McClure's words inspiring, those who read this work are likely to applaud its author for writing such an encouraging, spirited book. Agent, Erin Hosier at the Gernert Company. (Apr. 26)