non fiction

Non Fiction Review: Minimalism Room by Room

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Minimalism Room by Room by Elizabeth Enright Phillips
Minimalism Room by Room: A Customized Plan to Declutter Your Home and Simplify Your Life
by Elizabeth Enright Phillips

2 out of 5 stars


This book guides the reader through the decluttering journey with chapters for each room. The writing style is excellent with practical advice on how to make decisions for keeping or tossing your possessions. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the way it encourages the reader to examine their emotions about their home and possessions. The book provides affirmations and inspirational advice to fuel your motivation and create a new way of living.

It was odd to me that Bathrooms were lumped together with the Entryways in the same chapter. What do Bathrooms have in common with an Entryway? It made no sense to have those two areas together and made for a very confusing chapter. And the Laundry Room is included in the chapter with the Master Bedroom. The information is poorly organized. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Moving Through Grief

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Moving Through Grief by Gretchen Kubacky PsyD
Moving Through Grief: Proven Techniques for Finding Your Way After Any Loss
by Gretchen Kubacky PsyD

4 out of 5 stars

This book gives practical and realistic ways to deal with grief by accepting your feelings instead of pushing them away. I immediately felt confidence in the author’s voice, because the ideas in this book ring true and show a lot of common sense. I admire how the chapters are organized in a progression of healing that leads the reader into deeper living with healthy emotions.

Beginning with basic self-care and reconnecting with relationships in your life, this book addresses defining your core values that keep you anchored through tough times, and gently moves the reader into reassessing the “story” they tell themselves about their life. I really loved the chapters about the “observer self” and how we can remain detached from untrue thoughts that threaten to disconnect us from the reality of our grief. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Toddler Activities Made Easy

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Toddler Activities Made Easy by Krissy Bonning-Gould
Toddler Activities Made Easy: 100+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Busy Parents
by Krissy Bonning-Gould (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars


This book gives fun and engaging activities for toddlers that require very little set-up, materials, or preparation. In the first pages, there are lists of specific motor skills, language skills, and emotional intelligence that you can look for in your toddler based on their age. There are labels for different skills that are used in each activity.

The activities include things like matching games, pretending to be animals, recognizing shapes and letters, hopscotch, dance parties, and simple construction projects with materials like paper, cardboard, and rubber bands. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils

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The Beginner's Guide to Essential Oils by Christina Anthis
The Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
by Christina Anthis

4 out of 5 stars

This book begins with an explanation of what essential oils are, how they are manufactured, and safety precautions for their use. There are lists of basic equipment, types of applications, blends and dilutions that can be used.

The next sections detail types of carrier oils and essential oils with all their properties, uses, and precautions. There are even suggested substitutes for each oil in case you don’t have it.

The last section is divided into recipes and blends for physical and mental health, for the home and family, and for personal care. The recipes include soaps, salves, compresses, throat gargle, deodorant, lip balm, facial cleanser, moisturizer.
Their uses include relief from pain, stress, cough, congestion, nausea, eczema, headache, insomnia, and dozens more. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Grateful Together

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Grateful Together by Vicky Perreault
Grateful Together: A Gratitude Journal for Kids and Their Parents
by Vicky Perreault
4 out of 5 stars

This guided journal is for parents and children to write in together as a reminder to be grateful for something each day. The prompts include things like being grateful for friends, laughter, favorite books, pets, acts of kindness, and teachers.

A guided entry might ask the writer to do an act of kindness or generosity and then journal about it and how it made them feel to help someone. Another entry will ask the writer to write about a time when someone helped them, and how grateful they are for the generosity of others. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Figure Drawing for Kids

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Figure Drawing for Kids by Angela Rizza
Figure Drawing for Kids: A Step-By-Step Guide to Drawing People
by Angela Rizza

4 out of 5 stars


This book gives step-by-step instructions for sketching and drawing the human figure, beginning with basic shapes, proportions, and teaching how to draw movement and add shading. All the example drawings and instructions are appropriate for this age level, and full of fun and useful information!
I like that there is not a ton of fancy equipment required to do the drawings and sketches in this book. Simple pencils, fine-point ink pens, nice colored pencils, and a basic sketchpad are all you need.
Continue reading →

Cookbook Review: Truly Healthy Vegan Cookbook

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The Truly Healthy Vegan Cookbook by Dianne Wenz
The Truly Healthy Vegan Cookbook: 90 Whole Food Recipes with Deliciously Simple Ingredients
by Dianne Wenz

4 out of 5 stars


This book begins with advice on being vegan and common mistakes that can put your health at risk.
There are very good instructions about including vitamins and supplements in your vegetable diet, as well as an entire section about getting enough protein.

The recipes include sections for Basics, Breakfast, Salad, Soups and Stews, Burgers, Wraps, and Sandwiches, Sides, Dinner Mains, Pasta and Rice, and Sweets. Each recipe includes labels for Nut-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Low-Carb, and Oil-Free options.
The recipes have wonderful tips for substituting ingredients, as well at nutrition labels. Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Too Pregnant to Move Journal

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Too Pregnant to Move by Conz Preti
Too Pregnant to Move: A Pregnancy Journal
by Conz Preti

2 out of 5 stars


I was shocked and unhappy to see the F-word and the S-word within the first pages. There are five quotes throughout the book that include profanity, and I think it’s very out of place in this type of book.

This journal has mostly blank-lined pages with funny quotes about parenting. There are quotes from famous people about being pregnant, and journaling prompts that ask questions like who was the first person you told that you were pregnant, and what weird food cravings you are having.
There is a place to paste in your sonogram, write in questions you want to ask your doctor, and of course chronicle your thoughts and feelings. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: I Brushed My Hair Today: A Mom Journal

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I Brushed My Hair Today by Karen Johnson
I Brushed My Hair Today: A Mom Journal for Mostly Together Moms
by Karen Johnson

1 star

I was shocked and unhappy to see the F-word and the S-word on the very first page. You would think that a journal about parenting would at least be PG. There is profanity found in many other places as well. I think I counted over 25 nasty words in the whole book. I did not appreciate that, and I think it’s very out of place in this type of book.

This journal has mostly blank-lined pages with funny quotes about parenting. There are quotes from famous people about being a mother, as well as funny stories about parenting mishaps. There are also journaling prompts that ask questions about your favorite thing your child does to make you laugh, or the worst mess your child has made. Continue reading →

Non-Fiction Review: An Introduction to Crystal Grids

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An Introduction to Crystal Grids by Karen Frazier
An Introduction to Crystal Grids: Daily Rituals for Your Heart, Health, and Happiness
by Karen Frazier (Goodreads Author)

2 out of 5 stars

This book is not what I was looking for. I wanted a more scientific book about how different minerals and crystals have chemical properties that can change the flow of air, remove impurities, react with other stones to improve energy, or react with electrons in healing ways.
But this book is more spiritual and wishy-washy that I wanted.

The author says in the introduction, “I believe crystals are conscious entities that come from the planet…”
Okay, that just sounds ridiculous. Rocks are not conscious. That is idiotic. Continue reading →