Review: 20 Easy Ways to Save the Earth

It is becoming more and more popular to become “green.” Not only are more and more families making wiser decisions, it is also becoming a popular topic of conversation in classrooms. My daughter did a major unit last year in 3rd grade on “the 3 R’s” – Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. Over the summer, she was a part of the summer reading program which included a Recycling Art Project contest to be turned in at the end of the session.  20 Easy Ways to Save the Earth is a children’s book that focus on simple things that children can do in their goals of implementing the 3 R’s in to their lives.

The book is authored by Pedro Rita, who is a husband and father in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Part of his parenting duties, included coaching youth soccer. One afternoon, while walking along the soccer field, he noticed the amount of trash laying around, and knew that most of this was left around by the children on his team.  He wondered how he could get them to realize just how wrong this was, and thus the birth of 20 Easy Ways to Save the Earth.

20 Easy Ways to Save the Earth focuses on how kids’ actions can affect thir homes and communities or offers them easy-to-use, Earth saving tips to protect the environment.

What I Liked About the Book

1. The graphics/colors.  It is so colorful and eye appealing that you want to read it.
2. The language – The book is in both English and Spanish.  Not only is this great because both English and Spanish speaking children can read it, but for older children (like my 9 year old) it is a great tool for them to go back and forth and learn a little more of the other language.
3. The tips. While some are more challenging (like planting trees), many are very simple and easy actions that we could all incorporate into our lives such as picking up others and throwing away your trash, not giving animals human food, turning off the water when you are not using it, turning off electrical stuff when you aren’t using it, and using rechargeable batteries.

Review: The Friday Night Knitting Club

Surprise, tears, and the desire to share. After being an avid reader forever, I find that I usually see an ending coming. I’ve usually recognize the foreshadowing and even though I enjoy a book, it’s rare that a book actually totally surprises me at the end. It’s even rarer for it to surprise me with tears. The Friday Night Knitting Club did just that though. I had read good reviews for the book so I purchased it one day on a whim, and I’m so glad I did.

I’ll be honest and tell you that I started this book three times before I actually read it though. There was something about the beginning that seemed slow, and I had a hard time getting involved; however, after the first few chapters I was anxious to get to know the characters more. By the time I made it halfway through the book, I did not want to put it down. I was so anxious to continue the story. And then when the end took such a surprising twist. I was SHOCKED! Kate Jacobs truly did an amazing job of coming up with a real shocker.

The Friday Night Knitting Club is the story or Georgia Walker and her yarn shop, Walker and Daughter. Georgia is a single mom to a teenager in New York City. She’s raised her daughter on her own (maybe one of the reasons that this book appealed me as I’m doing the same?) – only having the help of store employees and customers who have become friends. The group of friends forms The Friday Night Knitting Club as a time to bond (and for some to knit). One amazing quality of the club is that they don’t even all knit well. It’s more of a social bond – a connection.

Of course, then things go crazy – each of the women seems to have some major issues in their personal lives – from an unexpected pregnancy, Georgia’s daughter trying to find herself, an ex love coming back into the picture, children who think they should make decisions for elderly parents, and a divorce – it’s a roller coaster of emotions. However, The Friday Night Knitting Club presents a place for each of the women to find an escape and ultimately because of the friendships formed a peace with their problems.

I enjoy most books I read.  I just have an appreciation for reading.  However rarely do I read a book that I start telling everyone I know that they need to read it too, but this is one of those books.  I’ve already passed it on to my grandmother who read it and enjoyed it because she said “it was so realistic.”  I’m passing it on to a coworker next and then another friend of mine that loves to read.

The book has a sequel, Knit Two, that I have already purchased and will be reading and reviewing soon.

Review: Halfway to Each Other

I tend to not like many nonfiction books. I like a story. I like fiction. In Halfway to Each Other, I didn’t get fiction, but I did get an amazing story. In fact, Susan Pohlman wrote it in a style that actually could have also been a first person fiction book. This made it a very enjoyable book for me.

Halfway to Each Other is the story of Susan and her husband (Tim)’s attempt to salvage their marriage. Some of us try sitting down and talking when we are at odds with our significant others. Some try marriage counseling. Susan and Tim had a completely different approach. They left everything they knew (their entire lives) behind and moved themselves and their children to Italy for a year – a place where they didn’t know the customs or the language – where they only had each other to turn to – where they were forced to communicate. Where they moved in Italy, technology was not anywhere like what they had here in America – not only did Tim and Susan begin turning to each other, but their two children stopped the constant arguing and also started playing and entertaining each other.

That kind of moved proved to be stressful – there were moments when I wasn’t sure if the move was going to save the family or tear them apart even more. However, they did make it. This “disconnection to reconnect” worked for them in amazing ways.

Divorce has become so common – the idea of working on a marriage foreign to so many that it was enlightening to read about a man and woman who would go to such extremes to save their marriage, and knowing this book was true made it that much more impressive.

About Susan Pohlman
Susan is an educator and freelance writer. She and her family now live in Scottsdale, Arizona. Halfway to Each Other is her first book.

Review: The Diary by Eileen Goudge

I bought The Diary by accident to be honest. I’m not sure how it ended up on my booklist at Book of the Month Club, but I must have been looking at it and clicked “add” somewhere along the way because sure enough it came in the mail a few months ago. I knew I’d need a couple books for my trip to Chicago so I threw this one in my bag for the trip home. I had read the summary a couple times, but it didn’t really get my attention so it kept being placed further down in the stack. I’ll even admit that I only put it in my suitcase knowing when it was the only book in my suitcase, I’d have to read it.

So as soon as I took my seat on the plane, I pulled out The Diary and started reading – bound and determined to successfully finish it so it could be moved to the “finished” stack. Imagine how surprised I was when by the third chapter I was really into it and loving every page – daring the man next to me to speak and distract me from my book (luckily he was reading too) or the stewardess to ask if I wanted a drink or snack.

The Diary is the story of two sisters who recently lost their father and their mother is now on the verge of death herself. They are going through and cleaning out the family home when they discover their mother’s diary from when she was in her early twenties. It is then that they discover that their mother once had a life (imagine that!), but not just any life – a pretty dramatic life. She professes to have only truly one love and the man is not her father. They have no doubts that her mother and father loved each other, but in her 20’s her mother loved another man – and this is devastating news to the girls. How did their mother make the decision to “settle” for the father? They don’t know as the diary ends with all those decisions left unsaid.

Eileen Goudge does such a good job pulling you into this book, that you too are flipping each page hoping to find the answers to all the questions left unsaid in the diary that the sisters are searching for themselves. Will they find a follow up diary? Will Mom wake up from her stroke and finish the story for them? As I flipped each page, I was anxious for those answers, but never saw them coming from the source that Eileen provided. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the messenger and the message.

The Diary may be the ultimate love story – a reminder of what “genuine love” is, how hard it is to make decisions between your heart and your mind, and that our parents are real people with real emotions now matter how we’ve looked at them as we grow up as infallible.

Review & Giveaway: The Unexpected Gift

When I was asked if I would like to read/review/giveaway The Unexpected Gift by Meaghan Gonzales Wagar and Michelle Bulmer Atha, I clicked over and read the summary and knew from the beginning that I would love this book.  And I have to admit that I was not disappointed. It’s a thin book so I chunked it in my carryon bag when I was leaving for Blogher thinking it would be nice to have something lightweight to add to my bag.  I arrived at the airport super early Thursday so I pulled it out and started reading.  I was so involved that time flew while I waited on my plane.

As soon as I loaded on the plane, I pulled it back out, anxious to see what happened next. By the time the plane landed, I only had two chapters left to read.  The book is about two remarkable women. The first is a recently divorced wife and mother who is looking to find herself and raise her children alone.  Still loving her husband ex-husband makes this a challenging road. She’s also now needing to make her entrance back into the full time work world. The second woman is a young pregnant girl living in poverty, but working hard to make a better life for herself. The two meet by chance when the divorcee donates baby clothes to the young girl.  After a couple more chance meetings, they start to build a friendship that becomes quite strong and helps each of the women become strong and conquer the issues in their lives.

I’ve been both of these women to some degree – the young pregnant girl without much money (though my life was much easier than the girl in this book) and the single mom trying to raise her children so I felt so connected to each of them as I read it.

Does The Unexpected Gift sound like something you’d like to read? If so, you might be in luck as I have three copies to give away.

Required Entry:

Who in your life came to you unexpectedly and has made a difference?

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed. You can still enter if you already subscribe.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.
6. Enter any other contest here or at Southern Girl Reviews through the duration of this contest. You may have an entry for every contest that you enter between now and then.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Sunday, August 16 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Don’t want to wait until the contest ends? You can buy it now for $11.01 at Amazon.

Operation Kindness

You may remember how much Cameron liked the first book in the Precious Girls Club series, A Little Bit of Faith.  Thanks to the Precious Girls Club and MomSelect she just received the second book, Operation Kindness, and it was just as much a hit as the first one – maybe more so.

In case you have not heard of this series, it’s a book series and virtual world website for young girls from the makers of Precious Moments.  Just as the figurines are inspirational, so are the books.  The protagonist in the book is Kate Bennett and she struggles just as the young girls in our lives do to “fit in” and at deciding just who they really are.  Through the help of her guardian angel and family, Kate does find her own group of friends in the first book, A Little Bit of Faith.

In this book, Operation Kindness, Kate and her group of friends (The Precious Girls Club) have decided that they want to volunteer at the local community hospital to cheer up sick children.  They run into some problems and through the use of joining together, they are able to overcome these obstacles and develop a puppet show.

Once again, Kate and her friends present real problems with solutions based on values and morals.

If you have a young reader in your home, I think that the Precious Girls Club series, may be the books I recommend over any other that Cameron has read.

And in a fashion, I love – you can introduce this series to your favorite reader for FREE thanks to A Novel Mind, Mom Select, and the Precious Girls Club.  I have a hardback copy of Operation Kindness for one lucky reader.  BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!  I also have a stuffed puppy from the series, and special codes for the online world of the Precious Girls Club, some bracelets and stickers.  There will be LOTS of winners for this contest.  I also have two copies of the first book, A Little Bit of Faith.

This is how we’ll break up the winners:

• 1 Grand Prize Winner will receive Operation Kindness, the stuffed puppy, as well as bracelets and stickers.  If the Grand Prize Winner does not own the first book, A Little Bit of Faith, they’ll also receive a copy of this book.
• 1 or 2 Runner Up Winners (depending on Grand Prize winner prize) will win the first book, A Little Bit of Faith, bracelets, and stickers.
• The First 60 Entrants will be selected to receive the online code for their little one to have special privileges on the online world of the Precious Girls Club. (will be sent via email)

How to Enter:

Required Entry:
Tell me the little girl in your life’s (that would receive this package) favorite books – or the books you wish she would read!

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed.  You can still enter if you already subscribe.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.
6. Enter any other contest here or at Southern Girl Reviews through the duration of this contest.  You may have an entry for every contest that you enter between now and then.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Sunday, August 9 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Don’t want to wait until the contest ends? You can buy it now for $9.95 at Amazon.

CONTEST ENDED! COMMENTS CLOSED! WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

Adventure at Brimstone Hill

Who doesn’t love an adventure? I know I have always loved adventures and mysteries so how happy was I when Carol Ottley-Mitchell asked me to review her book, Adventure at Brimstone Hill.  This is a children’s mystery – the first in the Caribbean Adventure Series.  I originally passed this book on to Cameron to see her reaction, and as she started telling me about her readings the first day, I had to join in and read it behind her.  After she fell asleep each night, I’d take the book off of her nightstand and read what she had read that day.  I think I may have enjoyed it as much as she did.

There’s no way that Carol could have known, but Cameron is really fascinated by monkeys right now. Her last two Build A Bear pets? Monkeys. So when she found out that this story was about 3 children – Kyle, Ingrid, and Mark and their MONKEY, Chee Chee she was hooked from the beginning.  Did I mention one of her dogs name is Chee Chee?  That was one of the first things she had to tell me about the book  - the MONKEY NAMED CHEE CHEE!! She loved to read about their adventures of the children on their field trip at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. The adventure takes place on a tiny island called St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Maybe better than Chee Chee? The fact that the children are 9 – so close to her own age.

What did Mom like?  I loved the vocabulary in the book. The book was full of words that Cameron didn’t know that served as great spring boards into vocabulary lessons.  After the first chapter, I gave her a highlighter and she started marking any words she wasn’t sure of the meanings.  We then worked on context clues and looked up some of the words that she couldn’t guess.  The English teacher and Mom in me was proud that the book was interesting enough to keep her attention and made for a great lesson too.

Another Mom plus?  The fact that the setting is a true location that Cameron (and I) had never heard of – Brimstone Hill.  After finishing the book, we browsed the Internet to learn more about this historical location.

The story? The story begins with us meeting the 3 children and Chee Chee on the day of the class field trip to Brimstone Hill.  Chee Chee, of course, isn’t welcome on the field trip, but makes it anyways.  As the children search for Chee Chee, they are taken into the past – right in the middle of a battle between the British and the French during the 18th century. The book centers around the adventures the children have when they are taken back in time to this battle. I won’t reveal more of the plot, but if you have children between 7 or 8 and 12, I think you’ll find this to be an enjoyable story for them to read, or maybe you could read it as a family.  It has so much history throughout the book, that a great summer project could be researching the history surrounding the setting and battle after you finish reading Adventure at Brimstone Hill by Carol Ottley-Mitchell.

Want to know more about Carol and her series? Even read a preview of book 2 – Pirates at Port Royal at http://caribbeanadventureseries.com/.  You can also read more about Carol here.

And do I have great news for you!  This is your lucky day as you can now enter for a chance to win your very own copy of Adventure at Brimstone Hill.

Required Entry:
Tell me where you would go if you could go on your very own dream adventure – you can choose a past or present location!  Or maybe even somewhere in the future!

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
2. Subscribe to my feed.  You can still enter if you already subscribe.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
4. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
5. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, August 1 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Don’t want to wait until the contest ends? You can buy it now for $12.95 at Amazon.

PLEASE NOTE CONTEST IS OVER!!!  WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED AND ANNOUNCED!!

Enough Already!

I was recently sent a book to read and review that I have to admit to thinking “UGH!”  I really wasn’t looking forward to reading it.  The book? Enough Already by Peter Walsh, host of TLC’s Clean Sweep..  I didn’t even read the cover (beyond the title).  I just thought a book on getting organized? Great! Just what I need. Has he seen my small house? There’s no way to organize the clutter any other way.  However, I was bound and determined to be a good blogger and give it an honest read, and then I was surprised. It was nothing as I expected, and I actually enjoyed reading it.  Don’t you love when that happens?

Turns out the book isn’t even really about “decluttering” my house – it was about clearing my “mental clutter,” and yes, I know I have TONS of that.   I could fill up my own book just describing the clutter in my mind most of the time.  Peter divided the book into six main sections – Relationships, Work, Family, Money, Health, and Our Sense of Well Being.  In each section I found a little of me and really liked the way that Peter looked and it and the steps he recommended to clear the clutter. Another nice break from the reading (and a way to really apply the book to your life) is that there are activities and quizzes throughout the book for you to assist you in really applying the book to your life and finding ways to remove that clutter.

I admit to being a fiction fan.  My preference is always with my fiction books, but I do like to read a little outside my fiction world from time to time and this book is one I would recommend to others.  In fact, my mom and one of my best friends have both already read this book (since I passed it on with my recommendations). Thanks Office Max and Peter Walsh for the opportunity to read Enough Already and share it with my readers.

Other Organizational Books by Peter Walsh:

Review & Giveaway: The Noticer – ENDED

I think that I may have found my favorite book to b e given to review so far.  I wasn’t sure what to expect after reading the summary of The Noticer, but I had agreed to read it so finally this weekend I sat out to do just that. It was a small book so I thought – no biggie. I’ll just knock this one out over the weekend so I can write the review and move on.  Imagine my surprise when I was engrossed so quickly.

I’m not sure how this book would be categorized, but I categorize it as INSPIRING.  It really makes you stop and think.  While I usually read books really fast, I expected to be done with this book in an hour – two most, but it ended up taking me longer because I would actually kind of stop and think while reading.  I would think of the advice that Jones (the main character) was giving at that moment and how it applied to my life.

I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot, but the book centers around one man’s (Jones) influence over a small southern town.  He seems homeless and no one can imagine how old he is as he’s been old “forever.”  He seems to come and go in this town, but no one really knows why or where he goes.  What they do know is that he arrives at just the right time – when someone is in need of some “perspective.”  He comes to the rescue of a troubled youth, a married couple, an older lady, and even gives advice and helps out the local teens.  No matter what trouble the characters in the book are facing, Jones seems to know how to help them look at it from a different “perspective” so that life looks better and thus becomes better.

I’ve actually enjoyed this book so much that I’m requiring my teenage daughter read it.  I think that if we choose to remember the advice of old man Jones throughout our life that all of us could be happier with our lives.

The book is available at Amazon, but if you aren’t quite ready to buy it, then enter today for your chance to win a copy.  How do you enter?

Required Entry:
Tell me someone in your life who has provided life changing advice – or someone you turn to when you aren’t sure what to do.

Bonus Entries:

**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**

1. Join The Noticer Project. Be sure to post a link verifying your entry.
2. Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
3. Subscribe to my feed.  You can still enter if you already subscribe.
4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet – already a follower, just tweet and let me know)
5. Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
6. Enter my current contest at Southern Girl Reviews for a Sane Fitness Kit.
7. Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post.

The Fine Print

• Must be a US Citizen
• Contest ends Saturday, May 12 at Midnight CST.
• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
• All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
• Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.

Also check out my Sane Fitness Giveaway at Southern Girl Reviews.

Review: American Wife

It has been a long time since anyone besides Janet Evanovich has gotten me so involved in a book that I couldn’t put it down.  Curtis Sittenfeld now holds that honor with the book, American Wife.  I bought this book on a whim.  I wasn’t sure I was even interested in it, but I was wanting something to review for everyone that wasn’t a typical read for me.  I had never heard of Sittenfeld, the cover looked a little too “romancy” for me, but after looking at the summary and realizing it was loosely (very loosely) based on the life of Laura Bush who I have a great respect for, I went ahead and threw it in the cart.

I’m not sure why, but for some reason, I didn’t put it in the “to read” stack at home, but instead picked it up the very next morning and started reading it on the way to one of my daughter’s ballgames (obviously I wasn’t driving).  During the thirty minute drive to the ballpark, I became engrossed – yes, I was that involved that quickly.  I felt horrible that I wanted to take the book into the park (no, I didn’t do it..I just wanted to).  As soon as we were back in the car, I had picked it back up. We went out to eat after the game, and I once again had to resist taking the book into the restaurant.  I couldn’t believe how excited I was to be home just so I could curl up in the bed and continue this book.  I stayed up that night until almost 3.  I wanted to finish it that bad, but finally had to cave in and sleep.  As soon as I was up the next morning, it was back to reading.  I simply had to know what happened next…how it ended.  The real world interfered some, but ultimately I did finish it that second day, and I immediately was sharing it with people that I saw that day.  I told everyone they should read this book.

As I mentioned, Amercian Wife is loosely based on the life of Laura and President Bush; however, it is fiction and the characters have different names (Alice and Charlie), but it doesn’t take the reader long to figure out who the main characters reflect in “real life.”  It starts in the present day, but it quickly flashes back to Alice’s childhood. The reader then follows Alice through the highlights of her life from 3rd grade to the present.

Have you ever wondered about the thinkings of a First Lady?  How she feels about her life in the public eye?  While we may never know closely the thoughts of Alice reflect those of former First Lady, Laura, the book is written in a manner that is completely believable. We travel through Alice’s life, we feel her pain, we are happy when she’s happy..

I won’t provide you with many details as I recommend you read this book, and I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but from her chilhood in the 40s in a small town in Wisconsin to her life in 2000 in the White House, you will follow Alice through her family relationship with her parents and grandmother.  You will see her deal personally with homosexuality, tragedy, abortion, loneliness, and family death.  You’ll see her struggle when she meets and falls for wealthy Charlie of fitting in with his upperclass family and way of life.  And then the struggles of dealing with an immature husband who turns to alcohol and who looks at the world in such a different manner than she does.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld – TWO THUMBS UP!

Books About Laura Bush I Will Be Buying and Reviewing After Reading American Wife:

• The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush
• Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady

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