Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Age Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz is the book I wish I had had when I first needed it. I like how Dr. Pelz shares her own story of changing hormones amidst her information to help with your changes. This is a book that could help you prepare for what is coming if you aren't there yet and it is a book to help make sense of what is happening if you are in the middle and it can still be helpful if you are post menopausal.  Age Like a Girl is divided into three parts:  The philosophy behind Aging like a girl The Art of Aging Like a Girl The Path to becoming a New You Age Like A Girl covers the brain changes, the physical changes and the way you are becoming a "new you." This book puts a positive spin on the aging that I think is helpful.  Along with the meat of this book, there are also some sides at the end of the book that are helpful too: A  Man's Guide to Supporting the Women you love through menopause A note to healthcare practitioners A note to employers-...

  Mind, Body, Spirit, Food by Nicki Sizemore is a beautiful holistic cookbook.  As the cover states, the recipes are adaptable and there are grounding meditations and there is encouragement for preparing meals with joy and intention. This book encourages the reader to focus on the process as they cook. I love that. I also like how flexible these recipes are. The recipes offer advice for making each recipe in your own way with ingredients you have on hand and in such a way that your family's likes and food intolerances are taken into consideration.  I see our bodies as holistic so this book is especially meaningful to me in that way. There is encouragement to have an attitude of gratitude as you work with ingredients, prepare your food and eat with family. There is also a spirit of meditation included. This is definitely a book for my keeper cookbook shelf.   The recipes themselves look to be flavorful. The instructions are easy to follow. There are full color p...

  Good Night, Body: Finding Calm From Head to To e by Britney Winn Lee starts off with a note to parents about how to use this book to guide children to learn to feel more at home in their precious bodies. This book measures a little larger than nine inches square and is 40 pages long. It is aimed at early elementary children from ages four to eight. Good Night, Body is sort of an interactive bedtime book. It is a book that could help children get the last wiggles of the day out and start to settle down and relax. Several of the exercises are for relaxing. It could be fun to do this book together as a family. I like the illustrations so well. They are inclusive of people of all skin colors and include differently-abled children as well. It is a beautiful book both in the writing and in the pictures. This book is just a clean reading activity book and does not include Scripture. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  All Things Lovely by Jenn Johnson really is a lovely book. This book has gorgeous pictures, encouraging words and tips to live a better life in several ways. All Things Lovely is divided in four parts: Home, Heart, Health and Hospitality. Each section has three or four chapters just full of advice on making your life better in each of these areas. I liked how honest and real Johnson was throughout the book reminding us all that we aren't perfect but we are striving to do better each day. I could relate to much of what she shared personally. I also was inspired by her advice to do a bit better in each of these areas of my life. She does share with her Christian faith as part of her life and there are Bible verses throughout the book. There is some good advice about organizing. There is some helpful tips on guarding your heart and doing the right things.  Throughout the book, it all feels real and inspiring. There are even recipes like taco dip and pumpkin cookies. I love the ...

Many people live in some sort of pain every day. Unfortunately, people often don't know what to do to help themselves live a better life either free of pain or with reduced pain. In Living Beyond Pain by Linda S. Mintle and James W. Kribs, the authors guide the reader ways they may reduce or eliminate pain holistically. Living Beyond Pain is co-authored by a psychologist and practicing physician. It is divided in to 3 parts: Understanding Pain, Tools for Pain Management, and Hope and Resilience. Because Opioids are a real problem in the United States, the authors address that subject in the first section. They also share the five most common types of pain. In the second section, the authors address various factors that may be contributing to your pain and discuss various ways to help reduce pain with/or alongside medication. In the last section, the authors offer hope and encourage readers to look for good things around them and maintain a positive mindset amidst the challen...

Essential oils are everywhere these days. Do you know how to use them safely? The Family Guide to Aromatherapy by Erika Galentin gives a lot of good basic information on how to use essential oils and how to use them safely for your whole family. The Family Guide to Aromatherapy starts with a basic introduction to aromatherapy. Galentin then gives benefits and recipes for those who are pregnant or are in labor with safety precautions especially at this time. She goes through recipes, guidelines and safety precautions for babies, kids, adults, seniors and universal recipes for the whole household. In the second part of the book, Galentin has basic information pages on each of the top thirty essential oils such as clary sage, lavender, tea tree oil and many more. The back of the book includes some basic reference charts for a labor essential oils kit, a quick reference guide for common ailments, a guide with possible prescription drug interactions, and a handy index and recipe guide...

I have personal experience with Alzheimer's disease and dementia as we have cared for family members and I have friends caring for family members with this disease. I understand the toll it can take on caregivers so I try to read whatever I can about this disease and how to care for those who have it. New Every Day by Dave Meurer is full of compassion and great advice for those who are caring for a loved one with this disease. New Every Day , according to Meurer, is not written in any particular order to sort of mimic what it is like to deal with the disease that often seems somewhat random in how it presents itself. Meurer give a lot of factual information on how to care for your loved one, how to pace yourself and not burn out, how to manage the financial and legal end of things, and a lot of other good information. At the same time, Meurer encourages caregivers to keep their sense of humor throughout the book. I think New Every Day would be especially helpful to someone...

Are you struggling with negative thoughts, anxiety, or stress? Are you looking for a holistic method to improve your thought life and your health? Dr. Daniel Amen has a plan to help in Feel Better Fast and Make It Last . Feel Better Fast and Make It Last from the "brain doctor"  uses what Dr. Amen calls the BRAIN-XL approach. This is an acronym for the program that Dr. Amen recommends for lasting change. B is for Brain. In this section, Dr. Amen shares both short and long-term techniques for healing your thought life and making lasting changes. R stands for Rational Mind. In this section, Dr. Amen helps readers learn to conquer worry and negativity so they feel happier. Part 3 is the letter A for Attachments where Dr. Amen gives advice for improving relationships and eliminating relationship hurts. I stands for Inspiration and in section 4, Dr. Amen helps readers learn to live with passion and purpose and to avoid depression. N stands for Nourishment. In this section, D...

Every day we get up and we often take life for granted, just living life the best we can without thought to how God wants us to live to be healthy. Living Fit: Make Your Life Count by Pursuing a Healthy You by Ronnie Floyd is written for the Christian who wants to live healthy in all areas of their life. Living Fit focuses on five elements of a healthy life and the book is divided into five sections of four chapters each. They include Living Fit Spiritually, Physically, Relationally, Financially and Emotionally. In each section, Floyd expounds on how to live your best Christian life in each area through the use of Scripture and life examples. I think Living Fit would be a great book for a new Christian. In this book, Floyd gives a lot of advice on living life from the Christian perspective. Floyd is senior pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas. As a result of his view as a pastor, I think this book is quite heavy on living the Christian life spiritually and less heavy...

Do you have a little extra belly fat? Do you need to lose just a few pounds? If so, then Dr. Kellyann Petrucci's new book, The 10-Day Belly Slimdown may be just what you are looking for. Dr. Petrucci is a naturopathic physician and weight-loss specialist who often works with celebrities. The 10-Day Belly Slimdown primarily offers a short term plan for those who want to lose 10 pounds or less. She starts off the book explaining the eating plan and who it will and won't work for. She tells readers just what to expect and why she believes the plan works for people. There are a lot of recipes that look quite good, shopping lists, and meal plans for the 10 days to make it all work together. Bone broth is a key component of the eating plan and she offers several recipes for making your own bone broth. Dr. Petrucci shares a lot of success stories to helps readers see that the plan is doable and can work for them. However, the plan involves more than just eating her recommended...

According to Katie Farrell, Nourish is not just another diet or health book. Instead, Nourish shares how readers can pursue better health from three different aspects: spirit, soul and body. Nourish is written by someone who has been there. Farrell shares her own personal story about how she overcame her food struggles with God's help. Her writing shows how how she looks to God for guidance as she writes on page 174, "Instead of thinking about ways to give in to my sinful cravings and desires, I now long to honor God with my body and worship Him with everything I do, think, and say. By no means does this mean that I am perfect or have everything together; in fact, the very reason I am writing this book is that I understand the struggle!" Each chapter offers a part of Farrell's story along with helpful information to improve your own health. At the end of each chapter, she shares a Scripture, reflection questions, prayer and a recipe. Some of the recipes includ...

Sleep eludes many of us at one time or another. What can we do to sleep better? Then we also wonder about the dreams we have when we do sleep, what do they mean? Tzivia Gover writes an interesting interactive book, The Mindful Way to a Good Night's Sleep , that can help readers sleep better and discover what their dreams are trying to say. The Mindful Way to a Good Night's Sleep is divided into three sections: A Good Night's Sleep, Sweet Dreams, and Good Morning. This book has some great quotes on dreamy looking pages, advice on your sleep environment and sleeping, journaling space with some good questions to make you think, great meditation exercises that are truly relaxing, and advice on starting your day off in such a way to have your best day possible. It is a real positive, fun and uplifting book. I would encourage anyone interested in sleeping better and studying their dreams to read The Mindful Way to a Good Night's Sleep . It is fun, interesting reading a...

It seems like many of us end up with one form of arthritis or another by the time we are elderly. Instead of being one of those statistics, this book could help change those odds. Healing Arthritis: A 3-Step Process to Conquering Arthritis Naturally by Dr. Susan Blum, a leading expert in functional medicine, offers a better approach to healing arthritis permanently. Even more inspiring to me, she shares her own personal healing story in this book along with her expertise. I have osteoarthritis in an ankle that I broke when I was in my early 20s. I didn't really feel the arthritis until the last couple of years due to a combination of stress and a tendon tear in the same ankle. I don't want to take a lot of medication so I decided to read Dr. Blum's book to see if I could make a difference naturally. Dr. Blum gives a lot of information in an easy to read format. She first explains the various types of arthritis that one can contract. She also shares stories of real pe...

The Wellness Revelation by Alisa Keeton is more than just a book. It is a book, Bible study, work out program, and healthy-eating plan all rolled into one eight-week journey program. The Wellness Revelation starts with an introduction by with Keeton explaining how she got involved in fitness, how she turned her life over to Christ, and how readers can best use this book. The book could be used with a group, alone or with a trained Revelation Wellness instructor. Each of the eight weeks takes you on a journey of holistic fitness as you renew your mind, body and spirit to better serve God. Each week's study includes the chapter of explanation on the focus of the week, a Bible study, questions to relate to and to help you to better do the program, a prayer and a real-life story of how this program has made a difference to someone. In addition to all of the help and encouragement the book has to offer, there are additional helps available on the corresponding website on line. I ...

Every day we see countless advertisements for medications. We go to the doctor and expect that we will leave with a prescription that will make us better. But do all of these drugs really make us better? Dr. Andrew Weil in Mind Over Meds helps readers make informed decisions on medication use. Mind Over Meds goes through most of the commonly prescribed medications in the United States: antibiotics, statins, medicine for Gerd, antihistamines, cold/flu medicines, sleep aids, steroids, psych medicines for adults and children, and several other categories of popularly used medications both over-the-counter and prescribed. Dr. Weil also writes chapters on over-medication for children and over-medication for the elderly. The last chapter of the book covers medications with a pharmacist, whom Dr. Weil says is an underutilized medical person in the management of medications. All of these chapters were written with other medical personnel who specialize in these areas since Dr. Weil says...

The past couple of years I have had a little acid reflux in times of stress and my husband has had a problem with acid reflux. When I saw The Acid Watcher Diet , my husband and I both agreed it was time to look at making some dietary and lifestyle changes to help our bodies so we needed to read the book and give it a try. The Acid Watcher Diet by Dr. Jonathan Aviv is divided into 3 parts: Part 1 discusses what causes acid damage in our bodies and what to know as you seek treatment. It was big news to me that esophageal cancer is on the rise as a result of this problem and will soon overtake colon cancer in numbers. The second part of this book details the how and why we need to change our diet and what changes need to be made for lasting health improvements. The third section of this book contains the actual diet with recipes. The recipes are easy to follow. It also includes menus for special occasions.  The Acid Watcher Diet is written by a doctor with many years of exper...

I think most women want to have beautiful skin. We just don't know how to always get it. Many times, we change our soap or our external care, when we really need dietary changes to make a difference. Eat Beautiful by Wendy Rowe was written to help you nourish your skin both inside and out. To start with,  Eat Beautiful is divided by the seasons. When Rowe lived in Paris for 4 years, she said she learned to eat with the seasons which made a big difference in how she looked at and felt. With in each seasonal chapter, there is information on ingredients representing each season, such as asparagus, leafy greens, radishes and spinach for spring. Each ingredient is described with nutritional information and how the ingredient could be beneficial to your skin and other aspects of your health. Following the ingredient descriptions within each seasonal chapter are various recipes that could be used for that season. All of the recipes have beautiful color photographs accompanying the...

Fast Metabolism Food Rx is the first book I have read by Haylie Pomroy. This fascinating book offers food plans as a prescription for seven  health issues: Digestion problems, Fatigue and low energy, Hormonal issues including PMS and Menopause, High cholesterol, Brain issues like depression, anxiety and forgetfulness, blood sugar issues, and immune/auto-immmune disorders. I found it to be well-written and interesting to read. I found this book to be very interesting. I like the idea of using food to help heal our bodies over medication whenever possible. Haylie encourages readers to work with their doctors to make changes but she also encourages patients to use food to improve health, either eliminating or cutting down on medication by working with their doctor. This book becomes especially credible to me when Pomroy shares her own health issues and how food has made her feel so much better without medications. . .and she has doctors who work with her and listen. She encourage...

Prescription for Natural Cures is a great reference for holistic treatments and natural remedies for the health problems that one encounters. The cover states this book is a self-care guide for treating health problems with natural remedies including diet, nutrition, supplements and other holistic methods. We have an HSA for our health care needs so we often try to heal simple health issues ourselves before heading to the doctor. While you may also choose to talk to a physician or other healthcare provider about these issues, this book offers helpful ways to pursue healing along with a doctor's advice or it may also give you information you can discuss with your doctor. Prescription for Natural Cures is so handy to have around, although it is a thick reference manual at 835 pages. It is easy to use with conditions organized alphabetically from A to Z. There are over 200 conditions referenced in this book.It is up-to-date with the latest information from natural health resear...

Unstuffed   isn't your usual type of decluttering book as the subtitle says, Decluttering Your Home, Mind and Soul. Unstuffed offers advice on improving life in your home and with friends along with improving your spiritual and physical health. As I think about it, that is a tall order for this book. Unstuffed is divided into three sections. Part one shares information on creating the home you want to live in as well as dealing with all the stuff that you fill it with. It isn't full of how to declutter because Soukup says she wrote another book on that topic. Part two shares information on how to slow down your schedule and clear up some of the paperwork that comes through your home. The last section of this part also contains a chapter on dealing with other people's stuff, whether it is given to you or you inherited it. The last part of the book offers information on how to cultivate real friendships and release those that are not serving you well or are toxic. It a...