Coding for Kids: Scratch by Matthew Highland

Coding for Kids: Scratch by Matthew Highland ISBN-13: 9781641522458 Paperback: 172 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: July 2, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
From sprites and code blocks to scripts and scorekeeping, Coding for Kids: Scratch helps you discover everything you need to know to create 10 amazing games that you and your friends can play. Watch your confidence grow with step-by-step instructions and clear directions that keep things simple—even as the games you’re making get more challenging. Game on!

Coding for Kids: Scratch includes: Coding for kids—Learn Scratch terms and concepts, then use them to build games you can start playing immediately.Create 10 games—Cake Clicker, Dino Hunt, Crystal Keeper, and more—code, play, and share 10 cool games.Master Scratch—Simple directions, full-color screenshots, and projects that get more difficult make mastering Scratch a breeze.


My Review:
Coding for Kids: Scratch teaches readers how to use the drag-n-drop coding language called Scratch. You sign up (for free) to use the Scratch website and need to use one of the following web browsers: Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. Kids 6 years old and older can use the language, but the author suggested that kids 6-8 years old may need an adult's help while they learn (and I'd agree). I'd suggest the adult work through the book first rather than learn it at the same time as the child, but either would work. Basically, you sit at your computer and follow his instructions to learn how to use the Scratch coding interface, then you put together his codes for the 10 games to learn how to make functioning games. In the game coding section, he simply showed the finished code and explained why the different pieces were needed. You must look for the code blocks and put it together.

Overall, it's an informative book written at a level that kids can understand. You can put together the suggested, basic games pretty quickly. But there were a few times in the instructions about using the Scratch coding interface where he'd say to do something and just assume you'd see how to do it. For example, I initially thought you were supposed to type "timer" into a slot when you were supposed to drag-n-drop that piece from the code selection area. Or he didn't say exactly where to find the code, so I had to scroll through the options to find it. It wasn't until coding the actual games that I got frustrated, though. I followed his code exactly, but the code for the first game sometimes worked perfectly and other times wouldn't completely reset. I figured out what piece of code was missing to make it always work, but I was disappointed that the very first game code that he gave us wasn't complete. Overall, though, this is a great way to teach your kids the basics of coding games.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Real World of Victorian Steampunk by Simon Webb

The Real World of Victorian Steampunk by Simon Webb ISBN-13: 9781526732859 Paperback: 168 pages Publisher: Pen and Sword History Released: Sept. 19, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In the last few decades, steampunk has blossomed from being a rather obscure and little-known subgenre of science fiction into a striking and distinctive style of fashion, art, design and even music. In this book Simon Webb explores and examines the real inventions which underpin the fantasy.

The Real World of Victorian Steampunk shows the Victorian era to have been a surprising place; one of steam-powered aeroplanes, fax machines linking Moscow and St Petersburg, steam cars travelling at over 100 mph, electric taxis and wireless telephones. It is, in short, the nineteenth century as you have never before seen it; a steampunk extravaganza of anachronistic technology and unfamiliar gadgets. Imagine Europe spanned by a mechanical internet; a telecommunication system of clattering semaphore towers capable of transmitting information across the continent in a matter of minutes. Consider too, the fact that a steam plane the size of a modern airliner took off in England in 1894.

Drawing entirely on contemporary sources, we see how little-known developments in technology have been used as the basis for so many steampunk narratives. From seminal novels such as The Difference Engine, through to the steampunk fantasy of Terry Pratchett's later works, this book shows that steampunk is at least as much solid fact as it is whimsical fiction.


My Review:
The Real World of Victorian Steampunk is a book about how the fiction genre of Victorian Steampunk is inspired by attempted inventions or real technology created during the reign of Victoria. The author started by explaining what steampunk is, and he frequently referred to various novels that were inspired by the real technology that he's describing. I think this book was aimed more at fans of this genre than history buffs as I've read most of this material in more detail in books by other authors. This was more of an overview of the many ideas that were coming out at the time with some general descriptions of how they worked and why they didn't endure.

He talked about various steam-powered vehicles (cars, buses, lorries, dirigibles, a motorcycle, and a plane) and described why petrol vehicles "won" when electric and steam-powered vehicles were much more desirable (quieter, more reliable, etc.). He described several stretches of pneumatic railway that were actually built and why the technology was abandoned. He talked about wind-powered cars, the mechanical telegraph network, mechanical computers and calculators, wireless sunlight phones, telegraph fax machines, recording voice on metal wire or disks, their understanding of how televisions could be made, home stereo music over the telephone line, attempts to make mechanical men or animals, and solar-powered generators.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals, Volume 3: Endocrinology by Jill Stansbury

Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals, Volume 3: Endocrinology by Jill Stansbury ISBN-13: 9781603588553 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company Released: April 23, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals is a five-volume set that serves as a comprehensive, practical reference manual for herbalists, physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals.

Dr. Jill Stansbury draws on her decades of clinical experience and her extensive research to provide an unparalleled range of herbal formulas. Organized by body system, each volume includes hundreds of formulas to treat common health conditions, as well as formulas that address specific energetic or symptomatic presentations. For each formula, Dr. Stansbury briefly explains how the selected herbs address the specific condition. Sidebars and user-friendly lists help readers quickly choose which herbs are best for specific presentations and detail traditional uses of both Western and traditional Asian formulas and herbs that are readily available in the United States.

Volume 3 focuses on endocrine systems, offering formulas and supporting information for treating thyroid disease, adrenal disorders, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. This volume also covers the female and male reproductive systems including conditions related to menstruation and PMS, fertility and pregnancy, and the prostate. Reproductive endocrinology is one of Dr. Stansbury’s specialties, and she provides herbal formulas and therapies for pelvic inflammatory disease, genital herpes, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, PCOS, uterine fibroids, low libido, erectile dysfunction, and more. She also discusses the role of herbal medicine in prevention and treatment of reproductive cancers.


My Review:
Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals, Volume 3: Endocrinology is a reference manual for herbalists and health professionals. This volume focused on endocrine systems. The author started the book by describing how to create your own formulas, but she provided suggested formulas in the book to give you an idea of what might work well if you're not yet comfortable creating your own. The first section talked about the causes of thyroid disease and suggested specific formulas for various thyroid and adrenal disorders. The second section looked at diabetes and metabolic conditions with specific formulas for various diabetes-related problems. The last section covered reproductive endocrinology and provided formulas for things like genital herpes, HPV, premenstrual syndrome, irregular periods, pregnancy-related issues, and more.

In each section, she included several sidebars about specific herbs--their uses and the findings of various scientific studies. At the end of each section, she listed the herbs used in that section along with the common name and what it's good for (in relation to that topic). Even in the formulas, she'd usually say she was using this herb for this purpose and that herb for that purpose. The formulas were usually mixing a tincture by combining individual herbal tinctures (this many drops of this herb). She also suggested tea mixes and sometimes even food recipes (especially in the diabetes section). Overall, I found this book informative and useful, though the text was in rather a small font and (personally) I would have found it easier if she had used common names along with the scientific names in the formulas.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Breathwork by Valerie Moselle

Breathwork by Valerie Moselle ISBN-13: 9781641524483 Paperback: 216 pages Publisher: Althea Press Released: June 25, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Every breath you take has the power to heal—but learning how takes practice. In Breathwork, established yoga and breathwork teacher Valerie Moselle leads you through a practical program to create a personal routine of restorative breathing techniques.

Begin each day with breathing exercises to boost energy and physical health. End each day meditating on clarity and calm. With effective practices that address everything from allergies to anxiety and more, this breathing plan is your guide to discovering the rejuvenating and varied benefits of breathwork.

Breathwork: A 3-Week Breathing Program begins by teaching the timeless fundamental practices of breathwork. Then invite intentional breathing into your life with simple, step-by-step exercises every morning and evening. Feel the positive impact of targeted breathing to treat anxiety, asthma, insomnia and more.


My Review:
Breathwork helps you to explore how you breathe and contains a 21 day program that teaches different breathing techniques. The author mostly based her selection of techniques on those used in yoga and martial arts traditions. She only included those that are safe and do-able for any age or physical ability. She started by explaining the benefits of conscious breathing. She explained the main categories of breathing techniques (like using using only the belly or rib cage, different timing for different parts of the breath, or holding one's breath) and what each type of technique will help achieve. This was very helpful for me as I was confused by all the different options that people mention.

She then got into the specifics of her program. She described several stretches that you will do for the first 5 minutes of the 10 minute morning session. She described how to do the body scan and tension meditation that you will do for the first 5 minutes of the 10-20 minute evening session. For each day, she described the breathing exercise for the morning and the evening, and they generally built on what was learned in the previous sessions. The first week focused on the physical aspects of breathwork--learning belly breathing, rib cage breathing, resistance breathing, and wave breathing. The second week focused on using breath to enhance awareness of our physical self, emotions, and thoughts. The third week focused on overall well-being and how breathwork can enhance our sense of purpose.

I have to admit I got bored with the stretching and the body scan parts of the exercises. I understand their purpose, but it adds time to what is already pushing my current "be still" tolerance levels. I also could already do everything in week 1, so that felt very basic. So it's a good book for a complete beginner because it is basic and explains things. But I suspect you're most likely to complete the 3 weeks of exercises if you're already used to spending 20-30 minutes a day stretching or meditating.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Essential Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook by Tess Challis

The Essential Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook by Tess Challis ISBN-13: 9781641524131 Paperback: 168 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: June 18, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
If you’re serious about eating a healthy, plant-based diet but still have cravings for the crispy crunch of fried foods―this book has good news for you. The Essential Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook serves up the most comprehensive collection of good-for-you vegan recipes that pack deep-fried taste―without all the guilt.

From Sweet Miso-Glazed Brussels Sprouts to BBQ Jackfruit Nachos to Cinnamon Crisps, these yummy recipes use the healthiest real food ingredients without ever compromising flavor. But this air fryer cookbook book doesn’t just give you healthy recipes―you’ll also learn the ins and outs of air frying with expert advice and a handy troubleshooting guide. And yes, you CAN have French fries.

The Essential Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook includes: Air frying 101―Learn the benefits of air frying, plus how to choose and use the right model for you with this air fryer cookbook. Good food that’s GOOD for you. 80 Whole health recipes―Get all the best recipes for breakfasts and breads, sides and snacks, main dishes, desserts, and must-have staples.


My Review:
The Essential Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook is a vegan cookbook where all or part of the recipe is cooked in an air fryer. Some of the recipes are gluten-free. The recipes usually serve 4 and take about 10 minutes to 1 hour to make. The recipes focused on using minimally-processed, whole-food, plant-based ingredients. Almost all of the ingredients in the recipes should be easy to get or have a substitute that's easy to get. The author said that most of the recipes used around 1 teaspoon of oil (though she often uses an oil spray on the food, which is harder to measure and will vary between users).

The author started by explaining why a person would chose to use an air fryer (rather than an oven or deep fat fryer), what to look for when buying one, the basics of using one, and some tips for successful outcomes. She also explained how you can use the air fryer to bake and roast food, not just fry it. I got this book hoping to expand my use beyond making fries and baked apples, and it did that. Still, she did provide recipes for many kinds of fries and chips.

She liked to combine recipes--use this recipe as a part of this one or combine these two to make this recipe. She included 16 recipes in the breakfast and breads section, 20 in sides and snacks, 20 for main dishes, and 12 for deserts (cookies, cakes, bars), plus 9 recipes for "staples" like sauces and dressings (which don't necessarily use the air fryer). Each recipe included "per serving" information on calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, protein. There were only a few pictures showing what a finished dish looked like.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Instant Pot® Vegetarian Cookbook by Srividhya Gopalakrishnan

Instant Pot® Vegetarian Cookbook by Srividhya Gopalakrishnan ISBN-13: 9781641524223 Paperback: 148 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: June 18, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
A lifelong vegetarian and pressure-cooking enthusiast, Srividhya Gopalakrishnan uniquely understands how to make the most of veggie-packed, multicooker meals. Inside this Instant Pot cookbook, she teaches you the most important Instant Pot basics while also introducing you to 75+ mouthwatering, vegetarian dishes from around the world. Suggestions for substituting ingredients, making creative use of leftovers, and more are included as well. Cook-up Enchilada Casserole, Chana Masala, Strawberry-Chocolate Cake, and more.


My Review:
Instant Pot® Vegetarian Cookbook is a vegetarian cookbook where the recipes are cooked in the Instant Pot (and don't need the oven or stove). Most of the recipes are gluten-free. Some recipes are vegan, dairy-free, or nut-free. The recipes usually serve 4-8 and take between 30 minutes to 2 hours to make (with about 10 minutes of that in prep time). The recipes tend to be spicy and come from all over the world: India, Thai, Mexico, Middle East, Africa, South America, etc. A number of the recipes use heavy cream, others add sugar where I probably wouldn't, and so I wouldn't necessarily call the recipes healthy, though they did contain a lot of whole, minimally-processed ingredients.

The author started by explaining how to work the Instant Pot and some tips on pressure cooking veggies and grains. Most of the ingredients in the recipes are common (easy to find) in the USA. She included 13 recipes in the veggies and sides section, 16 recipes for beans and legumes, 16 for soups and stews, 13 for rice and pasta, 9 for other grains, and 10 for deserts. There were many recipes for curries, salads, soups, stews, and chili. The recipes didn't tightly fit in the given categories. For example, rice was used throughout, and there were soups and salads in the beans section. Each recipe included "per serving" information on calories, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and sodium.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Draw Like an Artist: 100 Flowers and Plants by Melissa Washburn

Draw Like an Artist: 100 Flowers and Plants by Melissa Washburn ISBN-13: 9781631597558 Paperback: 112 pages Publisher: Quarry Books Released: June 25, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Draw Like an Artist: 100 Flowers and Plants is a must-have visual reference book for student artists, botanical illustrators, urban sketchers, and anyone seeking to improve their realistic drawing skills. Designed as a contemporary, step-by-step guidebook for artists who are learning to draw botanical forms, Draw Like An Artist: 100 Flowers and Plants features an inclusive array of florals, ferns, succulents, and more, all shown from a variety of perspectives. Each set of illustrations takes you from beginning sketch lines to a finished drawing.


My Review:
Draw Like an Artist: 100 Flowers and Plants is an art instruction book on using graphite pencil to draw realistic flowers and plants. After the brief introduction to her method, the author provided step-by-step drawings for one plant per page. There's no text, just 6-8 easy-to-follow steps leading from basic shapes to help block in symmetry, angles, and positions to adding details and cleaning up the guidelines. The author demonstrated how to draw a wide variety of flower and plant types so you can apply the lessons from one flower (or leaf, etc.) to similar flowers.

She covered 50 flowers and flowering plants, 20 vines, leaves, and trees, and 30 succulents, herbs, grasses, etc. I liked her clear illustrations, and I feel like I better understand how to use her method than some that I've learned. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those wanting to improve or learn how to draw flowers.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Period Power by Maisie Hill

Period Power by Maisie Hill ISBN-13: 9781472963611 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Green Tree Released: July 2, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, modified from Goodreads:
Ninety per cent of women experience symptoms of PMS. And so many of us feel on top of the world, capable, confident and sexy for part of each month followed by a state of physical and emotional discomfort and fatigue for another part. What if our desire to improve ourselves could be combined with our need to know just what our womb and ovaries are getting up to every month? Not to mention how to take advantage of the natural superpowers that sit in each phase of our cycle, so that we can plan our month to perform at our best.

Maisie Hill is uniquely placed, as an acupuncturist, women's health practitioner and doula, to explain just how we can achieve this, as well as focusing on particular milestones that require an altered approach, such as coming off hormonal birth control, infertility, pregnancy, motherhood and the perimenopausal years. Using what Hill calls the cycle strategy--a woman's secret weapon when it comes to improving her relationships, career and health--she will apply the principles of Eastern and Western medicine to give women all they need to make sense of their cycles, as well as accessible and practical suggestions through which readers can improve their physical symptoms, and stop berating themselves because of the way that they evolve through each menstrual month.


My Review:
Period Power is a women's health book focused on our menstrual cycle and reproductive hormones. It has some really useful scientific information plus her ideas about how to deal with the ups and downs of your cycle. It gets detailed and technical (which I wanted!), but it's not difficult to follow. You can understand the author's points even if some of the technical terms are new to you. You can jump to a section that interests you and start there. She usually gave a detail explanation in one spot with a brief explanation in the other spots that needed it. The mild repetition helped me to remember the information, too.

The author started with some basic (but detailed) information about your reproductive organs and hormones and what's normal during different parts of your cycle. She teaches a simple method for tracking your cycle so you can spot patterns in your energy, attitude, etc. She also suggested things you can do to work with these different parts of your cycle (when different hormones are increasing and decreasing). She talked about concerns and changes that happen during different times in your life (your first periods, trying to conceive, pregnancy, perimenopause, after menopause, for transgender, etc.). She also talked about things you can do to improve your cycle (involving diet, exercise, etc.) and covered potential problems you may experience (long or short periods, light or heavy flows, long or short cycles, no periods, PMS, PMDD, cramps, ovarian cysts, etc.) and what you can do about it. She also brought up period poverty and some other activist issues, but I felt like she was trying to increase awareness rather than force the reader to share her opinions.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.