Southwest Medicinal Plants by John Slattery

Southwest Medicinal Plants by John Slattery ISBN-13: 9781604699111 Paperback: 392 pages Publisher: Timber Press Released: February 4th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The Southwest is ripe with wild edibles, no matter the season. From deserts to grasslands, river canyons to forests, a rich harvest of tasty plants—many found only in this region—awaits the curious forager. In Southwest Medicinal Plants, herbalist, educator, and lecturer John Slattery shares his expert foraging knowledge, including traditional methods of gathering and processing. Savor fresh mulberries along the trail, or blend them with foraged nuts and seeds for snacking. Enjoy a simple but delicious sun tea made from desert willow flowers. Along the way, learn what to look for, when and where to look, and how to gather the abundant wild edibles of the Southwest responsibly.

An A-to-Z guide for foraging year-round. Detailed information for safe identification. Suggestions for sustainable harvesting. Tips on preparation and use. Thorough, comprehensive, and safe, this is a must-have for foragers, naturalists, and herbalists in Arizona, southern California, southern Colorado, southern Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, western and central Texas, and southern Utah.


My Review:
Southwest Medicinal Plants is a guide to foraging wild medicinal plants in the Southwest (Arizona, southern California, southern Colorado, southern Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, western and central Texas, and southern Utah). I spend about a month of each year in Nevada and was curious about what plants were useful for medicine. The author started by explaining how to gather the different parts of a plant for medicinal use (leaves and flowers, bark, roots, etc.), how to store them, and the different ways to use them. He talked about how to make a tincture, oil infusion, decoction, infusion, poultice, syrup, etc. I've read descriptions on how to do these things before (and done some of them), but I felt that he added useful details that I hadn't heard before and clearly explain each process.

The main part of the book was an alphabetically organized list of 112 plants found in the region. For each listing, we're given the common names, the Latin name, the parts of the plant used, a description of how to identify the plant, when and how to gather the plant, the medicinal uses of the different parts the plant, how to ensure a future harvest, any safety cautions, and details about how to use the plant (the proportions used in a tincture, etc.). For each plant, there was a picture of the plant (often including its natural habitat) and usually a picture or two of distinguishing details, like the flower or a close-up of the leaf. Overall, this is an excellent resource for anyone interested in gathering and using medicinal plants from this area. It's very informative and provided practical information.


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.

Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases by Alexis Chesney

Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases by Alexis Chesney ISBN-13: 9781635862096 Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: Storey Publishing Released: February 22, 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from NetGalley:
Disease-carrying ticks are found in all 50 states in the U.S. and, as their numbers rise and their ranges increase, so, too, do cases of tick-borne illnesses. Alexis Chesney, a naturopathic physician specializing in the treatment of diseases transmitted through tick bites, offers a comprehensive strategy for reducing exposure to disease-causing organisms and boosting the effectiveness of standard treatment protocols. With an overview of the tick species present in the U.S. and profiles of Lyme and other top diagnosed tick-borne diseases, including anaplasmosis and babesiosis, this guide gives concerned readers and medical professionals alike a deeper understanding of how tick populations — and associated illnesses — spread, and how to combat them naturally. In addition to covering landscape-management methods for dramatically reducing tick populations around the home, Chesney outlines prophylactic herbal tinctures that provide an additional layer of protection against tick-borne illnesses — an important strategy for those living in high-risk regions, especially in the event of an undetected bite. Chesney also provides options for treating acute tick-borne diseases, if symptoms develop, as well as herbs that can be used in combination with antibiotics to augment their efficacy.


My Review:
Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases is written by a naturopathic physician about how to prevent and treat Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. He started by identifying disease-carrying ticks, including pictures and how to identify them, and explaining their lifecycle. He also described various tick-borne diseases in North America: what the symptoms look like, what ticks carry them, and the states where they have been diagnosed. He provided tick prevention and reduction strategies, like modifying your landscaping, putting out tick tubes, and dressing safely. He also explained where to look to find ticks on your body, how to safely remove ticks, how to get the ticks or yourself tested for disease, and herbal tinctures that can be used to prevent or treat tick-borne diseases. While some of this information will probably not be new to the reader, there was a lot of information about the latest products and methods available. This book was mainly about preventing tick-borne diseases or treating acute cases, not about treating chronic cases. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people who work in places that are at high risk of picking up ticks.


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.

Figure Drawing for Kids by Angela Rizza

Figure Drawing for Kids by Angela Rizza ISBN-13: 9781641527712 Paperback: 102 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: January 7th 2020

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Grab a pencil and an eraser! Featuring a simple, step-by-step format for budding artists, Figure Drawing for Kids is a great way to start sketching friends and family, pop culture icons, and epic superheroes--one easy-to-draw exercise at a time. Along the way, you'll learn helpful terms and essential drawing concepts like proportion, negative space, point of view, composition, crosshatch, and more.

All you need to know is in this drawing for kids' guide: From sketching basic shapes and shading to advanced skills like perspective drawing, you'll master 13 figure-drawing activities at your own pace. Get inspired by a wide range of human sizes, shapes, skin tones, and abilities. Discover how to draw from a photograph, how to set up a model station, and even how to draw the world around you!


My Review:
Figure Drawing for Kids is an art instruction book for beginners at drawing (full-body) people. The targeted age range is 9 to 12 years old, but this book would be useful even for adults. Each chapter taught a new concept that built on the last, illustrated the instructions, then provided step-by-step demonstrations for a variety of figures for you to follow to practice of the concept. The author provided text directions along with each illustration in the first demonstration, then just provided the illustrations for you to follow. Each step-by-step demonstration had between five and seven steps that were broken down enough that they were easy to follow. Each chapter had about four step-by-step practice demonstrations.

The author started by explaining the basic shapes (the angles of the shoulders and hips, a stick outline with some basic shapes on it, and drawing an outline around that), getting the figure in proportion with itself, adding further detail to the outline by learning about underlying muscles, about negative space and the clothed outline of the body, how to draw a body in motion, and how to add point of view using a vanishing point and how to draw a foreshortened figure. The author went on to explain shading, where to put features on the face, adding a background scene, drawing from a photo, drawing someone inside who models for you, drawing people that you observe in public, and adding color to the graphite or ink picture. I felt the author did a good job of explaining the various concepts and showing how to do them. Overall, I recommend this book to any beginners at figure drawing.


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.

Press Here! Face Workouts for Beginners by Nadira V Persaud

Press Here! Face Workouts for Beginners by Nadira V Persaud ISBN-13: 9781592339426 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: Fair Winds Press Released: February 18th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Press Here Face Workouts for Beginners offers age-defying results through a series of easy-to-follow pressure and massage techniques, which can be used as part of your daily skincare regime.

Benefits of facial workouts are more than aesthetics; a daily workout can have remarkable results in the way you feel. You'll be encouraged to focus on the feeling of each movement to identify problem areas or muscle tension in the face which can display deep lines, sagging skin, and an overall tired appearance.

Through the power of touch and focused breathing, these simple routines will help you feel more energized, de-stress, and maintain a toned and firm facial structure without the use of specialized equipment, whether you want to see a transformation immediately or over time.


My Review:
Press Here! Face Workouts for Beginners demonstrated ways to press or stretch muscles in your face and neck to give them a "workout." The main intent seemed to be to prevent wrinkles, get rid of bags under the eyes, etc. However, some of the suggested exercises were to release tension in your face. I really liked those. The exercises are easy to do and only require your fingers (though she does suggest using lotion or oil for some of the movements to make them easier). I would recommend this book to people who want simple exercises to do to tone or de-stress your face.

Each page showed an exercise. There was one or two illustrations showing how to do the exercise along with some text explaining the exercise. These were easy to follow (though there was one exercise that I wasn't sure about). A sidebar also explained the benefits of the exercise, how many times to repeat the exercise, how long to do the exercise, where to do the exercise, and any equipment or tips about doing the exercise. There were several exercise groups: to warm up, when you wake up, general work on the entire face, then exercises that focus on your mouth, cheeks, forehead, or skin, and then some quick exercise sequences for looks or tension.


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.

Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook by Sanaa Abourezk

Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook by Sanaa Abourezk ISBN-13: 9781646113941 Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: December 31st 2019

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Mediterranean mealtime is an event, accompanied by close family and friends, where Western wellness worries are simply managed through healthy eating and living. And while it is a culture filled with fresh, farm-to-table ingredients, many Mediterranean cookbooks’ meat-centric meals leave users seeking vegetarian recipe conversions. Let The Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook be your guide to delectable, all-vegetarian recipes passed down from the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea—from Spain to Syria.

Whole, simple ingredients and timeless recipes are the effortless secret to the healthy Mediterranean standard of living. From recipes like Moroccan-Style Vegetable and Olive Tagine to Fresh Sauce Pasta, along with standard staples like Hummus and Basil, The Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook brings the region’s famous freshness and flavors into your home.


My Review:
Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook is a vegetarian cookbook based on Mediterranean recipes. The author included many vegan recipes (often with tips on adding cheese, etc., if desired) or vegetarian recipes with tips on how to make them vegan. Most of these recipes were made with ingredients that should be easy to find locally. The ingredients were generally fresh, whole foods but she sometimes used store-bought pie crusts, puff dough, etc. The meal recipes usually served 4 to 8 people and were reasonably healthy (often using fruit rather than sugar to sweeten and not using huge amounts of butter, cream, or cheese). They usually weren't very complex to make.

She had 18 recipes for snacks and small plates; 22 recipes for soups, salads, and sandwiches; 25 recipes for meatless mains; 25 recipes for rice, grains, beans; 14 recipes for pastas, pizzas, breads; 15 recipes for staples; and 10 recipes for sweets and desert. Each recipe included preparation and cooking time and contained the nutritional information of calories, total fat, saturated fat, total carbs, fiber, sugar, protein, and sodium. She also indicated if a recipe was vegan, freezer friendly, gluten- or nut-free. There was a picture of one recipe in each section.


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.

Herbalism at Home by Kristine Brown

Herbalism at Home by Kristine Brown ISBN-13: 9781646111565 Paperback: 248 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: January 7, 2020

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
A growing number of people have turned to herbalism as an affordable, natural alternative to conventional medicine. Herbalism at Home gives you the down-to-earth guidance and simple recipes you need to introduce plant-based remedies into your daily life. Start with an overview of the types of herbalism remedies, like teas, tinctures, salves, creams, and poultices. Discover in-depth profiles on 40 healing plants, including their medicinal properties, health benefits, and appropriate dosage--as well as 125 recipes for common physical ailments, mental health, personal care, childhood conditions, and even aging.

Herbalism at Home includes: Take a look at the history of herbalism, the tools and ingredients you'll need, and tips on growing your own herbs. Learn techniques like infusion, diffusion, and syrup--each with easy-to-follow instructions and illustrations. Ease everyday ailments with step-by-step recipes for Cuts and Scrapes Salve, Laryngitis Relief Honey, Memory Support Tonic, and more.


My Review:
Herbalism at Home is a beginner guide to herbalism. She started by explaining the different tools, materials, and herbs needed for the recipes in this book. She provided profiles on blackberry, black haw, black walnut, burdock, California poppy, catnip, dandelion, ginger, goldenrod, gotu kola, ground ivy, hawthorn, milky oats, monarda, motherwort, mugwort, plantain, prunella, Queen Anne's lace, reishi, rosemary, St. John's wort, spearmint, spilanthes, stinging nettles, thyme, vitex, wild cherry, wild lettuce, yarrow, borage, calendula, cleavers, comfrey, lemon balm, New England aster, passionflower, poke, saw palmetto, and yellow dock. These profiles included the Latin name, any safety considerations, the parts of the plant used, what it does and its uses, how to prepare it (tincture, tea, syrup, etc.), and dosage.

She also explained how to make herbal teas, tinctures, tonics and elixirs, infused oils, salves, syrups, powders, baths, compresses, poultices, and plasters. She provided 125 recipes using these herbs to treat common health problems, from splinters to colds and more.

I liked her step-by-step instructions on how to make things like tinctures, compresses, etc. While a useful book, it's my understanding that some herbalists would not use comfrey or poke due to safety considerations, so it seems odd to me to use them in a beginner book. Some of these herbs are also not commonly talked about, like black haw. It was useful to know about more herbs, but I don't have them on hand. Since most of the recipes used 4 to 6 herbs, they often included one of these more unusual ones. But, overall, I'd recommend this book.


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 Organic Artist for Kids by Nick Neddo

The Organic Artist for Kids by Nick Neddo ISBN-13: 9781631597671 Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: Quarry Books Released: February 11th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Immersed in the natural world, The Organic Artist for Kids inspires creativity by connecting kids and their adults to their wilderness roots. These projects encourage you to return to the days when art was made with all-natural materials like charcoal and birch bark.

In addition to offering a wide variety of fun, collaborative projects using nature as a source for art supplies and inspiration, this book also introduces the concepts of awareness and perception that are fundamental to the creative process. Rooted in experimentation, children will be encouraged to learn new skills, build resilience, and be resourceful. Just some of the projects and skills covered:

Making paper and wild inks
Painting with mud
Crafting your own paintbrushes
Making simple stencils and rubbings


My Review:
The Organic Artist for Kids is an art book aimed at kids and is about using plants, rocks, and such to make art supplies. The author expects that an adult will supervise the children, but the children will be doing the projects themselves. He included 38 step-by-step projects with (usually) easy-to-find materials. Each project had clear pictures and written instructions for each step.

He started with projects about how to make pigment from rocks and how to make that into paint and ink. He covered how to make brushes using hair from yourself or domestic animals and how to make pens from twigs and such. He showed how to make your own drawing charcoal, crayons using beeswax, stamps from vegetables or leaves, rubbings, and stencils. He also included papier-mâché projects and earth art.

It was very interesting to see how these things could be made rather simply from things found outside in nature. Overall, these look like fun projects, and I look forward to trying them with my nieces when they get a little older.


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.

18 Tiny Deaths by Bruce Goldfarb

18 Tiny Deaths by Bruce Goldfarb ISBN-13: 9781492680475 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Sourcebooks Released: February 4, 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from NetGalley:
As America ramps up efforts toward victory in World War II, Frances Glessner Lee stands at the front of a wood-paneled classroom within Harvard Medical School and addresses the young men attending her seminar on the developing field of forensic science. A grandmother without a college degree, yet Lee's colleagues and students know her to be an extremely intelligent and exacting researcher and teacher. One determined to push the scientific investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old techniques and into the light of the modern day.

Lee's decades-long obsession with advancing the discipline of forensic science was a battle from the very beginning. In a time when many prestigious medical schools were closed to female students and young women were discouraged from entering any kind of scientific profession, Lee used her powerful social skills, family wealth, and uncompromising dedication to revolutionize a field that was usually political and often corrupt.


My Review:
18 Tiny Deaths is a biography of Frances Glessner Lee, but it's also about the beginnings of the medical examiner system and the teaching of forensic science to pathologists and police. The book covered the time period from around 1900 to 1962. The author talked about the origins of the corner system and the failings of that system. He then talked about Frances' life up to when George Magrath inspired her to put her money and her efforts behind promoting the medical examiner system. We learned about what he did as a medical examiner and some of the cases he worked on, especially cases that would have been misidentified without the training he had as a forensic pathologist.

While I was aware that Frances created small dioramas of crime scenes to help train police to observe a scene and identify clues, this book covered just how much influence she had on the development of forensic science in America. She used her money and influence to create a forensic pathology department at Harvard to train medical examiners, and she personally taught police the basics of forensic science.

The author used letters and other documentation to frequently quote comments people made and details of plans and arguments. While the book gave plenty of details about the making of the dioramas, I'd been hoping for more pictures of these dioramas than just those on the cover. (My review copy didn't contain pictures.) Overall, I'd recommend this biography to those interested in the beginnings of the medical examiner system and forensic science in America.


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.

Concussion Rescue by Kabran Chapek

Concussion Rescue by Kabran Chapek ISBN-13: 9780806540238 Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Citadel Press Released: January 28th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
For more than 25 years, the renowned Amen Clinics has been the front line of defense against the impact of traumatic brain injury. Concussion Rescue provides the tools for recovery from mild to severe traumatic brain injury. Whether you or someone you love is among the many individuals suffering from a TBI, here is hope and help. Few of us have been untouched by injury, whether on the sports field, in a car accident, falling off a bicycle, or in the course of military service. While the consequences of a concussion are not always immediately apparent, they can range from debilitating to devastating. But there are proven, effective steps for healing.

In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Kabran Chapek describes in detail the programs and protocols he uses at the Amen Clinics to put patients on a pathway to recovery. For anyone struggling with the effects of concussion, Concussion Rescue guides you through strategies from the cutting edge of brain science. Find out what treatments should be employed within the first few hours, days, or weeks of suffering a concussion. Build a diet and supplement plan that energizes your brain and promotes neurological healing. Learn specific brain exercises and brain games that can alleviate problems with focus and concentration. Discover which specific types of exercise can speed recovery--and how exercise affects the brain in general. Correct sleep problems to detoxify the brain and release essential hormones that aid in healing.


My Review:
Concussion Rescue explains what to do after a person has had a mild to severe concussion. Amen Clinics has studied the best way to deal with brain injuries, and this book explains what they do and what you can do. The author started by explaining the different tests they do on a client, how they would treat problems that are found (from traditional pills to herbs and more alternative methods), and the scientific studies behind why they do these things.

He then talked about how to treat a concussion that has just happened. He talked about supplements and other things to keep in a first aid kit to use when someone has a concussion and what to do in the days and weeks after the concussion occurred. He also talked about things you can do months after a concussion has occurred. He talked about sleep, brain exercises, physical exercise, diet, correcting structural problems and hormone imbalance, and using hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

This book was written for both practitioners and for the common person, and it's written so that anyone can understand and apply his advice. He's sharing this information in hopes that concussions will be immediately treated with this latest information. I'd recommend this book to anyone who works in professions where concussions are frequent and to people who are still dealing with concussion symptoms and need help.


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.