PlantPure Comfort Food by Kim Campbell

PlantPure Comfort Food by Kim Campbell ISBN-13: 9781637742273 Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: BenBella Books Released: Dec. 13, 2022

Source: ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In PlantPure Comfort Food, Kim Campbell—Director of Culinary Education and Development at PlantPure and daughter-in-law of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the “science father” of the modern plant-based nutrition movement—offers comfort food recipes to satisfy a wide range of palates, making a healthy, plant-based lifestyle more accessible than ever. From enchiladas to pho bowls to buffalo pot pie, the possibilities for plant-based eating are endless—and delicious!

This third PlantPure cookbook offers over 100 reinventions of comforting culinary classics, including Southern Style Polenta and Greens, Lasagna Stew, Spinach Quesadillas, Chickpea Tikka Masala, Samosa Burritos, Pad Thai Zoodles, Sweet Potato Spice Muffins, Apple Cranberry Crisp. Plus, Campbell offers helpful suggestions on how to swap out flavors and ingredients to truly make these recipes your own, as well as detailed guidelines for swapping meat, dairy, and egg for whole plant substitutes in your own family’s favorite dishes.


My Review:
PlantPure Comfort Food is a whole food, plant-based (vegan) cookbook containing 100 recipes. This would be a good cookbook for someone new to cooking vegan meals from scratch. The author provided cooking tips and most of the recipes were pretty simple to do. The author described plant-based substitutes so you can convert regular recipes.

Most of the recipes served between 4 to 8 people and took around 20-60 minutes to make. Most of the ingredients in the recipes should be easy to get. She included 9 recipes for breakfast, 8 recipes for soups and stews, 6 recipes for spice blends, 13 recipes for breads, 4 recipes for sandwiches and wraps, 12 recipes for appetizers and dips, 9 recipes for dressings and sauces, 7 recipes for salads and sides, 25 recipes for main dishes, 5 recipes for InstantPots, 7 recipes for holiday dishes, and 16 recipes for deserts.

The recipes provided the preparation time, cooking time, how much is made, ingredients, instructions, cooking and tips and hints. Recipes were sometimes labeled gluten-free. There were pictures of the finished product for each recipe, and they looked very tasty. I've made several of these recipes now, and they're as tasty as the recipes I've tried from this author's other cookbook. They're full of flavor and have nice textures. There are times I think "that combination of foods doesn't sound yummy" yet it always turns out well. Overall, I'd recommend this cookbook to those interested in adding more whole-food, plant-based meals to their diet.


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.

The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 4 by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes Volume Four by Liese Sherwood-Fabre ISBN-13: 9781952408205 ebook: 196 pages Publisher: Little Elm Press, LLC Released: December 6th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Arthur Conan Doyle's original tales include many references to everyday Victorian life that are no longer part of current readers’ world. What Holmes would have eaten from a can while searching for the hound of the Baskervilles, Watson's enjoyment of a yellow-back novel, or the proper use of a gasogene would have been common knowledge to the Victorian contemporary but compels modern readers to run to the nearest reference book. These twenty-four short essays pull such items from the past and expand on their significance in the story. As an additional bonus, this book contains an essay on the role of scandal in Holmes' cases. After enjoying these concise treatises on Holmes’ world, readers will have a deeper understanding and appreciation of both the times and the life of the world’s greatest consulting detective.

Topics covered include: The Pinkerton Agency, Victorian Firearms, Handcuffs, Gossip, Canning, Collecting, Ears, Stocks and Bonds, Yellow Paperbacks, Opium Dens, Handkerchiefs, Plaster of Paris, Seltzer Water and Gasogenes, Voodoo, Curare, Cocaine and Other Addictions, Freemasonry, Tweed, Leprosy, Whist, Homelessness, Chemistry, The London Underground, and Scandal in the Canon.


My Review:
The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 24 short essays on the historical context of things mentioned in Sherlock Holmes stories. Each essay was inspired by a comment or incident in a Sherlock Holmes story, and we're told where the essay topic is mentioned. We're given a brief history or background information on the topic. The footnotes show that most of the information was found online or in a small number of books about Victorian England, so you could look up much of this information for yourself if so motivated. However, it is an interesting and informative read.

Topics covered include The Pinkerton Agency, Victorian Firearms, Handcuffs, Gossip, Canning, Collecting, Ears, Stocks and Bonds, Yellow Paperbacks, Opium Dens, Handkerchiefs, Plaster of Paris, Seltzer Water and Gasogenes, Voodoo, Curare, Cocaine and Other Addictions, Freemasonry, Tweed, Leprosy, Whist, Homelessness, Chemistry, The London Underground, and Scandal.


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.

Raised Bed Revolution by Tara Nolan

Raised Bed Revolution
by Tara Nolan

ISBN-13: 9780593197882
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
Released: September 20th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Raised Bed Revolution provides you with information on size requirements for constructing raised beds, height suggestions, types of materials you can use, and creative tips for fitting the maximum garden capacity into small spaces—including vertical gardening.

Enhanced with gorgeous photography, this book covers subjects such as growing-medium options, rooftop gardening, cost-effective gardening solutions, planting tips, watering strategies (automatic water drip systems and hand watering), and more. The process of creating and building raised beds is a cinch, too, thanks to the extensive gallery of design ideas and step-by-step projects.

This gardening strategy is taking serious root. Why? Several reasons: Raised beds allow gardeners to practice space efficiency as well as accessibility (the beds can be customized to be any height). Raised beds permit gardeners to use their own soil, and they can be designed with wheels for easy portability if partial sunlight is a problem. Water conservation is easier for gardeners who use raised beds. Pest control is assisted because most garden pests can’t make the leap up into the raised bed. For yards that struggle with drainage, raised bed gardening offers a no-brainer solution.


My Review:
Raised Bed Revolution is about gardening using raised garden beds. The author described why you might want to use raised beds and a wide variety of different ways to do raised beds, from different heights to the various materials that can be used. The book included several step-by-step projects for creating your own raised beds, from materials to finished project. She also included many colorful pictures of raised beds to inspire the reader with ideas. The projects included a basic raised bed placed just above the ground to garden beds tall enough to sit on the edges to a vertical garden. Overall, I'd recommend the book if you're serious about trying this way of gardening.


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.

Buyer Aware by Marta L. Tellado

Buyer Aware
by Marta L. Tellado

ISBN-13: 9781541768574
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Released: September 20th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The rules that have protected consumers for decades are failing. Companies are spying on us. Many of the products we once trusted are dangerous and failing at alarming rates. Whether we are buying a crib, a small appliance, an iPhone app, or shopping for car insurance, it's become harder than ever to know whether the choices we make in the marketplace are putting us at risk-either from physical harm or the abuse of our personal data by hackers or corporations.

Marta L. Tellado, the president and CEO of Consumer Reports, has been an advocate for consumers for decades. In Buyer Aware, Tellado shows you the steps you can take to protect yourself from predatory business practices, and how to exert your inherent power as a consumer to spur politicians and businesses to clean up their act. Only then can we ensure that we have an economy that is fair, safe, and transparent for all, and puts consumers first.


My Review:
According to this author, "user generated reviews"--like this one--are generally untrustworthy, especially if they're 5 star reviews. Or if they're from social influencers who got the product for free. The only really trustworthy reviews are from Consumer Reports, for which the author works, and she highly promotes them. Either this is hypocrisy (as book reviewers have been asked to review her book which is given to them for free) or it's really stupid to insult the very people who are going to be the first ones reviewing your book. Just saying.

I've only read about a third of the book and won't be finishing it. So far, she has described some things that she doesn't like about the internet that people should be aware of, though nothing really new to me so far. She basically said to go the the Consumer Reports site for more information on how to prevent companies from tracking you to gather and sale your data, and I assume that she will point the reader there for solutions in future chapters, too.

Why have I stopped reading when I usually finish even the books I hate? Because she's ranting about how people are manipulated toward their own bias and how horrible misinformation is while proving with her examples that she's been manipulated toward her bias and hasn't noticed. If you're conservative, she'll insult you in some fashion, like specifically targeting Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson (from Fox News) and saying they don't report news but rather provide manipulative fiction.

She also spread misinformation while complaining about how there's so much misinformation. One example is that she stated as fact that the COVID vaccines are safe and it's misinformation to say that they can cause death. Yet the CDC's own Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (for data up to June 17, 2022) indicates that 29,031 deaths have been reported from the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, with 16% occurring within 24 hours of vaccination, 20% occurring within 48 hours of vaccination and 59% occurring in people who experienced an onset of symptoms within 48 hours of being vaccinated. If she can't even correctly identify what is true and what is propaganda, why should I trust her discernment about anything else in 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.

Fascia, 2nd edition by David Lesondak

Fascia, 2nd edition
by David Lesondak

ISBN-13: 9781913426316
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Handspring Publishing
Released: Sept. 21, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
This book presents a clear and easy to understand explanation of what the fascia is and the role it plays in the body. As the importance of fascia is increasingly recognized it became obvious that there was a need for a book that clearly and concisely presents the facts. This is that book. Each chapter logically connects to the next, rather like fascia itself!

Fascia - What It Is and Why It Matters serves as an essential primer for professionals, such as movement educators, physical therapists, osteopaths, massage therapists, fitness professionals, and doctors enabling them to attain a solid grasp of what fascia is and what it does in the body. It provides an understanding of fascia as a tissue, of its role in the various systems of the body and of its clinical significance.


My Review:
Fascia, 2nd edition explains what fascia is, how it works, and different methods for treating fascia problems. The chapters covered: what fascia is, tensegrity, studying fascia anatomy, fascia and the nervous system, fascia-like structures in the brain, fascia and organs, recognizing a fascia problem, and various methods of treating fascia problems. That last chapter talked about different methods, what the method was like, and where to learn it. All throughout, there were pictures of fascia (or related things, like tensegrity models). The text wasn't highly technical but it's in-depth enough that it's probably most interesting to bodyworkers and other people with some medically training. While very interesting, clearly fascia needs a lot more study--and this book is meant to both inform and interest people in furthering this research.


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.

Victorian Fashions for Women by Fiona Kay, Neil R Storey

Victorian Fashions for Women
by Fiona Kay, Neil R Storey

ISBN-13: 9781399004169
Hardcover: 248 pages
Publisher: Pen & Sword History
Released: Aug. 9, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Victorian Fashions for Women explores the British styles and clothing throughout the long reign of Queen Victoria, from the late 1830s to the first years of the 20th century. Within are a superb overview of the dresses, hats, hair styles, corsetry, undergarments shoes and boots that combined to present the prevailing styles for each decade. From those who had enough money to have day and evening wear and clothes for sports and outdoor activities, to those with limited income and wardrobes or labouring folk with little more than the clothes they stood up in.

All decades are illustrated with original photographs, adverts and contemporary magazine features from the authors' own remarkable collections, accompanied by a knowledgeable and informative text that describes the fashions, their social history context and influences reflected in the clothes of the time. Laid out in a clear and easy-to-follow chronological order, the key features of styles, decoration and accoutrements will help family historians to date family photographs and will provide a useful resource for students and costume historians or for anyone with a love of fashion and style to enjoy.


My Review:
Victorian Fashions for Women describes the changing fashions in women's clothing in England from 1840 to 1900. It's actually throughout Queen Victoria's reign, but the authors took each decade at a time so it ended up titled as "The 1840s Look" and so on. The authors described what fashionable women were wearing and used some quotes from fashion magazines, newspapers reporting on what the royals wore, and even ads. I'd hoped for a lot of pictures or illustrations, but it was basically a lot of technical terms (fabric names, sewing and clothing terms) that I sometimes found hard to follow as I didn't know what many of the terms meant. Only afterward, I discovered a glossary of terms at the back, though even that wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped.

Anyway, the authors focused on changes over time to the overall look, the sleeves, waist, where the bulk of the skirt went, trimmings, the underclothing used to get the right look, outerwear (hats, cloaks, etc.), and trends in jewelry. They also talked about how changes in technology (like new dyes) changed fashions. In the last chapter, the authors covered things like prison warden uniforms and mourning attire. This book is helpful if you mainly want to know what fashion trends were popular at a certain time (big skirts, big sleeves, etc.) but it's less helpful if you want a visual guide or a non-technical description of real dresses in real situations rather than the suggested high fashions.


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.

Brilliant Inks by Anna Sokolova

Brilliant Inks
by Anna Sokolova

ISBN-13: 9780760374511
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Quarry Books
Released: July 5, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In Brilliant Inks, artist, illustrator, and top Skillshare teacher Anna Sokolova shares her own unique methods that get the most out of this versatile medium. With her guidance, create beginner-friendly florals and foliage, animals, still lifes, figures and portraits, and hand lettering. Learn about the various types of inks and the best tools and surfaces to use with them. Then, try basic techniques such as color mixing, creating visual texture, negative painting, and splattering. Work with a variety of brushes, dip pens, and droppers to get different looks, and see how adding common household supplies such as salt and bleach can create the most amazing effects.

Use these methods in lessons designed to improve skills and boost confidence. Be inspired to make projects such as a bracelet, paper art dolls, a tote bag, and a decorated book. Full instructions and templates make projects fun and stress free. Perfect for all skill levels, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.


My Review:
Brilliant Inks is an art instruction book on using inks, mainly with brushes. The author started by describing the different types of ink (acrylic, alcohol, etc.) and some tips about using them. She also talked about other materials (paper, brushes, ink droppers, dip pens, markers, etc.) and briefly covered basic concepts like color mixing. She then described some techniques for using inks (washes, spattering, etc.) and included step-by-step exercises for several of these techniques. She then had exercises that combined these skills, with step-by-step instructions and illustrations on how to paint a rose, mushrooms, butterfly, stylized bird, red panda, distant people, portrait, fashion figure, map, pomegranate, and dessert. She then had step-by-step directions for making several crafts: a cork bracelet, clay horse, alcohol ink "tie-dyed" tote, and accordion book of illustrations.

I've been painting with watercolors for years, so it was easy for me to understand her instructions as there were many similarities. She only briefly talked about alcohol ink markers, and she didn't seem to have the same problems with using them that I do so she didn't include tips that would help improve my results. However, I did find the ink selection and techniques part useful to help me use inks in my own painting projects. Overall, I'd recommend this resource to artists interested in painting with inks.


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.

Make Your Own Board Game by Jesse Terrance Daniels

Make Your Own Board Game
by Jesse Terrance Daniels

ISBN-13: 9781635863413
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Released: August 30th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Tabletop board games are having a comeback, and especially within a younger, tech-y audience who enjoys the challenge and opportunity to work in an analog sphere. Game design expert Jesse Terrance Daniels teaches all the fundamentals of game design, from rule-setting to physical construction, along with original illustrations.

Readers will learn the “building blocks” of game design, including game components, rules, and gameplay mechanics, and then how to craft a game, with a variety of examples and design prompts. After completing Make Your Own Board Game, readers are equipped with a broad understanding of game construction and flow and ready to create games that are playable and satisfying, while also expressing the makers’ unique creativity and passions.


My Review:
Make Your Own Board Game talked about designing tabletop games like board, tile, card, and role-playing games (with the most time spent on role-playing). It's solely about the concept, not the manufacture or marketing of a game. The author started with pretty basic stuff, like playing cards are usually these sizes and have the same pattern on the back. You could figure these things out just from playing a variety of board games. He then moved onto game play rules. He explained a variety of ways to handle taking turns, using currency, etc., and the pros and cons of using the different methods. He sometimes pointed out or used an existing game to demonstrate the idea, but not always. At the end, he provided a few example games, from a basic game to a complex one.

The descriptions weren't always easy to follow. Since the author explained different ideas in different areas, he might refer to a concept (like a "bank") in one place but you have to flip to another section to learn about that concept. He pointed out some complex game play possibilities that might make a game more interesting, but it's also trickier to understand how to make it work. This is a good book for inspiration about the possibilities, but I would have preferred more examples of how the more complex ideas worked in an actual game play and the steps of actual game design.


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 Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammatory Foods by Lizzie Streit

The Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammatory Foods
by Lizzie Streit

ISBN-13: 9780785839644
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Chartwell Books
Released: June 14th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Researchers have linked low-grade, persistent inflammation to premature aging, heart disease, MS, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, psoriasis, arthritis, and cancer. The Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammatory Foods introduces 50 anti-inflammatory foods that can easily be incorporated into your day-to-day diet with tips and tricks to keep their anti-inflammatory properties active while preparing your favorite meals and snacks. Most anti-inflammatory foods are naturally vegan and gluten free, and include tomatoes, avocados, green beans, bell peppers, sesame seeds, walnuts, chickpeas, and more.

The guide explains how each food contributes to improving your health and well-being, and includes tasty recipe suggestions for combining several anti-inflammatory foods to boost your daily intake. The benefits of each food are listed, such as antioxidants and polyphenols—protective compounds found in plants—that may contribute to protecting against inflammation, as well as the nutritional breakdown of foods to help include them as part of restricted diets such as Keto or low GI.

Authored by Lizzie Streit, a renowned nutritionist and prolific contributor to Healthline.com, this anti-inflammatory guide demystifies which anti-inflammatory foods are the most worthwhile to include in your diet and includes a list of foods to avoid, while offering advice on assessing your diet along with a detailed guide to which health concerns may benefit from an anti-inflammatory diet.


My Review:
The Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammatory Foods is a basic guide to anti-inflammatory foods with profiles on 50 of these foods. Some of these profiles are categories of food (leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, mushrooms, peppers, berries, citrus, legumes, etc.) but most are specific foods (sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, artichokes, fennel, salmon, etc.). Each profile devoted one page to the information about that food and another to a picture of the food. The profile included brief information about the food's anti-inflammatory effects, how to select it and prepare it, best ways to cook it for the most anti-inflammatory effect, a few suggestions on ways to add it to meals, and consideration for those with special diets or medical conditions. The book also talked about anti-inflammatory and inflammatory foods (so you also know what to avoid) and ended with eight recipes. The recipes were sized for 4 people and included ingredients, cooking steps, easy alternatives, and a picture of the finished product. This would be a good introductory book for someone who doesn't know about anti-inflammatory foods.


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.

Weed-Free Gardening by Tasha Greer

Weed-Free Gardening
by Tasha Greer

ISBN-13: 9780760373231
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
Released: April 12th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Spraying chemical herbicides isn’t a smart solution for eco-conscious homeowners or pet parents. If that’s the case for you, the weed control prevention and control strategies outlined here by author Tasha Greer will have you growing flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and trees with little to no weed competition. Tasha’s organic approach hands you methods for both preventing weeds early in the growing season and managing weedy intruders year-round.

Control annual weeds by disrupting their natural lifecycle. Learn the whys, hows, and whens of weed-inhibiting mulching techniques. Eliminate deep-rooted perennial weeds by eradicating them at their source. Meet the best and most effective weeding tools available to homeowners. Discover many ways to keep weeds out of the vegetable garden while ensuring healthy and productive soil. Implement a practical plan to gain long-term control over weeds. In addition, you’ll find resources for weed identification, tips for getting rid of invasive plants, useful ideas for handling areas completely overtaken by weeds, and dozens of “weed hacks” to make life in the garden so much more beautiful.


My Review:
Weed-Free Gardening is a guide to organic gardening methods to control weeds. In the introduction, she talked about what a weed is and a history of weeds. She talked about different categories of weeds, from plants that you didn't intend to grow there but which might be helpful to plants that will take over your garden if you don't get rid of them quickly. She talked about a wide variety of techniques and tools that you might try out, but this was more of an overview of different things to try and why they work. She explained how these techniques disrupt the weed's lifecycle, starting with preventing germination with things like mulches or no-till techniques. There's enough information to be able to try out these techniques and see which ones work best for your situation. Overall, I'd recommend this gardening 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.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Brain and Pain by Richard Ambron

The Brain and Pain
by Richard Ambron

ISBN-13: 9780231204873
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Released: March 1st 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Pain is an inevitable part of existence, but severe debilitating or chronic pain is a pathological condition that diminishes the quality of life. The Brain and Pain explores the present and future of pain management, providing a comprehensive understanding based on the latest discoveries from many branches of neuroscience.

Richard Ambron--the former director of a neuroscience lab that conducted leading research in this field--explains the science of how and why we feel pain. He describes how the nervous system and brain process information that leads to the experience of pain, detailing the cellular and molecular functions that are responsible for the initial perceptions of an injury. He discusses how pharmacological agents such as opiates affect the duration and intensity of pain. Ambron examines new evidence showing that discrete circuits in the brain modulate the experience of pain in response to a placebo, fear, anxiety, belief, or other circumstances, as well as how pain can be relieved by activating these circuits using mindfulness training and other nonpharmacological treatments. The book also evaluates the prospects of procedures such as deep brain stimulation and optogenetics.

Current and thorough, The Brain and Pain will be invaluable for a range of people seeking to understand their options for treatment as well as students in neuroscience and medicine.


My Review:
The Brain and Pain explains how the human body senses pain and the parts of the brain involved with suppressing, increasing, or even caring about the pain. The author used scientific language and expected you to remember what each technical term meant so you could understand what he explained later. The target audience seemed to mainly be people who are developing drug interventions (as he explained potential pathways to target), but he did talk about how meditation, placebo, and hypnosis can change how we experience pain. He described in detail how the body senses an injury on your skin, then he talked about visceral pain. He talked about how current drugs work to suppress pain, what we know about chronic pain, and the challenges faced when developing a pain drug. Overall, the book was very informative. I learned some interesting things that anyone can do to help with pain.


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 Big Book of Invisible Technology by Chloe Taylor

The Big Book of Invisible Technology
by Chloe Taylor

ISBN-13: 9781646112517
Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: Rockridge Press
Released: July 21st 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Learn to see how modern technology is all around us―a hands-on approach for kids 8 to 12. Bluetooth brings beautiful music to your ears―but how, exactly? Using technology and building with technology are two different skill sets―and a twenty-first-century kid will need to understand both. The Big Book of Invisible Technology offers ways to explore how things work for kids in fun, hands-on ways.

From the invisible Internet to driverless cars and drones, this book shows you how things work for kids, using step-by-step experiments. Then apply your knowledge and learn how you may, one day, bring real and important change to our lives. Are you ready to solve some of Earth’s biggest challenges with technology? The future needs you.

In this book on how things work for kids you’ll discover: Important tech-related words are highlighted in bold along with their definitions, in a virtual dictionary of how things work for kids. Nine applied experiments will inspire you to learn while doing―like taking apart and safely rebuilding an old keyboard or remote control. Discover how to brainstorm as you plan ways to positively influence our planet.


My Review:
The Big Book of Invisible Technology provides a simple overview of how modern technology works. It's targeted at ages 8 to 12, and the word variety used is appropriate for that age range. However, the concepts were discussed at a level that younger kids could follow. The author provided some history about the technology and gave a simple explanation of how it worked. There were also a number of activities like pretending to code by telling someone what to do to complete a task. Since there are whole books out there that teach kids in this age range to actually code, I felt like these were very simple activities and not very challenging for this age range. The author covered coding, the Internet, Bluetooth and cellular technology, robots, smart devices, 3D printing, drones, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality. There was also a section about what might be possible in the future, but it was mostly prompting the reader to dream about what they might like to see.


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.

Mindful Artist: Birds and Botanicals by Monika Cilmi

Mindful Artist: Birds and Botanicals
by Monika Cilmi

ISBN-13: 9781600589263
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
Released: February 8th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Mindful Artist: Birds and Botanicals features tips, techniques, and step-by-step projects for working mindfully with Japanese ink and brush pens to create elegant artwork featuring birds, flowers, plants, and more.

While harnessing the power of meditation, you will learn to create personalized pieces in black ink as well as color. There's no need to follow the instructions exactly; just make what inspires you. Begin with an introduction to mindfulness and the connections between art and meditation. Then dive into detailed sections on the tools and materials needed to create the art in the book, as well as inking and coloring techniques, including brushstrokes. The step-by-step projects that follow take you through the process of creating your own ink-and-brush art, with large images that illustrate the techniques and detailed, easy-to-follow instructions for brushwork, adding color, and more. The layout design is airy and contemporary to match the art style.

The Mindful Artist series from Walter Foster Publishing encourages artists to enjoy working in their favorite media to create relaxing, reflective art. With this series, artists of all skill levels can learn to focus on enjoying the creative process, rather than worrying about the end result.


My Review:
Mindful Artist: Birds and Botanicals described meditative brush pen drawing for 11 birds and 5 flowers. The projects didn't look like specific types of birds, though they were posed in a variety of positions. The flowers were also usually vague "flowers" rather than specific types. The author focused on describing how to make the experience meditative rather than on things like proportion. The point was the process, not the end result. The text and step-by-step illustrations showed what part to draw next. There were some tips on getting the stylized look using brush pens, but most of the instructions were along the lines of "draw a few short, curved strokes around the center." Most of the projects were in black ink, but some added bright colors. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people interested in "mindful" art.


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.

A Taste for Poison by Neil Bradbury

A Taste for Poison
by Neil Bradbury

ISBN-13: 9781250270757
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Released: February 1st 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
As any reader of murder mysteries can tell you, poison is one of the most enduring—and popular—weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or the handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict?

In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history, and true crime, Dr. Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly captivating method of murder from a cellular level. Alongside real-life accounts of murderers and their crimes—some notorious, some forgotten, some still unsolved—are the equally compelling stories of the poisons involved: eleven molecules of death that work their way through the human body and, paradoxically, illuminate the way in which our bodies function.

Drawn from historical records and current news headlines, A Taste for Poison weaves together the tales of spurned lovers, shady scientists, medical professionals and political assassins to show how the precise systems of the body can be impaired to lethal effect through the use of poison. From the deadly origins of the gin & tonic cocktail to the arsenic-laced wallpaper in Napoleon’s bedroom, A Taste for Poison leads readers on a fascinating tour of the intricate, complex systems that keep us alive—or don’t.


My Review:
A Taste for Poison explored how eleven different poisons work on the body. The author covered poisonings using insulin, belladonna, morphine, strychnine, ricin, aconite, cyanide, potassium, polonium-210, arsenic, and chlorine. He told about one or more cases that used the poison, then described the symptoms, how it could be treated if caught in time, and the biological details about how the poison disrupts the normal functioning of the body to create the symptoms and death. Most of the murders were from the mid-1800s to modern day, with a focus on relatively recent cases in England and America. The cases were told briefly but in an interesting way. The biochemistry details were easy to follow, with enough detail to follow what goes wrong without getting too bogged down in the science. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting 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.

Tea by Kevin Gascoyne

Tea by Kevin Gascoyne,
François Marchand,
Jasmin Desharnais,
Hugo Americi,
Jonathan Racine

ISBN-13: 9780593197882
Paperback: 271 pages
Publisher: Firefly Books
Released: November 3rd 2011

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Tea is a comprehensive guide to non-herbal tea, the plant Camellia sinensis. Concise and authoritative text and an abundance of color photographs take the reader on an escorted tour of the world's tea-growing countries: China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa. Like a fine wine, it is the "terroir" -- a region's soil and climate -- that imparts unique characteristics to a tea. The book covers black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu'er, perfumed, aromatic and smoked teas.

Topics include an overview of the history of tea, tea varieties, the worldwide export of tea, how tea is processed, signature tea cultivars, the art of making, serving and tasting tea, including tea ceremonies, and tea in cooking with 15 recipes. Also, a set of detailed charts, tables and graphs shows the caffeine, antioxidant and other biochemical properties of 35 teas.


My Review:
Tea provides a detailed look at the history and present state of tea in China, Japan, Taiwan, India (and, briefly, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa). The book started by providing an overview of the history of tea and information about the different tea types: black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu'er, perfumed, aromatic, and smoked teas. The authors then focused on specific countries and talked about where the tea is grow, how the weather affects the tea taste, the tea types that they grow there, if the tea is primarily for domestic use or export, and details about how they process the tea and about local tea drinking ceremonies. They ended with 15 recipes that use tea and some scientific analysis about what levels of caffeine and antioxidants are in various teas and how different preparation methods (steeping times, multiple infussions, etc.) affect the amounts of caffeine and antioxidant in each cup of tea. If you really like your tea and want to learn the details, this book has a lot for detailed 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.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Understanding Light by Katie Woodward

Understanding Light by Katie Woodward

ISBN-13: 9780760372036
Paperback: 118 pages
Publisher: Quarry Books
Released: December 28th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The Urban Sketching Handbook: Understanding Light is an informative guide to heightening the impact of your artwork by capturing the look and subtleties of light in any scene. In settings ranging from fields and mountains at daybreak to neon cityscapes at midnight, learn how to express light effects through color and value to improve and refine your drawings and paintings.

Artist and urban sketcher Katie Woodward offers strategies for selectively translating values for maximum effect, using your sketchbook to experiment with the effects of natural as well as artificial light, and considering many options for visual solutions through work contributed by experienced urban sketchers.


My Review:
Understanding Light is an excellent guide on what to observe and consider to better create a realistic sense of light in your paintings or drawings. This is for any medium, but the illustrations were mainly watercolor, pencil, and pen. While the author provided tips on using value and such to create a sense of light, much of the focus was on making sure that you see what's actually there rather than using the colors you expect to see. She also gave useful tips for what to consider or change if you realize what you're doing isn't working. I've heard some of this advice before, but it never really clicked until I read it so clearly explained here. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to artists who are getting the hang of the basic skills of their medium and now want to improve their portrayal of light in a scene (urban or not).


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.