"Cause Unknown" by Ed Dowd

"Cause Unknown": The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022
by Ed Dowd

ISBN-13: 9780593197882
Kindle ebook: 381 pages
Publisher: Skyhorse
Released: November 9, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
2020 saw a spike in deaths in America, smaller than you might imagine during a pandemic, some of which could be attributed to COVID and to initial treatment strategies that were not effective. But then, in 2021, the stats people expected went off the rails. The CEO of the OneAmerica insurance company publicly disclosed that during the third and fourth quarters of 2021, death in people of working age (18–64) was 40 percent higher than it was before the pandemic. Significantly, the majority of the deaths were not attributed to COVID.

A 40 percent increase in deaths is literally earth-shaking. Even a 10 percent increase in excess deaths would have been a 1-in-200-year event. But this was 40 percent.

It isn’t COVID, of course, because we know that COVID is not a significant cause of death in young people. Various stakeholders opine about what could be causing this epidemic of unexpected sudden deaths, but “CAUSE UNKNOWN” doesn’t opine or speculate but just presents the facts and let's you decide.

The book begins with a close look at the actual human reality behind the statistics, and when you see the people who are represented by the dry term Excess Mortality, it’s difficult to accept so many unexpected sudden deaths of young athletes, known to be the healthiest among us. Similarly, when lots of healthy teenagers and young adults die in their sleep without obvious reason, collapse and die on a family outing, or fall down dead while playing sports, that all by itself raises an immediate public health concern. Or at least it used to.

Do you recall seeing these kinds of things occurring during your own life—in junior high? In high school? In college? How many times in your life did you hear of a performer dropping dead on stage in mid-performance? Your own life experience and intuition will tell you that what you’re about to see is not normal. Or at least it wasn’t normal before 2021.


My Review:
"Cause Unknown" focused on the sudden increase in non-COVID deaths that are creating a large rise in Excess Mortality. The author included many pages showing newspaper headlines about healthy young people dying suddenly. These included a web link and QR code so you can go read these articles yourself. Every time something is cited, there's a link so you can read the paper or article or look at the government statistics to make sure the information wasn't taken out of context.

The author mainly looked at young athletes (how often did they used to die versus in 2021 and 2022), young people dying in their sleep, younger medical professionals and famous people dying suddenly. He also looked at when the COVID shots were mandated compared to when the sudden deaths increased, the USA government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems for the COVID shots compared to previous vaccines, how other countries have stopped giving the shots to young people, and how disability claims have gone up. The data is convincing that we need to do something about this rather than just pretending it's not happening. I'd recommend this book to everyone.


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.

Palette Knife Painting by Lisa Elley

Palette Knife Painting
by Lisa Elley

ISBN-13: 9780760382165
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
Released: May 23, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Learn how to create your own Deep Impasto® masterpieces using a palette knife and oil paints with this book featuring tips, techniques, and 8 complete step-by-step projects. Professional artist Lisa Elley works from her studio in the San Francisco Bay Area with the purpose of inspiring and bringing joy to people through her art. In Palette Knife Painting: Deep Impasto, Lisa shares her techniques with you through easy-to-follow step-by-step projects.

Also included in the book are:
Primers on the best palette knives and paints to use
Color mixing and color theory instructions
Beautiful, textured artwork that seems to lift off the page

Palette Knife Painting: Deep Impasto is ideal for artists of all skill levels looking to learn to paint and scrape with oil paint.


My Review:
Palette Knife Painting is an art instruction book on how to paint with palette knifes to create 3D, Deep Impasto paintings. The author used oil paints, but you can also use certain acrylic paints. The author started out with the basics like materials and supplies and the basic techniques used when painting with palette knifes. She had 8 step-by-step projects (wave, ocean shore, several flowers, trees, windowsill) that practiced these techniques. While the directions and pictures were good enough for me to feel confident in trying them, I also felt like it'd be easier to understand how to use a palette knife for painting if I could see it on video. Happily, she does have some short videos on YouTube that show these techniques. Overall, I'd recommend this book to artist interested in learning palette knife painting, especially in using really thick paint to create a 3D painting.


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.

Fifty Shades of Gray Matter by Teresella Gondolo, MD

Fifty Shades of Gray Matter
by Teresella Gondolo, MD

ISBN-13: 9781639887798
Paperback: 382 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Released: May 2, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Neurology is more than treating headaches and strokes. The brain, which has produced all of mankind's art and literature and inventions, can also conjure monsters and nightmares and sexual predators. It can upend lives with a myriad of chemical neurotransmitters coursing through millions of synapses. Each brain is its own unique world, its own reality. The brain can be a confining prison, or a dizzying and limitless cosmos.


My Review:
Fifty Shades of Gray Matter describes a series of cases showing the type of people that visit a neurologist. It's not really a scientific look at the brain but more philosophical musing about how brain disorders affect people. The book had short chapters, each featuring a different patient and their family, as the disorder affected others. She gave some background on the people and why they came to her then briefly gave her diagnosis of what was wrong and what medicine she prescribed. Some of the problems were caused by medication. The more scientific information of the brain was relegated to a few pages in the back, briefly describing a few of the mentioned diseases in terms of what's gone wrong in the brain. While interesting in it's way, I'd expected more of a focus on the brain than on the people.


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.

Living in Early Victorian London by Michael Alpert

Living in Early Victorian London
by Michael Alpert

ISBN-13: 9781399060844
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
Released: April 30, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
London in the 1840s was sprawling and smoke-filled, a city of extreme wealth and abject poverty. Some streets were elegant with brilliantly gas-lit shop windows full of expensive items, while others were narrow, fetid, muddy, and in many cases foul with refuse and human filth. Railways, stations and sidings were devouring whole districts and creating acres of slums or ‘rookeries’ into which the poor of the city were jammed and where crime, disease and prostitution were rife.

The most sensational crime of the epoch, the murder of Patrick O’Connor by Frederick and Maria Manning, filled the press in the summer and autumn of 1849. Michael Alpert uses the trial record of this murder, accompanied by numerous other contemporary sources, among them journalism, diaries and fiction, to show how day-to-day lives, birth, death, sickness, work, shopping, cooking, and buying clothes, were lived in the crowded, noisy capital in the early decades of Victoria’s reign. These sources illustrate how ordinary people lived in London, their incomes, entertainments, religious practice, reading and education, their hopes and anxieties. Life in Early Victorian London reveals how ordinary people like the Mannings and thousands of others experienced their multifaceted lives in the capital.

Early Victorian London lived on the cusp of great improvements, but it was a city which in some aspects was mediaeval. Its inhabitants enjoyed the benefit of the Penny Post and the omnibus, and they were protected to some extent by a police force. The Mannings fled their crime on the railway, were trapped by the recently-invented telegraph and arrested by ‘detectives’ (a new concept and word), but they were hanged in public as murderers had been for centuries, watched by a baying, drunken and swearing mob.


My Review:
Living in Early Victorian London described life in London between 1837 and the early 1850s. The author started by using journals and articles from the time to describe London, from the docks to the richer areas to the slums. The book was loosely organized around the trial records of a certain murder. Some of the details about dress, food, furnishings, etc. come from court trial records, but also newspaper ads, diaries, and fiction written at the time. The book covered a wide variety of topics and included details about things like how much different jobs might earn compared to how much certain items cost. It covered things like what types of food or housing a poor laborer could afford compared to the middle class, second-hand clothing, sanitary conditions and sickness, the mail system, transportation, education, police, crime, and trials.

It's full of interesting information, but I sometimes felt like I'd need to use a search function to find things in the future since the author tended to jump around within a chapter. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those wanting details about London for novel research or those just plain curious.


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.

Beginner's Guide to Safely Foraging for Wild Mushrooms by Karen Stephenson

Beginner's Guide to Safely Foraging for Wild Mushrooms
by Karen Stephenson

ISBN-13: 9781685393878
Paperback: 134 pages
Publisher: Rockridge Press
Released: November 15, 2022

Source: a review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
There are thousands of mushroom species native to the woods, fields, and forests of North America, but how do you know which are safe to eat? This beginner’s guide will help you discover the diverse and fascinating world of mushrooms and where to find them, so you can enjoy nature’s bounty. Get down and dirty with this safe guide to mushroom foraging.


My Review:
Beginner's Guide to Safely Foraging for Wild Mushrooms is aimed at beginners to foraging wild mushrooms. The author generally picked mushrooms that don't have unsafe, similar-looking mushrooms. However, she did include identification information and pictures for the really poisonous ones, too, to help you avoid them. She started with some basic information about mushrooms and the different parts used for identification (with pictures, so you can see the differences). She also talked about foraging for mushrooms and how to collect, process, use or store them. She then had identification sections for 11 easy-to-spot, 4 medium difficulty, and 5 hard to spot wild mushrooms. The identification pages had a picture of the mushroom and information on the name, type, description, habitat, where to find it, when to harvest, look-alikes (and how to tell them apart), taste profile, keys to positive ID, spore print ID, and tips on foraging and storage. Overall, this seems like a good beginners guide.


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.

Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley

Container Food Gardening
by Pamela Farley

ISBN-13: 9780760378137
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
Released: March 7, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Growing your own fresh food in containers is a great way to begin your gardening journey! Container gardens can take up as much or as little room as you’d like. They’re portable, so you can locate them wherever conditions are optimal for plant growth. And, you can grow just about any veggie in pots, as long as you have the right container, the right soil blend, and the right care tips. In these pages, author Pam Farley of BrownThumbMama.com lines the path to container food gardening success in clear, simple steps.

Not only will you learn how to get started, you’ll also discover what size container you need for each different veggie, why filling the pot with the perfect soil blend matters so much, when to fertilize and how often to water, where to locate your container food garden for optimum production, what to do if problems arise and how to fix them, and tips for everything from staking and pruning your veggie plants to knowing when it’s time to harvest.


My Review:
Container Food Gardening is a gardening book for beginners. It started with basics like step-by-step illustrated instructions for planting a seed or transplanting a seedling. The author also provided the basics for container food gardening, like what size of container to use for different plants, what types of fruits and veggies grow well in containers, how much soil is needed for the various sizes of containers, and the different types of container materials. She also suggested different plant combinations for a larger container, like an herbal mix or a "spaghetti sauce" or "salad greens" garden. She then covered preparing repurposed containers (disinfecting, adding drainage holes, etc.), where to put the containers (considering sun, wind, buildings creating microclimates), how and when to water (with troubleshooting tips), what type of potting mix to get (or make your own), choosing and using fertilizers, mulch, and soil amendments, and troubleshooting plant, insect, and animal problems. A least half of the book was pictures of various container gardens, demonstrations of how to do something, or illustrations of the suggested gardens, mulches, etc. Overall, I'd recommend this book, especially to first-time gardeners interested in container 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.

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.