​Have you ever wanted to change something in the world around you?  Have you ever been mad about how you are being treated?  Have you wanted to do something about it but didn't know where to start?  Girls Resist! is the perfect place to start.  Girls Resist!  is a step-by-step guide to activism providing a realistic and broken down approach that anyone can follow so that activism is a reachable goal. KaeLyn artfully guides you through the activism process from empowerment through campaign plans, demonstrations and rallies to phone banking, fundraising and being a successful ally and preventing burnout.  Using practical approaches, down to earth language and practical tips, Girls Resist!  makes creating change feel possible.  


Broken up into eight sections, Girls Resist! not only offers how-to knowledge, but breaks down important information on privilege, bias, equity, inclusion, diversity, and intersectionality.  Understanding these roles in your own life are key to creating effective change.  I found these sections particularly insightful, even as an adult in helping me to understand where I stand in the world and how to help others where I am.  Girls Resist! is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to find the power within themselves to resist.

​Martha Matilda Harper was a young Canadian immigrant who came to Rochester, NY as a domestic servant in the late 1800's.  Martha dreamed of doing more with her life and used a hair tonic recipe to catapult her into the business world.  Martha opened a series of salons that focused on inner health promoting outer beauty.  She hired former domestic servants like herself and trained them in her method- The Harper Method, creating what we now know as the franchise.  The Harper Method, products, and inventions thrived until the 1970's, 20 years after Martha's death; however, her legacy seemed all but forgotten. 


Martha Matilda Harper and the American Dream is an eye-opening and revealing biography about a woman whose legacy might have been lost to time.  Biographer, Jane Plitt became interested in Martha's story after finding out that Martha was one of the first women in the Chamber of Commerce.  From there, Jane became determined to uncover Martha's story.  While many details of Martha's story have been lost, Jane has uncovered parts of Martha's life from her childhood in Canada to her death in 1950.  Martha Matilda's story should be one we learn about alongside suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony and inventors like George Eastman.  Extensive research has been done to attempt to put back together Martha's life and legacy. I was amazed at Martha's impact during her time and her tenacity to overcome obstacles.  I hope her story continues to unfold.

Collard Green Curves is an inspiring biography of a life that led to momentous change in a community through a series of trials, misfortunes and perseverance. Theresa Bowick reflects on her life growing up in  Rochester, NY with sincerity and genuine contemplation of the events that shaped her, both positive and negative.  Through Theresa's heartfelt and down to earth writing, I could easily relate to Theresa's story even though hers is so different than my own.  Theresa puts her whole self on the page in order to show the high and low curves of her life through her youth, relationships, schooling, marriage,  and body image struggles to show her growth and ability to change herself and the world around her.  I was continually impressed by her strength and capacity to build herself back up.  Even more than changing herself, Theresa became a positive force within her community rallying a community that told her 'people don't exercise here' to become healthy. ​

​Upon her move from Manhattan to Bucks County, Pennsylvania author Margaret Delaney moves from city living to rural life on a 100 acre farm.  The farm is bound to come with difficulties and one of the biggest is an injured horse named Allie.  As Margaret recounts the many challenges she has faced on the farm, she looks back on the lessons that every obstacle has taught her and how they may help her see the brighter side with Allie.  

The Parables of Sunlight is a heartfelt memoir that just about anyone can relate to who has gone through a rough time. Dulaney takes the reader on a journey of hope as she describes the arduous healing process with Allie and the emotional toll it took on her.  With enticing writing, Dulaney examines her faith and looks back on other occasions that fate has intervened in her life at challenging times to create a lens of hope while working with Allie.  As a horse enthusiast and animal lover, I was intrigued and inspired with Allie's healing process and the methods used.   The whole process provided a unique way to examine life, death, grief and relationship in life. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Pollinator numbers in the wild have been decreasing.  With most of our food sources relying on one pollinator or another, this is a problem that we all have to be aware of and begin solving. Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures that Feed Our World  presents the information on our declining pollinator species including insects, birds and bats.  Told through stories and specific studies, the information is presented in a way that is interesting and easy to understand.  Each study highlighted focuses on a different species and cause for their decrease.  Focused mainly on native pollinators in the Western Hemisphere and the invasive species that pose a threat to them from the Eastern Hemisphere, this book will mainly appeal to people in North America.  In addition to learning more about the ecology of our many native pollinators, I enjoyed learning about the people who are fighting for them, the studies they are carrying out and what I can do to help these animals myself.  Inspiring, enlightening and easy to follow, Protecting Pollinators presents what is happening to our pollinators, why it is happening and how we have to help them now.

Timestamp is a collection of written works by Marcus Granderson, a Harvard Graduate and young black man.   As Marcus states in the introduction, the works are not related in any way.  The works range from essays, poetry, lists, observations as well as speeches.  The themes of the writings give a fresh perspective on what it's like to be coming of age in the world today with a highlight on racial disparity.  I was able to identify with many of the writings about life during and directly after college very well and remember those feeling. However, what I enjoyed reading the most were the pieces that gave insight to the author's experience a a young black person in today's world.  Oreo was a brilliant introduction to the collection and allowed me to get a clear view of his perspective. Some of my other favorite pieces were Hallelujah Anyhow, Last Night, Sunrise and Hair Like Mine.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

Easy as Pie is a good primer for anyone who is beginning their foray into baking or just new to baking pies.  The book begins with some pie basics and a step-by-step guide to crusts.  This is probably the most important part for anyone to read since I strongly believe that a crust can make or break a pie. From there, the recipes are split by season.  Spring and summer pies cover the traditional fruit pies as well as a few pies to beat the heat.  Fall and Winter covers several apple and pumpkin pie variations as well as some other sweet and savory varieties.  Anytime pies journeys into some fun and unexpected pies such as PB& J Pie and Whiskey-Butterscotch pie as well as several meat pies.  For Thanksgiving, I tried the recipe for the Cranberry-Pear Galette.  The directions kept it simple and easy to understand.  I went with the suggested almond shortbread crust as well, which I wouldn't have done on my own.  The galette came out a good consistency and tasted great as well.  My suggestion for this book would be more pictures of the finished products or even some more step-by-step pictures.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Professor Ladybug Teaches Alphabet Animals is a wonderful workbook and good tool for teachers, parents and caretakers to have for teaching the alphabet.  Perfect for kids 2-6, this edition of Professor Ladybug can work for toddlers who are just being introduced to the concept of letters all the way up through kids who are practicing reading and writing skills.  Each letter has eight corresponding activities: introduction to the letter with tracing and writing practice, information about an animal beginning with each letter, coloring and practice writing that animals name, practice writing a sentence about the animal as well as drawing the animal, a dot-to-dot of the introduced animal, a letter hunt, practice tracing more animals who begin with the letter, information about those animals and a page to imagine your own animal of that letter.  With so many activities, this book can be used for immersive practice or over a longer period of learning.  Right now, my son is just being introduced to letters, so I used the first activity as well as the coloring page.  I enjoyed the diversity of the animals used, there are so animals that we can find in our habitat, as well as jungle animals, desert animals and marine life.  The other sections of the book have more advanced and fun activities such as word searches and fill in the blanks.  With a mix of education and fun with a focus on animals that children love, these activities are a great addition to any school or home learning environment.  I also enjoyed the certificates that are included, children love being rewarded for learning.

What We See In The Stars is a wonderful book with a lot of good information laid out in an easy to read format, great for a beginner astronomer or someone who has taken an interest in astronomy. 
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Laid out in successive sections, the importance of astronomy and our understanding of the stars in laid out and written in common language accompanied by wonderful artistry.  The stars are outlined in their importance in history, mythology, culture and science as well as our understanding of what lies beyond.  

Through reading, I developed an understanding of how we see space from the Earth and how this has developed over time.  I was surprised to learn that the Islamic people were among the first to name the stars and their names have been Latinized over time.  I loved looking through Ptolemy's Constellations and learning their stories along with the stars that make them up and how they fit in with Greek mythology.  The modern constellations added many constellations that I had no idea were recognized, such as the microscope, the telescope and the giraffe.  The section of our own galaxy,  the milky way was intriguing. There are beautiful depictions of the moon, it's phases, geologic features and seasonal names. This section also discusses the sun, seasons, eclipses and goes into detail about each planet.  

A gorgeous book that encouraged me to get outside at night and look up to see what can be discovered.

Received from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. 

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​With historical accuracy, Dunkirk: A Miracle of Deliverance describes the evacuation of the British forces from the beaches of Dunkirk.  I have always enjoyed reading about historical events, especially when they are brought back into the spotlight by pop culture; I like knowing the facts from the fiction.  This was a concise overview of the events leading up to the evacuation and the evacuation itself. I learned about Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsey along with the difficult decisions and unique calls that he had to make. I was very interested in the planning and decisions made on Ramsey's end and Hitler's end and the eventual outcome, since this book provided a general overview, I'm sure there is much more to learn and discover when delving into those specifics.  I was also amazed at how many people were willing to use their boats to deliver the soldiers from Dunkirk and I would definitely like to delve more into their stories.  Overall, I was amazed simply by the facts of how many people were able to escape.  I would have loved to have seen pictures, maps and any other historical artifacts included in the book; however, this was a wonderful primer of the overall event.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review.