​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. 

We all think about writing down the silly things that our kids say and putting them in a book.  Well, Martin Bruckner did just that.  This is a book full of silly, profound, heartfelt and lovable quotes from his children accompanied by wonderful artwork.  One of my favorite quotes is "Volcanoes are the Earth's butt, that's how the Earth gets the gas out."  This also has a wonderfully humorous and cute picture with it.  Many of the quotes and artwork would make great prints to hang up, I know I would love a copy of "I wear this boa when I'm mad!"  Some would also be super cute to frame and place in a child's room such as "I love you as big as a T-Rex." Overall, magnificent kidisms with beautiful artwork.

​This book was provided for free in return for an honest review. 

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."  This one phrase from Exodus has shaped the lives of countess people throughout history, especially women.  The Penguin Book of Witches is a non-fiction account of Witchcraft from medieval England to the new Colonies.  Shedding light on the evolution of the trials of the witches themselves to the spread of fear in the new world, this is a comprehensive view of just how witches were accused and tried in the words of the  accused and afflicted. 

The Penguin Book of Witches examines historical documents and transcripts with explanations for each occurrence within its historical context.  While I enjoyed reading about the Salem trials, more interesting to me were the people tried before the hysteria.  In enjoyed reading these first hand accounts, even as the Old English threw me for a few loops, I definitely needed to keep flipping back to the notes section, but there was a lot of good information back there.   Whenever I read about witchcraft, I am always amazed at some of the parallels to persecution of women today. Among the similarities of the women accused were women of poor economic standing, women who were seen as attempting to gain power or women who practiced medicine.  Hopefully we can learn from the past and those who call us "nasty women" today won't begin the craziness again.

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Eileen Pollack was one of the first women to graduate with a degree in physics from Yale.  However, her path was not an easy one because of her gender.  Eileen looks back at her education and and academic career to try and figure out the plight of women in science in her semi-autobiographical The Only Women in the Room.  Though there are many more women in the sciences now, women are still vastly outnumbered by men especially in sciences such as physics, math and technology. 


Eileen examines her childhood and college career in order to use her experience as an example of the problems and internal struggles women in sciences have faced and still may have issues with.  In the latter half, Eileen interviews women in sciences currently and sights recent studies about women in sciences to base her conclusions on.  As Eileen recounted her struggles throughout her elementary and high school studies, I was amazed at how many times she was held back and her interests and intelligence were discounted.  Despite all of that, Eileen was determined to get a degree in physics.  She was accepted into Yale and succeeded, but not without many struggles.  One of the things that Eileen found out was that though she thought she was doing far worse than any of the males in her classes, she was actually doing much better.  Her struggles resulted from many of the males in her classes receiving more encouragement throughout their academic career resulting in the ability to appear confident and belief that they were doing well and had a grasp on the material.  Another pitfall Eileen ran into was comfort level being the only or one of few females in many of her classes.  Taught by male professors who may also not have been comfortable.  This is one of the issues that is carried over to women today and in some cases, I have faced myself.  Eileen found that women need steady, outward encouragement and nourishment in their confidence level.  Overall, this was an interesting, introspective and eye-opening look at women in the sciences. 

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

About the Book:  

Confessions of the Perfect Mom: Baby and Toddler Years

Kat appears to have it all: She homeschools her three daughters, bakes, creates crafts and has dinner on the table when her husband walks in the door, all done with perfect hair and makeup. But behind the scenes she has embarrassing moments and baby-rearing problems just like all moms do.

In Confessions of the Perfect Mom: Baby and Toddler Years, Kat shares some of those moments: being in labor and acting less than polite to the nurses, disasters on the changing table, and a toddler yelling obscenities in restaurant. From her stories of the first days of having a new baby to temper tantrums, the ritual of potty training, sibling rivalry and the first trip to the emergency room, it’s clear motherhood is not for the faint of heart. This witty, honest book offers a glimpse into the wild ride that is the toughest job anyone will love.



Review: 
Kat Ryan has been called the ‘perfect mom’ by many when she goes out with her three daughters.  She seems to be the envy of other moms who can’t quite seem to get it together.  In this memoir that recounts her three births and raising three girls through their toddler years, Kat lets us in on the craziness, embarrassment, joy and love that can come from motherhood.

With a whole chapter dedicated to poop, yes just to poop alone, this book offers a realistic view into what a new mother might be in for.  With a stress on the fact that everyone’s situation is different and nothing you do for your child is wrong for you, Kat gives us her down to earth insights on her forays into motherhood.  Starting from the birthing process, this book is not for someone of the faint of heart.  Kat had three very different birthing experiences that she tells us about along with three very different experiences with her newborns.  Some of the best advice in the book is the funniest, what went wrong, poop on the walls, milk squirting everywhere, toddlers that simply refuse to be potty trained until their ready, the magic words to stop sibling rivalry and potential trips to the emergency room.  Overall, this book is perfect for any mom or mom to be that needs to know that nobody is perfect, but whatever you decide for you and your child will be perfect.

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

 About the Author: 


Kat Ryan and her husband, the love of her life, have three beautiful daughters. The successful blogger and author, who was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, juggles being a stay-at-home mom; who has also been a working mom and a work-from-home mom. Learn more about her joys (and tears) by reading her blog, www.confessionsoftheperfectmom.com.