The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life

The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life: Cruelty-Free Crafts, REcipes, Beauty Secrets and More by Melisser Elliott

I am not a Vegan, but I fully support the concept of living a life that minimizes cruelty to other living creatures. Elliott provides a very creative, inspiring view of life as a Vegan.

I really enjoyed this one.

Your Farm in the City

Your Farm in the City: An Urban Dweller's Guide to Growing Food and Raising Animals by Lisa Taylor

I believe I mentioned my fantasy of living on a farm and growing food. Along those lines, this book was a gem! I got some great ideas on growing food in small spaces. I personally don't want to raise animals for food. But I want to have some, for enjoyment!

A recommend!

The Last Place You'd Look

The Last Place You’d Look: True Stories of Missing Persons and the People Who Search for Them by Carole Moore

I torture myself with missing person cases. Especially missing children. One of my biggest fears has always been being abducted. Now that I'm a Mother, that fear is magnified for my children.

The news is overflowing with stories of people who are taken or simply vanish. I keep a spreadsheet of certain cases and follow up on every year. Only a small percentage are ever truly solved.

This book profiles many different cases. The writing was below average, but the content was good. I would have rather read a book that focused on a few of these cases, as opposed to just a small bit of information about multiple cases. Overall, though, I appreciated this one. God bless all the people who search for the missing.

Kaffir Boy

Kaffir Boy: A Autobiography--The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa by Mark Mathabane

Amazon Description:

"Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa's most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage. Like every other child born in the hopelessness of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university. This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation. For Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered "Kaffir" from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do -- he escaped to tell about it."

My Thoughts:

Heartbreaking and powerful, Mathabane's childhood is recounted in this autobiography. At times, it is almost too painful to read about the horrors of life for his family. Living in shocking poverty, they do what is necessary to survive each day. I put myself in the position of Mathabane, a starving child who doesn't understand why he is starving. I put myself in the position of his Mother, not being able to provide for my children and being helpless to change that. It's hard to even imagine, but so painful to even try.

This story is about Mathabane's individual experience in South Africa. It is about apartheid, family dynamics, cultural differences and finding faith.

Every child is born pure; when young Mathabane starts to realize that his circumstances are tied to hatred and racism, it brought me to tears. This young man had the strong will to survive and change his circumstances through education and hope. So many millions of others have not been so luckly.

Admirable and emotional, I highly recommend.

Oh the Glory of It All

Oh the Glory Of It All by Sean Wilsey

This is a memoir that fell flat for me. The beginning is interesting, but then it goes into too much tedious detail. His life is simply not that interesting! His parents divorce, his Mom has some emotional issues, his step-mother doesn't like him very much. That sentence sums it up without the 500 extra pages.

I wouldn't recommend this one.

One Man's Wilderness

One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Sam Keith and Richard Proenneke

Beautiful and poignant, Keith recounts Proenneke's life in the Alaskan wilderness. This is so rare at this time in history, that a man can dwell in a land unchanged by man. Proenneke builds his own log cabin and lives in the wild, relying only upon himself.

I loved this memoir; so inspiring.

It's All Too Much

It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh

Amazon Description:

 

"When Peter Walsh, organizational guru of TLC's hit show Clean Sweep and a regular contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show, appeared on national television shows and told people how they could reclaim their lives from the suffocating burden of their clutter, the response was overwhelming. People flooded Peter's website (www.peterwalshdesign.com) with success stories about how his book had changed their lives. Peter's unique approach helped people everywhere learn to let go of the emotional and psychological clutter that was literally and figuratively choking the life out of their homes. With his good humor and reassuring advice, Peter shows you how to face the really big question: What is the vision for the life you want to live? He then offers simple techniques and a step-by-step plan to assess the state of your home, prioritize your possessions, and let go of the clutter you have been holding on to that has kept you from living the life you imagine. The result is freed-up space, less stress, and more energy for living a happier, richer life every day."   My Thoughts:   Clutter? ME??? Did I actually follow the ideas in this book...um...no. But I enjoyed it; good ideas.   I added it to the large piles of books I have taking up half my basement.