This book is such a powerful tool for reexamining your life and your health, and how your mental health and stress responses will affect your health. I love that it is full of scientific facts, and medical studies, but is easy to read. There are simple, actionable plans for bettering your life, empowering your immune system, and find real ways to be healed.
This book asks some tough questions, but provides a clear path toward wellness, and is full of positive truths for healing.
I took a whole notebook full of notes, and this book has set me on a journey to find a personal truth and wellness.

This the story of a half-wit, Barnaby, and how he was tricked into joining the Gordon Riots in London. Barnaby's poor mother has a terrible secret and a dark past that haunts her. Other characters include gruff Mr. Willet, the village innkeeper, and his son, Joe, who is in love with the locksmith's daughter, Dolly. At the same time, delicate Miss Haredale is involved in a forbidden courtship with the son of her uncle's sworn enemy, and the star-crossed lovers ask Barnaby to pass messages and notes for them. The disgruntled apprentice, Simon Tappertit, and the unsavory stableboy, Hugh, are instrumental in inciting the London riots, along with a hangman named Dennis who conceals his true profession from his companions in the riots.

I hated this story so much. I could barely force myself to read to the end. Usually I LOVE Dickens, but this book has so many problems.

First of all, the riots themselves were first boring, then awful and disturbing. I got so bored with all the plotting and secrets from various bad guys throughout the first half of the book, and then I was disgusted with all the atrocities committed by the rioters in the second half. Ugh. Not enjoyable to read.

Secondly, the villains get all the "screen time." In a normal book, you'll usually see about 70-80% of the scenes that feature the heroes, and maybe 10% that feature just the villains, plotting and being dastardly on their own, and then another 10-20% are the heroes and villains interacting and fighting, etc... But this book is very heavily focused on just the villains. I would not be exaggerating to say that 90% of this book is just about the villains, their plotting, their secrets, their evil deeds, their interactions with other villains. With the result that the villains are all fully-defined characters, and the heroes are a bunch of faceless nobodies.

I did not like a single character in this entire book, because none of the heroes (men or women) are developed properly. They are introduced and described and then tossed aside into the background, then they emerge a couple of times just so you don't forget who they are; they do a brief scene and disappear again, and then they come around to do one heroic deed out of nowhere, and they ride off into the sunset. Who the hay are you, hero? What have you been doing in the background all this time?

Even the villains are poorly developed. They are described in detail, and we get to hear all their conversations and dialogue and intrigue, but they don't grow or change or have any development. There is no progress, no maturing. And for a character-driven reader like me, that is the death of the book.

I didn't like this book, because I had no one to cheer for. Did they die? I don't care, because I don't really know them. Did they get kidnapped? Whatevs. Did they get hanged for crimes during the riots? Don't really care.

I'm so glad this is over. I'm beginning to learn that the great masters of the written word follow the "when it was good, it was very very good; but when it was bad, it was horrid" rule of life.
I thought "Hard Times" was my least favorite Dickens novel, but this one takes the prize!

Always wonderful! Rereading for the fifth or sixth time, and the magic is still there.

Kitty Hawk meets up with her old friend, Charlie, in Rome, and the two become involved in a mysterious international intrigue. They befriend a group of Italian siblings whose father has a dark past, and it's up to Kitty to follow the clues through secret codes, hidden rooms, and the disturbing history of several long-lost paintings by famous artists.

As always, I adore Kitty's character. She is better than Nancy Drew! Her incredible kindness and insatiable curiosity propel her into the most marvelous adventures. I love that her reaction to almost everything is, "Let's go! Let's find out! Let's jump in!" She is such an energetic character, and that energy shines off every page.

Charlie. Ah, Charlie, my darling dear. I adore him so much, and I LOVED seeing him reconnecting with Kitty in this book. Same old reliable Charlie. There are several times when Kitty and Charlie are in the middle of some insane crisis, and Kitty says something like, "I knew it would be okay, because Charlie was in control." Charlie is a man of action. He assesses the situation, and jumps in with a solution, or a well-placed punch to someone's jaw. But he's also content to sit back and let Kitty take the reins. He respects and appreciates her instincts and her flashes of brilliance. The two of them have such a great balance.

I was completely enthralled with the mysterious plot! Every clue that was solved only led to another question, another code, or another action-filled encounter with a thieving spy. I've always hated math, but I read every word of those complex math-based code-breaking scenes on the edge of my seat!
I especially loved the rich European history that is woven into the story, as Kitty and Charlie travel through Germany, Austria, and Italy.

My only complaint is that I thought the ending was weak. There is some resolution, but many questions are left unanswered. I needed to know more in so many areas of the story, and I was disappointed. (Kitty was disappointed too, so at least we were in there together.) Not only was the mystery sort of left hanging in midair, but I felt like the relationship between Charlie and Kitty was left hanging as well. I can only hope that that was on purpose, to leave lots of room for further development between those two in the future books.

There had better be future books, and SOON! I need me some more Kitty Hawk in my life!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Acadia is a little girl full of questions. Why are there different time zones? How do frogs breathe? Where does rain come from? Why do leaves change color? How does my body fight off germs? With the help of her scientist parents, Acadia and her friends are determined to go out in the world and find answers.

I loved this interesting book! Acadia is such a cute character, and she asks really detailed and important questions. I liked that Acadia's mom is a central character, always ready with some guidance towards a solid scientific answer.

The illustrations are adorable, done in a notebook style, as Acadia writes in her science journal. The pictures do a wonderful job of explaining the simple science behind water cycles, and frog lungs, time zones, and chlorophyll in plants.

This would be the perfect book for a young scientist, or for any kid with lots of questions!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Hilda and her mother are transported to a mysterious forest of stone, and must learn to work together to find their way back home.

I can’t get over how wonderful these graphic novels are! Every volume in the series is more and more wonderful! Imaginative and playful, with serious themes and delightful comedy. I love every page!

I am definitely going to start trying the hair styling methods in this book! Useful information with lots of pictures, and helpful home recipes for hair products.

The only thing I didn’t care for was all the “Hair Confessions” of women telling about their worst hair days and how traumatized they were by their curly hair. So you had horrid hair in the 80s? So what? We all did!

Other than that, I really loved the great info in this book!

12-year-old Claudia's best friend, Duffy, is an 8-year-old boy, and together the two get into mischief of all kinds. Her parents think she should be making friends with girls her own age, but Duffy is the only one who really understands and accepts Claudia. When the mean girls at school begin to make trouble for Claudia, it seems even more impossible to make other friends. Claudia finds the strength and imagination to stand up to bullies, navigate the treacherous waters of neighborhood kid politics, and find a new appreciation for her boring normal family.

I loved this book! Poor Claudia is so awkward, but her heart is pure and strong. Duffy is adorable as a sidekick for all Claudia's adventures, and I loved all the supporting characters in Claudia's family. I hated the villainous mean girls, and cheered for the good guys in every scene!

Great writing, and a wonderful plot!

This book talks about embracing your natural gray hair color, how to grow out your natural color if you've been dying it, how to style your hair, how to condition and moisturize gray hair, and DIY hair products to try.

I was hoping for more information about caring for natural greys, but about 90% of the book is about growing out your natural color after you've been dying your hair for many years. I mean, I guess I should have expected that, since it is part of the title, but still... I didn't find much information in this book that applied to me, since I do not dye my hair. I have more and more stray gray hairs that are growing in, and wanted to know more about caring for them, since they are more dry and coarse than my darker color.

Still, the hair care information and beautiful pictures are wonderful, and I still read the chapters that didn't apply to me, because it was just interesting to read about.
I really loved way this book is organized, and the gorgeous photos, even if most of the information didn't apply to me.

Penelope calls her grandfather, Poppy, and when he gets a hole in the knee of his pants, she offers to sew it up for him. But sewing up a hole in the fabric proves to be more complicated than Penelope expected, especially since Poppy is color blind and doesn't what type of thread Penelope should use!

This is a cute book, but I thought the story was sort of disjointed, and it didn't flow very smoothly between ideas. Because picture books are so short, I like them to have more of a consistent and single focus. This story takes some tangents into the food the family is eating or places they go, and those things didn't seem to fit into the main story about repairing the pants.

I really disliked the art style. It's a mixture of photos of fabric dolls, and cartoon art, and pictures of some objects like lightbulbs. It's very jumbled and strange looking. The cloth dolls have big buggy eyes sewn into their heads, and their pupils point in different directions, giving them a googly-eye-crazy look. The dolls have weird padded hands without fingers. The whole design is just strange and unpleasant. The only thing I liked about the dolls is that their hair is made out of yarn. I thought that was cute!

The cartoon art is very childish, like messy scribbles. It does not look professional. Maybe that's on purpose, trying to look cute, but I did not like the effect.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.