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Showing posts with the label nonfiction

The Body's Keepers by Paul Kimmel, M.D.

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The Body's Keepers by Paul L. Kimmel, M.D. narrated by Lane Hakel From a medical standpoint, this book is quite interesting.  Does it give you information on how to help yourself if you have kidney issues?  No, it does not.  However, it does a great job of detailing the function of the kidneys, the past and current available treatments, as well as the ramifications of a capitalistic medical machine has on the treatment of patients. Dr. Kimmel uses medical cases and personal accounts to help you understand the ramifications of kidney disease on your health and finances.  Living with kidney disease is not an easy undertaking.  I am currently at stage 3a of chronic kidney disease.  This means that my kidneys are not functioning to the capacity that they are supposed to be.  This book helped open my eyes to what it truly means to have CKD and its effects on my body.  You don't really realize how much is affected by your kidneys not functioning at a normal level.   I was able to lea

Supernatural Serial Killers

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Description Albert Fish held the genuine belief that the murders he committed were upon instruction from God. Peter Stumpp, who started practicing the "wicked arts from twelve years of age", was convinced he was a werewolf. There are many more murderous individuals like them. Supernatural Serial Killers explores the association between serial killers and the supernatural. The crimes committed by these men and women usually involved sexual deviance, cannibalism and violence toward children. In sixteenth century Europe, the problem became so significant that 'Werewolf Witch Trials' were conducted - many have no idea that it was possible to be tried and convicted for the crime of being a Werewolf, but Lycanthropy was a serious and major social concern in the 1500s. In this book, approximately twenty supernatural serial killers are discussed, including their background, crimes, trials and defenses. Review This book was received free from Netgalley in exchange for

Awakening the Luminous Mind

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Book Description     Awakening the Luminous Mind is the third book of guided meditation practices in a series by the acclaimed author and teacher, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Tenzin Rinpoche will guide you to bring these simple practices into your everyday life by turning inward and finding what he calls your "inner refuge." By this he means boundless space, infinite awareness, and the qualities that arise that have the power to transform your life. As you follow the principles in this book and complimentary CD, you will discover greater creativity and intelligence, liberation from suffering, understanding and connectivity, and freedom from the ego that strives to control our life experiences.   Book Review   One thing that I try to focus on is my spiritual well-being.  Whether it is through spending time at my local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, reading my tarot cards, or meditating, I feel that it is important to tune into my inner self in order to create a

Go Out and Play!

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Book Description   Go outside and play! Here, at your fingertips, are how to's for more than seventy best-loved games, all set to spread the fun of active play to kids of all ages. Do you know how to draw a hopscotch grid? What’s the silliest challenge in the game of sardines? How do you keep from being "out" in SPUD? Is there any way to escape the blob? This lively, infectious guide to games runs the gamut from classic to contemporary: kick the can, freeze tag, blindman’s bluff, red light green light, four square, duck duck goose, and so many more. It’s all sparked by KaBOOM!, a nonprofit with a passion for creating outdoor play spaces nationally and around the world. For KaBOOM!, play is serious business! So this guide also includes tips for adults on how to encourage and facilitate outdoor play as well as a wealth of resources on how to help create more play spaces in your own community.   Book Review   There were tons of great outdoor games to play

The Fire Starter Sessions

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Book Description   The Fire Starter Sessions is an apathy-kicking, integrity-infusing guide to defining success on your own terms. As the creator of DanielleLaPorte.com--deemed “the best place online for kick-ass spirituality,” Danielle LaPorte’s straight-talk life-and-livelihood sermons have been read by over one million people. Bold but empathetic, she reframes popular self-help and success concepts: : Life balance is a myth , and the pursuit of it is causing us more stress then the craving for balance itself. : Being well-rounded is over-rated. When you focus on developing your true strengths, you enter your mastery zone. : Screw your principles (they might be holding you back). : We have ambition backwards. Getting clear on how you want to feel in your life + work is more important than setting goals . It's the most potent form of clarity that you can have, and it's what leads to true fulfillment.   Book Review   This book is life changing! 

Religious Right: The Greatest Threat to Democracy

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Book Description   This book is a timely expose on the Religious Right that gives insight into the network's blueprint for America. From Christian Reconstructionists, Dominionists, Quiverfull, Seven Mountains Mandate, the attacks on public schools, to birth control becoming a hot button issue, find out the leaders of the movement and their tactics. This book explains, and documents, a stealthy hijacking of the government, courts, schools, even our history, and popular culture. This work includes interviews, research, and a bibliography. The presentation is organized and systematic, while in plain English. It shares how to get involved and make a difference in your community to protect your rights and preserve democracy. The book is written by an insider who left the Religious Right, and now shares why they believe they are mandated to have dominion over every aspect of life in the United States. The author details how their vision for America is not a democracy at all. A must

Spinning The Law

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Book Description   A behind-the-scenes analysis of media strategies not taught in law school or journalism classes, this collection of entertaining examples and explanations make for ideal reading for everyone fascinated by celebrity legal problems. Book Review   I hate to say this, but I did have a bit of trouble getting through this one.  Yes, it was interesting, but I felt that it did get bogged down in places. This book did address the problem with media oversaturation.  How can anyone have a fair trial when the media has already convicted them in the headlines?  Too many times we walk into the court room to sit on juries with opinions already formed because of what we see on TV.  This book gives many examples of this. Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion (9781616142100): Kendall Coffey: Books ISBN : 1616142103 ISBN-13 : 9781616142100 In conjunction with the Wakela’s World Disclosure Statement , I received a product in order to enable my r

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers

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Book Description   Do you have a family member who requires constant care? You are not alone. This collection offers support and encouragement in its 101 stories for family caregivers of all ages, including the “sandwich” generation caring for a family member while raising their children. With stories by those on the receiving end of the care too. These stories of love, sacrifice, and lessons will inspire and uplift family members making sacrifices to make sure their loved ones are well cared for, whether in their own homes or elsewhere. Book Review   On a day to day basis, being a family caregiver can be rather tiring.  It leaves you with little time for yourself and can sometimes cause resentments to build up. However, its only when the person you are taking care of passes do you realize all those moments that you treasured.  This book honors those moments during being the caregiver that can turn into treasured memories. If you are still lucky enough to be a caregiver

The Hunt for KSM

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Book Description   Only minutes after United 175 plowed into the World Trade Center's South Tower, people in positions of power correctly suspected who was behind the assault: Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. But it would be 18 months after September 11 before investigators would capture the actual mastermind of the attacks, the man behind bin Laden himself. That monster is the man who got his hands dirty while Osama fled; the man who was responsible for setting up Al Qaeda's global networks, who personally identified and trained its terrorists, and who personally flew bomb parts on commercial airlines to test their invisibility. That man withstood waterboarding and years of other intense interrogations, not only denying Osama's whereabouts but making a literal game of the proceedings, after leading his pursuers across the globe and back. That man is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and he is still, to this day, the most significant Al Qaeda terrorist in captivity. In THE H

On Celestial Music

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Book Description   Rick Moody has been writing about music as long as he has been writing, and this book provides an ample selection from that output. His anatomy of the word cool reminds us that, in the postwar 40s, it was infused with the feeling of jazz music but is now merely a synonym for neat . "On Celestial Music," which was included in Best American Essays , 2008, begins with a lament for the loss in recent music of the vulnerability expressed by Otis Redding's masterpiece, "Try a Little Tenderness;" moves on to Moody's infatuation with the ecstatic music of the Velvet Underground; and ends with an appreciation of Arvo Part and Purcell, close as they are to nature, "the music of the spheres." Contemporary groups covered include Magnetic Fields (their love songs), Wilco (the band's and Jeff Tweedy's evolution), Danielson Famile (an evangelical rock band), The Pogues (Shane McGowan's problems with addiction), The Lounge L

The Great Animal Orchestra

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Book Description   Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause is one of the world's leading experts in natural sound, and he's spent his life discovering and recording nature's rich chorus. Searching far beyond our modern world's honking horns and buzzing machinery, he has sought out the truly wild places that remain, where natural soundscapes exist virtually unchanged from when the earliest humans first inhabited the earth. Krause shares fascinating insight into how deeply animals rely on their aural habitat to survive and the damaging effects of extraneous noise on the delicate balance between predator and prey. But natural soundscapes aren't vital only to the animal kingdom; Krause explores how the myriad voices and rhythms of the natural world formed a basis from which our own musical expression emerged. From snapping shrimp, popping viruses, and the songs of humpback whales-whose voices, if unimpeded, could circle the earth in hours-to cracking glaciers, b

Fine Black Lines

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Book Description   Written by a breast cancer survivor, hailed by professionals and patients as an excellent resource, loved by its thousands of readers, the award-winning Fine Black Lines provides courage, comfort and hope through its introspective journal entries, startling photographs, succinct poetry and reflections. Book Review   Having lost my dad to cancer when I was only 16, this book really hit home.  But not for just that reason either.  This book is great for anyone going through some major health battles.  Lois Tschetter Hjelmstad takes you through the rough landscape of trying to get through each day while not knowing what lays ahead of you health wise.  The poetry that she writes will touch your heart and soul in such profound ways.  The to read her journal entries alongside of them, you can see what was going on at the time and how she was feeling emotionally as she wrote each poem. If you or a loved one is going through a battle such as this, I highly

Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat

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Book Description   Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat shares true tales of the strange and unexplained horrors and hilarity associated with the porcelain god. The book features commentary by the stars of SyFy's Ghost Hunters, who are certified Roto-Rooter plumbers by day, and paranormal investigators by night. Some stories are funny, others so frightening they just might scare the you know what out of you. Book Review   This was an interesting book of short stories about mishaps dealing with plumbing issues.  There were some stories that were completely hilarious like “A Sticky Surprise”.  While other stories were just plain out disturbing. One of the things I really liked about the book was that there were hints and tips throughout on how to keep your plumbing in tip top shape and what not to do.  So not only was the book amusing, but helpful as well. I just wished that Jay and Grant were featured more in the book.  They put their picture on the front cover, bu

Taste What You’re Missing

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Book Description   In TASTE WHAT YOU’RE MISSING, Barb Stuckey, a professional food developer, explains how everyone can get more enjoyment from the foods they’re already eating. In easily accessible terms and with real-life examples, Stuckey explains the science behind what’s happening in your mouth, nose, and mind when you eat. By understanding the anatomy of taste, you’ll better appreciate food, whether when you’re cooking, or just eating. Book Review   This was a very interesting book.  It showed me how little I truly knew about food and taste.  Barb Stuckey is a professional food developer.  This job requires her to have full use of all her senses, especially taste and smell. In this book, she talks about how all the various senses relate to food and eating.  As well as providing various exercises and tests so you can see how each thing interrelates and how you can develop your taste sensation to the fullest. Believe me!  Eating after reading this book is a whole ne

The Call of Sedona

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Book Description   Author Ilchi Lee’s fascinating personal stories and profound awakenings in Sedona are beautifully interwoven in this book.  His experiences and messages in carious known and unknown vortexes in Sedona are especially inspiring, and they will encourage you to start your own journey of the heart. If you haven’t been to Sedona yet, this book will urge you to come to this blessed land.  If you have been to Sedona or even live there now, this book will only deepen love you hold for the wonders of the land.  Here you will find profound insights about making a true connection with your heart and nature, as well as much practical guidance for experiencing the spirit of Sedona. Book Review   This is a truly remarkable, thought provoking and enlightening book.  Not only does Ilchi Lee take you on a journey through the beautiful wilds of Sedona, but on a journey to your innermost self.  Many times we don’t stop to appreciate nature.  And even less times do we sto

This Mobius Strip of Ifs

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Book Description   In this impressive and varied collection of creative essays, Mathias B. Freese jousts with American culture. A mixture of the author's reminiscences, insights, observations, and criticism, This Mobius Strip of Ifs examines the use and misuse of psychotherapy, childhood trauma, complicated family relationships, his frustration as a teacher, and the enduring value of tenaciously writing through it all. Freese scathingly describes the conditioning society imposes upon artists and awakened souls. Whether writing about the spiritual teacher Krishnamurti, poet and novelist Nikos Kazantzakis, or film giants such as Orson Welles and Buster Keaton, the author skewers where he can and applauds those who refuse to compromise and conform. The profound visceral truths in this book will speak to anyone who endeavors to be completely alive and aware. Book Review   This wonderful book of short essays not only takes you through the ifs in Mathias Freese’s life, bu

Sex on the Moon

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Book Description   Thad Roberts, a fellow in a prestigious NASA program had an idea—a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally. Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice, both NASA interns, to break into an impregnable laboratory at NASA—past security checkpoints, an electronically locked door with cipher security codes, and camera-lined hallways—and help him steal the most precious objects in the world: the moon rocks. But what does one do with an item so valuable that it’s illegal even to own? And was Thad Roberts—undeniably gifted, picked for one of the most competitive scientific posts imaginable, a possible astronaut—really what he seemed? Mezrich has pored over thousands of pages of court records, FBI transcripts, and NASA documents and has interviewed most of the participants in the crime to reconstruct this Ocean’s Eleven –style heist, a madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity that reads like a Hollywoo

Here Comes Trouble

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Book Description   "I had an unusually large-sized head, though this was not uncommon for a baby in the Midwest. The craniums in our part of the country were designed to leave a little extra room for the brain to grow in case one day we found ourselves exposed to something we didn't understand, like a foreign language, or a salad." Michael Moore-Oscar-winning filmmaker, bestselling author, the nation's unofficial provocateur laureate-is back, this time taking on an entirely new role, that of his own meta-Forest Gump. Breaking the autobiographical mode, he presents twenty-four far-ranging, irreverent, and stranger-than-fiction vignettes from his own early life. One moment he's an eleven-year-old boy lost in the Senate and found by Bobby Kennedy; and in the next, he's inside the Bitburg cemetery with a dazed and confused Ronald Reagan. Fast-forwarding to 2003, he stuns the world by uttering the words "We live in fictitious times . . . with a fict

Knowing Your Value

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Book Description   It’s no secret that women have long been overlooked and under-compensated, and while great strides have been made in recent decades, the value placed on women versus their male counterparts is still consistently unbalanced. In Knowing Your Value , bestselling author Mika Brzezinski takes an in-depth look at how women today achieve their deserved recognition and financial worth. Prompted by her own experience as co-host of Morning Joe, Mika interviews a number of prominent women across a wide range of industries on their experience moving up in their fields. Mika reveals how these women, including such impresarios as White House star Valerie Jarrett, comedian Susie Essman, writer and director Nora Ephron, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and broadcaster Joy Behar, navigated the inevitable roadblocks that are unique to women. Mika also uncovers what men think about the approach women take in the workplace, getting honest answers from Donnie Deutsch, Jack Welch, Don

Early Review–Plastic

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Book Description   Plastic built the modern world. Where would we be without bike helmets, baggies, toothbrushes, and pacemakers? But a century into our love affair with plastic, we’re starting to realize it’s not such a healthy relationship. Plastics draw on dwindling fossil fuels, leach harmful chemicals, litter landscapes, and destroy marine life. As journalist Susan Freinkel points out in this engaging and eye-opening book, we’re nearing a crisis point. We’ve produced as much plastic in the past decade as we did in the entire twentieth century. We’re drowning in the stuff, and we need to start making some hard choices. Freinkel gives us the tools we need with a blend of lively anecdotes and analysis. She combs through scientific studies and economic data, reporting from China and across the United States to assess the real impact of plastic on our lives. She tells her story through eight familiar plastic objects: comb, chair, Frisbee, IV bag, disposable lighter, grocery bag