book reviews – DAK Living- Dave and Karen exploring the world!

New non-fiction books

As many of you know, I try to alternate fiction and non-fiction books. I am always looking for new ways to stimulate my mind and not get caught up in the fiction world. Not that a really good fiction book can’t be stimulating, but if I didn’t restrict myself- that would be all I would read!

Today we will talk about non-fiction books !

French Style with Vintage Finds-A passion for French Antiques and Collectibles written by
Cindy Smith Cooper

The French are known for their impeccable taste, effortless glamour, and intrinsic flair for style that is timeless and traditional, edgy and modern, chic and seductive. Need I say more. This book is a beautiful pictorial of French design that is ever so inviting. Each page offers fabulous pictures with wonderful descriptions and discussions. What drew me to this book was the traditional elements of French designs. I really like the dark accents with the white walls and light colored ceramic pieces that bring warmth to any room. I guess French design is not as stuffy as I originally thought.

The book also covers beautiful French gardens. I really enjoyed flipping through the book and plan on purchasing it for a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I know she will proudly display it on her coffee table.

The Home Decluttering Diet: Organize Your Way to a Clean and Lean House, by Jennifer Lifford

What I liked about this book is the 30-day home detox daily plan. Each day of the month is broken down to clean and organize one area of your home. Here is a sample copy of the plan. Day 2 is the Front entryway and Coat closet/ mudroom. She says to donate any coats, shoes or accessories that you no longer use or need. If you are short on space, put items that are out of season into storage somewhere else in your home. Day 3 is empty your purse. Day 18 Makeup- toss anything out that has expired, is cracked or is no longer your style. Pick your favorites and get rid of the other 10 lipstick tubes you never wear. She evens has a separate page for recommended shelf life for various makeup. Day 23 Your nightstand. Day 31 Your car. I really liked the month long detox program and will find it useful for my fall cleaning and spring cleaning. Cleaning a large room or house can be daunting, this book breaks down the workload into manageable tasks. I photocopied the month long detox plan and will post it in my office to remind me of the areas that will need my attention. I highly recommend this book.

What I like about this book is that it opened my world to more food bloggers. I love reading blogs, I’m usually able to click on a few a day when I am working. I really enjoy food blogs that give easy, yet healthy recipes and display the food in beautiful pictures. Beyond the Plate, written by Daniela Galarzis, is just that…a wonderful array of bloggers (including bio’s of each), three recipes from each blogger, and beautiful pictures. There are quite a few American bloggers highlighted as well as many European. Recipes cover the gamut: soups, desserts, main dishes and appetizers. I enjoyed looking through the book as well as clicking on the blog sites.

Inside My Pencil: Teaching Poetry in the Detroit Public Schools. A memoir by Peter Markus. I liked this book very much and I would find it very useful if I were still a teacher. Getting students to feel confident in their writing is always a good thing. His experience is in the Inner City schools of some of the worse areas of Detroit. He cares about his students and that comes through in his memoir. Students write poems and realize that the form is not what maters- it’s the writing down of thoughts, memories, interests, dreams, fears, and hopes that is important when writing poetry. He has been helping Detroit students for many years and has been awarded numerous honors for his work. A good read if you like personal narratives that include discussions with young children.

Late Bloomer: How to Garden with Comfort, Ease and Simplicity in the Second Half of life. The title caught my attention since I am in the second half of my life! Jan Copploa Bills gives great advise on planting and planning your gardens. She compares life to a garden in the sense that it changes and we need to appreciate the changes that occur. Gardens are not predictable, nor is life. She also believes that we need to weed out the plants that do not give us pleasure, or have not thrived as they should. We should not feel guilty when we discard a plant that is not useful anymore, similar to relationships as we get older. If you have people in your life, that don’t benefit you, they bring you down, then you should consider weeding them. I have done this. I have had people in my life that were friends from way back; but now as I am older, we really don’t have much in common except history. Sounds harsh, but time is limited and we need to make the best of it. Taking control of who you spend time with and how you choose to spend your time is very liberating 🙂 The author gives lots of advise like this along with planting tips and encouragement. I really liked the book.

Where to Go When: The Worlds Best Destinations by DK Eyewitness Travel. If I ever win the lottery I will follow the authors advise and travel every month to at least one of their suggested destinations! The book is organized by months, each month highlights the best places in the world to travel during that month. There are lots of pictures and travel advise, graphs and charts. This is a great book if you are considering a trip and you want to know when is the best time to visit a certain country. A very good book with great photos and descriptions of popular destinations.

All of these books can be checked out of your public library or you may choose to click on the book titles and purchase them through Amazon.

Have a wonderful day friends!

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Summer Reading 2017 Part I

Summer Reading – The following materials can be found in your local library!

Girl in Translation written by Jean Kwok. Published in 2010. This is a coming of age story. I remember hearing about this book but didn’t have time to read it when it first came out, so when it came across my desk recently, I grabbed it. I really enjoyed the story and I especially like the setting of the clothing factories (sweatshops) in Chinatown paying dirt cheap wages to all of its employees. One cent per skirt is a difficult way to pay bills or get out of debt. The conditions in the factories are deplorable, as well as the apartment Kimberly and her mother have to live in. Cockroaches and rats everywhere, no heat in the winter months, and windows missing the glass-covered only with plastic. New York winters are extremely cold and I’m amazed these two Chinese immigrants didn’t freeze to death.

Kimberly is in elementary school when we first meet her, her English is poor and her mother only speaks Chinese. Kimberly realizes early on that if her mother and she are going to survive in America she will need to be in control. She studies real hard in school while working in the sweatshop each evening to help her mother earn money. She excels in math and science and earns herself a full scholarship to a private middle and high school. Her homework is done on the sweatshop floor, often not sleeping till the wee hours of the night. As a protagonist, Kimberly is tough, smart, and vulnerable. She never complains, in fact she is a model daughter, or so it appears- Kimberly has a secret and she must share with her mother. The story has a huge plot twist- if you want to know what happens to Kimberly and her mother you will need to read this book.

The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne, a Michigan author. This story is suspenseful and will keep you wanting more. Can you say Hunger Games set in Michigan? I loved this book. I found the plot compelling, characters well defined, and the setting remarkable. We meet Helena as a young wife and mother. She begins to tell her story only because her father has escaped from jail, otherwise we would never be privy to her private thoughts. She has never even shared her story with her husband…until now. When the police are at her door asking her lots of questions about her past life, she must confess. Her story is one of violence, betrayal, and mental cruelty. She is being hunted by her own father and she must assist the police in capturing him. It pains her to go back, back to a dark place that she has tried hard to forget. We find out so much of her pain as we travel back in time through her memories. The Marsh King’s Daughter is entertaining and thrilling. This is a really well written novel that will make it to the big screen one day. I talked about it so much that Dave is now reading it 🙂

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller. Swimming Lessons is realistic fiction. Ingrid Colman writes letters to her husband. She writes because she has lost her voice, not literally. She is not being heard. She has tried to explain her feelings to her husband but he doesn’t listen, so she takes pen to paper and writes her thoughts in letters. She describes their marriage and how she feels about it. She describes how she feels when he has long absences. She describes her thoughts about being a young mother and quitting school when she found out she was pregnant. She writes hundreds of letters but never gives them to Gil, her husband. Instead, she hides them in his overflowing library of books. She hides them in books that somehow relate to the theme of the letter. She knows one day he will find them and read them. She anticipates that day will come soon. When she is done with the last letter, her final thoughts, she leaves. She leaves and she never comes back. Gil is left only with her letters which he is frantically trying to find so he can piece together a reason for her leaving him. This is an amazing story of young love between a college student and her professor. But don’t mistake-this is not a love story.

A Simple Favor by Darcy Bell. Another psychological thriller-I just can’t get enough of these types of stories. I originally found this book appealing because the main character, Stephanie, is a blogger. She speaks in blog talk. I loved that part of the book. She is mom to a five-year old boy and her blog focuses on being a “good” mommy. Her son has a friend at school and after a few play dates the moms get to be friends as well. This is when the story takes off. One day Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son after school and keep him till she can pick him up later in the evening. Problem is- she never comes to pick him up. Days go by and she still doesn’t come to pick him up. A missing person’s police report reveals Emily is dead. Was Emily murdered? Did Emily commit suicide? What secret was Emily hiding? Did Stephanie really know her new friend at all?

This story has somewhat of a believable plot, it moves along quickly and I really enjoyed the writing style- the blog posts. It’s a good read.

Still on my bookshelf:

I just need the time to sit and read!

What’s on your night stand?