A Fire Story

Heartfelt memoir about losing your home in the worst wildfire in decades. A Fire Story is sad but ultimately uplifting. Multiple fires merged into a Northern California firestorm of epic proportions. The resulting burn area was the size of 15 Manhattans. Entire neighborhoods burned to the ground overnight. Warnings wereContinue Reading

Walmart: Diary of an Associate

The author, an immersive journalist, describes his experience working in a Canadian Walmart in Walmart: Diary of an Associate. It is amazing how Walmart treats its associates like slow children. Rules are drummed into their heads, daily exercises and pep talks are given, and they are monitored extensively. If indoctrinationContinue Reading

Psychology of Zelda

Who doesn’t love the ongoing story of Link and Zelda told over thirty years of gaming? The Psychology of Zelda explains in college-level psychological terms the reasons why we are all enamored of Link’s story. I’ve taken and enjoyed a couple of college psychology courses. I love and have playedContinue Reading

Blue Muse

Blue Muse contains fifty photographs of blues, jazz, folk, and gospel musicians. It also includes ten more landscapes and close-ups of musical instruments. All use a tintype process that was popular during the Civil War. The long exposures and judicious use of light and shadow make statements about the life ofContinue Reading

Work Optional

Almost everyone would like to be able to retire early and make Work Optional. But few can do it. This book provides a step-by-step plan to move from a stultifying 9 to 5 job to a more fulfilling life. Work Optional begins with a refreshing approach. Rather than determining howContinue Reading

Downhill from Here

The prospect of a comfortable retirement has, unfortunately, become an increasingly elusive dream and it is Downhill from Here. In 2017, less than half of US employers provided a company-sponsored retirement plan. Even employees who thought they were covered have lost their retirement to bankruptcy and recent changes in theContinue Reading

Plus+

Plus+ is a coffee table book exploring plus size fashion. Popping with pictures of regular plus size women wearing what they enjoy, Plus+ shouldn’t be unusual. After all per the National Institute of Health, 2 out of 3 women are overweight or obese. However, I have never seen another bookContinue Reading

Readymade Home Furniture

Readymade Home Furniture takes off the shelf items found at any big box home improvement store and repurposes them into practical items for your home. While some of the projects are simple like message boards and planters, others are complex like club chairs and closet home offices. There are 23Continue Reading

Maid

The tenacious memoir of the author’s struggle with poverty and single motherhood is told in Maid. Stephanie has dreams of going to college and becoming a writer. Those dreams are shattered by an unexpected pregnancy and an abusive baby’s daddy. With experience only as a barista in an economic downturn,Continue Reading

Rewired

Rewired is the story of how one doctor changed the ways amputated arms’ nerve ending are left to allow the amputee to actually feel the fingers of the prosthetic. It also shows what doctor’s feel when working with a patient. Melissa is an animal lover. When her two dogs corneredContinue Reading

Inner Alchemy

Inner Alchemy is by the author of the Urban Monk. In both books, Taoist principles are explained and used to reduce the reader’s stress and challenges with modern life and free their minds for more spiritual thoughts. The Urban Monk is a more user-friendly book. True beginners will be ableContinue Reading

Showtime at the Apollo

For decades, performers have known they have made it big when they hear, It’s Showtime at the Apollo! More than just about the Apollo Theater in Harlem, this fact-filled graphic novel tells the story of African-American music in NYC from the Harlem Renaissance after WWI through the present. All theContinue Reading

Keto in an Instant

Whether you follow a keto or gluten-free diet, Keto in an Instant has spectacular recipes you will want to eat. After a short introduction to the keto diet and the Instant Pot, the book has a multitude of recipes for breakfast, dinners, soups, stews, sides, salads, snacks, appetizers and desserts.Continue Reading

Bloated Belly Whisperer

The Bloated Belly Whisperer is an excellent self-help book for those with digestive distress. The book begins with a brief overview of how the digestive system works—with helpful illustrations of internal organs. A quiz to narrow down the reader’s stomach and intestinal issues follows and then refers readers to theContinue Reading