We Stood Upon Stars - Roger W. Thompson

If you love the outdoors and you love God, this book is for you.  This book is a collection of essays by the authors of the various places he has travelled through the West.  Not only is it a travelling memoir but Roger wraps his travel with God listening and finding God.




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It's cool that he is able to incorporate God in his travels and how he views the outdoors.  This is often taken for granted or overlooked the vast and marvelous creation of God.

This books makes me want to travel and follow the path or my own path to explore and see the world and marvel upon God's creation.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Dinner by Melissa Clark

I have ready some of Melissa Clark's column in NYT. I've enjoyed her columns and recipes as well as the videos she produces.








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When I saw this book, I was intrigued because it's dinner and for our family, dinners can be a whirlwind. Melissa sets out to address that good and healthy dinner can be made without using a slew of dishes or ingredients.

I like how she structure this book by main ingredients and having chicken come first. In our household, chicken is the meat we eat the most. Then she goes into meat/pork, then salad, vegetables grains and even a section on tofu.  How California is that!

I perused this book and as she promised, all the recipes are one pot/pan which I like and because she covers different items, you can make multiple recipes from her book for a dinner.  I really like the grains sections because she goes into rice bowls, not just with rice but with quinoa, brown rice, farro, etc.

The pictures, as you would expect are stunning but not for all the recipes.  I found most ingredients are each to obtain but pomegrante molasses, didn't even know there was such a thing.

I would highly recommend this book to those who are looking for new options for dinner yet not having to slave over the stove for dinner.

 I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Batgirl at Super Hero High (DC Super Hero Girls) by Lisa Yee

We love audio books.  Our family loves to listen to them on roadtrip, even the books that are geared toward the our kids.

I had the opportunity listen the Batgirl at Super Hero High by Lisa Lee.  I was intrigued by the audio books because it focused on girl superhero.  Have a daughter myself, I love to have her hear that superheros can be females. That the world for her is her's to take like these girl superhero.



This is the story of Batgirl, Barbara Gordon who is given the opportunity to shine at  Super Hero High, along with other superhero girls.  

This story is pretty decent, it contains four discs and goes by pretty quickly.  I liked listening to the journey of Batgirl and how she goes from being the little unknown superhero to one who has to standup and shine along with other superheros. I love how Batgirl is up to the challenge of being the superhero, that's it's her time to shine.

My daughter enjoyed listening to this book though I think she would like to read it. 
 

Here's more information about the author
More information

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Gluten-Free for Good by Samantha Seneviratne.

We have been trying to eat much more healthy and we have been toying around the idea of going Gluten Free.

I always thought that gluten free would be difficult and expensive.  I saw this book and was intrigued by the descriptions of simple and easy gluten free recipes.  Could this be true?  So I had to check this book out.




Here is more info about the author, Samantha Seneviratne.  She has the credentials having written for many food publications.

Info about Samantha Seneviratne\


After receiving the book, I have been able to peruse the book and from what I can see, most of recipes, especially those involving backing includes special flours like oat flour and almonds flours.  What I don't particularly like about gluten free baking are the additional ingredients added in like tapioca starch, husk powder, etc.  But I was pleasantly surprises of how many recipes have simple everyday ingredients, especially the non baking items.

What I wished she would include are tips on how to make own specialty flours but I guess that's what the internet is for.

Overall, I would recommend this book to those who are seeking to tip their toes into gluten free cooking.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.

Do you love Chinese food?  Do you think all Chinese food are the same?  Well are you in a surprise when you get your hands on All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.

It's a MASSIVE, well researched cookbook about Chinese food. When I mean massive it is a big cookbook, it's over 500 pages massive and put all my other Chinese cookbook to shame.

In perusing this book, I can tell the Carolyn Phillips has spent a lot of time researching food from each of the five regions that she covers in this book.  It's well researched and comes with recipes from simple to difficult.  She starts each region by giving a history of the region, breaking down each major city in the region.




I know there are ingredients that might be difficult to find in some regions but Carolyn has offered alternatives to the difficult ingredients.

Note, there are no pictures in this book so if you want pictures in your cookbook, this book might not be for you.

If you had to buy one Chinese cookbook, this one is it.

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534780/all-under-heaven-by-carolyn-phillips/

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Taste and See by John Piper

One of my wife's favorite Christian author is John Piper so was excited to see his new devotional book, Taste and See



John Piper writing is full of conviction and encouragement throughout this devotional. There are devotional that are short and sweet but the devotional is this book has depth to it.  John challenges the reader to not only reflect upon what Jesus is calling us to do but how we can live our lives to share Jesus love with those around us.  Especially as he addresses topics that are relevant to us today, such as gay marriage, abortion, race, etc.  It causes us to reflect about Jesus's heart and the truth according to Jesus.

Here's some more information about John Piper and the book
Information about John Piper

Taste and See review

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Me: A Compendium A FILL-IN JOURNAL FOR KIDS By WEE SOCIETY

My kids are growing up too quickly and one of the things that I want for them is for them to remember their youth.  I selected this s book "Me" as a helpful medium to help my daughter remember her youth.




Just received the book and to my surprise, I think this book is more suited for someone of the younger age.  Maybe I read the description incorrectly but this book is well suited for my younger son.  He loved the book and wanted me to do it with him.

This book is actually really cool, I like the fact that it asks the kid to use their creativity about themselves.

My son last night was drawing his favorite shirt and there's questions like what's your favorite socks, places to go, etc.

I would highly recommend this book for a younger kid, it allows them to be creative about themselves, tweeners, maybe not so much.

The best part is that inside the jacket, they can draw "Me" on the cover of the book.

Click below is a link for more information about the book.


More information about the book

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."