Category: books

November 1, 2019

Explore the Wonders of Crab Lake with the Beautiful Children’s Book Series

Marvel at nature’s miracles, spread joy wherever you can, experience earth’s infinite wonders. This is what led David Mulford to create the Crab Lake series. Explore the author’s world through Jeannie’s Crab Lake Christmas and Jeannie’s Crab Lake Winter Tales.

About Jeannie’s Crab Lake Christmas

All the animals in the forest are abuzz. Jeannie, the kindest and most beautiful lady they know, is coming to Crab Lake for Christmas! The animals love to watch Jeannie from a distance when she visits in the summer, but they have never had a chance to talk to her before now — for, as everyone knows, animals can only talk in the winter. This time, however, they can finally say a proper hello.

So come to Crab Lake for Christmas, and spend the evening with Jeannie and her forest friends: bear cub Pudgey and his family, kindly Mr. Woodchuck, distinguished Bellknap Beaver, and the deer, the wolves, the cardinals, and more! Beautiful illustrations by Christine Cathers Donohue bring them all to life in Jeannie’s Crab Lake Christmas, David Mulford’s charming tale of friendship, family and fun.

About Jeannie’s Crab Lake Winter Tales

In this second book, winter has come back to Crab Lake, Wisconsin. Reunite with Jeannie and her woodland friends as they catch up and share the joy of the season and the holidays. All your favourite characters are back to teach you that friendship and helping others is what truly leads to the greatest of life’s adventures.

Our Thoughts

These beautiful, sweet books featuring Jeannie and the wildlife of Crab Lake, will become a story that you can treasure up to and during the holiday season.

Jeannie is a special woman. She is kind, loving and thoughtful. Those around her can sense these strong values and kindness and love her very much for this. I am a firm believer that animals can sense good and bad people, and the animals in these stories love her so very much.

Both books take place at Crab Lake and I love how the author makes the location come to life (especially as someone who has never visited these areas). You feel like you are visiting Crab Lake and the surrounding area yourself. The author uses descriptive language that brings to life the lakes, hills and forest in this area, while the illustrations help to deliver that message. We become part of the festivities and excitement of the holidays (I can’t wait for the simple things like family gatherings, fireplaces, and hot buttered rum) that is so often described throughout the story.

The animals play a huge role in this story, as we learn that the animals can speak and be heard by humans but only in the winter! As someone who loves animals, I truly wish this would come true (I can only imagine what our dogs would tell us – ‘how dare you not let me sleep in your bed when you are not home’). We found ourselves giving certain characters their own accents (especially Mr. Woodchuck, Mr. Beaver and the bears) and it fit well into the story (I found myself naturally using a British accent at times when I was reading the story to my son).

The story in both books is on the longer side but would make for an excellent bedtime story with your child or after dinner reading in front of the Christmas tree. Jeannie’s Crab Lake Winter Tales is a bit longer but worth every minute. I loved the illustrations, they felt soft, warm and engaging. It fit the characters and tone of the story perfectly. The books are well written and remind you of all the important things in life – family, harmony, love and helping other captured in a manner that children of all ages will appreciate. It is both fun and serious, with such important messaging for young children today.

As a side note – I loved that David wrote these stories for his wife, Jeannie. It is so beautiful and touching, the love that he feels for her and the time they spent at Crab Lake is captured so well in these stories.

These books will make a great addition to your holiday reading list and you can purchase a copy of this book here.

About the Author

For David Mulford and his wife, Jeannie, Christmas would not be complete without their visits to the beautiful Wisconsin waters of Crab Lake. These magical journeys provide the inspiration for David’s whimsical tales. In addition to writing, David has a PhD from Oxford University, serves as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, and has enjoyed a long and notable career in international finance and diplomacy. For the last twenty-seven years, David’s Christmas gift to Jeannie, no matter where they are in the world, has been a story of Christmas at Crab Lake. When not traveling, David and Jeannie reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 29, 2019

This Earl of Mine Book Review

Introducing the Bow Street Bachelors—men who work undercover for London’s first official police force—and the women they serve to protect. . .and wed?

About This Earl of Mine

Shipping heiress Georgiana Caversteed is done with men who covet her purse more than her person. Even worse than the ton’s lecherous fortune hunters, however, is the cruel cousin determined to force Georgie into marriage. If only she could find a way to be . . . widowed? Georgie hatches a madcap scheme to wed a condemned criminal before he’s set to be executed. All she has to do is find an eligible bachelor in prison to marry her, and she’ll be free. What could possibly go wrong?

Benedict William Henry Wylde, scapegrace second son of the late Earl of Morcott and well-known rake, is in Newgate prison undercover, working for Bow Street. Georgie doesn’t realize who he is when she marries him—and she most certainly never expects to bump into her very-much-alive, and very handsome, husband of convenience at a society gathering weeks later. Soon Wylde finds himself courting his own wife, hoping to win her heart since he already has her hand. But how can this seductive rogue convince brazen, beautiful Georgie that he wants to be together until actual death do they part?

My Thoughts

I fell in love with Georgie from the start – talk about a young woman who knows what she wants and is not afraid to go after it. She lives in a time where woman are primarily used for their wealth, hold no real value except for what they bring to a marriage in title and name. She is wealthy beyond imagine but not the type of wealth that many of the aristocrats in London look up to – her Father earned his money through shipping. She has inherited his bright mind for business and loves the work, she has even increased their wealth. But she will do anything to ensure this does not come into the hands of a greedy gentleman who will lose her inheritance and silence her bright mind and voice. She even goes so far (and does) marry a man in Newgate prison, one whom she assumes is on his death bed for the safety of marriage and then becoming a widow.

Little did she know that the man she marries is Benedict Wlyde, the second son of the Earl of Morcott. But what was he doing in prison? Despite his reputation he works undercover for Bow Street to bring in extra money to help pay off his Father’s debts.

When their paths collide at a society event, will they be drawn together? Will Wylde be able to protect her from society and those who would want to use her only for her wealth? Can she let go and trust enough to see that there are some good people out in the world, that will love her for more than just her money?

I loved every moment of this historical romance and have already re-read it twice. I loved the characters, the plot and the tempo of the story. I kept rooting for these two – I wanted them to learn to trust and to find happiness as they both truly deserved to finally be happy. A definite must read!

You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Rating: 4.5/5

About the Author

Kate Bateman, (also writing as K. C. Bateman), is the #1 bestselling author of historical romances, including her RITA® nominated Renaissance romp, The Devil To Pay, and the novels in the Secrets & Spies series To Steal a Heart, A Raven’s Heart, and A Counterfeit Heart. When not writing novels that feature feisty, intelligent heroines and sexy, snarky heroes you want to both strangle and kiss, Kate works as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several popular TV shows in the UK. She splits her time between Illinois and her native England. Follow her on Twitter to learn more.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 22, 2019

How Languages Saved Me: A Polish Story of Survival

“When I was arrested my whole world crumbled. I knew that leaders of political parties had been arrested, and never heard from again. My only chance at survival was to find a way to escape from the jail.” – Tadeusz Haska

About How Languages Saved Me

Orphaned in Poland at the age of thirteen, Tadeusz “Tad” Haska survived World War II on the run, narrowly evading the Nazis every step of the way. After the war, he daringly escaped jail by the Soviet Secret Police, fled to Sweden and launched an elaborate plan to smuggle his wife in a coffin on an all-male naval ship. Discover how Tad’s knowledge of nine languages helped him survive in the face of unspeakable adversity.

My Thoughts

This powerful story pulled me right in and I could not put this book down. The story that Tadeusz tells (through his Granddaughter) is powerful, heart breaking (but full of promise and hope) and leaves you feeling humbled.

The story is told in such a way that you feel like you are sitting beside him and reliving each moment. Tadeusz had seen things as a child and a youth that no one should ever have to – a lesson to those today about what can happen when people resort to fear and hate. The atrocities that were done in this period are hard to imagine and too often we can forget, which we cannot let happen.

When he lost his parents at a young age, his brother and Tadeusz raised themselves – going to school and supporting themselves financially through tutoring, my heart broke. I can’t even imagine a youth trying to accomplish all of this but these were the values and morals that their parents had instilled in them before their passing. They honoured their parents and kept pushing forward when it may have been easier to give up. Education is one of the most important things in life and sometimes sacrifices must be made, his parents did this for him and his brother when they sold their dairy business to move to another town that had better schooling for them and they never gave up.

When World War II starts, chaos erupts in Tadeusz life. The way the Polish people were treated was heartbreaking – community members murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, for being educated, for just being Polish and the list goes on and on. Their homes were taken away and some were forced to live in their own basements while the top was taken over by the Nazis. This began his journey of survival, a story that is hard to even comprehend and that at times left me in tears. Through determination, gut instinct and courage – he makes it through some of the worst years in our history and even immigrates to the USA with his wife to rebuild all that he has lost.

Some of the moments throughout the book, brought back memories of my own Grandfather. It made me think of what he must have gone through in World War II living in Northern Italy, what he had seen and what he did to survive before immigrating to Canada. He never spoke about those times (neither of my Grandparents did) but I can only imagine the pain this leaves (something we saw in the book, when his wife refused to return to Poland).

This is a powerful and important story. It is so important to learn and understand what individuals went through and the impact this had on their lives. It is so important to honour all of the lives lost during this moment in time. I loved how something as simple as a gift and love for languages protected and guided him (it was almost as though his parents teachings on education protected him later in life when they were not there). This is a definite must read.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Tadeusz Haska was born in 1919 in Mikolajki, Poland and died in 2012. Orphaned at the age of 13, he used his knowledge of nine languages to survive World War II. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1949, where he earned his Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley in Linguistics in his ninth language-English. He taught, and served as chairman, in the Polish Department at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA for 35 years. His work was featured on the TV program The Big Picture.

Stefanie Naumann, Tadeusz’s granddaughter, is a Professor of Management in the Eberhardt School of Business at University of the Pacific, where she has taught for 20 years. She earned her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, and has published over 30 journal articles. She is a 20+ year member of the Academy of Management, a lifetime member of the Polish American Genealogical Society of America, and has earned awards for her research, teaching, and service. StefanieNaumann.com

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 17, 2019

The Manager Mom Epidemic: How Moms Got Stuck Doing Everything for Their Families and What They Can Do about It

Are you that Mom that does everything for your family and others? Hands up because this book is for you.

About The Manager Mom Epidemic: How Moms Got Stuck Doing Everything for Their Families and What They Can Do about It

It’s impossible to deny, most moms continue to do way more household work and childcare than most dads. Working full time, raising kids, cooking dinner, making sure every appointment and activity is lined up and that everyone gets there on time… no wonder you’re tired! But despite all the books and articles lamenting the crushing mental load and emotional labor women bear for their families, no one has come up with a plan to actually make things change. Until now.

The Manager Mom Epidemic is the first book that not only acknowledges the fact that moms are burning out, but shows you how to transfer responsibility for daily tasks from yourself to your partner and also (gasp!) your kids. Clinical psychologist and child discipline expert Thomas W. Phelan, PhD explains how we got into this mess in the first place, and how we can get out of it through a calm, systematic approach to teaching our families how to take initiative and contribute in meaningful ways. Dr. Phelan walks you through real-life situations and shows you how to step back from the things that are dragging you down.

Realistic and simple enough to implement in your home right away, The Manager Mom Epidemic provides a roadmap for you to take your life back and proves that the happiest families share the work and the fun equally.

My Thoughts

Have you ever read the title of a book, stopped and thought – oh goodness this is me. Then you read the book description and you start to fill with dread because everything in it describes you to the T and you are almost scared to see what it says. That is what happened for me when I first read about this book.

I work full time and on top of it part time with my blog. On top of this, we have two young children in competitive sports along with all the normal household and day to day activities we all do. I had been handling it well but in the last year, I have found myself losing my patience more at home, feeling burned out and tired of the arguments. I don’t want to have to remind someone to brush their teeth, pick up their clothes, feed the dogs (this just sounds annoying listing all of it!) but I find I do this on a regular basis. I don’t want to be the mean, nagging Mom and I have had enough.

This book helped me walk through why and how I let myself get this way – I like to help my family, I like to make sure they are fed, happy and healthy. But what I didn’t realize that what I was doing was preventing them from learning the responsibility of doing this themselves and putting additional strain on me that didn’t need to be there.

But how did I need to go about stopping what I had already put in motion? And could we even change our behaviours?

This book gave me so much hope and practical help to implement change in our home. I loved the letter from Mom to her family – this was something I could do and it was honest, to the point but still open and friendly. Whenever I approached my family in the past, it would start off nice but it would slowly turn into an argument over who does more. Throughout the book, there were so many tools that parents can implement at home to bring about a positive change. I felt confident that I could implement some of these changes slowly to encourage the behavioural changes I wanted to see in my family (we started with washing our own glasses after we have a drink and not leaving ten glasses for Mom to come home to after work).

What I really loved about this book was that it felt like you were sitting down to a cup of coffee (or glass of wine) with a good friend, venting your frustrations and then coming up with a solution that works for the whole family. You have laughs over some of the shared stories that we can all relate to (the morning nightmares trying to get kids out the door, homework fights, etc..) but then he breaks down those moments to look at how everyone is feeling and how can we change these moments so that everyone is happy (not just Mom). This is an excellent book for all parents (don’t be put off by the title – Dads you should read this too) and even a great book to introduce to parents of young children to adopt changes before they get to this point. A definite must have resource for parents!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Dr. Thomas W. Phelan is an internationally renowned expert, author, and lecturer on child discipline and Attention Deficit Disorder. A registered Ph.D. clinical psychologist, he appears frequently on radio and TV. Dr. Phelan practices and works in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 16, 2019

Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children

Between 1933 and 1945, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were responsible for the persecution of millions of Jews across Europe.

About Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children

This extraordinary graphic novel tells the true stories of six Jewish children and young people who survived the Holocaust. From suffering the horrors of Auschwitz, to hiding from Nazi soldiers in war-torn Paris, to sheltering from the Blitz in England, each true story is a powerful testament to the survivors’ courage. These remarkable testimonials serve as a reminder never to allow such a tragedy to happen again.

Our Thoughts

This is an incredibly important story for children, teens and adults to read, read again and read one more time. The stories that are told will touch your heart and stay with you, a reminder of what happens when we let hate and fear rule our actions.

We learn the history of six Jewish children and how they survived the horrors of the war. First we learn about Heinz and his family who managed to just escape out of Germany in time before the war broke out, only to be sent to an interment camp in Great Britain (this was something I was not aware that even happened, so this was eye opening for me). Then we hear the story of Trude – a young girl who shares her view of a child living during the war and watching her family being rounded up and murdered. She was sent to Great Britain to escape the horrors but they followed in her heart and mind, never truly leaving her. She knew her Father was murdered in the concentration camps but she never found the proof that her Mother was murdered as well. Next, we have Ruth’s story whose Mother fought hard to keep her family together and managed to escape Europe before the war broke out. The moment they landed on British soil, war was declared with Germany. Then we learned about Martin who was marched into Poland by the German soldiers, forced out of his home at night. He survives only by the kindness of strangers that take him in. Next we learn the heart breaking story of Suzanne, who was saved from the Nazi soldiers by a neighbour to then face devastating conditions working on a rural farm in hiding. Finally, we hear the story of Arek who survived the ghettos and Auschwitz. Each story is powerful and overwhelming.

This is an extremely powerful book told through the honest eyes of children. It is full of raw emotions and honesty that will make you cry. The horrors they saw and endured are unspeakable but need to be spoken. No child should have ever seen, heard or gone through what they did and we need to ensure this never happens again.

It is told in a comic book style with strips of illustrations and text boxes that help keep the messaging simple and to the point. At the end of the book, is a what happened next where we learned what happened to each of the children in the future. While this gives hope, it is also a reminder of how much was lost during the war – whole families lost in a moment, history taken away and a future denied.

This is such an important book that children need to read and learn about. They need to know how this happened and why we need to fight to ensure it never happens again. This is a definite must read for children, young adults and adults.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Kath Shackleton is a producer and animator at the animation studio Fettle. She is based in Yorkshire, UK.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.