Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

Let me start by saying I don’t generally like to read eco-friendly books written by celebrities.  Maybe it’s just me but I wonder how much of it is about their commitment to the earth and how much of it is just about one more thing to add to their resumé.  In other words, I wonder just how much I’ll learn.  But I saw this book by Sara Gilbert and thought, okay, she’s vegan, I’ve seen her on her talk show and heard what she has to say and she sounds really committed, so I decided to give her book a chance. The Imperfect Environmentalist: A Practical Guide to Clearing Your Body, Detoxing Your Home, and Saving the Earth (Without Losing Your Mind) defies what I think about celebrity books.  Sara writes with knowledge, humour, and authority.  She isn’t condescending (don’t worry, she won’t berate you for not being vegan) but she isn’t light about these things either.  You can tell she is committed to being an environmentalist but respectful of whe...

Every culture has its own unique ways of doing things and when it comes to parenting, there is no exception.  And in a world that is growing ever closer, it's easy for us to notice how our parenting styles compare and what other cultures seem to be getting right when we are struggling.  Wouldn't it be great to know their secrets? In Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us , Christine Gross-Loh brings "the world's best parenting strategies" right to you.  In this book she looks at parenting styles from countries such as Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, and China and compares them to American notions of raising children.  She shows that helicopter parenting is unique to America, co-sleeping is the norm in most cultures, and the world's highest academic achievers get a lot of time to play at school, among many other things. Disclaimer: I don't like parenting books.  I think I've ...

In 2010, Miriam Sorrell started a blog to help others learn and prepare delicious vegan dishes.  Her goal was to inspire other vegans as well as omnivores and vegetarians to live a healthier life.  Her blog took off and before she knew it she was approached to write her own cookbook.  The result is Mouthwatering Vegan , with over 130 irresistible recipes for everyone.  As the cover says, "welcome to the meat-free revolution." I didn't actually know about Sorrell's blog before I picked up this book, I'm just a big fan of vegan recipes and vegetarian living and am always on the lookout for new and exciting cookbooks.  What I really liked about this one is that it goes beyond what many vegan cookbooks do and expands on the wonderful foods and flavours available.  In other words, there is more than just another recipe for black bean quesadillas and meat-free spaghetti sauce in this book. Miriam Sorrell comes from a Mediterranean background and it sh...

Daphne Oz may have a famous father but she is quickly making a name for herself in the food and health industry.  As a co-host of the television The Chew , she is committed to making food that is nutritious and delicious as well as living a life that is authentic and purposeful. In Relish: An Adventure in Food, Style, and Everyday Fun , Daphne shares her tips for living a life that is worth relishing.  To her, Relish is "about seeing your potential and reaching for it.  It's about waking up to the reality of those areas of your life - physical, mental, emotional - you're doing right and those you could be improving." (p. xiii) The section on food isn't just recipes, she includes tips on stocking your kitchen with both food and tools and how to navigate the supermarket.  The recipes are varied, covering everything from meals to dessert to cocktails.  There is something here for every type of eater.  I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but most...

Whether you live in a stately country home or a downtown condo (or anything in between), household management is one of your priorities.  But sometimes it all can seem like it's too much or you just don't know the best way to do things.  Now, everything you need to know is in one easy place.  The Butler Speaks: A Return to Proper Etiquette, Stylish Entertaining, and the Art of Good Housekeeping by Charles MacPherson includes everything you need to know about household management and etiquette.  With over 24 years of experience as a butler and owner of North America's only registered school for butlers and household managers, MacPherson is the ultimate authority.   I try to tune in to the Marilyn Denis Show whenever I see Charles the Butler (as he is known) is on.  He always has great tips for making things easier around the house (he gave a great tip for cleaning the oven that I use, a task I seriously hate.)  So I was thrilled to see that he...

When you need to know anything about caring for natural hair, Nikki Walton is the woman you want to go to.  Known in the natural hair care world as Curly Nikki , she has spent years dishing out advice, tips, and humour and now she is bringing it all to your bookshelf. Better Than Good Hair: The Curly Girl Guide to Healthy Gorgeous Natural Hair! is all of Nikki's wisdom packed into one easy to use book.  Whether you've been natural for years, about to undergo the big chop, or just interested, this book has it all. The book starts right from the beginning with how to transition to natural hair, how to care for your Teeny Weeny Afro (TWA), through the growing stages, and finally how to care for your long natural hair.  It also has a chapter dedicated to caring for the natural hair of your young ones. My daughter has gorgeous, super tight and super coiled 4a/4b curls.  Considering that I have stick straight hair and my husband shaves his not as tight and...

When Dara-Lynn Weiss' article appeared in the April 2012 edition of Vogue she never imagined that she would become one of the most talked about (and most of the time, not in the good way) moms in America. In the article titled "The Weight Watcher," Weiss shared how a trip to the doctor in which she found out her daughter was obese led her to put the seven year old on a "diet."  Cue the uproar.  People were calling her a horrible mother, a selfish woman who put her own issues onto her daughter, fat-shaming the little girl.  But now in Weiss' new book, The Heavy , she has the opportunity to share the whole story, to speak of what she did and how she did, and to address the uproar she caused. When I first started reading Weiss' Vogue article, I was fully prepared to dislike her in the same way that others have.  But by the end of the article I could see glimpses of a mother who was really trying to do what was best for her child (I wonder if ...

Academic, activist, broadcaster, eco-champion - David Suzuki is a Canadian icon.  As a fighter for the environment, he has spent decades hosting television shows, writing books and working tirelessly to inspire others to learn more the world around them and find ways to live in harmony with the natural world. David Suzuki has written 52 books and The Legacy: An Elder's Vision for a Sustainable Future is a culmination of his life spent showing governments, big businesses and everyday citizens how to better care for the earth.  In 2009, Mr. Suzuki delivered his "last lecture," his reflections on how we have arrived where we are and what we can do to build a sustainable future for ourselves.  This book puts that speech on paper with a few extras, sending a call to action for everyone that walks this earth. Less than 100 pages, this book will shock and inspire you.  With decades spent immersed in the scientific world and studying the environment, Suzuki coul...

If you live in Canada, chances are you've seen Bryce Wilde on television.  A leading alternative health expert, Bryce has been seen on on his own television show, Wylde on Health , as well as a frequent guest on shows such as  Breakfast Television , CityLine , Canada AM , The Marilyn Denis Show , and Steven and Chris .   His latest book, Wylde On Health: Your Best Choices in the World of Natural Health , brings together the latest information on natural health along with Wylde's expert knowledge to help you navigate the often confusing world of alternative medicine.  Wylde clears up the terminology, gives an in-depth look at the testing available to better understand your health, and gives readers the best natural cures for everything that ails.  Using his own easy to understand rating system he helps readers separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to today's hottest health trends. I read a lot of books on natural health and I would consider ...

Adria Vasil, Canada's straight-shooting green living expert, is back, and this time it's personal…care, that is. Ecoholic Body: Your Ultimate Earth-Friendly Guide to Living Healthy & Looking Good by Adria Vasil is the only book you will need to turn your personal care as green as you possibly can. It literally has you covered from head to toe to make sure you get chemicals out of your body and out of your life. This indispensable guide covers everything. It gives you the lowdown on the "mean 15" ingredients to avoid, the best skin care, all the latest eco-fashions, the scoop on nature's best for kids, and how to green your health care and feel your best. The book also includes labelling of Made in Canada products, a nation-wide store directory, do-it-yourself homemade body care, and something that is very important to ecoholics, money saving tips. The best feature of this book is Vasil's exhaustive testing of products from every type of personal...

Are you a 'Doing it all' or 'Do what matters' woman? No matter what our roles in life are, as modern women we often find ourselves trying to figure out how to manage our busy lives. As Christian women, we turn to the Bible for guidance. But sometimes it can be hard to find the answers, since life today is much different from what it was back then. It's often hard to find chapter and verse that can be applied to our current situations. In The Life Ready Woman: Thriving in a Do-It-All World , Shaunti Feldhan, with Robert Lewis, shows Christian women how they can live an abundant life while keeping a Biblical perspective. She shows us how we can live God's best for our lives and find the peace and balance we all desire. I found this book refreshing. I often shy away from books that give life advice because I find that they are often written with only one type of person in mind, or that they are trying to create one type of person. But Shaunti Feldhahn ...

In his 1933 Thanksgiving Proclamation Franklin Roosevelt said "may we ask guidance in more surely learning the ancient truth that greed and selfishness and striving for undue riches can never bring lasting happiness or good to the individual or to his neighbours." Less Is More is a book that embraces this ideal. It encourages people to live simply, to live with less so that they may have more. Voluntary Simplicity involves spending less so that you can work less and in turn spend more time with family and building your community. This is what leads to happiness, not material wealth. The book is a collection of short essays by people involved in the Simplicity movement. The essays define simplicity, give solutions for the individual and discuss how policies need to be implemented at high levels to make a change. Voluntary Simplicity can not only bring individual happiness but help to create a healthy planet and a lasting economy. The book is great at showing that everyon...