Review: Dining on a Dime: 1000 Money Saving Recipes and Tips

Dining on a Dime: 1000 Money Saving Recipes and Tips by Tawra Jean Kellam

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



For experienced frugalistas, there won't be much in there that hasn't been read somewhere else, but this is a great compilation. This would be a good starter book for people just beginning to think about how to reduce their grocery bill or who want to make their own detergent but don't know where to start. Definitely a useful book to have on hand to reference.



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Review: The Unidentified

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It's unfortunate that I could imagine the world described in the book. High schoolers banned from public gathering, school being all about popularity and friends, betrayals in teen friendships - all of it is completely possible. And when schools already receive things in exchange for pop machines in cafeterias or branded scoreboards in stadiums, how different would this be?

I also liked the trademarks on everything. It supported the book's idea of branding and the value of being 'it' in a world crowded with corporations. My only question is why companies would fight for teen interest because they clearly have little spending control - they don't work, they can't access cars, trains are only available during school hours and the mall has been converted to a school. Everything at the school is given away...so where are they making the money?



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Review: Awaken

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was surprised to see a young adult book that shares my view of the dismal public school system and the likelihood that virtual schools will replace them. In this case, the schools have become targets and children are dying so the government backs a digital school where all learning happens at home. The propaganda about the dangers of the world become so accepted that few people involve themselves in face to face human interaction. As with anything, there are two sides to the story and a group of people are fighting the digital school and digitized society.

I like the fake, sterile world created and I like the fighters, regardless of how unrealistic both sides are. Good battle, well drawn lines between groups and the ending also has the potential to be a beginning if the book turns into a series.



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Review: The Compound

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Intriguing book. There is so much post-apocalyptic literature out there but this book takes an opposite stand - what if you had a safe haven and planned to wait out 15 years of nuclear fallout, the walking dead, radiation poisoning and other threatened events? What if you could spend 15 years in an underground, protected compound?

I would like to see this as a more in-depth book. More info on the supplies and the design....explanations of air and water systems...understanding of supplements. As it's lacking these details, it's a quick read and one that gives enough information to make you think about the what-ifs. I loved the ending and am happy to see that this isn't yet another trilogy but instead wraps up nicely.



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Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Perhaps this is a better book in written form but it's audio version is horrible. It's a 10 disc book and I listened to the first 6. The entire first disc (a little over an hour) is nothing but Todd whining. Most of the second disc (another hour) was mostly dedicated to his stupid decisions, his incapability to form an independent thought and his temper. Oh, and I then endured an entire section of a book where the primary female character refuses to speak. It. Was. Terrible.

I'll be honest, the local dialect was annoyingly filled with 'ain't's and double negatives. Again, maybe in written form you can adapt but in audio it was a constant stream of bad language. And don't even get me started on "effing." Either get up the nerve to actually swear or leave it alone but to make every tenth word be "effing" was annoying. It's not a word. It's a pronunciation of an abbreviation for people that don't want to use real words. F---ing converted to "effing."

This book has 8,114 ratings and over a 4 point average so I tried to stick it out, convinced that I would eventually get to something that made it worthy of reading. Never happened. I quit and never finished it.



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Review: The Naturally Clean Home: 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Non-Toxic Cleansers

The Naturally Clean Home: 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Non-Toxic Cleansers by Karyn Siegel-Maier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm already on board with natural cleaners and make many products, which means I've read several books and spent a lot of time researching online. This book, however, would make a great reference to have on hand. It's small enough to fit in the cabinet with your supplies and has ideas on everything from fabric softener to ways to clean copper or keep deer out of your flowerbeds. I've been wanting to expand my understanding of the correct uses of essential oils and this book helped me organize my ideas so that I know when to use eucalyptus or citrus oils or mints. Very well organized and easy to read.



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Review: Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



There are books with great cover summaries but poorly planned plots. This is one of them. The idea - a walled society where the insiders adopt the children of outsiders and a midwife rebels against the society - was interesting. Gaia and all of her supporters made a never-ending series of decisions that showed consistent lack of planning or understanding. And the number of coincidences required to make everything turn out was ludicrous. I also fail to understand the people. I have a sense that the insiders were supposed to be a cruel, uncaring, living-it-up group but they raised children, educated them, married, worked, loved. The leader was intended to be cruel but except for behavior related to the loss of a child, it wasn't obvious. There were public hangings on a regular basis but the apathy of the public and the bizarreness of the crimes was unexplained. The society has DNA testing and an ability to track births which makes the premise of finding a coded list to be completely unnecessary. I read the book...it was okay...nothing that I'd read again.



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