Published: December 17, 2019
Genres: Health and Nutrition

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Description:

Are you craving junk foods? Feeling sluggish and tired all the time? Fueling yourself on caffeine and sugar? Then it's time to incorporate some Energizing Superfood Juices and Smoothies​ into your day. Jump-start your body with superfoods in the form of juices, smoothies, and meals, with vegetables and fruits selected to coincide with fresh, delicious, seasonal produce.

With over 40 unique and delicious combinations of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices, you can make these yummy green juices and smoothies right in your own kitchen, anytime you want. And if you want to keep the green goodness going, there are more than 25 tasty vegetarian meal recipes included. Plus, the convenient, seasonal shopping lists will never have you overbuying produce that can go to waste.

Review:

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Rock Point and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy of this book. I received this in exchange for my honest review. 

"Did you know that our bodies absorb over 97% of the nutrients contained in raw vegetables and fruits? Compare that to vitamin supplements made in a laboratory, which have an absorption rate of 5 to 25 percent"

WHAT!?!?!?!? No, I did not know this. This fun little fact made me want to dive in and learn so much more. I learned a lot from this book and as a mom of three learning what it means to be healthy, I was very excited. I got a nice little history lesson about how "the hunt" for meat has been the focus of our ancestors instead of the focus on how much not meat they used to eat.... "It was common for our ancient ancestors to eat up to six pounds of leaves per day". This number is insane and blew my mind. With my nutrition portions, I am eating 4 cups of vegetables and 3 cups of fruit. Far from six pounds. 

After explaining "why to juice" and the equipment I would need to be successful, I then found a lot of delicious recipes... and they weren't all juices/smoothies. Eggs, sandwiches, salads, salsas ect. A great verity to keep my belly satisfied. 

I will definitely be recommending this book to my fitness girls and anyone who would be interested in learning to eat a little healthier. 

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

I love when I start the New Year off right with a fantastic book!
---This is more of a book vs movie review then an actual review of this amazing novel.

Published: May 13, 2014 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Genres: Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia

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Description:

Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.

Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat--blindfolded--with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?

Review:

YES, YES, YES! I absolutely loved this book. Page one had me hooked immediately. The movie came out on Netflix and there was a lot of hype over the novel in all my book circles. So of course I had to check it out. I was a little hesitant as I had read on of Malerman's books last year and I was not impressed. However, this one held my attention all the way through I couldn't put it down. The suspense was built perfectly.

Post apocalyptic novels are quickly becoming one of my favorite genres. I have not read one yet that I haven't really enjoyed. Its fun to me to think - what would I do in this situation. Would I handle situations like the characters are. Its fun for me because unlike in regular horrors there is no feeling like the character is being too stupid for going into the basement because "we all know what is going to happen". Each Post apocalyptic novel really has to set things up and take you down an experience that you have never been apart of.

Then I watched the movie on Netflix.... big mistake. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in a film adaptation. I can count on one hand the number of similarities between the book and the movie. The movie lacks any of the suspense needed. Doesn't make the point of how well the children trust her and will listen to her no matter what. In fact, it shows them deliberately disobeying her numerous times and even refusing to come to her because they fear her. This part really made me mad. It made Malorie look like a bad mother instead of doing everything she can to trust them. There is zero demonstration of the children's exceptional hearing ability, yet in the book she completely relies on them to keep them all alive. They don't even call her mom in the movie.

I highly recommend the book... maybe not so much the movie.

A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel

Publish: February 5, 2019 by Sourcebooks Fire
Genres: YA, Suspense, Mental Illness

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Description:
Four walls. One window. No way to escape. Hannah knows there's been a mistake. She didn't need to be institutionalized. What happened to her roommate at her summer program was an accident. As soon as the doctors and judge figure out that she isn't a danger to herself or others, she can go home to start her senior year. In the meantime, she is going to use her persuasive skills to get the staff on her side.

Then Lucy arrives. Lucy has her own baggage. And she may be the only person who can get Hannah to confront the dangerous games and secrets that landed her in confinement in the first place.



Review:

"Time didn't magically slow down, giving me a few extra seconds to consider what to do next. It happened fast. it wasn't graceful. It didn't look pretty."

The title and cover drew me in perfectly and since its around Halloween time I just had to read this book. I gratefully received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my review.

I absolutely loved Hannah! But who wouldn't, that's her thing.. making best friends. As an only child I can relate with Hannah about growing up faster than your friends and the need/want for children your age. As an only child, its easy to come across as more mature because a majority of your conversations are with adults so its something that comes easy to you.

Sheinmel, played this story out perfectly. I was not not expecting any of the twists and turns that were thrown in. This book was impossible to put down. I loved every second of it. I have never experienced anyone close to me with this kind of mental illness or anything similar so this was a learning experience for me. Sheinmel really made me feel like I was sitting in the room with Hannah and Lucy.. I mean Hannah ;)

I was proud of Hannah and how she accepted her illness. It was sad and brought tears to my eyes when she finally started to understand what was happening. Her parents were very abnormal for parents dealing with a child who was sick but they were also kind of strange before she started her illness, who leaves a four year old in a hotel room by themselves.

This book was perfectly done and I will definitely be telling everyone about this title!