"The Color Scheme Bible" by Anna Starmer

Since I've been considering doing some redecorating and painting in our house, I got The Color Scheme Bible by Anna Starmer to get some ideas of what color combinations I would like to use.  This book was perfect for that!  It has very little text, just some suggestions as to how best to use the different recommended colors.  It gives different color schemes for any color you can think of.  Practically each page shows a sample recommended color scheme.  Here is a picture of how it is set up:

If you want to know what colors go well together or just want some color ideas, this book will give it to you.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Mischief Master Class" by Dogs, 2 Cats and a Turtle

Inspirational,a 'Must Read" for dogs

Mischief Master Class by dogs, two cats and a turtle assisted by Annette Vivian is a really fun book about mischief real pets get into.  It has lots of great short stories and pictures!  I LOVED it!  (Gerard's review, 5+ stars)--UPDATED 2/13/13

Mischief Master Class by Dogs (two cats and a Turtle!)...assisted by Annette Vivian is a must read for all dogs!  It is a great reference book giving 20 rules that dogs (and any pet really) should know for getting away with mischief by becoming a "Master of Mischief."  It is a collaborative effort spearheaded by Snoopy (visit his blog by clicking the link), a dog blogger who is a bearded collie therapy dog but that doesn't mean he can't get into mischief.  In fact, he even hosts a "Monday Mischief" blog hop every week.  Various pets on the Internet contributed their mischief stories which Snoopy cleverly used as case studies to illustrate how the rules work.  By the way, our pets have rule #1 down pat:  "Look Cute."

It has lots of colored photos and URLs for videos to watch of the contributors too (with their blog URLs) as well as many of Snoopy himself, of course.  It is a quick, fun, light read that I enjoyed in spite of the overuse of a couple words:  "doh" and "Tee Hee."  My favorite mischief was the two dogs who ate the cookies that were hidden inside the oven and then left the empty tray inside and closed the door when they were done!  I must admit, I've never seen any other book quite like this one although "Dear Sparkle:  Cat-to-Cat advice" which is written by a cat for cats comes close.   

Mischief Master Class is available in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon with 50% of the proceeds donated to Therapy Pet Support charities which we think is awesome! 

Good job, Snoopy and your buddies!
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Dear Sparkle: Cat-To-Cat Advice" by Sparkle the Cat

Dear Sparkle: Cat-to-Cat Advice from the world's foremost feline columnist by Sparkle the Cat is a fantastic book that entertains while imparting great information on how to solve some problems that cats and humans have. Sparkle answers the letters from cats with humor and many good suggestions, including some cat owners can learn from as well. It has cute pictures of cats included too and shares bits of cat wisdom! I read it on my Kindle and highlighted many passages. I highly recommend this for any cat owner and am sure your cats will enjoy it too! Ours did.


Sparkle is also a blogger who I visit regularly at www.sparklecat.com. She is a sweet cat!
(Karen's review: My rating: 5 of 5 stars )

Spunky Doodle and Manny's review

This is our favorite book yet!  The best book ever!  If you live with a cat, you must read this one!  It's pawsome!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"It's A Cat's World...You Just Live In It" by Justine A. Lee, DVM

If there’s anything you want to know about cats, It’s A Cat’s World…You Just Live In It is the book to get.  It has 224 questions and answers by Justine Lee, a veterinarian who has cats of her own.  I liked how she throws in some humor into her answers and her love for cats come through.  I loved her last sentence:

We should all learn an important life lesson from our cats--take lots of catnaps, don't stress out, rule the roost, let someone else take care of you and pick up your crap, and be content with the simple things in life--a nap, a sunbeam, and a warm lap to love.

It's A Cat's World...You Just Live In It by Justine A. Lee is a great reference book for any cat lover!  Check out my teaser.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Tuesday Teaser: "Unbroken" and "It's A Cat's World...You Just Live In It"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following:          

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser. 

Gerard's:

Men moaned and screamed, one calling for his mother.  A pilot thought the voices sounded "like animals crying."  Men's eardrums burst.  A man died of a heart attack.

From p. 169 of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  (click on the title to see my review.)

Karen's:

Do you ever see your cat lying on them?  Nope--not unless you are trying to read them at the kitchen table.  So it's not that your cat wants to actually lie on a different surface for fun--your cat just wants you to realize that he's right there for you, supporting your every read.

From page 26 of It's A Cat's World...You Just Live In It by Justine A. Lee, DVM

"Letters From A Skeptic: A Son Wrestles With His Father's Questions About Christianity" by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd

I read this book because it was recommended by Kris, a friend of mine who ministers to college students at Kent University.  I found it extremely thought provoking and interesting.

Letters From A Skeptic:  A Son Wrestles With His Father’s Questions About Christianity.  This is an unusual book because it is all letters back and forth between a father and son.  The son, Greg Boyd, is a professor of theology and an ordained evangelical minister.  The father, Edward Boyd, was raised Catholic but with numerous questions about Christianity which the son patiently tries to answer over a period of time through correspondence.  The questions fall into four major categories:  Questions about God, Questions about Jesus Christ, Questions about the Bible, and Questions about Christian life and doctrine. 

Here is a small sample of some of the tough questions the father and son discussed:

Why has Christianity done so much harm?
Why is the world so full of suffering?
Why did God create Satan?
Why trust the Gospel accounts?
How can you believe that a man rose from the dead?
Why do you think the Bible is inspired?
What about the “holy books” of other religions?
Why does God make believing in Him so difficult?
Do all non-Christians go to hell?
Isn’t the Christian life impossible to live?
How can I be sure it’s all true?

If you have questions about Christianity or know someone who does and would like to know how to answer them, I highly recommend this book.  I loved seeing how the father slowly became more open to Christianity and finally accepted Jesus as His Savior when he was 73. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"You Already Know How To Be Great" by Alan Fine (Giveaway)

You Already Know How To Be Great by Alan Fine is a model for performing at your full capacity and helping others do the same.  The author, Alan Fine, has served as a performance coach to corporate executives, top athletes and musicians.  He shares his very practical method for improving performance by increasing one's faith that they can do something, one's fire (desire) and one's focus by decreasing the interference (obstacle) that is hurting the performance.  Sometimes we know what we want to do and even how to do it but we are lacking in at least one of those areas; thus, not performing to our full capacity.  You Already Know How To Be Great has questions at the end of each chapter to help you apply the principles plus even a cute picture of an on-line community reminder.

I really liked the examples he gave to illustrate how his model can be used in parenting, teaching, sports.   Alan Fine gives the reader dialogue of specific training sessions.  I felt like a little mouse getting to listen in.  In this book you can learn the G.R.O.W. method to use in reaching decisions quickly and making meetings meaningful.

I recommend You Already Know How to Be Great as a reference book to anyone who wants to improve their performance in any area of their life or who is in a leadership position and seeks to help others improve performance. 


Want to find out more?  Here  is a video of Alan Fine talking about You Already Know How To Be Great which includes some illustrations from the book:

Alan-fine.com

Blog: alan-fine.com/blog

Twitter:  twitter.com/Alan_Fine

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FineAlan 

To enter our giveaway for an autographed copy by Alan Fine of You Already Know How To Be Great, just leave us a comment stating you would like to win along with an email address so we can contact you if you are a winner.  We will choose a total of FIVE winners on November 25, Thanksgiving Day!  Winners will be notified by email and will have until Nov. 28 to give us their mailing address or someone else will be chosen.  (This giveaway will also be promoted on Blog Jog day coming Sunday, November 21 so you could enter then too.)


(We received a free copy of this book for review.)
Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Facebook Me!" by Dave Awl

Facebook Me! by Dave Awl is a good reference book for learning to use Facebook to its full capacity.  I've been on Facebook for a couple years now I think so most of the things in this book I already knew by just exploring on my own.  Had I read this book first, it would have saved me some time.  It does explain how to set up a fan page which is something I didn't know how to do.  Another helpful thing was that it pointed out how I can blog app requests like silly gifts and games that I am not interested in.  It's actually very simple, there's a "block this app" option in  tiny letters under the app request that all I had to do was click on.  

I recommend this to anyone considering opening a Facebook account or who just is kind of lost when they go into it and would like to have a better understanding of it.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?