Ditching the Drive Thru

Today it seems like we never have enough time and certainly not enough time to make a dinner from scratch like our grandmother's make unless it's a holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Most of us are families in which both parents work and we barely have enough time to get it all done, along with taking our kids to school, picking them up, homework, sporting events and finding time for dinner is usually something we grab on the go or head to the nearest drive thru. While we know it is not healthy, what else can the average home do to ensure we are feeding our families healthy food and just how can you be sure what you are buying is truly healthy anyway.

J. Natalie Winch wrote a book just for people like us called Ditching the Drive-Thru, how to pass up processed goods, buy farm fresh, and transform your family's eating habits on a modern mom's schedule. Just hearing that was enough to make me want to check out this book. She teaches you the difference between grass-fed versus grain-fed, pastured versus free-range, or organic versus sustainable. Readers will gain a much needed lesson not only in knowing why but in how to do it, along with a 30-day plan to convert your family from junk food to real food without a revolt, something that I absolutely needed because my kids are hard to get them to try something new, especially if it sounds healthy. This book even includes recipes and advice on planning and preparing meals to you can make home cooked a habit for your family besides those special holiday times. Tips are included from locating local farms, seeing through marketing buzzwords and shopping with CSA's.

"The diet industry present us with a simple equation: fat=unhealthy. Of course, it tends to ignore the possibility that increased body fat is related to the chemicals and additives in processed foods manufactured by the industrialized food system. Fat in itself is not inherently unhealthy, although fat-laden refined food generally is. As our food becomes more and more processed in order to make food easier and faster to consume, our people are rowing less and less healthy. Food quality declines, overall healthy declines, people start gaining weight, and then the diet industry gets a major boost. " (pg 8).

I received Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch compliments of Spikehorn Press and iRead Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation, aside from a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. After watching my husband at 46 have a major heart attack, this was a huge wake up call for both of us. After meeting with our cardiologists, he agrees that the ages of people having heart related issues is getting much younger than ever before and it is based on what we are eating. This is why this book is so critical to gain the knowledge we need to make the right decisions to start feeding our families the right way and in doing so, give them a quality of life that they can pass on to a future generation. It is interesting to note that there has also been a rise in cancer deaths and when you look at the facts, it is hard not to put it all together and discover it has to do with our food we are eating. This book helps put all of that into perspective and well worth all 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Ditching the Drive-Thru, J. Natalie Winch or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch 

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We Had A Job To Do

It isn't hard as an American to appreciate the freedoms we often take for granted and simply forget that such freedoms were not free, but were the result of the ultimate price paid for by the service men and women who served in this nations armed forces. Being a child of both parents who were veterans in the war as well as a grandfather who played a part in WWII, I find myself drawn to those brave men and women who served without considering the sacrifices that would be required of them, and one I feel is vastly missing from our citizens today, to appreciate those who continue to fight for the freedoms we still have in this country.

In Thereas Anzaldua's book, We Had A Job To Do, she has compiled a vast history of those who played a part in WWII and the stories that each had to tell about how they summed up their military careers and what their role did in helping us through those difficult years. From the onset of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, many men simply looked to the military as a way to find self worth when all the jobs were not available until we entered the war on December 7, 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This book chronicles the lives of those like B-25 bomber pilots on the US Hornet, to the role women played as the first WACs and WAVES, from the Navajo Code Talkers to the to the Tuskegee Airman, from how the Douglas Plant was Camouflaged to the inspiration of the talents of such notables as Glenn Miller, there is something for everyone in this book.

The only issue I had with the layout of this book was as you began with one person's story, the chapter would end and ask you to head to a later chapter to continue their story, this made for a huge disconnection for me, trying to flip all over the book to keep the continuity of the person's life I was following. I believe the authors intent was to keep the timeline's current and as the person's life continued later it was if you picked them back up later in the war years. For me, it would have benefited the reader more if they simply stayed with one particular person's story until that came to a conclusion, but that is my only critique of the book. This was well thought out and love that you can see things in the life of so many different varieties of the people who served in the war efforts of WWII.

I received We Had A Job To Do by Theresa Anzaldua compliments of iRead Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. I love that this is filled with such a variety of stories because it takes you into the heart of the various people, nationalities and service groups that helped make the war a success and not only that how they attempted to go back after they served their time, it wasn't always an easy transition. I guess my favorite is the women's role not in the Rosie the Riveters but in the women who served, not only as nurses, but as pilots as well. For me, this one was a 4 out of 5 stars simply based on the confusing layout but love that images accompany each chapter highlighting these brave men and women and also those times when we truly had a sense of patriotism and valued our service men and women. I think this does a great job at honoring them and the jobs they had to do.

For more information about We Had A Job To Do, Theresa Anzaldua or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

We Had A Job To Do by Theresa Anzaldua

You can find Theresa Anzaldua on Facebook to keep up to date on more war stories she shares on her page.

To read more reviews on We Had A Job To Do, please visit iReads Book Tour page and take part in the giveaway that is being hosted as well.

Two Hearts

When two people say I do, it's meant to last forever. That is precisely what Jaxon Tagget has had on his mind when he proposed to Annie, his high school sweetheart. Knowing the true intentions of his heart, he bypassed the expensive ring and opted for something made from his heart and from the heart of the land his lived on in Montana. Finding gold in a mine on his father's ranch, he decided the show Annie just how much he loved her and designed a ring specifically unique, one of a kind and one that would always let her know that he places her needs above his own. It was a token of more than their affection for one another.

Annie's mother, a product of divorce and her own failed marriage resolves to convince Annie, that Jax isn't worth it and only has his mind on one thing, the same thing as all men. She knows how wealthy the Tagget family is and the size of their cattle ranch, so when Annie shows her mother the ring Jax presented, she feels she is completely justified by her opinion of Jax's worth. If a man can afford anything, why did he settle for something homemade instead of buying her what she was worth. But like all well-meaning mothers, she believes if she bides her time, Annie will eventually gain enough money from the family. To her mother's displeasure, she accepts Jax's proposal and they marry despite all her objections.

Now Jax is well on his way to putting his mining degree to work as he is hired on by a Bolivian company that will require them to step away from their plans in Montana and move to South America, where Jax assures Annie, he plans to make good on attempts to start their newly married life and support her as any well-meaning husband should. But as we all know, real life isn't like fairy tales and soon trouble finds Jax much like the modern tale retelling of Joseph from the Bible who has to make some hard decisions about his newest employer and it might just be one that costs him everything in the end.

I received Two Hearts by James Eric Richey compliments of Jer Books and iRead Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review outside of a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions contained here are strictly my own. This novel truly is an exceptional one in which you literally have a little bit of every genre thrown in, from romance, suspense, murder, and yes, a little bit of  fairy tale for good measure, but it works because the love between Jax and Annie isn't all tied up in a pretty bow. It is tested by fire, as they go through seeming difficult situations that test their relationship at every crossroads. I absolutely LOVED this one! The writing was engaging for the reader from the very beginning in a novel this size, so you simply don't want to put it down until you see how it will all turn out. Not all authors can master that level of intensity but I think James Richey did it well and with flair and style. I would definitely want to read more of his novels and thus a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Two Hearts, James Eric Richey or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Two Hearts by James Eric Richey

You can find James Eric Richey on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest books.

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Hypocrisy

In a world where technology is evolving at an exponential rate, it will only be a matter of time before diseases like cancer finally find a cure and find that it is as treatable as polio. "Only in light of the fact cancer research, cancer treatment, cancer prevention is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Do you have any idea how many people are employed just because there is no real cure for cancer? Do you have any idea how much the pharmaceutical industry makes treating cancer patients with chemotherapy drugs? Ca you even begin to imagine how many hundreds of research centers there are worldwide that are funded by the American Cancer Society, The National Cancer Institute, and other non-profit organizations, and private investors? How about radiology, oncology, surgery? What if Dr. Laura Crawford's clinical research validated her theories, if she had developed an effective treatment for cancer, the entire landscape of cancer research and treatment would dramatically change. So is murder the justification to keep things as they have always been or is there another motive for her death?" (pg 57).

Those are just a handful of the questions that New York City homicide detectives Amaris Dupree and T.J. Brown are trying to find answers for. Not only has the murder of Dr. Crawford cost her her own life but possibly the lives of millions who could have been saved by her research findings. She was on the cusp of announcing a discover that would change cancer once and for all and was about to get approval from the FDA to begin using it as treatment for cancer patients everywhere. Is is possible that there are companies willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that that doesn't happen, or even worse that greed has become the sole motivator for companies to take risks like murder to prevent them from losing the potential billions if this drug finding was approved?

As the two detectives interview countless suspects, they also deal with the fact after six months on the job neither of them knows much about the other, and that is what's possibly keeping them from working so well together. As partners, you need to understand the dynamics of what one works and thinks the way they do, and until these two have a true heart to heart, holding nothing back conversation, it may in fact hinder the amount of detective work that they can accomplish. However the closer they get to the truth, one of them will find their own life is at stake and thus upping the ante to find the answers out before there is another murder.

I received Hypocrisy by D.M. Annechino compliments of iRead Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are my own unless otherwise notated. This is the first time reading one of D.M. Annechino's novels and while the premise behind the novel is initially what drew me in, the constant description of how well endowed naturally Dupree's assets were in light of her working with her other male counterparts was something that I felt detracted me away from the novel. There is a toggling of parallel storylines, the one in which initially drew me to want to read this book, and the conflict in the relationships between the two detectives that had no real purpose in the novel for me. It almost felt like two books in one but with no apparent meaning in moving the story along. I'd have to say for me, this one rates a 3.5 out of 5 stars. There is a fair amount of profanity laced throughout the novel which for most of my readers they may find offensive but overall the storyline is enough to keep you moving through the novel to see how it turns out in the end.

For more information about Hypocrisy, D.M. Annechino, or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Hypocrisy by D.M Annechino

You can also find D.M. Annechino on Facebook to stay up to date with all his latest novels.

To read more reviews on Hypocrisy, please visit iRead Book Tours page.