Sunday Book Nook - Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Women

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Women: 
101 Daily Devotions to Comfort, Encourage and Inspire Women
400p, Isbn-1935096486


Throughout time, women have shared their joys and sorrows, thoughts and feelings, experiences and life lessons with one another. The tradition continues in CSS Devotional Stories for Women with 101 stories of friendship, faith, and comfort that affirm God's unconditional love and His wisdom.

Women will find encouragement, solace, and strength in these personal stories and prayers that cover everyday trials to tests of faith, to marriage and parenting, to service to others and self-esteem.


Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Free Pampers Diapers!

Every baby is a champion in play, and to celebrate the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Pampers® Diapers has partnered with Team USA to introduce new Pampers Swaddler!

Although these limited-edition Team USA diapers will not be for sale, parents all across the country can buy Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers Diapers with Dry Max for their best players in the world in March. In the meantime, parents can request a free sample three-pack of the new Cruisers diaper on Pampers.com starting January 29th. If this sample includes a Team USA diaper (they will be randomly inserted in select sample packs), their baby will win a year's supply of Pampers Cruisers Diapers with Dry Max.

So hurry up and visit Pampers today at - www.pampers.com - and click on the "Get your free Sample" that you'll see on the right hand corner of your screen!

Review and giveaways will be coming soon!

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Sunday Book Nook - My Life I Make

My Life I Make; Spiritual reflections inspired by Bob Marley's lyrics

Toronto resident Lauris Faith believes that, in large measure, we are responsible for the life we have, and that the choices we make shape and mould us into the persons we are. Little did she know that Reggae music would be a source of salvation in her life.

Like many parents, her relationship with her son Damon was tested during his “Teenage Years”. After a period of estrangement from her younger son – which lasted far too long – a wonderful reconciliation occurred. And as they grew closer, they found ways to communicate and relate and a new mother son relationship was discovered. This relationship had blossomed and matured due to the lyrics they had found together in Reggae music.

Years later, Damon suggested she write down her thoughts and share what was on her mind. So she did and found that she enjoyed writing immensely.

The resulting book, My Life I Make, is a living legacy to her children and an example for others about the pleasures and wonderful gifts a parent can give to her children while alive. It is a collection of 65 thought-provoking, inspirational pieces based on the philosophy that each of us is responsible for the choices we make in life.


In two words, her writing dispenses effervescent hope. Her book captures her personal, contemporary “Prodigal Son” experience and allows people to experience and benefit from the heightened knowledge that comes from relating to her sons using the lyrics of Reggae music as a starting point.  It has allowed her to express and sharpen her “philosophy on the run” perspectives on life.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Sunday Book Nook - Going Rouge: An American Nightmare

Some people think that the title of Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue book is really quite accurate and revealing.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word ‘rogue’ like this:

1: vagrant, tramp
2: a dishonest or worthless person: scoundrel
3: a mischievous person: scamp
4: a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave
5: an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation.

Was this really intentional? Is this really what she is aiming at achieving?
Or is it a Freudian slip and self fulfilling prophesy all-in-one?
Richard Kim and Betsy Reed, editors at the progressive magazine The Nation and co-creators of Going Rouge: An American Nightmare, an alternative, liberal compilation with highly critical views of Sarah Palin, think it is probably the latter.

Sarah Palin has many faces: hockey mom, fundamentalist Christian, sex symbol, Republican ideologue, fashion icon, “maverick” populist. But, above all, Palin has become one thing: an American obsession that just won’t go away. Edited by two senior editors at The Nation magazine, this sharp, smart, up-to-the-minute book examines Palin’s quirky origins in Wasilla, Alaska, her spectacular rise to the effective leadership of the Republican Party, and the nightmarish prospect of her continuing to dominate the nation’s political scene.

This smart, up-to-the-minute book explores questions such as:

• What was Palin doing before she exploded on the national scene?
• What does her rise mean for the Republican Party, and for feminism?
• Does Palin’s brand of down-home right-wing populism represent a still-resilient strain of American politics?
• And if her pro-war, pro-corporate, anti-choice, anti-environment policies became reality, what sort of world would we be living in?

It also includes a selection of classic Palinisms for example: “Only dead fish go with the flow.”

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Sunday Book Nook - The Mayo Clinic Diet

The Mayo Clinic Diet (Good Books; $25.99; hardcover) is packed with meal plans, tips for overcoming challenges, help in starting an exercise plan, and overall encouragement for success from the Mayo Clinic’s weight-loss and nutrition experts.

The Mayo Clinic Diet emphasizes foods that are not only healthy, but also taste great. Part 1, the “Lose It!” phase, is The Mayo Clinic Diet’s two-week quick-start plan. “Lose It” is designed to help dieters lose 6 to 10 pounds in just 14 days. After dieters complete the “Lose It” phase, they move on to Part 2, “Live It.” This phase is designed to help dieters continue to lose 1-2 pounds each week until they reach their desired healthy weight.  “Live It” offers a customized guide to using the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid.

To make it possible for dieters to keep track of their goals and succeed with weight loss, The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal is available as an essential companion to The Mayo Clinic Diet.  Like the Diet itself, The Journal includes both a “Lose It” quick-start section to monitor habits and a “Live It” section to record daily eating and exercise.

Here's a Healthy Cooking excerpt :

Healthy cooking doesn't mean you have to become a gourmet chef or invest in special cookware. Simply use standard cooking methods to prepare foods in healthy ways. You can also adapt familiar recipes by substituting other ingredients for fat, sugar and salt.

These methods best capture the flavor and retain the nutrients in your food without adding too much fat or salt.

• Baking. Besides breads and desserts, you can bake seafood, poultry, lean meat, and vegetable and fruit pieces of the same size. Place food in a pan or dish (covered or uncovered) and bake. You may need to baste the food with broth, low-fat marinade or juice to keep the food from drying out.

• Braising. Braising involves browning the meat or poultry first in a pan on top of the stove, and then slowly cooking it covered with a small amount of liquid, such as water or broth. In some recipes, the cooking liquid is used afterward to form a flavorful, nutrient-rich sauce.

• Grilling and broiling. Both grilling and broiling expose fairly thin pieces of food to direct heat and allow fat to drip away from the food. If you're grilling outdoors, place smaller items, such as chopped vegetables, in a long-handled grill basket or on foil to prevent pieces from slipping through the rack. To broil indoors place food on a broiler rack below a heat element.

• Poaching. To poach foods, in a covered pan gently simmer ingredients in water or a flavorful liquid, such as broth, vinegar or juice, until cooked through and tender. For stove-top poaching, choose an appropriate-sized covered pan and use a minimum amount of liquid.

• Roasting. Roasting uses an oven's dry heat at high temperatures to cook the food on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. For poultry, seafood and meat, place a rack inside the roasting pan so that the fat can drip away during cooking.

• Sautéing. Sautéing quickly cooks small or thin pieces of food. If you choose a good-quality nonstick pan, you can cook food without using fat. Depending on the recipe, use low-sodium broth, cooking spray, water or wine in place of oil or butter.

• Steaming. One of the simplest cooking techniques to master is steaming food in a perforated basket suspended above simmering liquid. If you use a flavorful liquid or add herbs to the water, you'll flavor the food as it cooks.

• Stir-frying. Stir-frying quickly cooks small, uniform-sized pieces of food while they're rapidly stirred in a wok or large nonstick frying pan. You need only a small amount of oil or cooking spray for this cooking method.

Find new ways to add flavor :

• Instead of salt or butter, you can enhance foods with a variety of herbs, spices and low-fat condiments. Be creative.
• Poach fish in low-fat broth or wine and fresh herbs. Top a broiled chicken breast with fresh salsa. Make meats more flavorful with low-fat marinades or spices -- bay leaf, chili powder, dry mustard, garlic, ginger, green pepper, sage, marjoram, onion, oregano, pepper or thyme.
• To bring out the sweetness in baked goods, use a bit more vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg.

The above is an excerpt from the book The Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat well. Enjoy life. Lose weight., by the weight-loss experts at Mayo Clinic and Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Reprinted from The Mayo Clinic Diet, © 2010 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Children's Book Nook - The Runt Family Series

The Runt Family Series books are illustrated middle readers for ages 6–10 that feature a nontraditional family of animals.

Under New Management (Runt Farm, Book 1)
The farm has been abandoned by its human owners, the Brunts, but Kitten has decided to stay on and take over. When a baby duck hatches out and imprints on Kitten as a parent figure, Kitten’s loner toughness dissolves as he decides it’s not so bad having The Peep for a friend. Then two extra-smart mice show up, having recently escaped from NAARF, an infamous animal research facility. With their extraordinary inventive and literary talents, Cletus and Tooth have just what it takes to make Runt Farm a real home.

Beatrice and Blossom (Runt Farm, Book 2)
Beatrice is rescued by Cletus and Tooth after taking a bad bounce off of the market truck. This bunny is rambunctious and full of questions. Adopted and glad of it, she later pulls off her own rescue. She frees a trapped squirrel named Blossom who has an impeccable sense of style (and a fear of trees). The two share the classic sibling challenges of sharing, competition, and fair play as Blossom becomes one of the family.

These days non-traditional families are becoming the norm. And this seriesis a great way to introduce the concept of blended families to children everywhere. The Runt Farmers are a motley bunch who find one another and make a home on an abandoned farm. And their adventures are great fun and very entertaining!

For more info, visit www.runtfarm.com and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpWaXq43Sms and 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s75rz6VTOM8.

Titles: The Runt Farm: Under New Management (book 1); The Runt Farm: Beatrice & Blossom (book 2)
Author: Amanda Lorenzo
Genre: Children (6-10)
ISBN's: Book 1: 978-0-9800952-0-3, Book 2: 978-0-9800952-1-0
Publication Date: August 2009 (both books)
Pages: 80 (book 1); 120 (book 2)
Price: $12.95 (all)
Publisher: BooktiMookti Press

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Talk to Me Treatballs

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

You have an iPod, an iPhone, the latest laptop, wireless this and that. Every gizmo on the planet. But what about your dog? Is he/she still playing with that chewed up old tennis ball? Get rid of it and get your dog the next generation dog toy - Talk to Me Treatballs!

These are actual balls that your dog can play with. And in which you can record and re-record your voice and message for your pet to hear. Your pet don't have to press any buttons or such to listen to the message. All the dog has to do is - roll the ball! That's it!

Motion activation technology replays your message to your dog and relieves their separation anxiety. But that's not all this hi-tech ball does! Fill it with your dog's favorite treats or their kibble and the ball will randomly disperse them from the hole at the bottom during playtime. Now what could be more rewarding?!

As a sidenote, these are great attractions to the two-legged human little ones as well, as I found out. Teach your babies not to eat the dog treats before you fill up the ball. I found that out the hard way!

For more information and to check out their various other interesting products, visit http://www.talktometreatball.com/.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Children's Book Nook - Dear Baby, What I Love About You!

A sweet and playful love letter to babies, Dear Baby, What I Love About You! lets them know why they are so irresistible. Babies are nurtured by the affirming message that says “I see you. I see how you make the simplest of actions so endearing and how your kind character is already shining through.”

This cheerful children's picture book is set in eye-popping tropical colors and drawn with playful warmth by new illustrator Jason Oransky. The baby yearbook at the end of the book is a unique feature allowing the book to become a keepsake of who read to Baby.

About the author: Carol Casey began her writing career in Chicago as a news writer and editor. Dear Baby, What I Love About You! is Carol’s debut as a children’s book author. Illustrator Jason Oransky is a lead graphic artist for Carter Clothes, Inc. Dear Baby, What I Love About You! is Jason’s debut as a children’s book illustrator. Visit http://www.dearbabybooks.com/.

I just adore this book as will any other parent, for the sentiments expressed in rhymes are simple yet strong and heartfelt and ring oh-so TRUE! It's a wonderful book to both give and receive as a gift. And will be treasured long after the baby is grown up.

Title: Dear Baby, What I love about you!
Author: Carol Casey
Genre: Children's/Baby
ISBN: 978-0-9820972-0-5
Publication Date: July 2009
Pages: 18
Price: $6.99
Publisher: National Book Network

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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