Mother Rising By Yana Cortlund, Barb Lucke, Donna Miller Watelet

This book is a guide to creating a Blessingway ceremony for a mom to be. I loved the concept of this book. I love the thought of a Blessingway and have had the privilege of partaking in a Blessingway ceremony, yet to me, this book fell flat. I had high hopes this book would be an exciting read. I opened it with great anticipation, but my comments for it fall somewhere along the lines of “don’t waste your time.”

For one, this book was very New Agey. I’m not into all of that. We don’t have to call God “Spirit.” Why can’t we just call Him what He is: God. This review is not meant to argue religion, but I can safely say the majority of people believe in God, not “Spirit.” So, while the authors tried to cater to all religions with a vague term such as Spirit, they neglected their main audience: women who believe in God since this is the majority. A Blessingway is meant to honor the mother and can easily be done without the need to invite dead relatives or pray to the “Goddess.” I would have liked less of that hogwash and more ideas on ways to honor the mother.

I was also disappointed with the lack of ideas of exactly what to do with the Blessingway. It’s just my opinion of course, but the authors managed to say a whole lot of nothing in the book. Save your time and money, it’s not hard to figure out what to do. At a Blessingway, provide lots of yummy food for the guests, tell everyone to bring a bead to make the mother a labor bracelet to wear during her birth, provide everyone with a take home candle to light when the mother goes into labor, get a bellycasting kit, give her a massage, paint her belly with artistic henna, wash her feet, write poems for her and read them aloud, tie everyone’s wrist with a string they can’t cut off until the mother gives birth, etc. There’s really not a whole lot more to it than that, and you certainly won’t find more suggestions in this book.

The one thing I can confirm the book did well was list recipes for the event. Most of them make my mouth water and I do plan to try them for the next Blessingway event I host.

Oh well… maybe another book, another time.

Sexy Forever by Suzanne Somers

I’m a fan of Suzanne Somers, so when she writes a new book, I am sure to read it. For the most part, this book did not disappoint. Somers has taken information that can be found in other sources, but has compiled it for easy reading and reference. This book is intelligent, well-written, and thorough.

Here’s what I liked:

The discussion presented on toxins is wonderful. Most people don’t realize how toxic our living conditions are and how much they affect our health. Another major aspect of a toxic body is weight gain. Somers presents the information in an encouraging, understandable, and non-overwhelming way. Readers will learn how toxins make us fat and undermine our health and how to avoid them as best as possible. I especially loved the alternatives to organic food for those who can’t avid organic and be sure to check out the list at the back of the book for ingredients to avoid in foods and in other products. It’s very comprehensive!

Somers also addresses ways to detoxify, which is crucial for health and weight loss. Other topics include the importance of sleep, why as we age we can’t sleep as well, and what to do to get the restorative sleep we all need. Somers discusses sex and there is additionally a devoted section to bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Somers maintains “there are no shortcuts to true health.” I couldn’t agree more.

I also appreciated the chapter on supplementing. Somers discusses supplements in depth. Some tricks mentioned such as taking supplements as to how they occur in nature such as natural folate and not just folic acid, mixed tocopherals, not just alpha tocopheral and which vitamin B 12 to take are all important things mentioned.

Gut health is also discussed in depth, which is crucial for so many of us. Food sensitivities, particularly gluten, I addressed at length. Enzymes, probiotics, hydrocholoric acid, and fiber are explained as well as leaky gut syndrome. This book is unique in that so much information can be found in one place.

This book is different from Somers two previous books, Breakthrough and Knockout, though readers will find some of the same themes mentioned.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

The book feels a little too commercially. As many readers know, Somers manufactures products and has quite a thriving business selling these products on her website. Many references to the products are mentioned throughout her book, giving the book not entirely a balanced perspective.

Somers also has a weight loss plan called Somersize, which readers will find the plan presented in this book is very similar with only minor tweaks.

Personally, for me being a vegetarian, Somers program won’t work for me at all. Half of the book contains recipes that for many people will be helpful, though for me, known of them were vegetarian. I’m not quite sure why Somers hasn’t jumped on the vegetarian bandwagon. Most health advocates are very outspoken for the vegetarian lifestyle as research has been finding is the healthiest way of living if you want to avoid disease. Somers meals are heavily reliant on meat and cheese, which I found odd. Almost all diets and all health advocates are unsupportive of cheese during weight loss.

I suppose her plan could work for some, though it’s mostly a focus on eating real food, which we should be doing anyway. Anyone who shifts to eating real food instead of constant fast food is going to notice an improvement in their health.

For weight loss and healthy eating, I still wholeheartedly recommend Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It’s the best book written on this subject that I have ever read and I can personally attest to the results.

Bottom line: If you don’t mind Somers mentioning some of her products in the book and you’re interested in trying her weight loss plan, this book will be a sure hit. You’ll come away educated and empowered, and that’s something we all need.

The Doula Guide to Birth By Ananda Lowe and Rachel Zimmerman

I was impressed with this book. It is well written, objective, and chocked full of information. As a labor and delivery nurse and doula myself, I can verify this information is spot on.

One thing I enjoyed in this book is the discussion of when epidurals and Cesareans happen, but were unplanned. I recently attended a birth in which my client wanted a natural birth, but after extenuating circumstances and over 30 hours of natural labor, she opted for an epidural. What I was reminded of from this experience is that there are times when interventions such as an epidural or even a Cesarean do become necessary, and it is important to remember this is not a failure. The goal for a natural delivery is usually to avoid unnecessary intervention, but since labor is neither predictable or controllable, it is so important to recognize some interventions do become necessary in some circumstances. I love how this is addressed in this book.

Another concept discussed in this book that is often overlooked in other books is belly dancing during labor. This was very interesting to me. The authors highlight how it’s done and the benefits. I can’t say I’ve tried it myself, but I do remember during my labor with my daughter, how important it was for me to move my hips. I had to move the intense energy I felt, so I spun my hips in circles. I can imagine this concept of belly dancing would be beneficial in the same way.

This book also gives labor support techniques and assistance with writing a birth plan. The information is comprehensive.

There is information in the book on how to find a doula, though I felt this section was a bit lacking. I would have liked there to be a little more focus on the importance of a doula, especially a birth doula, and I felt there just wasn’t enough discussion on this.

My only other complaint was a lengthy discussion on walking epidurals, which I was a bit hesitant on the accuracy of the information presented. Perhaps, there are different approaches to epidurals, but the way I understand them is an epidural is an epidural. The anesthesiologist can adjust the medication, therefore giving a lower dose in some cases, but the way the medication works for each woman is different. Some woman won’t get relief from the lower dose, and it’s not going to be possible to “walk.” Walking epidurals were once touted as a great innovation, but are becoming outdated. A walking epidural is not the cure-all answer.

For the most part, I felt this book was great. If you’re interested in learning more about birth and the importance of doulas, then this is a book to move to the top of your list.

The Home Birth Advantage by Mayer Eisenstein

Being the huge proponent of homebirth that I am, I was fairly certain I would like a book with the title The Home Birth Advantage, and I was right. For the most part, I liked this book, so I’ll start with the positives.

I love the beginning section of this book. The author says so many truisms of birth that I could practically quote his entire writing.

What’s different about this book from other books on the topic of homebirth is that the author is not afraid to outright proclaim homebirth is safe. Of course, homebirth is safe. Research supports this conclusion, yet the author is correct in his assertion that no other book outrightly proclaims this. Other books say homebirth is a nice option, but they do not go far enough in saying that homebirth is THE option for almost all pregnant women.

What I also loved about this book that no other book I have read on any subject does is that the author doesn’t simply require us to take his word that homebirth is the safest option, he explains to us how to research it for ourselves. Other authors blab on about the scientific research they’ve reviewed for their book, but few will tell you how to do as they’ve done. Being educated about a subject does require an investigation into what science has to say about a topic, yet many people don’t know how to go about searching the research. A simple google search is not at all sufficient!

Now, there were a few things I had quams with in this book. This book is written by a medical doctor and there is a phrase in the book that states something to the effect of homebirth is only safe when there is a skilled medical doctor present. Nowhere in the entire book does he once mention midwives. To me, midwives and homebirth are synonymous of one another. Midwives have been carrying the torch of homebirth for far longer than any medical doctor. They’ve taken much abuse for it, often being persecuted as felons. To not acknowledge them for the skilled professionals they are, strong and courageous women, in a book about homebirth- the very thing they do- is an insult. They should have at least been addressed in the book. Period.

Much of the book consisted of the author recounting some of his experiences and giving much details of his organization, Homefirst. There’s a history of homebirth in Chicago and also information on the founding of Le Leche League- something the author is an avid supporter of. The book ends with recounts of births by his family members. There are also some homebirth stories littered throughout.

I found this book to be lacking in meat and potatoes. I’m glad the author is supportive of homebirth and breastfeeding, yet this book really doesn’t give any information that’s useful on these subjects. I had trouble relating to the childbirth stories. I grew bored at times. There wasn’t much of the scientific evidence mentioned in the book. No statistics as to why one would want to consider a homebirth- only that they should. Also, there is no bibliography, works cited, or notes at the end of the book, citing the research he used. I feel a medical doctor should be aware that if they’re writing a book at all, much less one that’s controversial in nature going against societal standards, of course references to the scientific literature should be included.

This book is a bit outdated as the copy I have was written in 2000. Many of the references he makes are to things that happened in the 70’s and 80’s.

The last complaint I have is the author’s continual quoting and mentioning of Dr. Joseph DeLee, whom is often referred to as the Father of Modern Obstetrics. The way the author portrays Dr. DeLee is inaccurate from my perception. Dr. DeLee made many pigheaded remarks about women and our ability to give birth in his lifetime, and I often wonder why he was even an obstetrician. He’s exactly what’s wrong with obstetrics today, and in his lifetime, he arguably did more harm than good. I don’t understand why the author seems to be confused on this point.

I realize my review seems more proportionally negative now that I’ve written it. This wasn’t a bad book, there were simply some inconsistencies I must mention. I wouldn’t call this book a must read. A comparable, but much more informative book on this topic would be The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer. That book has the meat and potatoes I look for.

Intuitive Parenting by Debra J. Synder, PhD

It is most unfortunate that I have to report I really didn't enjoy this book. It's a shame because I really wanted to like it. I love the subject matter, and I as excited to read it. I was quite disappointed.

I just didn't connect with this book. It was boring, and I felt as though I was wasting my time reading it. This book is quite new agey, which isn't necessarily a problem in itself for most people, but for these concepts discussed, it was just not explained well.

The author professes to have studied these concepts in depth and has a PhD to show for it, yet I can't pinpoint a single thing I learned from this book nor something special or important to add to my life because of it.

The author begins each chapter with information about her life. She has a disabled daughter in which many of the stories she shared touched my heart. I would have liked to read more about that. After the short story in each chapter, there was simply just a bunch of talk- talk about concepts I feel most people won't be able to relate to.

There are exercises to do at the end of each chapter. There wasn't one in which I really found useful for my day to day life. It's hard to do guided imagery or meditation while reading it off a page, and I certainly didn't memorize it to do while not reading.

I found many of the author's terms confusing. She makes up a lot of her own terms and language without proper explanation, e.g. Heartglow. She also refers to God, the Universe, Source, Spirit, amongst others. It isn't clear to me as to whether the author is referring to a different entity with each capitalized reference or the same one with creativity of a different name.

In general, I am interested in the concepts of this book. I believe there is a lot about energy in which we do not understand, and I'm open to learning about it, yet this book just wasn't the source for that. I love the idea of being in tune with your children, connected and intimate, understanding them in a way only you can. I love to read about unexplanable moments in which there seemed to be an energetic connection between two people, an intuitive knowing or sense of something. I'm open to these ideas, yet this book just fell short.

I also found this book poorly referenced for the subject matter covered.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do with this book. I respect her life circumstances and the profound connection she has with her daughter. I respect what she shared in this book and I appreciate her bearing her soul.

Other than those things, this book just didn't resonate with me. It may be different for others, but my recommendation is there are so many other books to read out there, this one is a waste of time and money.

Eat To Live By Joel Fuhrman

I was unbelievably impressed by this book. Nowhere have I found more accurate nutritional information contained all in one book. This has become my top recommendation for books on nutrition. If you eat this way, you will be healthy.

Being a vegetarian myself, I especially enjoyed Dr. Fuhrman's accurate assessment on meat and meat products. I will admit it is bizarre to me that people choose to eat meat. I understand it is a misguided notion to get enough protein, but biologically, it is questioned as to whether we are really designed to eat meat. One thing is for certain, however, and that is that we can live and thrive without meat. This book will show you how.

I also appreciated Dr. Fuhrman's reliance on scientific study to base his recommendations. This book is well referenced. In writing this book, Dr. Fuhrman reviewed more than 2,000 nutritional studies. People can argue about what to eat all day, but it all depends on the research. This is one of the best referenced books on nutrition I have seen.

This information in this book wasn't new to my family. We eat this way already, but it is so nice to have validation for the way we eat. We eat this way because we want to be healthy and because we want to live a long disease free life. My children hardly get sick. They don't complain about what we're eating, and I've never had trouble getting them to eat their vegetables (we had a salad with beets, onions, and orange peppers on it today for example). This is the best gift we can give ourselves- the gift of good health.

The basic way of eating in this book is to avoid animal products, at least during the beginning weight loss stage. One may choose to add meat back in twice a week at most after 6weeks. Meat is to be thought of as a condiment. So, basically we eat one pound of fresh veggies and an additional pound of cooked veggies, one cup of beans a day, one handful of nuts, a tablespoon of ground flaxseed, and all the fruit we want. It's a whole lot of food- there's no way to go hungry because you're not limiting yourself. You'll get plenty of nutrients and protein on this plan. It's perfect for weight loss.

Whether you're wanting to lose weight or you just want to eat healthier, then this book will teach you what you need to know. Healthy food is delicious so have an open mind and read this book today!

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

I recently reviewed The Five Love Languages of Children, which is an excellent book. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to read the one for married couples. It has to be stressed that one of the best things you can do for your children is to keep a strong marriage. The difficulties of divorce on children are well known. With parents who attachment parent, this often takes a lot of time. If not careful, sometimes a marriage will suffer. This is why I feel it important to read this book.

While most of us love our spouse and may even be trying to show our spouse love, it is possible that our spouse will not pick up on our love gestures and will therefore feel unloved. This is because our spouse speaks a different love language.

There are five love languages as evidenced by the title. They are physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, and acts of service. One of these five things will speak the most love to your spouse. Usually, we try to show love in the way that we feel most loved, yet very rarely does a couple have the same love language.

It is possible to also be speaking your spouse’s love language, yet not speaking what the author calls the right dialect. For example, my love language is acts of service. I like thoughtful gestures, and I feel super alive, happy, stress free when our house is clean. I have to give my husband credit in that he does a lot of cleaning. From this book we found out, however, that it is not always the right dialect for me. I realized I feel most loved when the floors are clean and the kitchen counters and table are clean and the bed is made than when the laundry is done or the toilets cleaned. This was an important revelation for our marriage.

Conversely, we figured out my husband’s love language is words of affirmation. I usually show him love by acts of service… by keeping things clean, paying bills, planning meals, etc. I handle most of our lives’ responsibilities. I would think to myself, “What more does he want?” With this book, it dawned on me that I really don’t speak words of affirmation very well. I underestimate them and don’t give them my attention. Changing this takes conscience effort. We sat done and wrote out our needs, and it’s been worth it.

I love this entire concept of this author. He writes this information in such a relatable way. The book is an easy read, but more than likely, it will make a huge difference in your life.

When a family can begin speaking each other’s love languages, this family will be successful.

Check out Gary Chapman’s other books as well. There are several other marriage books as well as love languages book about God and for teenagers. Highly recommend!

His Needs Her Needs By Willard F Harley Jr.

I have yet to read a better book on marriage. This book gives it to you straight. So, what is a book review about marriage doing on a parenting book review site? Well, a good marriage has a lot to do with parenting. Those of us into attachment parenting can sometimes get so caught up in meeting the needs of our children, we forget about the needs of our spouse.

This book addresses what the 10 basic needs are in a relationship. Each need is discussed in depth. It’s interesting that men and women usually rate their needs in complete opposite from each other, clearly showing men and women have different needs.

The author asserts that people get too caught up in worrying about our own needs being met and rarely think about the needs of our spouse getting met. This is why we have such a high divorce rate. It’s natural to want to see our own needs met, but also meeting the needs of our spouse is important. If we don’t properly meet each other’s needs, a marriage is susceptible to an affair.

This book gives a lot of information on affairs- how they begin, why they begin, the consequences, and how to move past them. While affairs are devastating, they don’t mean a marriage has to be over. There is a way out.

This book opened my eyes. With its plethora of stories and examples, I could easily grasp why meeting my husband’s needs are so important. I never thought an affair would be possible in our marriage because we are both strongly convicted against it, but from this book, I was able to learn that if needs aren’t met, even the most well-meaning, compatible marriages can be susceptible.

From this book, I realized I had been trying to meet needs that were important to me, but not necessarily my husband. I realized I really wasn’t even sure what his needs are. Life gets so busy and especially as a women, things demand our attention. I wasn’t even aware that maybe he had needs that weren’t getting met. Now, I was able to figure out exactly what his needs were (through a questionnaire in the appendix) and now I can meet his actual needs and he can meet mine.

It’s worth it to your children to have a strong marriage and that type of marriage takes an investment of time and concentration. In the very least, read this book!

The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell, M.D.

An excellent book in a series of books that enlighten on the five love languages. Never heard of them? I hadn’t either. If you haven’t read this book, you’re seriously missing out.

The authors maintain there are five love languages: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. All five languages are important to exhibit to our children and all the loved ones in our lives, yet there is one language that will speak most strongly to an individual. This is the love language that will be most beneficial to exhibit to a child so that they feel loved, and it’s different for every child.

This book is a real eye opener. I recently enrolled my son and I in a class at our community center. It’s something we can do together to spend time just us. I’ve noticed how much he thrives on this time, and it’s changed things about how he acts. He’s always behaved pretty well, but lately, he’s been very helpful around the house. Once I read this book, it dawned on me that his primary love language is quality time. He appreciates nice things I do for him, gifts we give him, and nice words we say. He always politely thanks my husband and I, yet none of those things speak to him as loudly as quality time. This is how he feels most loved.

Conversely, the book discusses the five love languages and discipline. This book contains a great discussion on discipline, which is something many parents confuse as synonymous with punishment. The two are not the same thing, and this book sheds light on how they differ. A unique approach this book takes, however, is in the explanation of how to discipline according to the love languages. In my son’s case, for instance, since his love language is quality time, he shouldn’t be disciplined by taking time outs alone in his room. This separation does more harm than good because he associates this form of discipline directly with love, and when we use this form of discipline, it speaks to him as if we don’t love him. This was precisely the form of discipline I had been using. I had noticed how much he hated timeouts in his room, yet I thought that was good as if the discipline was working. I see it a different way now.

We’ve applied this information to our marriage as well with some equally good results. My husband has found that my love language is acts of service, so doing things around the house directly equates as love to me. His love language is definitely not acts of service, so he didn’t understand sometimes why a messy house would bother me in the way that it does. Discovering our love languages has helped us be more loving as a family. Sometimes, we know someone loves us, but we don’t always feel as though they love us.

This book gives information on each love language individually and ways to discover your loved ones’ love language. There is also a chapter for single parents and the love languages for married couples. If you enjoy this book, also check out The Five Love Languages of God, The Five Love Languages, and The Five Love Languages of Teenagers. Highly recommend.

Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right By Joel Fuhrman M.D.

This book is hands down fantastic. I am quite impressed with this book and even more impressed that it was written by a medical doctor as most don’t know so much about nutrition.

I can’t say enough good things about this book, and I feel it should be required reading for absolutely every parent. For starters, it is easy to read and reads quickly, so there is no excuse not to read it.

What you will find in this book is a blue print of exactly how to feed your children if you want them to be as healthy as possible.

This book makes it exceedingly clear why our nation’s children are so unhealthy and why good nutrition is crucial. As parents, this is our responsibility, and it is one we are failing at as a group. The author discusses the health consequences of our standard way of eating and what we can do about it.

I am so impressed with Dr. Fuhrman because he just gets it. In his practice, he uses a program of “nutritional excellence” to treat and cure all types of ailments instead of prescribing medications that only mask symptoms.

What I especially appreciated about this book is the author’s knowledge of healthy eating. He maintains that we do not need animal products to be healthy. On the contrary, it is healthier not to have them. His knowledge is sound. He also assures a diet fit for adult humans is also fit for child humans. This is a question typical of many parents because we have been so brainwashed by corporate interests. We want to do what is best for our children, yet we don’t always know how to do that. Does that bag of Doritos really matter? Don’t kids need milk for strong bones? How will growing kids get enough protein if they don’t eat meat? These questions are sincere concerns from parents, and after reading this book, parents will not only have the knowledge to know what to feed their children, but the peace that they are providing their children with what they need.

One central theme of the book highlights the importance of childhood nutrition and the occurrence of disease later in life. While the author points out that there is benefit to eating and living healthfully at any age, researchers are beginning to understand just how critical excellent childhood nutrition is.

There was only one quam I had with this book and that is the author’s continual recommendation and reliance on soy milk. In all respect to the author, this book is five years old and soy milk was previously thought of as a super health food. There are growing concerns and awareness regarding soy foods, in which, they are clearly becoming important to avoid. Most soy is GMO, which means genetically modified. This is a separate topic, but these foods need to be stayed far away from. Soy needs to be fermented to have any health benefit. Unfermented soy as I understand it is dangerous. Soy acts as a pseudo-estrogen in the body. Excess estrogen can cause all sorts of health problems, including cancer and many chemicals also mimic estrogen in our bodies. Most soy is processed crap- tofu, vegan meats, etc. The author of this book recommends soy milk often, which can easily be substituted with other nut milks. Almond milk is readily available, but for the healthiest milk make it at home yourself.

I can easily recommend this book to parents who are searching for the way to feed their children that will give their children the best start in life. This book is outstanding.