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[[Category:Home and Family|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Home and Family]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1454955546
|title=Sugarless
|author=Nicole M Avena
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''This isn't a diet book. The last thing anyone needs is another diet book.''
 
There was a time, not that long ago, when it was thought that sugary food was better for you than food with high-fat content. Fat was the demon food which was going to elevate your cholesterol and cause heart disease. Sugar was a carbohydrate, so good. There's a problem, though. Sugar is addictive and can hijack your brain in much the same way as drugs like heroin and cocaine. Does that sound over the top? Well, it isn't.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1635866847
|title=The Lavender Companion
|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci
|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the author's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm.com/ website] and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I ''loved'' this book already.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0760381267
|title=Verdura: Living a Garden Life
|author=Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago
|rating=3.5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it''.
 
I've 'gardened' in a vague, indefinite sort of way for more than half a century. I know (most of) the basics but life has changed and I needed 'projects' rather than a general commitment to gardening. ''Verdura'' with its promise of projects for both indoors and outdoors of varying complexity seemed like the answer. So, how did it stack up?
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1394159544
|title=Recycling for Dummies
|author=Sarah Winkler
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.''
 
''Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees from being cut down.''
 
If you send an apple core to landfill, it will take between 6 months and 2 years to decompose. A glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.
 
As a just-post-WWII baby, I faced a dilemma: reducing, reusing and recycling is part of my DNA. NEVER throw away anything that might ''possibly'' come in handy now or in the future. NEVER buy anything if you can cobble together something that would serve the purpose. Almost everything can be used one more time and any purchase must pass the test of 'Is this absolutely essential?' On the other hand, I suspected I was guilty of wishcycling: assuming that something must be recyclable (toothpaste tubes - I'm looking at you) and dropping it in the kerbside bin. Yes, I could go searching on the internet - and get conflicting advice - but what I needed was a recycling bible.s
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0760378134
|title=The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening
|author=Pamela Farley
|rating=5
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need. It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting. There's also a good glossary. So, is it any good?
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529149800
|title=Things You Can Do: How to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste
|author=Eduardo Garcia and Sara Boccaccini Meadows
|rating=4
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=We begin with a telling story. All the birds and animals fled when the forest fire took hold and most of them stood and watched, unable to think of anything they could do. The tiny hummingbird flew to the river and began taking tiny amounts of water and flying back to drop them into the fire. The animals laughed: what good was that doing. ''I'm doing the best I can'', said the hummingbird. And that, really, is the only way that we will solve the problem of climate change – by each of us doing what we can, however small that might be.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1849767009
|summary=Roger the Rabbit wanted to fall asleep, but somehow he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't that he didn't do much during the day, because he did but sometimes he was so tired that he could fall asleep on the swings. One night Mummy Rabbit took Roger to see Uncle Yawn, who had a notice outside his house saying I can make anyone fall asleep and once Roger went home (it was actually quite difficult for him to get there as his eyes kept closing) he went straight to bed and fell asleep.
}}
{{Frontpage|isbn=Lahey_Gift|title=The Gift of Failure: How to step back and let your child succeed|author=Jessica Lahey|rating=4|genre=Home and Family|summary=Lahey's introduction claims today's over-protective failure-avoidant parenting style is responsible for the caution and fear she witnesses in young people every day in her job as a secondary school teacher, causing them to dislike learning. She goes on to claim that, through this parenting style, we have inadvertently taught our kids to fear failure at all costs.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Kemp_Caring|title=Caring for Shirley|author=John Kemp|rating=4|genre=Home and Family|summary=John Kemp's wife, Shirley, suffered from dementia and loss of coordination and for eight years he was her full-time carer as she was unable to walk unaided (well, she could - but it was likely to result in a serious fall) and took care of all her most personal needs. Probably the most heart-breaking part of this is that Shirley didn't recognise John as her husband - apart from 'give us a kiss', the question 'where's John?' was usually the first which sprang to her lips in any situation. Although she could often have quite an affable disposition she was capable of kicking and biting when she was being 'encouraged' to do something which she didn't want to do.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Robinson_Tips|title=Tips From Widows|author=Jan Robinson|rating=4|genre=Home and Family|summary=I'm not a widow and I secretly hope that I never will be, but I picked up ''Tips From Widows'' when a close friend (who is supporting someone who knows that becoming a widow is frighteningly close) mentioned the need to plan what to do. The death of a husband must be devastating, even terrifying, but as next of kin you have certain responsibilities and there are some things which you must do. Who better to give advice than other women who have experienced what must be the worst thing that life can throw at them?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Andrews_Dementia|title=Dementia: The One-Stop Guide: Practical advice for families, professionals, and people living with dementia and Alzheimer's Disease|author=June Andrews|rating=5|genre=Home and Family|summary=Worldwide there are probably as many as 44.4 million people who suffer from dementia and many times that number of family, friends, carers and relatives who are affected by what is happening to the sufferer. There's no cure, but it's not terminal and the symptoms (memory loss would seem to be the most common, but in some cases, there are hallucinations, sexual or verbal disinhibition, not being able to work things out, difficulty in learning something new, finding your way about, or coping with the normal symptoms of ageing) affect everyone involved. If you talk to people who are ageing then it's not uncommon for them to say that they'd rather have cancer than dementia as you're unlikely to be an endless burden on other people.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Collins_Art|title=The Art of Making Shadows|author=Sophie Collins|rating=4.5|genre=Home and Family|summary=Winter is almost upon us and the evenings are getting darker. However, rather than bemoaning the lack of sunshine, how about putting a positive spin on the situation and viewing those long, dark evenings as the perfect opportunity to hone your shadow-casting skills? Shadow-play is an art form that has endured through the ages and yet still has the power to enchant and entertain. So grab a lamp, gather round and get ready to create barking dogs, flying birds and a whole menagerie of shadow characters...}}
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