Book Review: Pushed!

I have decided that for the rest of this year, I am only going to read "self-help" and educational type books. I am looking forward to this and have already made a good start!

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block has been on my list of books that I have wanted to read for a long time now! Now that I have read it, I want to own it!

Much like The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, it tells the truth (with loads of statics, facts, surveys, studies and quotes from many people) about where modern maternity care is today and where it is going; and it isn't pretty! Too many women are choosing to just fall blindly into what their doctors and even midwives are telling them is "necessary" and "safe" for them and their babies when in actuality the studies show over and over what the real truth is.

I am not going to give you too much information, because I would love for you to go out and read this for yourself. But I will tell you that what is happening in our labor and delivery rooms is not right! In any way! Nor is it safe. Be informed about your body and your rights!

Other books I've been reading:

So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: This book turned out to be really informative! The author and you go to different homeschoolers homes and "interview" them on how they choose to home school. Everything from single parents, grandparents, a family living in an RV traveling across the country, to the "average" homeschooling family. It also takes a look at the different homeschooling options and curriculum's. All in all, a very good and easy read!

Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child: This book has been a "life saver" more than once since "L" was born! It is a great source to have on hands for every thing from chicken pox to choking. This week she came down with a fever and now has a rash. We discovered it is Roseola and boy is she itchy! Poor thing. Anyway, the book gives a run down of what each illness or symptom is, what the traditional, herbal, homeopathic, and acupressure treatments are for it. Lots of great information and easy to read and use!

Our Daily Bread: Ok, so this isn't a book, but it is informative! This video is actually just a series of videos of where our food, in the modern times, is grown, processed, packaged, slaughtered (yes, sometimes quite gross), and the people behind our food. This video was quite interesting and also quite disturbing at times. Much like Food, Inc. in the content, but the whole film had no speaking. Just images. It was really quite good!

Book Review: The Duggars: 20 and counting!

I just got done reading this book and I must say, I loved it! I have always been a big fan of the show and watched it faithfully each week till we got rid of cable TV. I miss the show! I think it is the only thing I miss about having cable. It was one of the few remaining good, clean shows to be found there.

Ok, so back to the book. I borrowed it from the library but now that I've read it, I know it is one that I would love to own. It tells the history of the family, how they got started with just Michelle and Jim Bob and how that family progressed into the large Christian family they are today.

I look up to them for a lot of reasons. They are faithfully following God's decree to them to allow Him to choose the number of children they have. They are raising those children in the way they see fit, not allowing the worlds views to effect what they know to be right for their family. They are home schooling ALL those kids. I have no idea how she does it! :o) And they are doing it all debt free!

I learned alot in reading this book. It was very informative and well written. There are lots of great recipes and teaching techniques and there are many resources in the back of the book that I intend to look into.

All in all, I would say it was a great read and would recommend it to any one interested in large families, raising God fearing children, frugality, household management, or just anyone looking for a clean, wholesome read.

Other books I have been reading recently include:

Miserly Moms (loved this book! Lots of great ideas on how to live on one income in a two income world.)

Wise woman herbal for the child bearing years (a great resource for safe, natural remedies before and during pregnancy, for birth support and while breastfeeding)

The Doll in the Garden (a childhood favorite of my sister and I's that I just happened to rediscover again.