Budget, from Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:
A bag; a little sack, with its contents. Hence, a stock or store; as a budget of inventions.
Scroll down for the usual caveats and background information
The books in this section are not free (scroll down for those). Some of them are daily deals, some of then are just titles that looked interesting to me and were lower in price:
1.99- The Adventures of Ellery Queen
A classic for mystery lovers. Ellery Queen mysteries are usually suitable for your middle school and high school readers who are interested in tales of ratiocination.
Blurb: For Ellery Queen, there is no puzzle that reason cannot solve. In his time, he has faced down killers, thugs, and thieves, protected only by the might of his brain—and the odd bit of timely intervention by his father, a burly New York police inspector. But when a university professor asks Queen to teach a class, the detective finds there are people whom reason cannot touch: college students.
Queen’s adventure on campus is only the first of this incomparable collection of short mysteries. In these pages, he tangles with a violent book thief, an assassin who targets acrobats, and New York’s only cleanly shaven bearded lady. Criminals everywhere fear him, whether they work in mansions or back alleys. No mystery is too difficult for the man with the golden brain.
Also 1.99, Ruth Rendell’s mystery No Man’s Nightingale: An Inspector Wexford Novel
Blurb: “A female vicar named Sarah Hussain is discovered strangled in her Kingsmarkham vicarage. Maxine, the gossipy cleaning woman who finds the body, happens to also be in the employ of former Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford and his wife. When called on by his old deputy, Wexford, who has taken to reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire as a retirement project, leaps at the chance to tag along with the investigators. Wexford is intrigued by the unusual circumstances of the murder, but he’s also desperate to escape the chatty Maxine.”
.99 for Agatha Christie Collection: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary
REader review: I belive that this is the first published mystery novel by Agatha Christie. In it, Inspector Poroit and Hastings work together to solve the crime that took place at Styles, the country estate belonging to a family with whom Hastings is acquainted.
Hastings is recuperating there from some war-related stress (WW I) and Poroit is living nearby with some other Belgian refugees. They already know each other from having worked together in Belgium but their meeting at Styles is purely accidental.
It is a typical “country house” mystery, great fun to read.
Also includes: Arthur Conan Doyle’s THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, Zane Grey’s RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, and Dickens’s DAVID COPPERFIELD, and has an active TOC
.99 for the first Peter Wimsey mystery Whose Body? (The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, 1)
For 1.99 you can download a later Wimsey book (and a favorite of all Wimsey fans): Clouds of Witness
Whose Body is a collection of short stories. Clouds of Witnesses is the title where Peter and Harriet finally become engaged. Ignore everything I just said about them, except I do love Wimsey and Dorothy Sayers’ mysteries are some of the best over… Clearly, it’s high time I re-read them. One of the few pleasures of getting old – I now do forget what I’ve read so I can reread old favorites like I’ve just come to them.
3.99 for Josephine Tey’s A Shilling for Candles
Other Tey books at this price: The Man in the Queue (Inspector Alan Grant)
To Love and Be Wise (Inspector Alan Grant)
For 2.99 Brat Farrar
Tey is also the author of the historical mystery book Daughter of Time.
This isn’t by Tey, but it’s 1.99 and looks intriguing. It’s a mystery where the author has chosen Tey as her amateur detective: An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey Mysteries)
Review: Mystery writer Josephine Tey (The Daughter of Time) makes a convincing sleuth in British author Upson’s debut, the launch of a new whodunit series. On a train journey from Scotland to London in 1934, Tey meets a fan, Elspeth Simmons, who’s traveling to the capital to attend a performance of Tey’s hit play about Richard II. When Simmons is found brutally murdered—stabbed with a hatpin, posed with some dolls and partially shaved—after arrival at King’s Cross, Tey’s Scotland Yard friend, Insp. Archie Penrose, investigates and soon learns that the victim was adopted under irregular circumstances. After another death, the evidence suggests that both crimes are linked to a murder committed amid the devastating trench warfare of WWI. While the heroine falls conventionally into the killer’s clutches before a solution many will anticipate, the engaging prose will leave even readers unfamiliar with Tey’s fiction eagerly looking forward to the next in the series. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
for .99, Ultimate Guide To Soap Making
Reader Review: I have been making “melt and pour” soaps for about five years now. It’s fun and relatively inexpensive, but I had always wanted to try cold process soap making or really any of the processes that involved lye. I never did because I was always afraid. Lye, as Ms. McCarthy states in her book, is an extremely dangerous substance and not meant to be used lightly. With the proper precautions and care, you can make soap. The precautions and tips were easy to understand and I’m eager to try my hand at making soap with lye. I’m not afraid to try it anymore!
Another thing that I really loved in this book was a section near the beginning where Ms. McCarthy talks about hazard scores in materials that go into popular soaps on the market, as well as the soaps themselves. That entire section was a real eye opener. Some of the brands I had never even thought of as being even a little bit dangerous or potentially harmful!
Ms. McCarthy did an excellent job researching and writing her book. She really knows her stuff. This is literally the ultimate, A to Z guide to soap making, covering everything from different ways you can make soap, how to make soap, what is soap/detergent, FAQs, soap recipes, business plan for selling your soap,and more. She even throws in a bunch of projects at the end, many that can be done with your family.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to make soap and/or selling their soap, and it’s at a bargain price. Grab it now!
.99, and by the same author: Milk Soapmaking: The Smart and Simple Guide to Making Lovely Milk Soap from Scratch with Cow Milk, Goat Milk, Buttermilk, Cream, Coconut Milk, or Any Other Animal or Plant Milk
Nice extra: ANNE WILL PERSONALLY ANSWER ANY QUESTION OF YOURS AFTER READING THIS BOOK. ASK ON HER WEB SITE, AND YOU’LL NORMALLY HEAR BACK WITHIN HOURS!
It has 68 five star reviews, and the two single star reviews are gibberish.
FROM THE INTRODUCTION:
Since my book “Smart Soapmaking” was published, I’ve been asked again and again if it covers milk soapmaking. It doesn’t. Milk soapmaking is a subject unto itself. It uses different materials, of course, but besides that, it needs a different approach. Too much material to cram into one book, I felt.
Also, milk soaps weren’t my specialty at that time. I’d made a few, and they were fine soaps. In fact, several people who received bars of my whipping cream soap as gifts began to nag me to go back into the soap business. But I didn’t consider myself an expert.
Time changes things. As I started trying to answer questions from soapmakers about milk soap, I was drawn farther and farther into the subject. I learned about the different types of milk, what to expect from them, and how to handle each one.
I made hundreds of bars of soap from dozens of different recipes. I experimented with scent and color to see what happens when they’re used with milk. Then there were non-dairy milks to consider — would any of them make good soap? On a spreadsheet, I kept a log of my experiments — what went into each batch, and what came out.
When I got unexpected results, I asked materials vendors and chemists — what’s going on here? And they were kind enough to tell me, so a few more puzzle pieces snapped into place. Then I set up a testing program, giving and sending out soap sets identified only by number to testers who rated them for lather, feel, and general attractiveness.
In the end, I decided to write another book. Otherwise, I really would have had to go back into the soap business”
She has a lot of titles for .99, including this one: Smart Soapmaking: The Simple Guide to Making Traditional Handmade Soap Quickly, Safely, and Reliably, or How to Make Luxurious Handcrafted Soaps from Scratch for Family, Friends, and Yourself
1.99 for Patricia Wentworth’s Poison in the Pen (The Miss Silver Mysteries, 29)
I love the Miss Silver books. Those of my children who read mysteries do not love them so much. They are a bit formulaic, but it’s a formula I like. British, settings in the fifties or earlier, a touch of romance, and the detective is an elderly retired governess. Miss Silver always has an apt quote from her favorite poet, Tennyson, as she knits her way (in the continental style) through case after successful case.
for 3.99, a cold war classic: Flowers From Berlin – The Classic American Spy Novel (25th Anniversary Edition)
Titles below are free at the time of listing:
Reader Review: I enjoyed Tuppeny Hat Detective. I was looking for some “teen detective books” to read (working on one of my own) and I came across this one. I loved the setting in post-WWII Sheffield, England, which gave this story a texture and flavor that is very unique. The characters are believable and interesting, although they could have been more deeply drawn. The story moves along well, although the bodies begin to pile up in the end in an rather extraordinary way. Most stories of this nature manage to get by with one or two murders. Anyway, I had fun reading the story and I believe young teens would enjoy it.
A Raucous Time (Celtic Cousins’ Adventures)
Reader Review from Amazon: When the nerdy Wren Prenderson stumbles across an ancient Welsh diary that purports to give the location of a treasure that’s been lost for almost nine centuries, he decides to go and get it. If it ever existed in the first place, that is. But the bad guys have a piece of the puzzle as well, and go to the extent of trying to torture the rest of it out of the boy.
After Wren enlists his cousin, Rhyllann Jones, to help him escape from the hospital and go after the treasure, the game begins in earnest, culminating in a chase across the moors of Cornwall that I found eerily evocative of The Hound Of The Baskervilles. Whether it was worth it in the end, you’ll naturally have to see for yourselves.
A Raucous Time (the title is an inside joke) is Ms. Hughes’s second published novel, though this story predates the Celtic Cousins adventure A Ripple In Time. If you liked that one, you’ll like this one, too. If you haven’t read “Ripple” yet, you should–but it’s not a prerequisite to reading “Raucous.”
Ms. Hughes’s engaging style carries the reader along swiftly–so swiftly, in fact, that if you get caught up in the current, you’re in danger of missing something important. Every scene, no matter how seemingly mundane, contributes to the tale, and if, like me, you tend to skim at times, you do so at your peril. Take your time with this one. I think that when you’re done, you’ll agree with me that it was time well spent.
[Note: Americans who aren’t Anglophiles may have some trouble with the British/Welsh terminology (natural to expect to encounter that, since the author’s British and the main characters are Welsh), but perspicacious readers should be able to pick up enough context clues to get through without any problem.
The same author has written several other books, including this title which is currently also available for free download:
The Griffin’s Boy (The Griffin Riders’ Chronicles)
Excerpt from chapter one: CHAPTER 1
I chose a window seat on the Greyhound, but I didn’t look out. For almost the whole trip, I stared at the rough tan upholstery of the seat in front of me. It had a rip on one side and three dark stains.
A woman settled into the aisle seat. She raised her footrest, but it clunked back down. When I glanced her way, she caught my eye and smiled.
“How do you make these things stay put?” she asked.
I meant to answer — the words were lined up in my mind. But before I could say them, they slipped apart like beads when the string breaks. I gave up and studied the seat cover again. Still tan, still ripped, still stained. The next time I looked, the woman was gone.
Evening came, but I didn’t use my reading light. Late at night, awake in the breathing dark, I imagined running my fingers over the seat back, erasing the stains, mending the seam. In the morning, I almost believed I could fix it. So, I took care not to touch it, not to find out for sure.
In the afternoon, the bus left the freeway and crept through downtown traffic. I turned then, and peered through the mud-spattered window. As far as I could see, Los Angeles was a city of warehouses. I sank back into my seat.
When we reached the station, I claimed my suitcase and dragged it through the waiting room to the street. Outside I found blank walls and empty sidewalks. No direction and no one to ask.
Well, I ran away from college, then from New Orleans, and then Baton Rouge. Is it too soon to run away from here?
The traffic light at the end of the block turned green, and cars passed me by. When a city bus stopped and opened its doors, I climbed on. I couldn’t think what else to do.
Flight
One day she is Linda Farley, a senior in a San Diego high school, with a talent for art, an annoying younger brother, two loving parents, and a prospective boyfriend. Three days later, she is Lainie Foster, hiding with her mother and brother in Olympia, Washington.
That’s how fast things change after Linda’s mother tells her that her father has been caught by the feds in a Mafia money laundering scheme and that the rest of the family has been placed in the Witness Protection Program. By the rules she’s given, she must stay out of school, cut off contact with anyone back home, and never tell anyone what has happened.
Linda — now Lainie — does her best, but in navigating her new life, she faces a number of questions. How could her father do something so contrary to her image of him? Why is her mother so familiar with their new city? How can she pursue a career in art without going to school? What must she do to save her brother from the worst effects of the upheaval? And who is that dark-haired woman she keeps spotting in front of the house?
Then there’s the biggest question of all: Is she Linda or is she Lainie? Because, in the end, is the choice really anyone’s but hers?
The Heart of Abundance: A Simple Guide to Appreciating and Enjoying Life
Reader Review: “The basic idea in the book is that everyone has something to be grateful for. If even on our worst days we start looking at what we already have, rather than what we do not have we can improve out outlook and spirit.
The book encourages the readers to believe in the best in each person they meet and provide each person some positive feedback. Small specific acts to make a positive difference, for example offer a ride, say a few nice words, say thank you.
Her positive thoughts and ideas are accompanied by paragraphs from scriptures. If you are religious you will find comfort in these frequent references. If you are not religious you might find these references to God too frequent, but I would still encourage you to plow through it, as the book has a lot of positive thoughts especially for someone who is struggling with difficulties in life.
The Heart of Abundance is about appreciating life right now. No matter what hand you were dealt, finding even the small things that are good can help pass through a dark passage. This book is about being positive about life every day, not just on the occasions when everything seems to be going your way.”
Be advised that several readers thought she needed a better editor or that she had oversimplifed the simple stuff.
Reader Review of this title: Published in 1907, this book is a thoughtful, poignant account of the writer’s efforts to escape the miserable lot of a London clerk and to make a better life for himself and his family in the country–on very little income. I was completely engrossed in his (often funny) story, and I’m still pondering its implications (as well as daydreaming of a little cottage of my own). A gem of a book.
Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure
modern here means 1897
Here is an excerpt from the introduction:
To all who accept as literal truth the Scriptural account of the Garden of Eden it must be evident how intimately man’s welfare from the first was made to depend on his uses of trees and herbs. The labour of earning his bread in the sweat of his brow by tilling the ground: and the penalty of [xv] and thistles produced thereupon, were alike incurred by Eve’s disobedience in plucking the forbidden fruit: and a signified possibility of man’s eventful share in the tree of life, to “put forth his hand, and eat, and live for ever,” has been more than vaguely revealed. So that with almost a sacred mission, and with an exalted motive of supreme usefulness, this Manual of healing Herbs is published anew, to reach, it is hoped, and to rescue many an ailing mortal.
Against its main principle an objection has been speciously raised, which at first sight appears of subversive weight; though, when further examined, it is found to be clearly fallacious. By an able but carping critic it was alleged that the mere chemical analysis of old-fashioned Herbal Simples makes their medicinal actions no less empirical than before: and that a pedantic knowledge of their constituent parts, invested with fine technical names, gives them no more scientific a position than that which our fathers understood.
But, taking, for instance, the herb Rue, which was formerly brought into Court to protect a and the Bench from gaol fever, and other infectious disease; no one knew at the time by what particular virtue the Rue could exercise this salutary power. But more recent research has taught, that the essential oil contained in this, and other allied aromatic herbs, such as Elecampane, [xvi] Rosemary, and Cinnamon, serves by its germicidal principles (stearoptens, methyl-ethers, and camphors), to extinguish bacterial life which underlies all contagion. In a parallel way the antiseptic diffusible oils of Pine, Peppermint, and Thyme, are likewise employed with marked success for inhalation into the lungs by consumptive patients. Their volatile vapours reach remote parts of the diseased air-passages, and heal by destroying the morbid germs which perpetuate mischief therein. It need scarcely be said the very existence of these causative microbes, much less any mode of cure by their abolishment, was quite unknown to former Herbal Simplers.
Here’s an excerpt from the section on lavender:
The Lavender of our gardens, called also Lavender Spike, is a well-known sweet-smelling shrub, of the Labiate order. It grows wild in Spain, Piedmont, and [297] the south of France, on waysides, mountains, and in barren places. The plant was propagated by slips, or cuttings, and has been cultivated in England since about 1568. It is produced largely for commercial purposes in Surrey, Hertfordshire, and Lincoln. The shrub is set in long rows occupying fields, and yields a profitable fragrant essential oil from the flowering tops, about one ounce of the oil from sixty terminal flowering spikes. From these tops also the popular cosmetic lavender water is distilled. They contain tannin, and a resinous camphire, which is common to most of the mints affording essential oils. If a hank of cotton is steeped in the oil of Lavender, and drained off so as to be hung dry about the neck, it will prevent bugs and other noxious insects from attacking that part. When mixed with three-fourths of spirit of turpentine, or spirit of wine, this oil makes the famous Oleum spicoe, formerly much celebrated for curing old sprains and stiff joints. Lavender oil is likewise of service when rubbed in externally, for stimulating paralysed limbs—preferring the sort distilled from the flowering tops to that which is obtained from the stalks. Internally, the essential oil, or a spirit of Lavender made therefrom, proves admirably restorative and tonic against faintness, palpitations of a nervous sort, weak giddiness, spasms, and colic. It is agreeable to the taste and smell, provokes appetite, raises the spirits, and dispels flatulence; but the infusion of Lavender tops, if taken too freely, will cause griping, and colic. In hysteria, palsy, and similar disorders of debility, and lack of nerve power, the spirit of Lavender will act as a powerful stimulant; and fomentations with Lavender in bags, applied hot, will speedily relieve local pains. “It profiteth them much,” says Gerard, “that have the palsy if they be washed with the distilled water [298] from the Lavender flowers; or are anointed with the oil made from the flowers and olive oil, in such manner as oil of roses is used.” A dose of the oil is from one to four drops on sugar, or on a small piece of bread crumb, or in a spoonful or two of milk. And of the spirit, from half to one teaspoonful may be taken with two tablespoonfuls of water, hot or cold, or of milk. The spirit of Lavender is made with one part of the essential oil to forty-nine parts of spirit of wine. For preparing distilled Lavender water, the addition of a small quantity of musk does much to develop the strength of the Lavender’s odour and fragrance. The essential oil of Lavandula latifolia, admirably promotes the growth of the hair when weakly, or falling off.
By the Greeks the name Nardus is given to Lavender, from Naarda, a city of Syria, near the Euphrates; and many persons call the plant “Nard.” St. Mark mentions this as Spikenard, a thing of great value The woman who came to Christ having an alabaster box of ointment of Spikenard, very precious “brake the box, and poured it on His head.” In Pliny’s time blossoms of the nardus sold for a hundred Roman denarii (or £3 2s. 6d.) the pound. This Lavender or Nardus, was likewise called Asarum by the Romans, because not used in garlands or chaplets. It was formerly believed that the asp, a dangerous kind of viper, made Lavender its habitual place of abode, so that the plant had to be approached with great caution.
Also at Gutenberg. Here’s an excerpt:
The boys in the office were, I fancy, a bit prejudiced against him before he arrived. It wasn’t his fault, for he was a stranger to them all, but it got about that the dear old “chief” had decided to engage a real good Sunday-school boy. Someone had heard him say, or, more likely, thought it would be funny to imagine him saying, that the advent of such a boy might “improve the general tone” of the place. That, you’ll admit, was pretty rough on Sydney Baxter—the boy in question. Now Sydney Baxter is not his real name, but this I can vouch is his true story. For the most part it is told exactly in his own words. You’ll admit its truth when you have read it, for there isn’t a line in it which will stretch your imagination a hair’s breadth. It’s the plain unvarnished tale of an average young man who joined the army because he considered it his duty—who fought for many months. That’s why I am trying to record it; for if I tell it truly I shall have written the story of many thousands—I shall have written a page of the nation’s history.
And so I need not warn you at the beginning that this book does not end with a V.C. and cheering throngs. It may possibly end with wedding bells, but you will agree there’s nothing out of the common about that—and a good job too.
I think on the whole I will keep Sydney Baxter’s real name to myself. For one thing he is still in the army; for another he is expected back at the same office when he is discharged from hospital. It’s rather beginning at the wrong end to mention the hospital at this stage, but, as I’ve done so, I’d better explain that after going unscathed through Ypres and Hill 60, and all the trench warfare that followed, Sydney Baxter was wounded in nine places at the first battle of the Somme on that ever-glorious and terrible first of July. He is, as I write, waiting for a glass eye; he has a silver plate where part of his frontal bone used to be; is minus one whole finger,[Pg 5] and the best part of a second. He is deep scarred from his eyelid to his hair. I can tell you he looks as if he had been through it. Well, he has.
Minimalist Living: Decluttering for Joy, Health, and Creativity
From About.com Reader’s Choice Award-winning author Genevieve Parker Hill comes a fresh new minimalism guide for everyone. If your garage, attic, closets, and surfaces are filled with clutter, all that extra stuff can get in the way of a full experience of life as it was meant to be lived. Minimalist Living covers not only techniques for decluttering, but how to fill your newfound space with meaningful activities that add joy to your life and support your goals.
This guide to simplifying for health, joy, and creativity teaches:
• Why you should define your own sense of minimalism
• How to create your “Minimalist Mission Statement”
• How to use the techniques of “blazing” and “gazing” to declutter
• Why decluttering now can lead to a happier, healthier, and more creative life
• How to deal with sentimental items without losing their meaning
• The amazing connection between minimalism and living your soul’s deepest purpose
And much more…
Gluten Free Diet: The Easy Recipe Guide to Gluten Free Healthy Living (Simple Healthy Living Series)
Reader Review: Part of me wants to drone on about how this is a great, well-written book with all the recipes laid out in an easy to understand and follow fashion.
Instead I’m just gonna tell you that the recipes are awesome. So far I’ve cooked the maryland stew, pumpkin cheesecake and I’m just about to have my first breakfast recipe… going for the apple and chicken sausage.
Solid book on gluten free food.
Reader Review:
I bought this book–dated and translated 1904, but written in French in the 1890’s–at an antique store for a few dollars several years ago. I thought the title was charming, and the process of simplifying my life seems like something I really need to get around to someday. I also thought the book would be a quaint look into days gone by when things were already much simpler than today, and so I presumed the antiquated perspective about life’s complexities would be amusing. I was not expecting this to be a profound read on the level of, say, Walden.
It is indeed a profound read, and I think Thoreau would concur and admire most of the insights here. The author, Charles Wagner, was a serious philoshopher. The book does not contain any religious sentiment that I was able to perceive, but he does ask a few meaningful questions on whether a particular religion is good for a person’s life. The writing style is dense, but not overly taxing. Like Walden, it is not light reading and it does require your exclusive focus, but I was able to read it for about an hour a day without losing interest due to distraction. There is actually an impressive poetic lilt to the language used, and the overall effect is quite elegant, which always amazes me when the book is a translation. I assure you reading this is well worth the effort. I wish I had bought this modern, paperback version, as I wanted to mark hundreds of different points made in the book for later reference. I was reluctant to mark up my mint condition 1904 copy.
What was particularly fascinating was the modernity of the book. Wagner’s references to “modern” stressors could have been written yesterday, and his description of human character and our proclivities is likewise exactly pertinent to 21st-Century Man. I assure you, you will not find this book outdated at all; if anything, the fact that these themes stand true a hundred years later is testament to Wagner’s credibility and the classic status which this book deserves.
In short, if you are trying to simplify your life and if you are evaluating the reasons for doing so, this book would be an excellent place to start. Does Oprah put 100-year-old books on her book list? If she read this I suspect she would be highly tempted, although this might be just a little too cerebral to be a real “self-help” best-seller. However, I assure you, this is a stone-cold classic-for-eternity.
Coolest Kids Science Projects: 40 Fun & Easy Science Experiments For Kids
Reader Review:
Reader Review: Frederick Marryat was a sea captain who served under the famous Lord Cochrane. This book was an inspiration to such later writers as Patrick O’Brian and C.S. Forster. It is a little like Tom Jones in that it episodic, even picaresque. It is very funny in parts, in a way that O’Brian is not–you get the sense that Marryatt is weaving in incidents and characters from his own naval career. It certainly helps to have read O’Brian for a deep understanding of the culture, but with Marryat you feel at times that you are in touch with the real thing.
Other free Marryat titles (a reader highly recommends them):
The Pirate, and The Three Cutters
The Daniel Fast Cookbook: 47 Easy-To-Prepare Recipes For All Meals (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan)
Reader Review: This is a great book that can help anyone and everyone be more mindful of what they are putting into the mouth and therefore their body. The only problems I found with the book is classifying “ginger root” as a vegetable as if we really would eat a serving of ginger root by itself. Scallions are also in the vegetable group and I can put a serving on top of my other vegetables to eat so I didn’t really object to that. Most people will not eat a vegetable serving of scallions either, except weirdos like me. Green onions/scallions have a LOT of potassium when you add a good amount to your food, like 276 mg per cup, whites and green part.
While she doesn’t include almonds in the nut list, she does suggest almond milk so I would assume the nuts are okay as well. And almond milk, in the unsweetened version from sugar, have NO sugar calories which is great if you have blood sugar problems!
I would question the use of soy milk because of the domination of Monsanto and their GMO soybeans control of the market place. If ever there was a food to avoid, it is GMO soybeans that dominate the US market.
But if you can’t eat any sweeteners including sugar and honey, WHY and how can she justify “agave nectar”? It is nothing but sugar! Maybe it is the newest, cutest sugar around but it is more dangerous to your liver than regular sucrose or table sugar because 100 grams of agave is 75% fructose and that has to go through the liver to be used to make glucose. Regular sugar doesn’t require that much liver conversion and is easier on the body. This seems incredibly contradictory.
Also, peanuts are NOT nuts but legumes and belong in the friendly food group called legumes.
Regarding water, if you can eat/use lemons and limes at your meals, why can’t you add your lemon and lime to your water?
And if you can make a fruit smoothie as a meal, why not add your water to it in addition to what is in the smoothie recipe and get our water with some approved flavor added. It all ends up in your stomach anyway whether you drink it together or separately. That seems to brew a big stretch for no good reason.
So if you heat up lemons in water can you then drink it as a lemon tea because you have technically cooked it? Seems logical to me. But I’m not an expert on this plan. It seems to have a lot of arbitrary rules with situational intakes so 21st Century people can follow it. I personally think healthy teas with no sugars or chemicals would fit that bill as well based on the fact if you use orange juice to “cook” with, it is legal. If you just drink it straight or dilute it with water it isn’t?
By the same author (and also free): Daniel Fast Slow Cooker Recipes: Quick & Easy Meals For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan)
Daniel Fast Smoothies: Quick & Easy Nourishing Meals (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan)
Reader Review: e variety is simply amazing. From Sandwich Bread, Corn Bread, Tortillas, and Pancakes to Pizza Dough, there is enough here to substitute for almost any regular unsweetened bread. For the sweetened, Chocolate Lovers Chocolate cake (and other cakes), Cookies, Muffins, Pie Crust, Shortcake, Brownies, Donuts, Waffles, Fritters and pudding.. all the desserts are liberally represented. Of course, dinner recipes include chicken, shrimp, salmon, meatloaf, squash and spinach dishes, a very wonderful variety. I can most highly recommend this title for its versatile and interesting combinations. It is a cookbook worthy of your coming back to again and again! Kudos and thanks to the author, Susan Peterson. This one is well worth downloading.
Easy Quinoa Recipes: Healthy & Delicious Recipes For All Meals
Reader Review: Quinoa is a great super food to use in your diet and after reading the benefits I know why. I have used it a little over the years, but most of the online recipes didn’t turn out the way they said so I avoided it until know.
The easy recipes in this book are straight forward and well set out. I found that the cooking with quinoa section was made a difference to how the recipes turn out. I guess this was the information that I was missing while trying those online recipes.
There is one recipe that my son enjoys so much because it is vegan and he can make it, is the “No-Bake Chocolate Cookies with Quinoa”. The variety of ways you can use quinoa is great and there is something for most people even vegan!
Twilight and Dawn; Or, Simple Talks on the Six Days of Creation
At Gutenberg. Here’s an excerpt of the first chapter:
TWILIGHT AND DAWN.
GOD’S BOOK.
“As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.”—PROVERBS xxv. 13.
“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”—PSALM xii. 6.
I wonder whether you are as fond of asking questions as I was long ago—so fond that I did not mind asking them when I well knew I could get no answers, because I spoke to things, not to people who could speak to me again?
Still, if any mere thing could be supposed capable of answering for itself, I think a book might; and so perhaps as you take this book of mine into your hand, and run away to some quiet place to have a look at it, you may be taking it into your confidence, and asking it some such questions as these:
(a) What are you all about? Are you a lesson-book?
(b) Have you any stories—real stories, not made-up ones?
(c) Any pictures?
(d) I wonder whether I shall like you? Does the person who made you like children, and know the sort of things they care for?
Now before you put any more questions to my book, I will answer for it; and that we may not miss any, we will call them questions (a), (b), (c), (d), and answer one at a time.
Your first question (a)—the first part of it at least—is what grown people as well as children have a right to ask of a book; and it would be a poor thing for the book to answer, “Oh, I am about nothing in particular! I can’t quite tell you why I was written.” But most books are about something in particular, and what that is you can best find out by reading them right through; for many people miss their way in a book by beginning at the end and travelling backwards, or beginning about the middle, and not knowing whether to go backwards or forwards. So you see I want you to find out for yourself the answer to question (a), only I will just say that the book is mostly about your own dwelling-place. I do not mean your body, though that is, in one sense, your dwelling-place; neither do I mean your own home, nor even that part of England where you were born. By your own dwelling-place I mean this wonderful world which you see all around you, where God has made so much for you to see and enjoy; and learn about too, that you may use and enjoy it better.
[Illustration: GOOD-BYE TO THE SWALLOWS]
So you will find in this book something about the firm ground upon which you trod as soon as you were old enough to run about the fields and pick the daisies. Something too about the blue sky, where the lark sings and the swallows fly; and the great wide sea, where the fishes live; and a little about what the Bible tells us of how all that you see around you came to be; long, long ago, when everything was quite new and beautiful, and God said that all that He had made was “very good.”
“Then it is a lesson-book?” I hear you say.
Yes, in one way, and yet not quite all lessons, for you will find some stories here too.
And now I must answer the (b) question about these same stories, for I want you to know, before you begin to read them, that they are all true, and there is no pretending or making-up about them.
Question (c), about the pictures, you can soon answer for yourself; so now I have only the (d) question to answer, and I can only say for my book, that I do not know whether or not you will care for it; but I do know that the person who made it loves children, and very much likes teaching them and talking to them. And that you may better understand that I know something about children, I will explain that, though I am only talking to you just now, I shall tell you in this book the very same things which I told to some children who came every morning to do their lessons at my house, three or four years ago—at least, I will write down for you all I can remember of the talks these children and I had together, and I will tell you the same true stories which I told them. I used to ask them to give me their ears, and I must ask you to give me your eyes; for writing is different from talking, is it not? You cannot look up in my face and ask me questions as my children did; and when I ask you a question, I cannot hear you answer, but am obliged to fancy what you would be likely to say. Still, I think we shall be friends, and get to know each other a little, even by means of this dumb-show talk, as I speak to you with my hand and you listen to me with your eyes.
A Warrior’s Redemption (The Warrior Kind)
I was hesitant about including this one. There are four titles in the series, all of them are free.
Based on reviews, the plot is great, the characters are interesting, the author is Christian and the books are compatible with that worldview, and the majority of his readers apparently don’t give a fig for proper grammar and punctuation.
The handful of negative reviews gave the author great credit for an interesting plot, although some of them said they could only say it was interesting for the first 20 pages because the constant abuse of commas and botched sentences gave them such a head-ache they had to quit reading.
I suspect most of my readers feel the same way, but a few of you may be so hungry for a good adventure story from a Christian POV that you can overlook the messy grammar. Even the most negative reviewers say they would love to read his books if a good editor had gone through them first.
He has other titles as well, and they are also free, which is very nice of him.
Here is what the author has to say for himself:
I’m a dreamer, a poet, a lover, a husband, a father, and a man of God. I’m inspired by what I’ve seen and what I’ve read, but what I create with my words is where I dream. I pray for inspiration, and I enjoy what I have written just as I hope that others will as well. I’m a quiet man on the outside, but writing has become the playground of my soul to express itself in the grandeur of the created worlds and tales that I have been fortunate enough to dream of. The best way to find out more about me is to read my books. I write from the heart and I express both my shortcomings and my triumphs. I like to think of my writing as ‘Reality Fiction’. I tell it like I see it. Life is short and the troubles many, but with faith in Jesus Christ all things have become possible to me. I may write ‘make believe’, but I strive to live out what I write. I enjoy my work and I hope you do too. Have a blessed time reading my imaginative thoughts. Sincerely, Guy III
Prophet (Books of the Infinite Book #1)
Reader Review: I don’t normally like overtly Christian works of fiction, even though I am a Christian. Typically, I find them to be preachy and filled with unremarkable, overly-good characters, and unbelievable story lines. However, I found this book to be surprisingly fun and a good read. The writing was very good. The characters were believable and likable. And, while I *thought* I might know how things were going to end, there were enough surprises that I wasn’t sure about it (and still am not, since this was the first book in a series.)
I think this book could be appealing even to those who are not Christian (or Jewish, since it has a strong Old-Testament feel). I recommend it.
True Hostage Situation Involving Colombian Marxist Guerrillas and a Missionary Simply Using the Experience to Share the Gospel
American bush pilot Russell Stendal, on routine business, landed his plane in a remote Colombian village. Gunfire exploded throughout the town and within minutes Russell’s 142 day ordeal had begun. The Colombian cartel explained that this was a kidnapping for ransom and that he would be held until payment was made.
Held at gunpoint deep in the jungle and with little else to occupy his time, Russell got ahold of some paper and began to write. He told the story of his life and kept a record of his experience in the guerrilla camp. His “book” became a bridge to the men who held him hostage and now serves as the basis for this incredible true story of how God’s love penetrated a physical and ideological jungle.
How did this incredible true story affect Russell? “At first my mind went wild with thoughts of revenge and violence. Then, after a while, I was able to see through their attempt to break me down and brainwash me. I started making a determined effort to throw all their stories and dramas out of my mind and not to let my thoughts dwell on them at all. I would trust God that He would take care of my wife and I would close my mind to my captors’ input. I decided to think about positive values instead.”
On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow?
Synopsis: During his years pastoring an inner-city church, Wendell Mettey discovered that God uses even the most blemished vessels to bring beauty into the world. In On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow?, Pastor Mettey shares the humorous and touching stories of his diverse congregation— ordinary people whose lives were infused with an awareness of God’s real and abundant grace.
On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow? is an excellent text for use in a small group or study class. The story-chapters provide a comprehensive, close-ended format for each session. Study guides are available to be used in conjunction with the book.
All About Jesus: The Single Story from Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John
Who was Jesus? What did he say? What did he do? This book is all about Jesus. It puts together the story of Jesus’ life and message told by the people who knew him best–his disciples and friends–as recorded in the four Gospels of the Bible. Although the words were written over 2000 years ago, his message of peace, hope, love, and forgiveness still resonates with people of all races, nationalities, educational, and economic backgrounds. Some like what he said, while others disagree, but almost everyone finds him compelling. The story of Jesus comes to us from four different authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, written over a period of nearly seventy years. The message and uniqueness of Jesus remain the same, but each author tells the story from his perspective and for his purpose. Some writers wrote more; others wrote less. But what if we could read it as one single story from beginning to end? This book does just that by combining the four reports of Jesus’ life into a single chronological story, using the easy-to-read text of the NIRV Bible. Take a new look at Jesus– his life, his miracles, and his teachings–and to come to your own conclusions about the carpenter from Nazareth.
This book was produced in collaboration with Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society).
This book examines Wayne Grudem’s controversial teaching on fallible prophecy in view of various lexical, exegetical, and historical points of analysis. It also addresses the teaching’s popularity and continuing advancement through many charismatics within the “New Calvinism” movement. The doctrine of fallible prophecy is neither benign nor harmless, rather it constitutes a troubling strange fire for the body of Christ and continues to spread through the advocacy of popular continuationists like Wayne Grudem, D.A. Carson, John Piper, and Mark Driscoll:
“Not only does fallible prophecy have no real value, it is dangerous and can lead the gullible to take very unfortunate actions…since Grudem is the Neo-Calvinist theologian leading the charge in attempting to develop and defend the position of fallible prophecy, Beasley primarily interacts with his writings. His carefully presented argument leads to the conclusion that Grudem is reasoning from both ignorance of New Testament times, as well as from silence. Beasley has done the church a wonderful service by producing this volume. My hope is that many will read it and absorb its contents.”
Gary E. Gilley, Pastor-teacher, Southern View Chapel, Springfield, Il:
Contents:
1. Chapter 1: Prophecy – A Test of Love: According to the proponents of fallible prophecy, the presence of error in a prophetic utterance does not make such claimants of the prophetic gift false prophets, it only means that they are New Testament fallible prophets by definition. This constitutes a complete reversal of meaning of prophecy which results in a confused message concerning the nature and character of the God who has consistently and effectually revealed Himself through His appointed messengers. Moreover, such a redaction of prophecy effectively confuses, and nearly eliminates, the scripturally prescribed tests for prophecy. The importance of this must not be underestimated, for all of the tests of prophecy, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, have an unimpeachable centerpiece: the love of God.
2. Chapter 2: Fallible prophecy – Lexical Considerations: Grudem argues that the New Testament connotation of the word prophet no longer possessed the sense of authority it once had. In view of Grudem’s emphasis on this point, chapter 2 examines Grudem’s lexical justification for such a position.
3. Chapter 3: Fallible prophecy – The Case of Agabus: One of the most central arguments for fallible prophecy is founded on Agabus’ prophecy in Acts 21:11. Like Grudem, D.A. Carson insists that Agabus’ prophecy was fraught with error: “I can think of no reported Old Testament prophet whose prophecies are so wrong on the details.” This serious accusation establishes the basis for a thorough examination of Agabus in the 3rd chapter.
4. Chapter 4: Fallible prophecy – A Gift for All?: The advocates of fallible prophecy argue that the NT gift of prophecy was extremely common and functioned “in thousands of ordinary Christians in hundreds of local churches at the time of the New Testament.” In addition to this, Grudem argues that neither grave error nor immaturity should serve as a barrier to the pursuit and exercise of such a gift by nearly everyone within the local church. Such thinking is a tragedy for the body of Christ which is called to holiness and truth in all aspects of life and servitude.
5. Conclusion: The Fallible Prophets of New Calvinism: Believing in the value and efficacy of fallible prophecy, a growing number of popular pastors and teachers are now openly promoting such teaching. Particularly within the increasingly popular New Calvinism movement we find a growing number of advocates of fallible prophecy. To facilitate the spread of this doctrine, Grudem himself supplies a 6-point strategy for establishing fallible prophecy within the local church. This poses an increasing danger of the tolerance and proliferation of false prophets within the church.
The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts (A Long Line of Godly Men Profiles)
This is a short book (163 pages), about average for the “Long Line of Godly Men Profiles” series. But in spite of its brevity, the book does a little bit of everything and is a very helpful new work on Isaac Watts. Equal parts biography, theological study, and poetry analysis, it’s a great introduction to Watts, and a good hub of resources for further study.
Here’s why this book is important. In a culture where entertainment and the tyranny of the newest fad really fight to drive our preferences, Bond calls us to reexamine the influence Watts’ influence on congregational church music. Because our entertainment culture has affected the music churches choose to sing, and often not for the better, remembering a hymn writer like Watts and the good he has done for the English-speaking church is very valuable. Bond says,
“Our world clambers for the latest thing ,and as we wear ourselves out in the process, great poets such as Watts often get put in a box on the curb for the thrift store pickup. How could a gawky, male poet, living and writing three hundred years ago, be relevant today? Our postmodern, post-Christian, post-biblical culture has almost totally dismissed what was called poetry in Watts’ day. Few deny it: ours is a post-poetry culture” (xix).
In one of the most rich and valuable parts of the book, Bond goes on in the preface to compare Watts, who held to poetic form and structure, to Walt Whitman, the father of “vers libre” or free-verse poetry. The contrast is compelling because Bond points out that Whitman abandoned form, which was part and parcel of making himself his life’s object of worship; whereas Watts, writing poetry and hymns in rhythm and meter, sought to exalt Jesus Christ and make him look glorious.
A Distant Melody (Wings of Glory Book #1): A Novel
Reader Review: Move over Janette Oke. Look out Nora Roberts. There is a new writer on the scene, and I think she’s going to be very successful. Sarah Sundin’s A Distant Melody, the first in a trilogy about WWII pilots, combines history and romance into a story that not only entertains, but leaves the reader with a desire to be a better person. The story alternates between Allie’s struggle to find meaning in her pampered existence and Walt’s challenges to overcome his insecurities in order to lead his team. Faith in God provides the foundation for both characters to conquer their fears and reach for the sky.
One of my favorite girls’ books ever.
It was so refreshing to read of another, less uptight era where neighbors cared about each other and happily gave of their time and means to help a family they had never met. The Carey’s have a magical quality that is all their own, bringing joy to those around them. Mrs. Carey refers to her children as her chickens, thus the title. Mrs. Carey is the perfect mother, mixing love with her admonishing. And Nancy’s high spirits are contagious. Compared to today’s fiction, this may seem like a goody-goody-dreamworld-story, but it was a wonderful story. It made me wonder if such a world may really exist someday. It was so positive and edifying. I wish that Kate Douglas Wiggins had written a whole series about the Carey family.
Reader Review: This is the story of a couple, one jaded and one innocent, who live through a set of circumstances which develop character problems. It is the innocent, in this story, who finds her way to the truth. A good read.
Random Excerpt:
The Dowager Lady Randolph had never found the Hall so dull. There was nothing going on, nothing even to look forward to: one formal dinner-party was the only thing to represent that large and cordial hospitality which she was glad to think had in her own time characterised the period when the Hall was open. She had never pretended to be fond of the county society. In the late Sir Robert’s time she had not concealed the fact that the less time she spent in it the better she was pleased. But when she was there, all the county had known it. She was a woman who loved to live a large and liberal life. It was not so much that she liked gaiety, or what is called pleasure, as that she loved to have people about her, to be the dispenser[Pg 116] of enjoyment, to live a life in which there was always something going on. This is a temperament which meets much censure from the world, and is stigmatised as a love of excitement, and by many other unlovely names; but that is hard upon the people who are born with it, and who are in many cases benefactors to mankind. Lady Randolph’s desire was that there should always be something doing—”a magic lantern at the least,” she had said. Indeed, there can be no doubt that in managing that magic lantern she would have given as much satisfaction to everybody, and perhaps managed to enjoy herself as much, as if it had been the first entertainment in Mayfair. She could not stagnate comfortably, she said; and as so much of an ordinary woman’s life must be stagnation more or less gracefully veiled, it may be supposed that Lady Randolph had learned the useful lesson of putting up with what she could get when what she liked was not procurable.
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Happy Reading!
