Two Book Recommendations

Here are two books that really need to be returned to the library. It's easy to tell which books that I especially enjoy, because I have such a hard time taking them back. So, even though I've already read them, I just keep renewing them. Then I feel bad because I want other people to have a chance to read them too, so I eventually, with much sadness, drop them in the book return. Thanks Amanda for recommending them to me!

The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule - The tag line on this book is "How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections." I loved it! I read the book cover to cover, which is not something I usually do for crafty type books. But, this book is more than just instructions for different crafts, it's more of an idea book on making your life one that encourages creativity in every area for all the members of the family. It was definitely inspirational. I think this is one that I'll want to purchase for our home library. I know that in August she'll have a new book out called Handmade Home. I can't wait. Her blog is pretty inspirational, too - SouleMama.

Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood by Sandra Steingraber - This book was fascinating. It follows the author's own pregnancy month by month, her birth and her daughter's time breastfeeding. Interwoven into the story are discussions on the environmental toxins that can affect pregnancy and infant development. I can't decide if I would have wanted to read this book prior to having children. I think I would have, because knowledge is a good thing. I know that had I read this book first, I probably would have made some different decisions throughout my pregnancies. I think the hard part is that so many of the toxins that are affecting our children are things completely out of our individual control. The topics that she discusses are all things that I've thought about and wondered about, but never knew where to get real information. It's heavy on the science, but totally accessible for the science illiterate (me). And since the science is in the context of the story of her pregnancy, it kept my attention more than other non-fiction books.