A book review of Amazing Answers for Curious Kids Space Edition: 84 Why and How Questions for Kids Ages 6-12 About the Solar System, Planets, Stars, Black Holes, Rockets, Astronauts and the Universe by Ross Austin

Stars: *****

Beyond Why Press (2026)
Children’s Nonfiction>Space
92 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: Why do planets orbit the Sun? What would happen if you dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon? How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space? And what does it actually feel like when a rocket launches?

Amazing Answers for Curious Kids: Space Edition turns the questions children genuinely wonder about into 84 fascinating space discoveries they can understand, remember, and want to explore further.

Designed for curious kids ages 6–12, this full-color book explores the Solar System, planets, stars, black holes, rockets, astronauts, and the universe through clear explanations, vivid visuals, surprising facts, and questions that encourage kids to think before discovering the answer. Older readers can explore independently, while younger readers can enjoy the questions, pictures, and discoveries with a grown-up.

Amazing Answers for Curious Kids Space Edition

This is not your average questions and answers type book for kids. Most of those books it just asks a question and then answers it. This is so much more.

For each question, after it is presented, there is a guess first section which has a multiple choice question where you can make a guess whether an educated guest or a complete random guess, depending on your knowledge.

Following that there is a full colour photograph or a diagram depicting the space topic being presented. After that is the quick answer. This is a short answer if you just want something quick. Following that is the longer answer if you want a more indepth explanation.

These aren’t just basic questions either like What is a Moon, but more like Why Does the Moon Have So Many Craters? Or even when there is a basic question like What is a Black Hole there is also What Would Happen if You Got Too Close to a Black Hole?

The categories are: Solar System, Moon, Earth in Space, Stars, Galaxies/Black Holes/Universe, Rockets & Space Travel, Life as an Astronaut, Exploring Other Worlds, Searching for Alien Life, Space Detectives, WEird and Wonderful Space and Space and the Future.

This is a great book for kids from 10+ for reading level but 5+ for being read to.

Buy Amazing Answers: Space Edition from Amazon.com

A book review of The Shortest History of Music: From Bone Flutes to Synthesizers, Hildegard of Bingen to Beyonce – 5000 Years of Instrument and Song by Andrew Ford

Stars: ***

The Experiment (2024)
History>Music
240 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: From prehistoric songwriting to digital recording, discover the history of the world’s favorite art form. No other art is as popular―or pervasive―as music. With just a few clicks, anyone can cue up (and critique) Chopin or Cher, The Bangles or The Beatles―even the brand-new Beyoncé. But things weren’t always this way.

In this brisk, breakneck history under 300 pages, award-winning composer, author, and broadcaster Andrew Ford replays the dramatic evolution of music, from early oral songs to the first orchestras (and their wealthy patrons) and from the emergence of recording technology to the multibillion-dollar industry we know today. The Shortest History of Music explores the immense influence of religion, politics, and the economy on world music, what led humans to make music in the first place, and why―in every era―we are irresistibly drawn to listen to it. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

The Shortest History of Music

I was looking into this book because my son was doing ancient music history and I was feeling this out to see if perhaps I’d want him to read part of it. We ended up not using it but I read the book myself as I find history of certain things interesting (microhistory).

The book is very thorough for being a shortest history but that means the beginning sections of ancient music was very dry. It’s not that ancient music history is boring, but being so detailed about a type of music that was fairly basic was a bit much for me.

The later chapters are more interesting but it is still a dry book by nature. One thing that makes it more interesting is the book includes 30+ black and white photos that go with what is being talked about. There are drawings, paintings, photos and even sheet music and music show posters.

Overall the book isn’t full of twists and turns and colourful photos but it is an accurate beginning history of music if that is something you are looking for.

Buy The Shortest History of Music from Amazon.com

A book review of Menopause The Little Manual: An Easy Way to Understand and Navigate Hormonal Shifts by Cyra Elsin Fair

Stars: ****

Self-Published (2026)
Health>Women
60 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: Demystify menopause and understand how to support your body’s changing needs. You feel like you’ve finally gotten to know your body. You’re familiar with its rhythms and cycles, and you finally feel at home in your own skin. And then, slowly, something begins to change.

Fatigue and stress are the new norm, and as you move through your daily routines, you start to wonder what’s happening to you. It’s a gradual shift, so subtle that you might doubt what’s going on at first, but it’s not long before you realize that you’re entering a new phase of your life. Menopause is upon you. Medical advice can seem overly technical and doesn’t always reflect what you’re going through. And when you talk to your friends, their symptoms may seem completely different from yours. And somewhere in the middle of all that, a quiet thought may surface: Am I the only one feeling this way?

We’re often taught to think of menopause as a single event, but it’s really a transition that looks different for everyone. Help is at hand. You don’t have to figure this out on your own.

Menopause: The Little Manual

This little manual is a good introduction to Menopause for someone who knows nothing or very little about it. If you are looking for an in depth manual this is not it. However it does a good job of explaining the basics.

This is not a book by a women’s health professional but someone who has been there. She shares what menopause REALLY is and what it ISN’T. I liked the menopause in different cultural perspectives part. It even discusses if there is menopause in the animal kingdom which I found fascinating.

She discusses how bodily responses appear in everyday life, the silent phase, when menopause enters medical care and living daily life without making menopause the focus. The next chapter is caring for the body without forcing it, sexual health/identity/emotional well being and finally Advocacy/continuity and long term well being.

It’s a handy little book to learn about menopause.

Buy Menopause the Little Manual from Amazon.com

A book review of Spiritual CPR: Recognizing and Intervening When a Christian is in Crisis by Dr. Shaun Jester

Stars: ****

Jester Entertainment (2026)
Christian Nonfiction>Counseling
136 pages

Disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: In Spiritual CPR, board-certified physician Dr. Shaun Jester draws on a lifetime of responding to physical emergencies to present a practical, biblically grounded guide for recognizing and responding to spiritual emergencies.

From pornography and infidelity to abortion, addiction, and other life-altering struggles, this book equips believers to move beyond judgment, silence, and avoidance toward restoration, healing, and hope.

Using the memorable WASH PIGS framework, readers will learn how to assess difficult situations, offer wise counsel, and extend grace without compromising truth. Each chapter explores real-world scenarios, examines both secular and biblical perspectives, and provides actionable steps for helping fellow Christians navigate moments of spiritual crisis.

Whether you are a church leader, small-group facilitator, mentor, parent, or believer seeking to strengthen your ability to care for others, Spiritual CPR offers a compassionate roadmap for restoring those who are hurting, struggling, or wandering from their faith.

When spiritual emergencies arise, will you be prepared to help save a life? The next spiritual emergency in your church, family, or circle of friends may be closer than you think. Will you know how to respond?

Spiritual CPR

I have not read a book like this before and I’m glad I did. It really shows you how you can help others who are struggling with sin and how to tell which approach is the right one. For example the book teaches that depending on who you are and your connection with the person, what is appropriate for you to do will change. Sometimes praying is the most you should do. Other times there is more you can do.

The sins covered are Pornography, Sex Outside of Marriage, Elective Abortion, LGBTQIA+, Idols, Chronic Sins, Estrangement and Apathy. Chronic Sins is about smaller things you keep doing over and over like greed, gluttony and gossip.

I like how the author at first makes clear why those sins are a problem. So if you aren’t sure you agree that those are sins, the book will help you clear it up with actual bible verses and interpretation, not just a blank statement.

In the Sex Outside of Marriage section for example we have: What’s the Problem with Sex Outside of Marriage?, Is Infidelity Really That Big of a Deal?, What Does the Bible Say About Sex Outside of Marriage?, Practice Scenario (re examining the scenario from beginning of chapter), Biblical Examples of Compassion and Grace, Restoration, Practical Actions, Study Guide and Resources.

Buy Spiritual CPR from Amazon.com

A book review of Eating When You’re Mentally Exhausted: Why Hunger, Cravings, and Food Decisions Can Feel Harder at the End of a Long Day and How to Make Evenings Easier Without Relying on Willpower by Lucy Rowen

Stars: *****

Self-Published (2026)
Health>Eating
80 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: Virginia Woolf understood something essential about dinner: it belongs to the same life in which we try to think well, love well, and sleep well.

Eating When You’re Mentally Exhausted explores why food decisions can become surprisingly difficult at the end of a long day. Hunger, emotional strain, mental fatigue, decision fatigue, sleep, food rules, and dietary restraint can all play a role—but the choices we make in the evening aren’t simply evidence of willpower or a lack of discipline.

Rather than judging what happened at the refrigerator, the book asks a more useful question: What was already happening before that moment? Drawing on research into appetite, eating behavior, self-control, sleep, and mental fatigue, it examines why cravings and hunger can feel harder to manage as the day wears on.

The goal isn’t to find one explanation for every difficult evening. It’s to understand what actually contributed to it—and use that understanding to make the next decision a little easier.

Eating When You’re Mentally Exhausted

This book is amazing. The author has figured out what the problem is and devised a way to beat it. If you plan a healthy home cooked meal at the start of the day but end up with take out or cereal/sandwich for dinner instead, this book is for you.

Now that I know the basis behind the book it makes so much sense yet I don’t think I would have figured it out myself. It’s not just about knowing the why though, it’s about what to do about that.

The book is short, only 80 pages, but it packs a LOT into those 80. The text is smaller than average but that’s not even what I am referring to. The author does not give you fluff, she gives you substance. The book also challenges a few sayings I’ve heard all my life such as “if you are really hungry, you will eat anything. If you only want a certain food or type of food, it’s a craving, not real hunger.” According to Lucy, that is not true. She talks about this in hunger, craving and tiredness can coexist. You can be hungry AND craving a certain food.

I loved this book and will probably read it again to really cement the ideas. That is saying something as I don’t reread books, like almost ever.

Buy Eating When You’re Mentally Exhausted from Amazon.com

A book review of Wolf With a Badge by John Wolf with Arlene Wolf

Stars: ****

Self-Published (2026)
Memoir>Police Officer
220 pages

Disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: “Wolf With A Badge” contains a collection of true stories experienced over a 30 year period by a deputy sheriff in Broward County, Florida.

From the blood-soaked horror of his very first night on the job-when a father confessed he’d just swung his infant into a television screen, to the moment he casually bumped into an FBI Most Wanted killer while hunting for coffee and pie, John Wolf lived every cop’s nightmare…and lived to tell the tale.

This isn’t just another cop memoir-it’s an adrenaline-fueled, eye-opening trip into the psychological crucible that forges (and sometimes breaks) those who wear the badge. If you’ve ever wondered what law enforcement really looks like from the street level, *Wolf with a Badge* is the book you’ve been waiting for. John Wolf is a retired police officer living on the Florida coast with his wife Arlene.

Wolf With a Badge

This is a memoir of John Wolf’s years as a Police Officer. He includes all kinds of interesting and wild stories while changing just enough of the details to protect confidentiality. The stories are short chapters that include backstory, the incident and the epilogue so you can really understand how he got to the crazy places he was.

He also has memoriums for police officers he knew who lost their lives which I think is a very nice thing to include. There are also a few sidebars related to police work. I also like that in the stories there is notes in brackets for terms you might now know like BOLO (Be on the lookout).

I didn’t love the attitude towards people who attempted suicide or the term failed suicide but I know that is the terminology and attitude that was common when the author was younger.

Buy Wolf With a Badge on Amazon.com

A book review of AI is Not a Career: The Truth About AI Jobs, AI Courses, Future-Proof Skills, and Building a Career That Lasts (Before You Spend Money on an AI Course, Read This by Serbjeet Sidhu

Stars: *****

Self Published (2026)
67 pages
Technology>AI

Disclosure: I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: AI is changing careers. But AI is not a career. Everywhere you look, someone is promising a shortcut. Learn prompt engineering. Take a 30-day AI course. Become “AI-ready.” Land a high-paying job. Future-proof your career. But here is the uncomfortable question: Ready for what?

A tool does not become a profession just because it is powerful. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and the next generation of AI platforms can make capable people dramatically more effective. But without professional knowledge, judgement, communication, problem-solving ability and a strong foundation, AI can also create something far more dangerous: confidence without competence. That is the myth this book challenges.

AI is Not a Career

This book is NOT against AI by any means even though it can seem like it if you just read the title and not the rest of the cover. The book is to help everyone understand that AI is a tool like Excel or Powerpoint and to help you determine if and when an AI course might be right for you AND how to determine if it’s a good course.

Despite containing all that information, the book is relatively short at less than 100 pages but I think the book does a good job of including just the right amount of information without repeating itself too much.

The book also discusses the difference between building AI and using AI as those are different things. I personally love to use AI but have never built it. That’s more tech than I care to learn.

I also love that the chapters are short and includes lots of headings such as: The Danger, What to Do Instead or Myth Busted.

Buy AI is Not a Career at Amazon.com

A book review of Whole Relationships: How Imperfect People Create Unbroken Love by Annette R. Purkiss (with Workbook)

Stars: *****

All Write Publishing (2026)
Christian Nonfiction>Relationships
218 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book and workbook in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: Most people believe love is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Yet many relationships filled with love still collapse under the weight of unmet expectations, emotional wounds, and unspoken needs. The problem isn’t always a lack of love. It’s a lack of wholeness. In Whole Relationships, Annette Johnson challenges the cultural myth that the “right person” will complete us. Instead, she reveals a transformative truth: healthy relationships begin when individuals learn to live whole within themselves. When two imperfect people develop self-awareness, emotional maturity, and spiritual alignment, love no longer has to carry the impossible burden of fixing what is broken.

Blending relational psychology, spiritual wisdom, emotional intelligence, and practical relational insight, this book guides readers through the journey from broken patterns to whole love. Readers will learn how to recognize the hidden habits that sabotage connection, understand the deeper needs that shape relationships, and practice the humility, honesty, and courage required to sustain love over time. Rather than offering quick fixes or romantic illusions, this book presents a deeper path toward love that is resilient, authentic, and spiritually grounded.

A whole relationship does not require perfect people. It requires two people willing to grow, tell the truth, repair what breaks, and build love on a stronger foundation than emotion alone. When wholeness comes first, love can finally flourish the way it was meant to: unbroken.

Whole Relationships

Confession: I wasn’t sure I would gain anything from this book as I feel like I have a great romantic relationship and even family relationships. However I learned a LOT. I’ve been keeping a commonplace notebook and I made over 10 pages of notes from this one book alone. I didn’t end up using the workbook but I sure did learn a lot and wrote it down.

The opposite of whole relationships are broken relationships. I learned that your relationship with others and how whole it is depends also on your relationship with yourself. When you look at the table of contents it honestly seems confusing but when you just read cover to cover, it makes perfect sense. I don’t know how that works but it does.

The author knows what she is talking about and doesn’t just tell you what a whole or broken relationship is like but how to get from broken to whole. I love to that the author doesn’t claim to have always had perfect relationships, she had to learn the hard way and is helping us get where we need and want to be.

Throughout the book there are bolded words and sections. Pay special attention to these bolded sections. These were often indicators I would want to make notes.

What about the workbook? The workbook is called Wholeness Lifestyle Journal: A Guided Journal for Self-Awareness, Healing Patterns and Building Whole Relationships. It looks like a diary with a spot for date, and lots of lines but also reflection questions. The main book tells you when to use the workbook/journal.

Highly recommended book to everyone, not just those who have obvious relationship struggles.

Buy Whole Relationships on Amazon.com

This is a book review of Homemaking Matters: Living for God’s Glory In the Ordinary by Marci Ferrel.

Stars: *****

Harvest House Publishers (2026)
Christian Nonfiction
224 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: When the daily work of caring for your home feels unseen, exhausting, or ordinary, this warm guide helps Christian women see their service as sacred work.

In Homemaking Matters, Marci Ferrell shows how the gospel changes everything, especially what we do in our homes. Blending biblical insight, lived wisdom, and practical takeaways, she helps you see each day not as a checklist of chores, but as a divine vocation with eternal significance.

From keeping up with family laundry to welcoming a friend over for dinner, every opportunity to serve others is an opportunity to serve God. With chapters on ordinary tasks, the ministry of home, mentorship, joy, and more, this book reframes homemaking as purposeful, valuable service that women in every season of life―young or old, married or single, with kids or without―can do for God’s glory.

Homemaking Matters

I love reading about homemaking, especially Christian homemaking as that’s what I am, a Christian homemaker. This book was especially amazing though as it fed my faith as well as my heart as a homemaker.

The book does include the usual spiel about homemaking being a way to honour God, which it is, but it also includes so much more. This book was such a good read I took 10 pages of notes in a note book. It includes a few Bible quotes that the author had in her book but also tons of quotes from her directly.

If it wasn’t obvious, this book is Christian nonfiction and therefore is for those who follow the faith. If you are looking for a secular guide to homemaking this is not it. But if you are a follower of Jesus and a homemaker, this is the perfect guide for you.

I especially like that it is not just a book for married women or women with children. She specifically addresses the single women who still has a home to tend. It’s important to consider all Christian women.

Each chapter has reflection questions which are really well thought out and really make you think. There is also a chapter prayer. I saved all the prayers to my phone so I can pray in bed. I’ve never taken 10 pages of notes from one book before so that’s saying something.

I already followed the author who is also known as The Thankful Homemaker but if you don’t, you should.

Buy The Thankful Homemaker at Amazon.com

A book review of Recalibrating After Brain Injury: A Practical Guide for Families Navigating Traumatic Brain Injury by Ty Hall, PhD

Stars: *****

Self-Published (2026)
Health>Traumatic Brain Injury
92 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: Recovery after traumatic brain injury does not end when the visible crisis has passed. For many survivors and families, the hardest changes are often the least visible: fatigue, sensory overload, emotional shifts, difficulty sustaining attention, and the strain of rebuilding ordinary routines. These changes can be confusing, especially when the injured person appears to be improving from the outside.

Recalibrating After Brain Injury is a practical and compassionate guide for families navigating the longer process of recovery after TBI. Drawing from lived experience and research-informed reflection, Ty Hall explores how brain injury can affect daily life, relationships, confidence, pacing, emotional regulation, and meaningful participation.

Written for survivors, family members, friends, caregivers, educators, employers, and healthcare professionals, this book offers clearer language for understanding recovery after the acute stage has passed. It provides reassurance without false simplicity and helps readers recognize progress, even when recovery feels uneven.

Recalibrating After Brain Injury

I honestly wasn’t sure about this book because it’s so short but somehow the author packed in lots of good information for someone who is struggling with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury.)

I haven’t personally had a TBI but I read the whole thing and it was very eye opening. Even though it’s a guide for those WITH a TBI or their family and not a memoir, it works also as a way to see what life is like for those with a TBI.

If you or someone you love has or might have a TBI I recommend this book as a quick guide. If you have a TBI and can’t read right now, it’s short enough to have someone read to you. I like when health books aren’t too long but still have lots of information. When you are unwell you may not be up to reading a long book.

Buy Recalibrating After Brain Injury from Amazon.com