Review- The Dreamkeepers by Gloria Ladson-Billings

Published in 1994, 2nd ed, 2009

I read this book for my Literacy class, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it greatly.  The book is an ethnographic study of eight teachers who were respected in the community for being successful teachers of African American children.  Instead of viewing African American children as problems in schools, Dr. Ladson-Billings wants to highlight teachers who are able to bring their students to rise above the status quo and achieve high proficiency.  Major themes of this book are respect, community, and culturally relevant pedagogy.

I rate this book 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who works with children/teens.  I learned a lot and am newly inspired to be a better teacher.

Review- Recipes for a Beautiful Life by Keye and Hall

By Julie Keye and Madaline Hall (thanks for the review copy!)
Copyright 2009

If you need a gift for a Christian woman, this is absolutely perfect.  The first section of the book is full of beautiful pictures with scripture verses. The pictures are high quality and include landscapes, animals, plants/flowers, and people.  The people represented are a variety of ages and races.  The Bible verses are encouraging and well-chosen to compliment the photos.  The second half of the book has easy home spa recipes and tips.  I haven't had a chance to make any yet, but I am definitely going to try one of the bath recipes this week- I love chamomile tea, but I never thought about adding it directly to the tub for a relaxing soak!  There are plenty of recipes for masks and soaks, and they include information about which skin type(s) they would be appropriate for.

Like I said, if you need a gift for your Pastor's wife, a secret angel, or your child's Sunday School teacher, this would be a great choice.  The book's website is here.  The website has some excerpts and free skin care recipes as well!

Four stars for this relaxing read.

Review- Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland

So I have been following the blog Unclutterer for about six months now, and last month in a fit of desperation, I bought Erin's book.  This book mainly goes from a Monday to Friday, with a morning home task, an at work task, and an evening home task.  It also includes handy home management lists for Fall and Spring Cleaning.  This book is motivational, but really focuses on Getting Things Done and How to Do Them.

Positives:  I feel much more organized now than before I read this book.  I actually completely reorganized my clothing and wardrobe system, took two bags of clothes to the thrift store, and visited the drycleaner- ON THE FIRST DAY!  I am going to hang on to this book and probably re-read it every six months or so.  I am currently badgering my mother to read this book, which brings me to the negatives:

Negatives:  Since I live with my parents and two younger sisters (going to grad school in the DC area is EXPENSIVE), I only really have authority over my things and my main responsibility, which is the laundry.  I also do not have an office, so most of the office advice doesn't apply to me.  This is not the book's fault, but I am not really the target audience.  However, as I mentioned above, this book is so wonderful that I am going to hang on to it and use it in my home, when I hopefully move out next summer!

So... 4 stars.  If you need help organizing, try this book.  DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THE BLOG!  It's excellent. I  have gotten so many good suggestions and a lot of entertainment from reading Unclutterer.com.