What I have found that I like

As most of you will know, I am a huge fan of reading and of books as well as my home, the Earth. My greatest desire is to bring these two together and to find an e-book reader so that I can stop depleting our trees. South Africa is a little behind, so having seen a great number available in the USA and such, I trust it will only be a matter of months before they become available here.

I have tried libraries, but they often do not have exactly what I am looking for and the turning point was when I had read a book and found half of it missing. Some people can just not take care of anything. The other thing that also bothers me is that I always end up paying fines, because I like to read things in my own time.

Audiobooks are great, but they are no replacement for reading. I found they only work well for old classics that can get tiring on the eyes, or books that I have read before.

In the meantime, I buy what I need and keep mostly reference books or the books written by my favourite authors (being Terry Pratchett, Margaret Atwood, John Irving, Fanny Flagg and Deepak Chopra) and the rest I drop off at 2nd hand bookstores (I buy books there as well) or children's homes.

But this is not what this blog is about, entirely. I am here to tell you what I am currently reading that I have found to be great, or at least life-enhancing.

For some reason I have recently found myself being plagued, or maybe founded, by child raising books. We have no children yet and are only making plans for about 3 years in the future, and yet, these books have found their way to me. Not all the books are for children only though, so do read on, even if you are not planning to ever have a little pink-foot.

The 1st one that I will mention is for all the environmentalists out there, or anyone who wants to teach their kids a healthy respect for our world. The book is called Eco Kids and it is written by Dan Chiras - rasising kids who care for the earth. Think you can do this yourself, no way. You have no idea about the mistakes you are making already and this guy is not afraid to enlighten you and to tell you that he has made the same mistakes. This book is written mostly from experience of a environmental studies teacher (with 2 sons of his own) and filled with examples of how to teach your kids or how kids have made a difference in this world. It sheds a lot of light even for me in dealing with my siblings and other people that I would like to teach to respect our earth.

The 2nd and 3rd book is called Baby Sense and Toddler Sense by Ann Richardson. These books are an absolute must for any new parent or anyone who is pregnant. It is a simple, thin book that contains almost everything you will ever need to know and simple advice on how to establish healthy habits or how to eradicate the unhealthy ones. It is in easy to understand language as well and she really does not write in a preachy way so the book never becomes an ordeal to read and you can read it as your child grows.

The 4th book on my list is called Raising Kids the Natural Way by Mary-Anne Shearer. She has a website called http://www.mary-anns.com/ if you want to go and check it out. She has a very different and natural way for getting your kids to eat healthy, which is what we all want in long term, right?

Lastly I have on my list the book that was made famous by Oprah, You the Owner's Manual written by several doctors amongst which the infamous Dr. Oz. As the title suggests it is a manual on how your body works. There are one or two things that I will not incorporate in my life, but I have alternatives that I abide by which I believe are best for me. What makes this book so great is that you get a complete look at how your body works and how various things might affect it. For the physical side of our bodies (lest we forget in our spiritual quest that we have the physical to take care of as well) this book is brilliant. It has a lot to cover, but the writers were not stupid and they allow for the cheaters as well. If you have no desire to know how or why, just skip to the end of each chapter where you are given a shortlist of what to do to get your body in tip top shape.

I have covered a lot of factual books in this blog and I hope that someone will find at least one of them helpful. They have been real eye-openers for me even if they have not been the most binding books I have ever read.

Happy reading!