ISBN: 9780989128995
Published by: Bent Pine Publishing
Published: November 17, 2015
Kindle Version, 137 pages

Ditching the Drive-Thru: How to Pass Up Processed Foods, Buy Farm Fresh, and Transform Your Family's Eating Habits on a Modern Mom's Schedule by J. Natalie Winch

ISBN: 978-1517530280
Published: October 1, 2015
Published by: CreateSpace 
Kindle edition, 240 pages

The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson
Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 978-0718026264
Published November 17, 2025
Hardcover, 320 pages

Book Description: 

The one who needs rescuing isn't always the one in the tower...

Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man. She paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. She sings so sweetly she can coax even a beast to sleep. But there are two things she is afraid her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry.

Fiercely devoted to Rapunzel, her mother is suspicious of every man who so much as looks at her daughter and warns her that no man can be trusted. After a young village farmer asks for Rapunzel's hand in marriage, Mother decides to move them once again---this time, to the large city of Hagenheim.

On Wednesday I spotlighted Jesusita, a novel about immigrants—legal and illegal—trying to survive in California in the years after World War II.

Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers by Sally Allen
ISBN: 978-0983644613
Published by: Griffins Wharf Productions
Published: November 2015
Trade paperback, 225 pages

Book Description:

Award-winning writer and teacher Sally Allen knows that good books don't just draw us in; they talk to us, shape us, and transport us to times, places, and minds different from our own.

In Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers, Allen deftly weaves personal stories with fifteen thematized, annotated, and illustrated reading lists for what to read next. By sharing some of the treasures in her library and the secret lives they reveal, she gives us permission to embrace the shameless book lover inside each of us. Unlocking Worlds is a testament to how reading passionately - and compassionately - can unlock the world beyond our back yard. Celebrating books and those who read them, Allen shows how the solitary act of reading can be a powerful thread that creates community and connection.

Stop the Diet, I Want to Get Off! by Lisa Tillinger Johansen
J. Murray Press
ISBN: 978-0996310208
Published July 2015
Trade paperback, 350 pages

Book Description:

The Paleo. The Zone. The Gluten-free. Another day, another diet. We’re caught in a never-ending merry-go-round of weight loss plans, fueled by celebrity endorsers, TV doctors and companies angling for a piece of a $60 billion industry. But do these diets really work? And how healthy are they?

Registered Dietitian Lisa Tillinger Johansen examines dozens of the most wildly popular diets based on medical facts, not hype. And along the way, she reveals tried-and-true weight loss strategies, relying on her years of hospital experience, weight-loss seminars and community outreach efforts.

Jesusita by Ronald L. Ruiz
Amika Press
ISBN-13: 978-1937484330
Published: May 14, 2015
Trade paperback, 288 pages

Book Description:

Jesusita is the story of immigrants—legal and illegal—trying to survive in California in the years after World War II. Jesusita, alone and impoverished, struggles to keep her four young children together. Though she finds support from Padre Montes at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church, her faith won’t solve her problems, especially those with her daughter, Paulina.

Reef Libre: Cuba, The Last Best Reefs in the World by Robert Wintner
Taylor Trade Publishing (Rowman & Littlefield)
ISBN:978-1630760731
Published: February 2015
Hardcover, 266 pages

Book Description:

Cuba reefs host apex predators and coral cover at optimal levels. While Cuban reef vitality may be linked to economic default and no shoreline development, no agricultural pesticides or fertilizers and limited human population growth, the Castro regime is aggressively developing its reef potential.

Seas to the south are now 100% shark protected.

ISBN:9781517574055
Published: November 2015
Published by: Red Mountain Shadows Publishing
Trade paperback, 213 pages

Book Description:

Amelia is approached by a woman who is concerned about the son she gave up for adoption sixteen years ago. Millie has been having nightmares that make her fear he is in danger. She petitioned the court to view the sealed records but was refused. Will Amelia and rick be able to convince the courts to help them? If her son is in danger, will they get there in time?

Brainstorm: A Memoir of Love, Devotion, and a Cerebral Aneurysm by Robert Wintner
Yucca / Skyhorse Publishing
ISBN: 978-1631580208
Published February 17, 2015
Hardcover, 200 pages

Book Description:

Brainstorm is a first-person narrative of incidents leading up to, through and after a cerebral aneurysm and hemorrhage in the immediate family. The action includes the dramatic process ongoing in trauma centers designed to process sudden occurrence of aneurysm, cerebral hemorrhage and morbidity. The American Medical Association estimates that 3% of all populations have aneurysm that may or may not leak—about 3½ million people in the U.S.

Convergence by Trudie L. Hayes
Love Your Me, LLC
ISBN: 978-0996353403
Published August 2015
Trade paperback, 557 pages

Book Description:

It was the first day of school and anxieties were running high. For certain​ ​there was the excitement of moving up a grade, but there was also the dread of anything and everything that could go wrong. Not only were the possibilities endless, they were totally out of your control. Whether or not you were accepted rested squarely on the shoulders of the popular kids. Suppose you were too short or too tall; too smart or not smart enough; too rich or too poor; or just plain different?

Stop and Smell Your Children: Laugh and Enjoy the Little Years by Leah Spina
Next Century Publishing
ISBN: 978-1629038346Published Oct 6, 2015
Trade paperback, 216 pages

Book Description:

Ready to laugh about motherhood and be encouraged? Tired of feeling overwhelmed and stressed out in the baby and toddler season? Need some fresh vision and perspective so you can enjoy—not just endure—your young children?

Stop and Smell Your Children: Laugh and Enjoy the Little Years offers moms-to-be and moms of young children short, real-life parenting stories that encourage and inspire. Leah Spina, mother of three children ages five and under, and former journalist, unleashes humor and perspective for tired moms who are parenting the “little” years. From the excitement of the positive pregnancy test to morning sickness and the banes of pregnancy, to childbirth, babies, toddlers and new parent struggles, the stories will make you laugh and see beauty in the chaos. Each story also includes thought-provoking takeaways to help busy moms gain a fresh outlook.

New Jerusalem News by John Enright
Yucca / Skyhorse Publishing
Published August 2015
Trade paperback, 265 pages

Book Description:

Dominick is always just passing through. He is a professional houseguest who follows the sun and the leisure class from resort to resort. But this winter he lingers on a quaint New England island and in spite of his best intentions becomes involved in the travails of his eccentric geriatric hosts. An environmental protest against a proposed liquid natural gas terminal turns ugly, and by accident and happenstance Dominick becomes a mistaken suspect in terroristic bombings.

America Is An Idea and the American Dream is For Everyone: Why We Built empowr.com by Michael Cyrus Pousti
Self-published
ISBN: 978-0692510391
Published August 20, 2015
Trade paperback, 194 pages

Book Description:

From a co-founder of empowr.com comes this "Why?" story behind the massive social platform, empowr, that’s been in the making for fifteen years. Learn exactly what drove the participants (founders, advisors, success coaches and 1,000 employees plus 100,000 alpha test users) in their gigantic moonshot project.

After meticulously discussing the "Why?" the author then delves into how empowr has been designed to exploit the exponential characteristics of the web - via its tightly-integrated democratic, economic and educational platform - to deliver opportunity to people everywhere.

Murder on Safari by Peter Riva
Yucca / Skyhorse
Published: April 28, 2015
Trade paperback, 352 pages

Book Description:

Only a reality TV producer and an expert safari guide can stop a terrorist attack.

Every adventure starts at the fringes of civilization. For expert safari guide Mbuno and wildlife television producer Pero Baltazar, filming in the wild of East Africa should have been a return to the adventure they always loved. This time they’d be filming soaring vultures in northern Kenya and giant sea crocodiles in Tanzania with Mary, the daughter of the world’s top television evangelist, the very reverend Jimmy Threte.




Peter Riva spent many months over thirty years in Africa, many of them with the legendary guides for East African white hunters and adventurers. He created a TV series (seventy-eight 1-hour episodes) in 1995 called WildThings for Paramount TV. Passing on the fables, true tales and insider knowledge of these last reserves of true wildlife is a passion.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

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This is a list of book I've read in 2016. The ones reviewed will be linked.

Laura Fabiani's Reviews
Children's Book Reviews 

1. The I Love my Body Book by Lisa Lynn
2. Bossy Flossy by Paulette Bogan*
3. Little Fox, Lost by Nicole Snitselaar, illustrations by Alicia Padrón
4. Our Love Grows by Anna Pignataro
5. Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
6. French Toast by Kari-Lynn Winters, illustrated by François Thisdale 
7. Mama's Knight: A Cancer Story of Love by Aurora Whittet
8. When the Rain Comes by Alma Fullerton, Illustrations by Kim La Fave
9. Sleep Tight Farm by Eugenie Doyle, Illustrated by Becca Stadlander
10. The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Chris Turnham*
11. #BabyLove: My Toddler Life by Corine Dehghanpisheh

Middle Grade Book Reviews

1. The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands*
2. The War of Words by Amy Neftzger
3. Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall by Aaron Safronoff
4. David Travels to the Past by María José Mosquera Beceiro and Gonzalo Martínez de Antoñana 
5. The Cities Book: A Journey Through 86 of the World's Greatest Cities by Lonely Planet Kids

1. Painting Rain by Annette K. Larsen*
2. Banished (Forbidden #2) by Kimberley Griffiths Little*
3. The Cadence of Gypsies by Barbara Casey
4. Regina Shen: Resilience Book #1 by Lance Erlick*
5. Regina Shen: Vigilance Book #2 by Lance Erlick
6. Regina Shen: Defiance Book #3 by Lance Erlick
7. Regina Shen: Endurance Book #4 by Lance Erlick
8. Sovereignty by Anjenique Hughes
9. Haven: Chronicles of Warshard by Katherine Bogle
10. The Perfect Tear by Connie Lansberg
11. The Breedling & the City in the Garden (The Element Odysseys Book 1) by Kimberlee Ann Bastian
12. Secrets in the Snow by Michaela MacCall
13. Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins*

1. Adventurers Abroad: The New American Expat Generation by Robert Nelson
2. Emmy Nation: Undercover Suffragette by L. Davis Munro
3. The Sale of Woodhouse Glass by K.J. Watters
4. Cancelled Vows by Lauren Carr
5. The Greatest Prospector in the World by Ken Dunn
6. Theodore Hartley by E.H. Nolan
7. The Lighthouse Secret: Amelia Moore Detective Series - Book 7 by Linda Weaver Clarke
8. A Shackled Inheritance by Madeleine McDonald
9. Revenants: The Odyssey Home by Scott Kauffman
10. Simply Dickens by Paul Schlicke
11. There Once Was a Cat: Limericks for Cat Lovers of All Ages by Mary Jane Cogan
12. Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold by Iain Reading
13. Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost (Book #2) by Iain Reading
14. Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
15. Corporate Citizen: Roma Series Book #5 by Gabriel Valjan
16. Kitty Hawk and the Icelandic Intrigue (Book #3) by Iain Reading
17. To Warm a Wintered Heart by Deborah M. Hathaway
18. Driving Miss Crazy by D.J. Van Oss
19. Fifteen Words by Monika Jephcott Thomas

1. Kings or Pawns (The Kings Book 1) By J.J. Sherwood

1. Forever Fit and Flexible: Feeling Fabulous at Fifty and Beyond by Cheryl L. Ilov

* Starred reviews are considered favorites