Mama Bear Reviews

Out of the Ordinary by Jen Turano is a lovely religious historical fiction novel. This is the second book in the Apart from the Crowd series. I did not read the first book but feel that this books stands well on its own. Many of the characters in Out of the Ordinary were introduced in the first book but I felt as though I could easily catch up with the different characters and the adventures that they had already embarked upon. This book focuses on Gertrude who is a paid companion for Mrs. Davenport. Mrs. Davenport has a bad habit of taking things that Gertrude is asked to discreetly replace. Her love interest, Harrison Sinclair, is an unusual character that shows an interest in Gertrude right from the beginning. The characters in this story are interesting and quirky. They all mesh well together and create a very interesting journey. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Jen Turano. I think this book would be good for anyone that enjoys historical roman...

It is probably no secret that young adult fantasy is one of my favorite genres. I just finished reading Nyxia by Scott Reintgen and it is the start of a wonderful new series. Before receiving this book, I saw a few reviews that compared this story to the Hunger Games but in space. I think that is a pretty accurate description. The story is told from the perspective of Emmett who is a teenager from Detroit. He is recruited for a mission to travel along with 9 other teenagers to the planet Eden. There are a lot of secrets surrounding why these kids were chosen and just what exactly they will be doing when they get to Eden. The crew is put through daily competitions as they are told only 8 will be making it to Eden. The competition causes some rivalry but still friendships are formed and secrets are uncovered. I thought this was a wonderful start to a series and look forward to reading the next book. This story left off right where I would have expected and I can't wait to pick...

Noelle by Greg Kincaid is the perfect novel to get you in the holiday spirit. Especially if you are anything like me and love Christmas movies. I love all of the sappy, sweet holiday movies about people finding themselves and their true loves. Noelle is the fourth book about the McCray family, but it is the first one that I have read. I think this book does just fine on its own but I will be going back to read the first three as I loved this one so much! This book covers the time leading up to Christmas in the small town of Crossing Trail. A new animal shelter has opened bringing home one of the McCray boys. The story also covers the eldest of the McCray family and challenges that they are going through over the holidays as well as the trials of a young family going through divorce. Through it all, animals play a role especially Noelle. She is a sweet dog with a lot of heart but just can't seem to be trained. This is such a sweet story. I found myself crying multiple times not...

I received a great diet book this week. The Keto Reset Diet: Rebook Your Metabolism in 21 Days And Burn Fat Forever by Mark Sisson With Brad Kearns. I have experimented with a few different diets this year. I started with low carb and toyed with keto and have ended up with a bit of a mixed diet. I have however thought of going back to keto and this book is a great resource. It is full of information that you would have to search all over the internet for. Seriously, this has everything that you need to start out on your keto adventure. It answers basically any question you could think of about this lifestyle as well as including a lot of yummy sounding recipes. If you are curious about this diet or nervous about how to jump in, this book would be a great resource. This book includes a meal plan for the first 21 days so you can really kick start your journey. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

I just finished reading A Plain Leaving by Leslie Gould. I had previously only read a couple of books set in and around the Amish community so did not really know what to expect from this book. I really enjoyed this story. I read the majority of it in two sittings because I could not put it down. Jessica left the Amish community three years ago but has received news of a death in the family that brings her back to her farm. While there, she confronts all of the people that led her to leave as well as the ones that have supported her along the way. Jessica learns about what she really wants out of life through the time spent with her family on the farm. Jessica's aunt also provides a story about an ancestor that was going through similar issues. Through the story of the past and the time spent in the present, Jessica works to figure out if she will stay with her family or go back to the life she has made for herself over the last 3 years. This story moved at a quick pace and had...

I received a gorgeous book about the night sky. What We See In The Stars by Kelsey Oseid is a beautiful illustrated book about our solar system. This book is touted as being for all ages and I think this is so true. I loved this book and so did my elementary aged boys. I sat down with my boys today and we explored all of the different constellations. Every constellation has its own artwork and a description. There are also pages of some of the lesser known constellations. I did not previously know that there is a giraffe or unicorn constellation. There is also information about all of the planets, the cycles of the moon and much more information about space. My kids love this book and I picked up quite a few facts that I did not previously know. The cover of this book is so pretty that I think it would make a great coffee table book even if it is a bit smaller than most. This would be a great addition to the book collection of anyone, young or old, that would like to know more ab...

I received a really fun craft book this week titled, " A Well-Crafted Home ," by Janet Crowther . This is a very modern craft book full of 60 wonderful ideas to create for your home. One of the things that I really enjoy about this book is that there is a good variety of crafts for all skill levels. While I will admit that some of these seem quite challenging, there are still many that I think would be much easier to attempt. I like the idea of being able to make something myself to update my home. There are some really cute ideas in this book that I look forward to making such as the wooden herb planter which is so cute and rustic and the soft planter cover which is a fun way to modernize a potted plant. This book has some cute ideas for anyone from the novice to experienced crafter that is looking for some updates to their home. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review