Monthly Archives: December 2013

Life Is Your Best Medicine: A Woman’s Guide to Health, Healing, and Wholeness at Every Age by Tieraona Low Dog
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed Life is Your Best Medicine by Dr. Low Dog. The book is a helpful guide for women about living a healthier life.

Low Dog has a very interesting background and worked as an herbalist, mid-wife, massage therapist, and finally a doctor. She combines these different points of view with well researched health data that includes a variety of topics. Unlike some books and authors who push some kind of strange new age approach to healing, as a doctor, Low Dog does a great job combining alternative medical approaches with western medical science and research. There is certainly a place for both and Low Dog does a good job marrying them in a useable and helpful way.

I loved the sections on herbs and the five senses. I highly recommend reading those parts if you are pressed for time and want to skip the rest of the book.

A few of her tips are a little goofy. But, she is speaking to a wide audience who has different levels of health and the practice of healthy behavior.

Some of the data she offers on health studies is flooring… Video game violence, city vs. country walks, on and on.

Well worth a skim, or a full on study.

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

I listened to the audiobook version of The Wizard of Oz read by actress Anne Hathaway. It was a special Audible.com production and they gave away a free download for the Thanksgiving drive ‘over the river and through the woods’. The audio version worked out very well it was the perfect amount of time for our drive and the story really keep both my kids (5, 7) quite in the backseat!!

Hathaway did a nice job reading the story and provided different voices for each of the characters.

This was my first time ‘reading’ the story and my knowledge of The Wizard of Oz was primarily limited to the movie. I have also the newer Disney film as well.

I was surprised to learn about all the differences between the film and the book. And, I was even more amazed to learn the shoes were not ruby at all,instead they are silver!!!

I am sure it’s because the movie version is so etched in my mind, but I think the changes in the movie made the story better.

All and all I am glad I finally heard the real version of the story!

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Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd because I have an interest in that area of England. The book details more than 2000 years of human life in Southern England around what is today Salisbury.

This long book is similar in style to books by Mitchern (think Hawaii, Texas, Alaska).

For me some parts of the book were better than others. I enjoyed the pre-historic sections as well as the building of Stonehenge. The Roman period was well done and I liked the portion about King Alfred. Although, I think he could have done more with that section.

I was very disappointed with Rutherfurd’s handling of the period after 1066 and Henry II. After all, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine was held under house arrest at Sarum after her failed rebellion against Henry! Clearly, Rutherfurd had to condense history in order to keep the book under the 1000 page mark, but I really like that period.

The building of the famous Salisbury Cathedral was well portrayed.

I did like the author’s treatment of the American Revolution and the letters home about what was happening.

I feel as if the 1st half of the 20th Century was very much glossed over but I liked the discussion of American troops in Britain. I especially enjoyed the social issues the author talked about such as the difference in pat between the British and American soldiers.

All and all, the story was a little slow for me and it got bogged down at certain points. I keep picking up these epics and yet I find myself struggling to get to the end of them. Unless you truly love these very long sweeping stories, stay away.

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