Book Reviews & Gift Ideas

Looking for your next read or a unique gift idea?

Here are a few of my recent discoveries. Follow the links to author websites for more information and how to purchase.

Cookbooks

Home-Style Cooking for Extraordinary Diets by Sherri Axe Hartman

Home-Style Cooking for Extraordinary Diets

Gluten free, wheat free, casein free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, corn free, and nut free.

These recipes were developed over a 15 year span by a friend out of necessity for life. Hartman shares her best recipes, tested and perfected through trial and error over the years. Hartman states, “It is better to get on the diet than take a chance of causing more damage or getting something worse.”

You can email the author directly for ordering information: sherri-axe-hartman@outlook.com

 Sourdough Biscuits and Pioneer Pies by Gail L. Jenner

Loaded with down home, time tested recipes and history. Jenner has put together a timeless book with baking secrets of Native American ranch house cooks, chuck wagon chefs, and wagon train homemakers, with over a hundred Old West recipes—updated and kitchen tested.

Frontier Fare by Sherry Monahan

Drawn from the author’s ongoing column in TrueWest Magazine, this cookbook combines myths, nostalgia, and legends with usable, delicious, and fun recipes for use at home or on the trail–all with a western theme.

Young Adult

A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin

Very entertaining! It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don’t fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies-plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.

Romance, Holiday

Mistletoe Miracles by Jodi Thomas

Another fun and heartfelt read by Thomas. Her characters hook you in until the very end.

A small-town Texas Christmas story, where hearts are lost, love is found, and family always brings you back home.

Adult Fiction, Adventure/Thriller

Lunch with the Mafia by Richard Brown

This published poet and short story writer has penned a powerful debut novel. Amarillo author, Richard Brown, gives us a page turner, full of intensity and flawed characters who you will love to hate. How far would a man go to keep his beautiful wife happy, even if it involves a powerful mafia boss? Very entertaining!

Daily Devotional

(Secrets of) Confidence by Ramona Richards

A 60-Day Devotional for the Inner You. This is my second time through this study guide, and I continue to discover gems for daily use in my life. As a  Christian, wife, mother, and business owner, it seems my work load is never ending, and yet I’m faced with new business opportunities and family obligations every day.  What do we do when life keeps challenging us? Our patience is tested. Our confidence is strained. How can we possibly take on anything more? How can we juggle our commitments and follow God’s call?

“God always looks for women who are ready to embrace His vision for their lives, their family, and even their nation. Such women of vision have the courage that enables them to conquer and overcome in situations that would otherwise  seem unconquerable.” RAMONA RICHARDS in (SECRETS OF) CONFIDENCE. Barbour Publishing.

Happy reading, everybody!