Room Love by Heather Wutschke

Room Love

by Heather Wutschke

Published by Capstone Young Readers

112 Pages

Review: Room Love by Heather Wutschke is such an adorable DIY book to make any young girls room from drab to fab! While some projects need parental supervision or permission, most are easy to do for any pre-teen to teen. This book is filled with great ideas that will not break the bank for the parents either! I just loved the stencil pattern ideas for plain wood doors and drawers!  With 50 projects to choose from, your teen will have plenty to do during her free time!  And friends or parents can have fun helping too! Filled with beautiful pictures and easy how-to instructions, Room Love will not disappoint!  Great for girls 10 and up!

*Recieved a DRC for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5 hearts!

Make Your Own Pure Mineral Makeup by Heather Anderson

Make Your Own Mineral Makeup

by Heather Anderson

Storey Publishing

256 pages

Review: This new book by Heather Anderson is a wonderful little gem that we should all have in own home libraries if you love mineral makeup.  Beautiful pictures with tons of useful information about identifying your own skin tone, undertone, etc..  You not only get recipes for your mineral makeup foundation, but also for your eyes and lips too!  You'll learn about ingredients, tools for use, and of course how to make pure mineral makeup that is good for your skin. Anderson also shows you how to get your color just right!  This book is like a manual, so make sure you take some time to read it through.  At first it seems a little complicated, but once your get the basics down and get all the right tools and ingredients together, you'll get the hang of it.

Rating: 5 Hearts!

Homegrown Pantry by Barbara Plesant

Homegrown Pantry

by Barbara Pleasant

Storey Publishing

328 pages

Review: Homegrown Pantry by Barbara Pleasant is a must buy for anyone who wants to start growing their own food at home and learn about food preservation.  This book is organized by chapter and is just filled with information on the different kinds of vegetables, fruits, and herbs that are perfect for your own home garden.  Ms. Pleasant also shows you how to dry, freeze, and can this produce for long lasting preservation and storage.  If you ever thought about starting or even learning more about home food growing, this is a perfect book for you! 

Rating: 5 hearts!

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

A Torch Against the Night

(Book 2 in An Ember in the Ashes series)

by Sabaa Tahir

464 pages

Published by Razorbill

Plot: Elias and Laia are on the run and trying to reach Laia's brother in Kauf prison before it's too late.  He is the hope for the resistance and their only chance to bring down the Empire. However, now that Helene is Blood Shrike, she is ordered to hunt down Elias and bring him back to Marcus, the new Emperor.  With Elias being poisoned even before he and Laia escape into the desert, their plan is doomed right from the start.  Laia's only hope is to keep Elias alive long enough to rescue her brother; otherwise, all they have planned and risked will have been for nothing.

Review: This sequel to An Ember in the Ashes does not disappoint!  Before escaping into the desert, Elias is poisoned by the Commandant -which hinders their journey significantly. They have to take a dangerous detour to get some medicine that will help Elias stop passing out from the poison.  With Helene hot on their trail, their journey becomes more and more difficult and dangerous.  Laia and Keenan are later reunited and you get to see if their romance continues or fizzles out. All I will say is - I did not see that one coming!  You'll know what I mean after you read the book! No spoilers here!  Story is told in the POV of Elias, Laia, and Helene, which was a great way to see into the minds of each character and understand their own personal conflicts.  Some very interesting plot twists towards the end that will make you eager for the next book in the series.  Recommend for the Y.A. audience. A clean read other than an implied sexual encounter between two characters.  No graphic descriptions. 

Rating: 4.5 Hearts!