Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Remodel! Without Going Bonkers or Broke: Eliminate 3 Critical Mistakes and Save Thousands Using This Proven Step-by-Step Method is a non-fiction Home Improvement book written by Jim Molinelli. Molinelli is a residential architect who has spent the last twenty-four years in the remodeling industry. As an architect, he was often frustrated by the failure of contractors to provide his clients with results based upon the designs he created at costs within their budgets. He began to work directly with a remodeling contractor in a cooperative venture that gave him new insights into the estimation process. Remodeling is an exciting process that can give your home a new feel, help prepare it to be sold on the market, or expand it to fit your changing needs, but it can also be a nightmare and a money trap if you aren't careful. Just about everyone knows someone who's in the contracting business. It could be a relative, a coworker, a friend of a friend or a neighbor. Molinelli cautions readers to avoid those personal recommendations like the plague. Instead, he sets out step-by-step instructions for preparing your Project Packet, figuring out which type of design professional fits your needs, finding the best remodelers for the job, and being the boss of your project. He includes a list of horror story avoidance tips, action items, and a chart of Remodeling Licensing and Registration by State in his appendices.

Jim Molinelli demystifies the often-confusing home improvement process. When I started reading this book, I knew absolutely nothing about home improvement. As I read, I was excited to find I was actually learning quite a bit about the process. Molinelli gives the reader total control over what goes into the project packet and helps hone a fine sense for what to look for when it comes down to hiring the right professionals for the tasks at hand. I was amazed by the amount of preparation work that the homeowner can do beforehand, and loved how Molinelli changes the tenor of the process from the homeowner feeling at the mercy of the professionals to assuming the role of the boss who is in control of the project. He injects a bit of reality into the often complicated and time-consuming process that many home improvement shows make seem easy and fast, while he demonstrates how knowledge and preparation can help avoid the nightmare scenarios seen in movies such as The Money Pit. Molinelli's enthusiasm for the subject shines through on every page of this invaluable guide, and it's quite infectious.

Remodel! Without Going Bonkers or Broke shows how you can have fun planning your remodel, while maintaining some control over costs and time frames. Readers of this entertaining and informative guide will feel empowered to politely decline the offers made by friends and relatives “in the business” as they interview and eventually select the professionals they’ll hire. They’ll know they've gotten the best bang for the buck without sacrificing the quality of their remodeling project. This is a must-buy for anyone thinking of a home improvement project, no matter how big or small. Remodel! Without Going Bonkers or Broke: Eliminate 3 Critical Mistakes and Save Thousands Using This Proven Step-by-Step Method is most highly recommended.

Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Feng Shui on A Dime: Affordable Feng Shui for Love, Wealth, Health and Success by Stephanie Liang makes Feng Shui accessible to readers, both monetarily and practically. What is Feng Shui? Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement. The book takes a different approach and offers simple and inexpensive solutions to make changes in the life areas we want to improve. The book also explores traditional fixing and more contemporary solutions. A few adjustments here and there will see love, wealth, health, and success flowing into everyone’s life. Through this book, readers will get to know how to correct blocked Chi, the life force that permeates through everything and opens up a free flow of energy between the self and the universe.

Feng Shui always fascinated me and this is a great book for all those who want to learn the art of Feng Shui. The author also discusses how the magic of Feng Shui works. The book increases awareness and helps one become their own Chi guide. Readers will become more observant of their surroundings after reading this book and, once they start making situational changes according to the suggestions given, they will see a considerable change in every aspect of their lives. All the tips and techniques are simple and can be easily incorporated into one’s life. The book will make readers aware of the energy circling in their environment and also how to listen to their inner Feng Shui consultant. I found the book useful in organizing one’s life and in activating the laws of attraction.

Reviewed By Alyssa Elmore for Readers' Favorite

Are you feeling down? Does your energy seem to be weak and sluggish? Does your home feel dark or dirty despite its being clean? How to Create Positive Energy in Your Space by Kasi Kaye Iliopoulos is a helpful guide to cleansing and clearing your home and other areas. With so much discordant energy surrounding our homes, it can be hard to ascend to higher, more loving, healing frequencies of energy. How do you help keep yourself elevated in higher energy frequencies? Cleanse and unblock your home and other spaces of discordant energies and bring in light by following the simple instructions found in this book.

House cleaning is so much more than just doing the laundry and dishes. It requires giving away unused items, deep cleaning, organization, and auric cleansing. Each chapter is dedicated to a helpful practice or subject, making this book easy to navigate. With easy to understand concepts and simple steps to follow to protect and keep your energetic space clean, the reader will quickly gain confidence in energy work around their home and office. The author shows the reader how to grid their home with specific crystals, instead of just telling them. All of the author's advice is followed with detailed, yet simple and concise reasons to the reader that impart more understanding and confidence in their actions and new knowledge. This book teaches the reader energy cleansing and beyond!

How to Create Positive Energy in Your Space by Kasi Kaye Iliopoulos is an excellent little self-help book full of information, advice, and even a special recipe that allows the reader to instantly start in the right direction. This book has it all; clearing and claiming your space, protecting your home, chakra therapy, and so much more! I highly recommend this book to those that are ready to change their future by releasing old, stagnant energies and inviting and manifesting love, light, peacefulness, and prosperity into their lives and homes.

Reviewed By Carla Trueheart for Readers' Favorite

Color Your Chakras by Susan Shumsky is a highly unique and informative interactive coloring book. I’ve seen many adult coloring books, but I have not seen one like this before. It is like getting two books in one, with one part information on the different chakras located in the body, and one part interactive coloring book. There is so much information on these pages! Each bit of instruction on the chakras precedes an intricate coloring page for your use. Within these coloring pages and instructions, the reader will find yin and yang, deities, doorkeepers to each chakra, hieroglyphics, meditations, and mantras. This will aid in memorizing the chakras and also serves as a fun way to use the colors and your own imagination.

While I chose this book, assuming it was an adult coloring book, I was pleasantly surprised at all of the information provided about chakras, the main energy centers in the body, and the lotuses. Author Susan Shumsky explains so many different energies of chakras that I could hardly believe it was so involved! There are chakras in your skull — who knew that? I also enjoyed the information about the deities, and especially liked the Color Wheel and the Wish-Fulfilling Tree. It was a brilliant idea to link a coloring book with the chakras! Color Your Chakras should be a welcome addition to any spiritual library, and I recommend the book to readers interested in chakras or those who would like to use their imaginations for coloring beautiful images while learning something new.

Reviewed By Rachel McGrath for Readers' Favorite

Starry, Starry Night by Dianne Burns is a wonderful collection of black and white pictures of stars waiting to be filled with colour and unique imagination. Only recently I discovered the concept of adult colouring books and, to be honest, I’m not sure if it is a new idea or something that is being re-introduced. What I love about the concept is that anyone can get something out of it. As children, we would colour for hours, using a variety of colours and techniques to bring a picture to life. Bringing this notion to the adult world releases creativity and, in many respects, allows for us to bring out our inner child, taking us away from the worries of daily life, letting us enter a world that, as children, we perhaps took for granted.

Starry, Starry Night by Dianne Burns offers a variety of different objects, all with intricate patterns that will keep users entertained for hours. Whether it is a project you start and stop, or spend time on until a page is completely coloured and complete, the outcome is individual. For users, it is purely about what they want to achieve out of their own endeavors. The author makes a statement at the start to ‘de-stress your life one amazing star at a time,’ giving her audience permission to set themselves free. The addition of small quotes throughout is a gentle reminder of life, imagination, and the beauty of appreciating things we may take for granted. A highly recommended book for any adult to keep on their shelf for when they most need it; whether it is something used frequently or on rare occasions, I am positive this collection will come in handy.

Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Watercolour Toolbox: Essentials for Painting Success by Karen Richardson is a useful guide to all painters and those who are learning to paint. The book guides you step-by-step with useful strategies and demonstrations. It speaks about problems that painters face while painting and, apart from being helpful to novices, the book is also helpful to experienced painters. The book guides you in a sequential manner and speaks about everything that a painter would love to know to improve their techniques and skills. The book covers extensively the right usage of colors, brushes, and good textures for paintings.

The book has eight demonstrations by the author which is really educational and useful. It gives useful tips to improve your techniques and widen one's perspective on how to handle the complexities of art. The examples will tell you how to avoid or fix the challenges presented while using watercolors. The tips to keep in mind before you start with the painting are very helpful. It helps you in planning your picture and how to go about it methodically. The book also tells readers about the classic design guidelines and traditional painting methods which will help them improve their craft.

I will recommend this book to all artists and beginners. The most common painting challenges faced by painters and the simple solutions offered by the author will help one enjoy painting. This 65-page tutorial is very helpful when it comes to improving your style.

Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

"Growing House Plants for the Beginner Enthusiast" by Cyril G. Bursell is a guide for any garden enthusiast. As the title suggests it is of better help to a beginner who is venturing into gardening. The author covers all the areas that a beginner would like to know. As always, a lot of questions run through one's mind before deciding to buy or do something. The author mentions that his purpose in writing the book was to make people aware of how to keep a plant alive. The book tells the reader about the type of plants that can be kept indoors and outdoors. I personally liked the chapters where the requirements for each plant are given making it easy for a garden enthusiast to follow.

I found the chapters on houseplant insects informative. Many a times I have heard garden enthusiasts complaining about pests destroying their plants and they don't exactly know what to do. The chapter extensively covers the type of pests that can attack your plant and what the remedies are to save your plants from such an attack. Plant diseases and the best type of plants that can be kept indoors are also discussed in the book. Plants that are poisonous for children, adults and pets are named. The symptoms that occur when in contact with those plants are also mentioned making it easy to understand. The topic is handled well with elan and simplicity. I thought the inclusion of a pictures of the indoor plants with the details is a very clever idea.

Reviewed By Kristie Ingerto for Readers' Favorite

Jo Ann Bender's "Story Cookbook" will stimulate your taste buds and have you wanting to plan a trip to the Lazy Bee. Filled with a wide variety of recipes that have a connection with her family ranch, Bender shares her love of cooking, visiting, and life in general with the reader. Each recipe has a memory or short tidbit shared along with the recipe; this gives it a "homey" touch. The recipes that are included in this book range from breakfast foods and appetizers to desserts. Creating the recipes in your own kitchen will be an experience. It will also be interesting to read the story that is included alongside the recipe and to decide how and where to serve the prepared food, as Bender states in her introduction, "Often the biggest decision for a meal is not the food but where to serve it."

I have really enjoyed reading through this book! It is filled with so many recipes - recipes that I have never heard of and others that are more familiar - but it has a few little twists to them. What makes this unique and more than "just another cookbook" is the personal stories that are included as an introduction to each recipe. It is evident from this book that Bender enjoys life and sharing her enjoyment through food, visiting with others and hosting people at her ranch to give them a taste of the country living that she loves so much. The directions to the ranch included at the beginning of the book will surely be tempting to anyone who opens this book because, after reading just a few pages, you will be wanting to experience not only the cooking at the ranch, but the life there.