Friday Five

October 2, 2015

Today I thought for my friday five I would share 5 ebooks that I’ve read recently. These are all books shorter than 100 pages, and most of the time free.  I love downloading these little books here and there.   Some great, some not so great.  I am always a sucker for the ebook prices though – and if you have kindle unlimited you can usually get them for free.  And…as a bonus this week I’ll be giving one of these books away!  So don’t forget to enter a comment below for a chance to win!

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The Well Rested Mother
Brittney Smart
38 pages
kindle ebook

From the Publisher:
The Well-Rested Mother is an anthology of arguably underwhelming insights that I’ve gained as a person and as a parent (specifically, a mother) of five young kids. And by “insights,” I of course mean, “random thoughts and stories that may or may not have anything to do with child-rearing or parenting.” 

This book is meant to be lighthearted, faintly amusing, and spattered with gentle sarcasm and self-deprecating humor. Likely it won’t change your life, improve your ninja prowess, or make those last stubborn five pounds magically disappear. 

Review:
This was a cute little short ebook that I saw on a facebook page of a friend.  And I’ll be honest- the cute cover totally got me too.  I had to read this book.  As a mom to five myself, I thought some of the stories were so relate-able (is that a word?) to my life.  I laughed out loud to some chapters – the one about wanting a new car and driving the old one had me laughing out loud – my kids were giving me such strange looks.  But they are the ones that shoved pennies in our van cd player – this short little vignette –  I could relate.  Running with kids…I also really thought this one was one of my favorites too!  Great easy read that you can sit down and read in one setting. I downloaded it to my kindle and then went to sit in the school parking lot to pick up the kids from school.  It was perfect and I was able to finish it so fast.  It was seriously like talking to a good friend about motherhood. If you have amazon unlimited you can read this book for free – so you have nothing to lose!  It will make you laugh…and you will know that we all have mom moments and we are all in the same boat together… trying to raise great families.

I was lucky enough to get an email from Brittany!  And she is willing to give a kindle copy of this book to one lucky reader.  Check out the details below! 


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Freezer Meals Cookbook
Jessica Meyers
77 pages
kindle ebook

From the Publisher:
Finding time to feed the whole family can be a hassle. There are always a million things that you need to get done during the day, and often feeding your family is pushed off until the end of the day. By the time you reach this point, you are tired, exhausted, and do not want to even think about making a big meal. But of course everyone around you is hungry and demanding to eat right at this second. 

What are you going to do in this scenario? The best choice is to reach over and pick up this guidebook. It is full of 50 of the best freezer meals you could ask for. All of these meals can be made ahead of time and kept in your freezer for those days you are just too busy to prepare a whole meal from scratch. Just freeze the meals and then dump them into a slow cooker or casserole dish, cook, and dinner is on the table. You will win a lot of points for parent of the year while feeding your family, saving money, and keeping your waistline nice and thin. 
There are a lot of great recipes inside this guidebook. 

Review:
This recipe book was okay for me.  A couple of the chicken recipes looked really good and we’ll be trying them.  The recipes themselves didn’t sound bad, or hard, they all sound very simple.  Some so simple that I don’t know why it would be considered a freezer meal.  If I have time to put a dry rub on a roast and throw it in the freezer, then I have time to put dry rub on a roast and put it in the crock pot for that night.  I don’t feel like I need the freezer prep for that. But overall not a bad book.  Lots of easy looking recipes.


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How Was School Today?
Jennifer Montrose
41 pages
 kindle ebook

From the Publisher:
In “How Was School Today?”, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips, and by the end of the book you should be able to feel confident in having your next conversation with your child, knowing you will be able to generate so many different responses. 

You can’t keep asking the same question expecting to get different answers from your children, no matter how many “new” and exciting things they do every day. You must take a step back and realize that there are other ways to get into the mind of your child, and this book gives you questions to ask your child, games and little activities to get your kid talking, as well as my top 10 tips for communicating with your child about school and their days. 

Review:
This book was easy to read and had lots of questions – more than 55 when you include follow up questions and ideas.  I really liked the ideas and prompts that she suggested.  I think it’s hard to get my two boys to sometimes tell me about their school day or what is going on in their life.  (I like that is normal for boys?)  My little girl always has lots of tell me about everything going on!  I would love to take this book and the ideas from it and somehow make it more accessible?  Maybe a mini scrapbook full of questions that we can look through at dinner time?  We have a mini question book similar to that that we keep on the dining room table that is fun to use at dinners occasionally.  It is full of questions such as “if you could travel anywhere in the world where would you travel and why?”  or “Name your favorite season”  A book with questions about your day would be a great companion.  


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Mix-n -Match Recipes
Deborah Taylor-Hough
40 pages
kindle ebook

 From the Publisher:
Welcome to the world of Mix-n-Match Recipes. Making a real meal out of assorted odds and ends from the pantry and refrigerator? Is it possible? Is it even edible? You bet it is! “Happiness is making the most of what you have.” Not only is it a good motto to live by, it’s also an accurate description of the philosophy behind this book’s collection of recipes. The concept of Mix-n-Match Recipes is making the most of what you have in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. 

Review:
I really love the idea of mix-and match recipes.  I am not a perfect cook – or maybe I am just a lazy cook.  I wing a lot of recipes and this book is just perfect for my style.  I really like the master mix recipes for muffins and sweet breads. Honestly, usually the free or kindle unlimited recipe books that I download I don’t find very helpful, but this was one that I think I could use.  I loved that this book is full of recipes that have food I have at home – not crazy items I would only buy for one meal.  I think this will be a book I will keep on my kindle and refer to again.  I actually think I’ll look at some of her other ebooks as well too!


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Organize Your Day
Dorothy Enderson
32 pages
kindle ebook​

From the Publisher:
Do you feel like you are doing a lot of work without any real results? Are you distracted, overwhelmed with work pressure, and feeling disorganized? You are living a busy life, but are you living an organized and productive life? 
We all want balance in work and life. We want to achieve that balance without being stressed out, overwhelmed and exhausted. The world is changing and you need to change and adjust with it. 
An organized and productive person doesn’t have more time in their day than you. We all live the same 24 hour day night cycle, but the difference between you and them is that they know how to manage their day properly. 
This comprehensive book encourages you to take small steps in organizing your home, office, and life in order to enjoy a stress-free, productive life. Start your day after a quality sleep and with the proper diet and nutrition. You will remain active and organized all day. 
Manage your stress and manage your day. In this book are simple techniques to help you learn how to become organized and get more things done in short time. Know about these productive methods and apply them in your life successfully. 
These are useful tips for you to utilize every minute of your life, so don’t waste time. Start reading the book and organize your life. 

Review:
If you search for Organize Your Life on Amazon there are SO many books that come up.  Some of them are good and some of them are kinda crazy.  I’ve read through a bunch of them.  I don’t think anyone can teach me how to organize my life in 32 pages, but this one was one of my favorite books that I read through and it had some pretty good ideas.  I like the lists of resources it had – different apps or products you could use.  Not a bad book for such a short amount of time it takes to read it…and if you have unlimited then it’s free too!


Leave a comment below for one entry - and visit my My Reading Spot’s facebook page for an additional entry (you don’t have to share it, but if you love me you could:) for a chance to win a copy of my favorite ebook. You don’t need a kindle to read a kindle book – you can get a kindle app on just about any phone, tablet or computer! I’ll announce the winner next Friday five!

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