With Thanksgiving comes thoughts of food. Lots and lots of food!

That has us reading books about food. And these all have lots of great recipes to try.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn. We LOVE all the tips in this book. Kathleen actually visits the homes of nine strangers volunteers and pokes around in their refrigerators and cabinets. She shares about each, specifically what they are eating now and what goals they have.

The author not only looks around at what’s in their pantry, she also looks at what’s in their heads — as in the hang-ups they have surrounding food. So the book is not only full of good ideas and recipes, you also get to get a glimpse inside the minds of other women. She basically weaves great cooking tips in with each person’s unique narrative. Kathleen also wrote The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry about her time at the Culinary Institute.

A few quotes from the book’s volunteer subjects:

“This may sound dumb, but I used to think the stuff in a box was something you couldn’t make. Now I know they all just mimic real foods” ~ Jodi, 32, mother of a fussy 3-year-old.

“I don’t have to down the frozen food aisle looking for dinner anymore. I now have the confidence to look at any recipe and know that I can make it.” ~ Sabra, 22, consumed frozen or fast food daily.

“After years of trying to find the ‘secret’ to battling my weight, I found it — in cooking.” ~ Donna, 25, newlywed.

French Kids Eat Everything is all about how professor Karen Le Billon “moved to France, cured picky eating, banned snacking, and discovered 10 simple rules for raising happy, healthy eaters.” There’s a list of recipes in the back, for French food like Crepes (Savory and Sweet Pancakes); Bouillabaisse for Babies; and Les pommes au four (Spiced Baked Apples); and Mamie’s Chocolate-Stuffed Baguette.

Among the 10 simple rules are “no snacking” and “avoid emotional eating”. It was good to be reminded that: “Food is not a pacifier, a distraction, a toy, a bribe, a reward, or a substitute for discipline.” I mean it was a good reminder for me.

Another food book that’s not quite in the same category is The South Beach Wake-Up Call. Dr. Arthur Agatson is back with a book subtitled, “Why America is still getting fatter and sicker.”

Agatson uses case studies of real people he’s met in his practice to help drive home his points about healthy living. In the back he offers “megarecipes” for healthy eating, including Black Bean Chili with Tangerine-Avocado Salsa and Layered Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing.

The book isn’t just one big commercial for the South Beach Diet, but he does break down what the diet is all about and how it helps with healthy living. In general, it’s filled with good advice about how to be healthy, not only through diet but lifestyle. That includes exercise, enough sleep and reversing our toxic lifestyle.

Do you have any awesome books to recommend about food? Or just any book you’re loving right now? If so, click the comment button below and share with the rest of us!

Halloween is right around the corner and that has us thinking about frighteningly-fabulous books!

We thought we’d ask Donna Feyen, a Northwest Arkansas resident since 1994 and founder of a new review website called More Than A Review. The tagline is: “Life’s too short to read a bad book. Be surprised by plot twists, but not by offensive content”.

Click here to visit the site and see a few of their Halloween picks, including a read for mom, The Diva Haunts the House by Krista Davis, and young adult fiction Ghosts in the Graveyard by Kim Bowman.

We thought we’d ask Donna a few questions about why she started More Than A Review and what it’s all about:

Q: Can you tell us about the Book Review Challenge that you’ve got going on over at More Than A Review?

Sure! So far we have quite a few non-profits competing for $1,000. The non-profit with the most book reviews entered between Oct 22 and November 11th will win. We’d love for your readers to enter reviews to help their favorite non-profit win the money! Here’s a list:

• LifeSource International, Inc.
• Focus on Senior Citizens
• New Heights Christian School
• Pea Ridge HS Cheerleaders
• Saving Grace
• Vandergriff Elementary PTA
• Northwest Arkansas Fencing Foundation
• Christina Taylor Green Memorial Foundation
• Mustang Connection PTO

Q: What inspired you to start More Than a Review?

I read a few books within a 6-month period that had content I did not enjoy and didn’t want in my head. I could not find a place that would tell me what type of content was in a book before I read it.  I was discussing this with my sister who agreed we needed a website to research books before we read them.

Q: What makes More than a Review different from other review sites?

What makes us different is that we allow readers to rate and review books on the level on content for Sex, Drugs/alcohol, language and violence.  I tried to add Tear Jerker level but my sister convinced me I was the only one who didn’t like a book that makes you cry:) I am also a dog lover so I prefer no violence to dogs in my books.

Q: Is this a good place for parents to check out the appropriateness of books for their kids?

Most of our books right now are YA and adult. We are about 6 months old so we are still gathering reviews. We have a little over 700 reviews in the system today. This will greatly increase after our Book Review Challenge.  So if you dont find the book you are looking for; check back in a couple days. CLICK HERE to support a non-profit through the challenge.

Q: What are you reading right now?

Ghosts in the Graveyard. It has five stars!

Q: Is it easy to submit a review?

Absolutely! We do ask that you register just to eliminate the spammers.  The registration also gives you the opportunity to choose your preferred reading content and the system will recommend books based on what you select.  For example, if you prefer books with violence of 3 or less, the system will recommend 5 star books with violence of 3 or less.

Click here to visit the More Than A Review website. And don’t forget to submit reviews to help your favorite non-profit win that money!

By Shannon Magsam

Two years ago in the fall, my sister and I took our daughters on a guided trail ride near Pinnacle Mountain in Little Rock.

Our young, beautiful guide, Samara, was especially kind to my horse-crazy daughter. At one point, our horse/rider line-up shuffled and I was on the horse behind Samara’s. We had a great chat as our horses carried us along a gorgeous wooded trail on a breezy blue-sky day. She told me that she planned to attend JBU in the fall and that she was going to be a camp counselor later that summer. When I told Samara what I do at Motherlode, she said, “Oh, I bet you’d like my mother.”

She explained that her mother, Tracey Eyster, created a website, MomLifeToday.com, in Little Rock  so we’d probably have a lot in common. When we got back to the stables, she gave me her mom’s business card. I determined right then and there to reach out to Tracey and tell her mom “job well done” on raising such a sweet daughter.

Even though we live in the same state, I didn’t meet Tracey until Gwen and I attended the BlissDom conference in Nashville in February.

All that to say Tracey recently wrote a book that came out a few weeks ago called “Be the Mom: Overcome attitude traps and enjoy your kids”. It’s a Focus on the Family book published by Tyndale House Publishers Inc.

The good news? We have three of Tracey’s books to give away! (See giveaway details below.)

I love that she started writing the book specifically for Samara. She wrote, “I wanted her to know that being a mom is hard but well worth it.”

Tracey Lanter Eyster

Tracey’s book is not “preachy”. She comes across as a girlfriend who’s been there and wants to help you along in your own Christian momlife. Several of the “mom traps” she writes about in the different chapters really stood out to me, personally.

In particular, the “busy mom” trap was the one that made me cringe the most. There are various mom truths scattered throughout the book, and the one in that chapter notes: “Being a busy mom is not the goal; instead, being a relational and content mom is what you should strive for.”

I also loved the part where she cautioned moms to work on having a close relationship with your kids now, so when something goes wrong “you will have earned the right to speak into their lives.” Later, she calls it “relational equity”. Love that.

She also has quizzes at the end of each chapter, which I’m really a sucker for.

HOW TO WIN A COPY OF TRACEY’S BOOK: Click on the orange button below and tell us one of the best pieces of advice you ever received about being a mom. I think some of the best advice I received was to enjoy each stage of your child’s life because they all have surprises and joys (yes, even the teen years!).

If you don’t win one of the books but you’d like your own copy, click here to order the book on Amazon or here to buy it through Focus on the Family. It will feel good knowing that all author proceeds for Be the Mom will go to Project 319 at Pine Cove Christian Camps in Tyler, Texas. Project 319 provides scholarships to youth who are considered at-risk, active military families and campers in spiritual and financial need.

This is also really cool: Samara was a horse wrangler at Pine Cove Christian Camp over the summer. It had been one of her dreams since she was a little girl. Way to go, Samara!